In Conversation with Jay Carney

Join author Matthew Cutter as he discusses his book Closer You Are, the authorized biography of Robert Pollard, indie rock icon and founder of the music group Guided By Voices.

Robert Pollard has been a staple of the indie rock scene since the early '80s, along with his band Guided By Voices. Pollard was a longtime grade school teacher who toiled endlessly on his music, finding success only after adopting a do-it-yourself approach, relying on lo-fi home recordings for much of his and his band's career. A prolific artist, Pollard continues to churn out album after album, much to the acclaim of critics and his obsessive and devoted fans. But his story has never been faithfully told in its entirety. Until now.

Author Matthew Cutter is a longtime friend of Pollard and, with Pollard's blessing, he's set out to tell the whole, true story of Guided By Voices. Closer You Are is the first book to take an in-depth look at the man behind it all, with interviews conducted by the author with Pollard's friends, family, and bandmates, along with unfettered access to Pollard himself and his extensive archives.

Robert Pollard has had an amazing and seemingly endless career in rock music, but he's also established himself as a consummate artist who works on his own terms. Now fans can at long last learn the full story behind one of America's greatest living songwriters.

Matthew Cutter has published in MAGNET magazine and penned several award-winning game supplements for Deadlands: The Weird West. He wrote a licensed game adaptation of Eric Powell's Eisner Award-winning The Goon, and his short story "A Lonesome Place to Die" appears in The Cackler graphic novel. Cutter is also lead singer and lyricist for the bands Joseph Airport, Rectangle Creep, and Girls of the Big 10. He lives in Rockville, Maryland, with his wife and their three children.

Jay Carney is the Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs at Amazon and a longtime fan of Guided by Voices. He served as White House Press Secretary from 2011-2014, and as Director of Communications for Vice President Joe Biden from 2009-2011. He was a prominent journalist and, later, Washington Bureau chief for TIME Magazine, where he won the 2003 Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency, and has also been a Political Analyst for CNN.

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