When Verbow lost its deal with Epic five years ago, front man and guitarist Jason Narducy wasn’t sure what he’d end up doing–music had been the center of his life since he was ten and fronting the grade school punk band Verboten. But the 34-year-old has landed on his feet, and he’s not only running a painting company but enjoying some unexpected success playing bass as a hired gun–he’s toured with Liz Phair and Bob Mould and just landed a gig with former Guided by Voices leader Robert Pollard. “What has me scratching my head is that I’m not really a bassist,” says Narducy. “But I do understand that once you do something and people see you do it, that’s the category you’re in. It’s kinda been a second career for me, so I’m not complaining.”
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After the Phair tour Narducy launched a new band of his own, Rockets Over Sweden, with late-period Verbow drummer Dave Suycott and keyboardist Eddie Carlson. They made their live debut in May 2003 and released an EP, Penny Coliseum (Aware), a year later, but it wasn’t long before Narducy was called away again. This spring Bob Mould, who’d produced Verbow’s 1997 debut, Chronicles, made him an offer. “I have a long history with Bob,” says Narducy. “He got in touch in May saying he was going to put together a rock band to support his new record, Body of Song, and play a lot of his old stuff.”
While on the road with Mould, Narducy ran into Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster in North Carolina and power-pop cult hero Tommy Keene in LA. The two men had already been chosen to form the nucleus of Robert Pollard’s first post-Guided by Voices backing band–former Frank Black guitarist Dave Phillips would come aboard later–and both recommended him to Pollard as a bassist. Though Narducy had seen Guided by Voices several times, he didn’t actually meet Pollard until the infamously prolific songwriter came to Chicago a couple weeks ago to sign copies of Guided by Voices: A Brief History at a Barnes & Noble. “We talked for ten minutes. And he was like, ‘Do you want to do this thing?’ I said yes, and now I have 50 songs to learn,” says Narducy, laughing. “And I think that’s just side one of the new record.”
Narducy already has plans to return to Europe with Mould after the Pollard tour, and hopes to get more opportunities to play as a sideman. “The main thing is that I don’t want to be in a project that I’m not excited about,” he says. “So far, I’ve been incredibly lucky.”
