Tobin Sprout

Sprout frequently took advantage of his vast collection of musical and recording equipment when working with Guided by Voices, and frontman Bob Pollard was particularly fond of his bandmate/producer's EHX Memory Man. "It's got this real warm, Sixties radio tone," Pollard enthuses, "like on James Brown or John Lennon's vocals. That's a pretty fucking inspiring sound." The effect was introduced on Bee Thousand's "Hot Freaks," one off GBV's recording breakthroughs - which, typically, came at the expense of commercial considerations. "I was having a garage sale that day," Sprout remembers, "and Bob was yelling 'Hot Freaks' down there at the top of his lungs and chasing all the customers away." The Memory Man has borne a marking on the appropriate setting for "the Hot Freaks' sound" ever since.