The band had many members who only stayed for a while. Robert Pollard is the most important member. Before becoming a full-time musical artist, he was a teacher at an elementary school. While he was teaching, he created lots of music for the band. Robert is a solo artist today. He is a great fan of rock music. His music, and the music of Guided by Voices, is inspired by the famous British band The Beatles and different music styles like post-British Invasion garage rock, psychedelic, prog-rock, as well as punk and post-punk.