Idiot Pilot Takes Time Out During Taste Of Chaos To Answer Some Questions
You say that you are perfectionists in your bio, is that only with your music or also with your everyday life?
Somehow, I don’t think that the perfectionism I exhibit in my musical life permeates too far into the rest of my daily routine. I’m a fairly easy going person and that’s a hard thing to accomplish when you are obsessing on perfection. This is an interesting question because, to be honest, I’m not the kind of person that even believes a “perfect” anything exists, even when it comes to our music. I think it’s probably the best word that someone could use to describe us, even though it’s a little deceptive. We are perfectionists, in that, we are very concerned with making the highest quality product that we can and that we push ourselves very hard to do so.
Recording for WOLVES was different than STRANGE WE SHOULD MEET HERE. Did it help more to have Ross Robinson and Mark Hoppus there in the studio with you?
Having Mark and Ross involved in recording Wolves was obviously nothing but a blessing. It was an honor to work with them and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
WOLVES is said to be a lot of firsts for you, how is it a lot of firsts in your words?
Wolves was a first for us in that it was one of the first recordings that Idiot Pilot has done in which outside influence was even considered. Up until that point, we would shut out the rest of the world when we would work. While recording Wolves, we finally got to a point when we wanted a community behind the album artistically, if nothing else, than just the sheer experimentation of it.
You have different drummers for WOLVES, how did you pick which drummers to use?
The drummers that ended up playing on Wolves, Travis Barker and Chris Pennie, actually kind of just feel into place though fate or luck or some greater universal power. We aren’t exactly the kind of band that can just pick any two drummers that come into our head and get them to play on our records, but the amazing thing is that that is exactly what we got. I honestly could not think of any two drummers I would be more proud to have been about to collaborate and work with. Travis got involved through Mark Hoppus obviously, and he played on “Elephant,†which turned out amazing. Chris Pennie, who was the drummer for Dillinger Escape Plan and now Coheed and Cambria, plays on all the other tracks. We got involved with him through Ross Robinson’s friend, Steve Evetts, who produced quite a few of the Dillinger records.
Do you think its difficult being a two member band, or do you think you are better off being just two members?
Being in a band with only two members can be extremely advantageous, epically if a natural collaborative ease is already present between the two members. When you have fewer people to check with means decisions can be made more efficiently and quickly, and musically ideas are given the opportunity to be more extreme because there are less voices to water them down.
How do you guys come up with concepts for you music videos?
Mike and I are both pretty artistic people even outside of the music that we make. We have always been very involved with our Idiot Pilot art designs and with website stuff, so ideas for things like videos are constantly just kind of floating around between us. We already have the next video that we want to do in a serious mental development stage at the moment.
Do you plan on writing new music while on Taste of Chaos or do you plan on having fun and meeting new fans?
If I had my choice we would be doing all three but there is simply not enough time to record out here on the road. Taste of Chaos is definitely routed for bands in buses and we are traveling in a van with a trailer, so there isn’t exactly a back lounge for us to set up the pro tools rig in while we are on our way to the next show. It’s even hard to hang out and meet people a lot of nights because we have to leave early just to make it in time to play the next show, but we do our best. Nothing is better than meeting fans after the shows.
Who are your biggest influences while writing new songs?
The thing about Idiot Pilot is that we draw from so many different influences in so many places that it is hard to tell what the “biggest” one actually is. For instance, my biggest songwriting influence right now is probably Sufjan Stevens, but my biggest guitar playing influence is The Edge, and my biggest performance influence is Talking Heads, etc. etc. I could go on forever.
If you could work with any band and make a record together, who would you choose?
I think that the artist who would make the most sense to collaborate with right now, and who would probably be to most fulfilling musically, would probably be R. Kelly. Mike and I have been saying that for years and I am not sure if people are really aware of our sincerity in the belief that he is one of the most amazing artists in the last 15 years. I mean, the guy IS modern R&B. Making a record with him would be perfect because the demos that I have been recording for new songs, post-Wolves songs, are very much taking us in a R. Kelly, or even Prince-ish, kind of direction.
If you could switch lives with any other band on Taste of Chaos, who would it be and why? What would you do differently then what they normally do?
I would give almost anything to NOT switch lives with anyone else on Taste of Chaos. I am very happy with our space on the tour, as well as the little nook that we have craved for ourselves in the entire current musical spectrum. If I had too I suppose I would probably switch places with one of the Japanese bands because I love that culture and I wouldn’t mind taking a trip to Japan very soon, but there would have to be a clause that eventually I could come back.
