Sky Pilots topic

In the beginning, Bass Runner Mike Chopko and Time Gunner Bill French met on craigslist just like you and your girlfriend. Their first date was in a bar and their second encounter ended in the bedroom at Mike's apartment. But instead of making out, Bill beat the shit out of Mike's drums while Mike punished some weird hollow-body guitar through an amplifier that couldn't take the abuse. A few weeks later, Mike's buddy Pat Wachter touched down in San Francisco, guitar in hand. And then the three flew out of the starting gates at 115 per.

After three months holed up on sunny afternoons in the dingiest and darkest of practice spaces, the band burst out with a fistful of songs and unleashed them on an unsuspecting San Francisco audience, most of which have come back for every show since.

Soon they found themselves at Closer Recording with engineer extraordinaire Dylan Magierek. In a three-day whirlwind, the Pilots recorded and mixed their self-titled debut album--thirty minutes of intensely focused songs that kick and breathe as if they're alive.

With their first self-released album freshly printed, the Sky Pilots felt like showing it off so they put a bunch of them in a box and sang their own praises on their East Coast tour in November 2005. With 12 shows over two weeks, they honed the live experience into a one of chaotic glory. One that threatens the fault lines every time it occurs. One that calls to mind natural disasters of all varieties. One you must be rocked by before the big one hits.

Sky Pilots are now completing songs for their next album, soon to be recorded. In the meantime, look out for a Sky Pilots show near you. Signs of a show may include smoke, downed planes, feverish cries from residents, systems failure, and/or emergency crews.

It is time.