Note: An earlier version of this post contained incorrect information regarding the band’s situation before siging to Reprise Records. It has since been corrected.
Idiot Pilot, the noise-rock duo from Bellingham that relies
on heavy usage of a laptop and guitars, is making a comeback with
a new
website a slot at SXSW and possibly some new material
later this year.
The band’s career got off to a pretty hot start thanks to a third-place finish at EMP’s Sound Off! in 2004 (The Lonely H finished second and Mon Frere took home top prize that year). After the success they were courted by a few labels and eventually signed to Reprise Records, which is owned by Warner Bros. The scuttlebutt at the time was the group ruffled some feathers locally by signing with a major because they were more or less signed to a local indie label prior to entering talks with Reprise, but before they inked the deal they were sneakily shuttled to LA where Reprise’s A&R vultures claimed Idiot Pilot for their own.
Not much has been heard from the band (which consists of Michael Harris and Daniel Anderson) since IP its sophomore record, “Wolves,” was released in 2007. The album was produced by Ross Robinson (the guy more or less responsible for nu-metal) and Mark Hoppus and it featured drums by Travis Barker. There was some pretty serious heft behind making Idiot Pilot a well-known entity in the rock world but it’s been six years since signing with Reprise (the band left the label in 2009) and Idiot Pilot is far from a household name. The band might be best known for having a song on the Transformers soundtrack and remixing a Deftones song.
Last week the group launched a new website and announced it will be performing a SXSW showcse on March 17. There isn’t much information about what the band has planned for 2010 on the site, actually there isn’t much information on the site at all, but there is this bit of info in the band’s bio:
“Since walking away from their label in 2009, Michael and Daniel have branched out and involved themselves in other projects, as well as continuing their work with Idiot Pilot. Michael has recorded and toured with a project involving Scooter Ward (Cold), and John Otto (Limp Bizkit) called The Killer and The Star. This led to his eventual joining up with Scooter Ward’s original group, Cold, as a touring guitarist. Daniel recorded and released his first album from his solo project The Ghost And The Grace.”
No word on any local shows leading up to the March 17 gig in Austin.
