If there’s one thing about Friday Pilots Club, it’s that all eyes should be on them. They deserve every bit of success they achieve from now to beyond. Why? Well, the evidence is in their undying passion for what they do and within their music! We were lucky enough to chat with Friday Pilots Club vocalist Caleb Hiltunen and drummer Eric Droar about the debut album Nowhere and much more in this interview!
We’re sure you’re super excited to hear what the guys have to say, so let’s dive right in!
Hello! Welcome to The Honey POP! So excited to chat with you guys today. To start things off, we would love it if you could introduce yourselves to our readers and let them know what you guys are all about.
Hello! We are Friday Pilots Club. A Chicago-based rock band circa 2017 that excels in musical whiplash. We consist of 5 members: Caleb Hiltunen (singer), Drew Polovick (bass), Sean Burke (guitar), James Kourafas (guitar), and Eric Doar (drums). All of us come from varying musical backgrounds and influences that, when put together, create something uniquely Friday Pilots Club. We just released our debut album, Nowhere, and you can see us on the road in the UK this May and US this fall!
Before we get into it, we have to ask a silly little question inspired by the name of one of our favorite songs of yours, ‘Vampire Disco.’ If you could create a real disco for vampires, what vampires would you like to see in attendance?
Definitely not Dracula. Feel like he would just kill the vibe and everyone would be worrying about impressing him. Definitely would have the cast of the What We Do In The Shadows show. Edward Cullen cause he can probably cut a rug. Also, Count Von Count cause I imagine he is incredibly fun to party with.
Now, let’s get a little more serious! Your music is infectious, and admittedly, we’re addicted as much as we are to honey! There’s something about your sound that leaves us eager to listen to your songs on repeat. When you sit down to write or get into the flow of the creative process, is there a typical process to creating a song from start to finish that you all follow, or does each song have its own unique kind of process?
Thank you so much! Really appreciate that and glad y’all dig it! The creative process is different for every song. For this album, we had about 60 song starts that were mostly just a verse and chorus idea that were written during writing sessions between any number of the band members and/or with producers/songwriters we love to work with.
We ended up spending a month at a cabin in Georgia to complete this album. Getting to the finish line on the 12 songs that ended up being on the album varied based on what we were feeling inspired to do at the time. We hopped around songs constantly and messed around with a ton of sounds and just threw things at the wall.
Here’s a question we love to ask: who are your musical influences, and how have they impacted your own music?
Interestingly, this band has very little overlap in our musical influences. It definitely impacts the music we create. We pull from such different areas all the time, which makes it fun in that we don’t rule anything out, and if someone has an idea, we follow it and decide later what lends itself to the song the most.
We have been buzzing with excitement for your debut album, Nowhere, and it’s finally out for us to have on repeat! It’s so good! How does it feel to be releasing your first full album?
We’ve romanticized our first full-length album since this band began. We are all very proud with how it turned out and excited for people to finally hear this body of work that we’ve been working on for close to a year now and dreamed about since day one.
It was previously said that you were all isolated together in a rural cabin in Georgia and that it had a profound effect on the record. Can you explain what all of that was like and the effect this had on the creative process for writing the songs for this album?
It’s remarkable what a month of isolation can do to someone! It was tough at times to be isolated in the middle of nowhere. We had entered the month in Georgia coming off of playing Lollapalooza in Chicago and were all very exhausted going in. Coupled with everyone getting COVID off the bat created for an interesting start. However, it ultimately lended itself to the sounds we ended up with and the way we went about creating in the cabin. The drums were recorded in the main room of this wood log cabin and turned out to be very cool sounding. We added a bunch of creative touches that you can hear in the album, from creaking doors to the crickets at the end of ‘Spectator.’ The album is full of little ear candy that wouldn’t have been there without being at that cabin.
Looking at all of the songs on Nowhere, what would you say your top favorite lyrics are?
“She thinks I’m a saint, but divinity was never the aim”
Music can have such an impact on people, and we turn to it when we need it most. What would you like people to take from listening to the songs on Nowhere?
Honestly, I want them to take whatever they need from it, I’ve always tried to steer away from hearing what the original artist of some of my favorite songs has to say about its meaning, because when I fall in love with something I like to apply it to the context of my life, the good times, the bad times and everything in between.
From Nowhere to beyond! We’re curious little bees. Once the album is out for all of us to love and adore, what comes next? Are there any set plans laid out or goals to hit for the next year or so?
TOUR!! Come see the songs live. We have worked hard on not only this album but making it sound good live. Come see it!
If you want more information on where you can see Friday Pilots Club live on tour, we gotchu, honey!
To wrap things up, we want to give you the floor! Before we let you go, is there anything else that you’d like to share?
This record means a lot to us, it is our first ever full length and we have put years of work into it. We are so so so proud of it. When you listen, give it time. Whether you’re driving or listening on headphones, let it make you think and let it make you feel. That’s all we ask.
Thank you so much, Caleb Hiltunen and Eric Droar, for chatting with us, and for you two and the rest of Friday Pilots Club for giving us Nowhere! Everyone deserves the chance to listen to every single track on this album. It’s truly a no-skip sensation. What a debut!
We’re so incredibly excited to see what the future holds for Friday Pilots Club. It’s safe to say we’ll be keeping a very close eye on these guys!
What do you think of Friday Pilots Club and their debut album, Nowhere? Will you be seeing them on tour? Let us know by tweeting us @thehoneypop! You can also find us on Discord, Facebook, and Instagram.
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