A Quick Chat with Pilot Crisis

Nice to meet you Pilot Crisis! Tell us who you are and what inspired your name?

Evie: At the end of covid the media said our airlines were having a Pilot Crisis. I quite often fly to Brissy for the band, and since the thing between us and getting our music out there was a goddamn Pilot Crisis, it seemed only fitting!

What’s your debut single ‘Misguided’ about?

Evie: At the time that I wrote Misguided, I'd experienced a lot of negative things in a very short amount of time. I was in a position where I could no longer work and had to quit my job. My situation had made me rely heavily on the system, and that's where I had noticed an insane imbalance on true support for the people who actually need help. It made me angry to a point I had never experienced; however, this rage and hurt was not for myself, but for others. It was for people who are hidden from our sight when we are stuck in our own tunnel vision, so focused on having our own perfect lives that those who need a hand up seem to vanish outside our line of vision. With every turn I took to get help I was told, “No,” and “We can't help you,” and “Have you thought about trying meditation...?” Kill me. I thought if it's that damn hard for me to find help, what about the ones who cannot speak for themselves? Does it get worse...? And yes, it does. 

I think we all would remember the start of 2020 when all you would see on the news were devastating fires, catastrophic floods, and then many of us hit our greatest challenge yet: the pandemic. It felt like everything was going wrong and the media did nothing but exacerbate these feelings. That’s when I wrote the chorus. The world was being misguided by the pain we were all experiencing. We were trying to fight it, but all in vain as we continued to get hit while we were down—that's at least how I felt. Still, the system never took blame for anything; they deflected it all back onto us. I was so angry, but I needed a way out of that endless loop, so I decided to finish the song to just get everything out of my head. It still burns red, but now only on a page. I let that go and I'm better for it.

How did you all come to make music together?

Mitch: Everyone besides our current bassist used to play in a band called Loiter. It was a similar setup to now but with Evie on backing vocals. During early 2022 our bassist and singers left the band which sent us down the path of finding a bassist. Evie stepped up to be our lead vocalist and then took us close to four months to find Connor to complete our lineup. Tim, Brandon and I have been playing together in various bands for close to a decade and had Evie jump on for the last three years of Loiter. With Connor completing our lineup, we hope Pilot Crisis lasts for years to come.

Who would you consider as your biggest musical influences?

Mitch: When I think of influences I always think of bands like Blink 182, The Pixies, My Chemical Romance, White Reaper and PUP. I always try to compose big guitar sounds with hooks that are fun to play and blend catchy choruses that you can sing along to. 

Tim: Blink 182 and Travis Barker’s drumming is probably my biggest influence. Mixing 90s skate punk with Latin and Hip Hop grooves with some marching snare is such a cool cross over. He really did a service towards the whole drumming community by including all of these other styles and influencing drummers worldwide that there’s other genres besides skate punk. I think we also just take inspiration from all of our lives and daily occurrences, both the ups and downs of life itself. 

Who’s an Aussie musician you can't get enough of right now?

Mitch: Right now I can't get enough of Beddy Rays. Jacko just has this ability to write the catchiest choruses where anything those boys write could be a single. Can't wait for Rhythm to come out, I'm sure it's going to be one of their greatest hits.

Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with? Why?

Mitch: I’d love to work with Francis from The Pixies. I'd want to sit down and see how he puts a song together and what witchcraft goes into creating their unique sound. Then I'd try and convince him to add a little pop punk to it. That would be fun.

What show are you binging at the moment?

Evie: The Last of Us! Loved the video game and I'm loving the series even more. It gives me something to look forward to every Monday night. 

Queensland summer or Tassie winter?

Evie: Tassie winter for sure! I hate the heat after living in Townsville.

Mitch: Queensland summer for me, I can't stand the cold.

If you guys could tour anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Evie: Im dreaming big where England would be amazing. I'd love to be apart of Reading and Leeds Festival

What’s next for Pilot Crisis?

Mitch:  We have a second single in the works that we are looking to release halfway through the year and while we wait we’ll be in the studio in the early stages of recording our first EP. On top of all this we have made it our goal to play at least one show that's not Brisbane this year. It sounds easy but we just never have done this before and it's fun to smash goals.