BIOGRAPHY
"Remember the rush you got the first time you heard Pink Floyd,
The Who, or Queen? Well get ready---because Pilotdrift
…give those musical titans a run for their money"
-Entertainment Weekly
Pilotdrift is an American rock band formed in Texarkana, TX. Their sound has been described as an experimental mixing bowl, with ingredients including space rock, cinematic orchestral music, jazz, psychedelic rock, dark n' dusty westerns, future pop, spoken word, electro-indie, folk etc. Basically Pilotdrift seems to be eager to stretch themselves. They have toured the U.S and Canada with the likes of The Polyphonic Spree, Supergrass, Eisley, Midlake,and Guster as well as played shows with The Album Leaf, Jon Brion, Devotchka, Akron Family, Angels of Light, Dios (Malos) and more. They have also had their music featured in tv shows like TLC's Deadliest Catch and The Messengers.
Currently, Pilotdrift comprises of singer/songwriter Kelly Carr. Originally started in 2004 with his best friend singer/songwriter Micah Dorsey, the pair formed Pilotdrift with fellow friends Ben Rice, Jay Budzilowski, Eric Russell, and John David Blagg. They played their first show ever with the self release album titled "Iter Facere" which was a mix of Kelly's songs, and Micah's songs. A fan base quickly grew, and Pilotdrift began playing more shows to bigger crowds at further distances. Eventually they crossed paths with Eisley, Midlake, and the staff of GoodRecords, fusing close friendships of encouragement. Soon they would play an in-store show at GoodRecords where the owner and leading visionary of The Polyphonic Spree (Tim DeLaughter) would be. Turns out he liked what he heard…..a lot.
"The musical dots this band connects produces a visual journey worth it's weight in gold. This is truly a treasure. We at Good Records are all lucky we found it." Tim and his wife Julie Doyle were wanting to build an independent label called Good Records Recordings, and they wanted Pilotdrift to be the first signee. Ok said Pilotdrift. Around this same time, Micah started feeling that maybe life on the road wasn't all too compatible with him, and decided that before Pilotdrift embarked on this new adventure, now would be a good time to step aside. And so It would be Kelly and the boys that make up "The Drift".
On May 20, 2005, under the GoodRecordsRecordings umbrella, Pilotdrift released Water Sphere. It would be what they consider their debut album. Half a rerecorded and remastered collection of Kelly's songs from the self release "Iter Facere" and half brand new songs from Kelly. The response was very encouraging.
"[Pilotdrift]…have come up with something entirely unusual and delicately beautiful"
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
"Absolutely Gorgeous"
-MSNBC
"Embodies space-rock adjectives like ethereal, ambitious, grandiose, and bombastic."
-FILTER
"Altogether original and genre-defying…spirals and swirls through every range of emotion and lyrical subject matter"
-PASTE
"…evokes the romantic sweetness and lurching eeriness of a Danny Elfman score"
-CMJ
"Warbles and wiggles through a pop music dreamscape that is positively otherworldly...[Pilotdrift] drag sci-fi psychedelia into a dank and bubbling madscientist lab and perform countless crossbreeding experiments on it....a salve for ears rubbed raw by current pop's redundancy."
-WASHINGTON POST
Pilotdrift went on tours with The Spree, Eisley, Guster and even none other than Supergrass (one of Kelly's favorite bands). They met great people, heard great music, made great memories. So much happened very quickly for Pilotdrift, but soon it would be time to record their second album. As how they always preferred, Pilotdrift wanted to record it themselves. It would be during this recording time, that major life changes would occur for the members. Weddings, babies, and open doors to other careers. One by one the members felt called to other paths.
So Kelly pondered, and pondered, and came up with an idea. He couldn't bare the thought of not performing with his friends, so he decided he would just bring them along as imaginary friends. But now that the album is done and completed, this would call for him to embark on a whole new project, to video record all of his friends on green screen to be projected (life size) for a live show. A show that is a combination concert and music videos to accompany him while he performs.
In December 2011, Pilotdrift released a single "All These Things At One Time" from the upcoming album, a track featuring Micah (now known as Moonstryder). And more singles are in the mix to be released, as well as web videos.
So what is Pilotdrift now? Well, Pilotdrift has become a sort of moniker for just Kelly. He is Pilotdrift, Pilotdrift is he. But don't be surprised to see the guys pop up often to be apart of the Pilotdrift journey when life lets them. With the live show nearing completion, Pilotdrift will soon hit the world once again. Stay tuned Drifters.
