In 2005, members from two of our favorite bands merged to form Radar Pilot. John Piasentin from the progressive group Space Nelson and Art Peitsh from Super Model-T found themselves bandless in 2005 and kicked around the idea of writing together. By early 2006 they'd penned almost a dozen new tracks and didn't have to look very far for a willing rhythm section; former bandmates Jeff Golzynski (Super Model-T) and Eric "Fish" Fischer (Space Nelson) were happy to oblige on bass and drums respectively. The result was, well, best described as two-parts Space Nelson and two-parts Super Model-T. We caught up with Art & John by e-mail a week before their upcoming gig at Smalls in Hamtramck. Click "read more" below for our interview.MB: Art, before we get into Radar Pilot I have to know something. SMT put out what I think was a classic record in 2003's "Something For Your Misery" and then...nothing. The last time we talked you told me that a second record was basically in the can but had yet to be released. What happened to the band and what happened to that record?
Art: Thanks for the compliment. Oh, the infamous second album. I think we're all bummed that it never saw the light of day. Personally, I'm really proud of that album. I think there's some brilliant stuff on it. Ultimately, it was probably the work that went into that record that drove the band apart. After our last gig at the Magic Bag in April of 2005, we all just stopped talking. Days turned into weeks, weeks to months, etc. You know how it goes. There was no Yoko...no big blowout that went down. We just needed a break from each other. In reality, we should've just taken a small hiatus and gotten back at it, but that's not how it played out. For my part, I'd handle it differently if I had it to do over again. But there's no reliving the past, hence, Radar Pilot.
MB: So how did Radar Pilot come about? Art: Shortly after things fizzled out with SMT (summer of '05), John and I got together a few times and started writing. Eventually we had enough material, and we felt the stuff was good enough to put a full band together. I wish I could say it was a mission from God, a la the Blues Brothers, but this isn't Illinois and Orange Julius no longer exists.
MB: Actually, I think Dairy Queen bought them out.
JOHN: For my part, Space Nelson was on somewhat of a hiatus when Fish (SN’s drummer) moved to New York for a year, starting the summer of 2005. It was around that time that Art and I kicked around the idea of writing together. It seemed to make sense, since we both dug each other's bands, and we both liked a lot of the same music (Radiohead, QOTSA, Sloan). From the summer of 2005 until early 2006, we wrote about 10 songs on acoustic guitars. At that time we decided to search for a rhythm section. Jeff from SMT and Art had stayed close since SMT disbanded, and he was the perfect choice on bass. We tried a few different option on drums, but nothing clicked right away. Since Fish would be returning from New York in a couple months and we all thought he would be great on the material , I sent him the demos that Art and I recorded. He liked the songs on the demo, and came on board when he moved back to Detroit.
MB: What's the writing process between you and John and how does that differ from how you've worked in the past? ART: With John things are a lot more organic. We went into this with the creed that basically no idea would be ignored. I have major issues with crushing my own ideas before they even get off the ground, and I wanted to try and overcome that, so it's been good in that regard. In the past it used to be that I'd bring essentially finished songs to the rest of the band, and everyone would add their own flavor to it. With this project, there's been a lot more involvement with John on the front end. I think John would agree that I'm not always the most open person when it comes to some of his ideas, but I'd like to think I've gotten better about hearing him out before shooting him down.
John: I've never had hard feelings when you disagree with one of my ideas....you freakin' Jerk! And stop selling me back my own chord progressions as your own! Actually, it's been cool that on a lot of these songs one of us wrote the verse and the other the chorus.
Art: At least I had the decency to change the key of that chord progression!
MB: From what I've heard on the Radar Pilot Myspace page, it sounds as if John's won most of the creative arguments. With two singer/songwriters in the band, is there a Lennon/McCartney type struggle to be the alpha male?
Art: I don't think so. I view the songwriting in this band as very much a collaborative effort. There was definitely a conscious effort on my part to push the songwriting into a "more radiohead, less foo fighters" direction. So maybe that's what you're hearing. Plus, John whines a lot when he doesn't get his way.
John: In a lot of cases, Art comes in with the basic chord progression, and then I put my weirdo spin on it. No real struggles, except for when Art accuses me of being "dead inside".
 Radar Pilot will be perfoming live with The Sunday Painters, Bulletproof Moxie, & The Debt at Small's in Hamtramck this Friday, July 20th 2007. |
Art: There are compromises on everything - from the songwriting all the way down to the studio mixes.
MB: When does the new Radar Pilot record come out?
We're going to start writing some new material shortly, so possibly sometime in the fall or winter. We'll keep you posted.
MB: So if we drag our ass down to Small's this Friday night, what kind of show should we expect?
John: It'll be something along the lines of a death match between Frankenstein, Chewbacca, and Chawka (Land of the Lost)...with beer drinking and loud music in the background.
EXPECT TO ROCK!
Check out Radar Pilot on Myspace
Read Review of SMT's "Something For Your Misery" on MB
Read Review of Space Nelson's "Evil Computer From The Future" on MB
Photo of John Piasentin by Michael Spleet
Correction: Jeff Halicki was incorrectly referred to as the bassist for Radar Pilot. He is not. It should have read Jeff Golzynski, formerly of SMT and 83rd Dream. - Mitch
