The
story of Banner Pilot began in 2005 in Minneapolis with a couple savvy
punk rock vets, the help of a drum machine and an affinity for punk
music, basement shows, bands such as Jawbreaker, Lawrence Arms, Alkaline
Trio, and throw in a little Cometbus for good measure. It began with
a self released demo, followed by the release of Pass the Poison on
Minneapolis DIY label Arsenic Records. The following year led the
band south to release a split 7" on the soon-to-be-prolific Kiss
of Death records in Florida which was followed by a 2008 release on
Go Kart Records entitled Resignation Day. Fast forward to 2009 where
the guys send a few recordings to Fat Wreck Chords where they find
a fan in Fat Mike and release their second full length studio album
Collapser. Throw in four consecutive years playing the legendary Fest
in Gainesville, Florida, a repress of the Pass The Poison EP onto
a single sided 12" thanks again to Kiss of Death records, the
publication of a book by member Nate Gangelhoff compiling all of the
issues of his You Idiot fanzine, and we find ourselves in 2010 with
Banner Pilot showing no signs of slowing down. There are plans to
tour Europe in the coming months, the possibility of playing the Fest
9 if it comes to pass, and even a few whispers here and there of talks
of a possible tour of Japan. Banner pilot, thank you for taking the
time to do this interview with me.
Banner Pilot Bender from Pass the Poison
1.Looking back on the past five years, putting out records,
going on tours, playing shows, being apart of the punk community,
how do you feel about what you've done to date and what does being
in this band mean to you?
Thanks for asking for the interview! The last five years have been
fantastic for me as far as the band goes and totally exceeded my expectations
– initially they were just to try to write some songs with Nate,
play some local shows and maybe record something. It’s hard
to for me to believe that we just released an album on Fat Wreck Chords
and are about to tour Europe – things just seem to have fallen
into place, and I think we’ve been lucky with a lot of the opportunities
we’ve gotten and the people we’ve connected with (Jacques
Wait, Fat Mike, etc.). Release-wise, I definitely think we’ve
been progressing and improving our songwriting/production with every
release; Collapser is the first one that I’m totally happy with
and I’m excited to get going on the next one. Touring has always
a lot of fun for me – I look forward to going to Florida every
October and reconnecting with cool people I’ve met along the
way. I’m just stoked that the stuff we come up with on cold
nights in a tiny practice space on the outskirts of downtown Minneapolis
means something to some people. It means a lot to me – it’s
challenging, I get to work with a lot of talented people, it’s
my main social outlet, and a chance to be creative and use both sides
of my brain. I think without it I’d be totally bored.
2. There's a lot I want to get to
including this upcoming tour of yours to Europe, but I'd like to look
back for a moment longer and talk about your local punk scene. You've
mentioned in the past how you feel Minneapolis is more of a really
large medium sized town in some respects and how that seems to add
to its charm compared to say a big city. Coming from Charlottetown,
Prince Edward Island, a tiny city of 33,000 people I can definitely
relate to that sentiment. Could you share your thoughts on your hometown
punk community and the challenges it faces?
The Twin Cities is home to a lot of great bands right now: The Mighty
Dillinger Four of course, Off With Their Heads, Dear Landlord (sorta),
the Manix, Dirty Hits, Evening Rig and more. On any given weekend
there's a band I know I'd have fun seeing. The vibe here is very supportive.
As I'm sure you can guess from living in Canada, the winters here
are COLD and as such touring bands tend to avoid coming here during
that time - it's ok because it's when a lot of local bands (at least
us) are busy hibernating writing songs. For punk shows we've got one
really sweet mid-sized venue right now called the Triple Rock and
also the 7th Street Entry at First Avenue. At any time there's usually
two punk houses that do basement shows and fill the all-age gap. One
of them going now has been having a great run and it's fun to play
there.
3. As you mentioned earlier you have
a European tour on the horizon. The tour is set to take you through
the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland,
and the Netherlands for the latter part of April and early May. First
of all, congratulations for being able to get across the pond as it
were. How did the tour come about? What are you looking forward to
most while you're in Europe?
Thanks! Well we've wanted to go to Europe and/or Japan for a long
time and Fat really opened up some doors that made it relatively easy
to do. They have great promotion in Europe and as soon as the record
came out we got contacted by at least three different bookers want
to do tours with us. It was a tough choice but we went with Benny
from Klownhouse because OWTH told us they were great. I've never been
to Europe, so I'm just looking foward to everything blowing my mind
and being a stranger in a strangeland (Maiden reference). I'm stoked
to try some regional food/beer, see old architecture (1900s is old
in MN), and meet a bunch of crazy Europeans. Groezrock too! I heard
that is awesome.
4. I'm glad to hear there are a few
punk houses on the go; we have a really cool one we rely on quite
heavily for all ages events too. Just how important do you think punk
houses & house shows are to a local punk scene and could you tell
us a few of your most memorable experiences with house shows in the
past (either playing or just going as a fan)?
They're totally important. You can put on a show for touring bands
that maybe can't draw enough to get into a local venue, the closer
quarters make for a great energy, donations can be collected for touring
bands, there aren't any age restrictions, and it can set up on short
notice. I love playing them. As far as memorable shows we've played
let's see... in the summer of 2008 we played in the living room of
Party Marty's house in Riverside CA. It was 100 degrees outside and
they set up a black plastic bag slip and slide with a hose and a guy
named Kyle brought over a grill trailer where he made awesome sriracha
laced corn on the cob. Also last summer we played a punk house in
Des Moines in a room that happened to have a mattress in it which
was used beach ball-style during our set as the acoustic tiles fell
from the ceiling. As a fan, the show that always sticks out in my
mind was seeing Dillinger Four play at Dead End Alley in Minneapolis
circa 1996. My brother and I along with Brad (drummer for Dear Landlord/Gateway
District) showed up knowing no one amongst all of these pink mohawked
leather studded jacket punks there to see Ashrash (a local band at
the time). During D4's set, Gerty (D4's roady) was lighting off firecrackers.
It was awesome. It was also the one and only time I got to see Man
Afraid, who were a great Twin Cities punk band that sadly ended shortly
after when the singer off'd himself. I recommend picking up their
discography (on Havoc Records) if you get a chance, it's cool shit.
5. I'd like to talk about another
festival you're quite familiar with; of course I'm talking about The
FEST held annually in Gainesville, Florida by the No Idea folks. Now,
you guys have been involved with the FEST for a number of years including
The FEST 8 this past fall. Could you tell us a little about your involvement
with the FEST, how you became aware of it, what keeps bringing you
back, and ultimately what you take away from it year after year?
We've played the FEST every year since 2006, when we got an e-mail
from Tony saying "hey, a lot of your friends are playing this
year, do you guys want to come down?" It's been a blast ever
since and it's the highlight of my year. The gang at No Idea are such
great dudes and they do such a fantastic job. What keeps bringing
us back every year is being lucky enough to be asked for one, and
secondly it is an amazing time. All of the cool people we've met along
our travels converge on one place and we get to hang out with them
and see their bands. It also seems like all of the people who like
our band are there too, and that makes for one kick-ass show. I get
to meet people in bands I dig, like this year Dead to Me and the Flatliners.
FEST is fucking awesome and I really hope Tony does it again this
year. As far as what I take away from it each year, it's usually a
wicked case of "fest-aids" which is a nasty upper-respiratory
infection. I got lucky in 2009 though. The year before, someone lit
off a roman candle during Witches with Dicks last show and although
it ruled I paid the price for the next two weeks.
6. You mentioned that Collapser was
the first of your records that you were completely happy with. Could
you expand on this?
A lot of things just came together perfectly for it. Sonically, it's
our best sounding record - every instrument can be heard well, the
bass cuts through on leads, the guitars sound like they're coming
from Marshalls, and you can barely tell I auto-tuned every one of
my vocals. Just kidding. Jacques (engineer) was awesome and hopefully
he'll do the next one too. Songwriting-wise it's our best to-date
too in my opinion, and we had enough time to do what we wanted with
them in the studio and get them right - looking back at "Pass
the Poison" I'm amazed we let the disjointed palm muting go in
"Uptown Sleep Solution." I also really like the layout Nate
did for the release and it got kick ass distribution/promotion from
Fat. The stars aligned. It's all downhill from here.
7. You also noted how you are excited
to move onto your next release. Now, we've been looking back a lot
in this interview and I'd like to shift that focus to the future for
a few moments. Moving forward what do you hope to accomplish through
your music both collectively as Banner Pilot as well as personally
through your own artistic expressions?
I hope people get a kick out of the tunes and can they throw us on
when the mood strikes and they want a musical punch in the face, like
I do with bands like Riverboat Gamblers and Dead to Me. I want to
keep writing better and better songs and probably should expand my
lyrical palete beyond a) screwy girls b) not wanting to work c) drinking...
but then again those all come so easy! The one criticism I've heard
that I take to heart is that some of the songs sound too similar.
We're keeping that in mind while writing the next record, but we won't
go too crazy - only sporadic flute and violin solos.
8. The end of civilzation will be
caused by:
Ice-nine.
9. Nick, thank you so much for the
interview; it's been a pleasure. Do you have any final words?
Thanks you for the questions! We'd really like to get up to Canada
at some point in the next year and meet a bunch of you guys. We'll
bring the rock, you bring the Molson!
