Over the last few years, Canadian alternative rock band Autopilot has become a staple in the Saskatoon indie music scene. Known for their thoughtful lyrics, powerful hooks, dynamic stage show, and obsessive hard work, they somehow seem to effortlessly walk the line between passionate art and massive appeal. Over the course of 3 full-length records, and one EP, they’ve become road warriors, touring relentlessly across Canada and the US.
Autopilot’s highly anticipated new record Afterglow, their most impressive and accessible record to date, produced by legendary Saskatchewan producer, S.J. Kardash, and backed by their most ambitious marketing campaign yet, finds the band reaching for bigger sounds, bigger ideas, and much bigger audiences. The stunning music video for the anthemic new single Weightless, was shot in the fall of 2017 by Jared Peace, on the road deep in the American South West, and is sure to garner plenty of well-earned attention.
Marlon Harder, the driving creative force behind Autopilot, has a knack for finding beauty in simple moments, and hope in the challenges life tends to bring. Inspired by the early writing of Modest Mouse, he seemed to know very quickly what he wanted to do in life. After the release and College radio buzz of their first record Now It’s Time You Know What We’re Losing For, unexpected illness struck, effectively putting the band on the back burner for the foreseeable future. But he never quit writing. Health improved, lineups changed, and in 2013 they teamed up with S.J. Kardash for the release of Diamond Rough, a sophomore full-length forged in the fires of struggle, faith, and growing maturity. The record widely expanded their media exposure across North America; in print, online, commercial rock radio, CBC, podcasts, and through licensing placement on major US television networks.
Their 2015 release, Desert Dreams, reunited the band with Kardash, and represented a significant leap forward in both the ever expanding sound, and rapidly growing fan base the band had built strongly upon with 2013’s Diamond Rough. Along with debuting on Earshot’s Top 50 chart, Desert Dreams received heavy rotation on The Verge, Sirius XM’s Iceberg Radio, and garnered the attention of New York’s prestigious CMJ; while securing the band showcases at Toronto’s CMW and Indie Week festivals, AYE Fest in Cincinnati, Fairfield Revival Festival in Minnesota, and opening doors to tour extensively in the United States.
Autopilot has always been a dedicated touring band. They spent five successful months on the road in support of Diamond Rough which included their first US tour, three extensive US tours and countless Canadian dates in support of Desert Dreams, and an eight week national US tour in the fall of 2016 supporting the release of Hurricane / Crooked Lines, their most successful single up to that point. 2017 saw them once again crisscross the US with stops at Jersey Shore Festival, Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and a mainstage performance at Mesa Music Festival in Arizona supporting hard rock legends P.O.D.
The future is truly wide open for Autopilot. Everything they’ve learned is on the table for the 2018 release of Afterglow. They are casting their net wider, and going all in. Never content to sit still or play it safe, they’ve crafted a remarkable live show, and plan on spending as much time over the next year as possible, getting the new songs in front of as many new fans as they possibly can. Check out Weightless below!
We managed to catch up with the band as they talked about their latest single and more!
How has the release of Weightless gone down with fans?
We’ve had an overwhelming response. This last tour playing Weightless live, we could tell by the energy of the crowd everyone was so into it. Weightless is starting to get picked up by radio and we can see we are gaining new fans from streaming sites. So I guess it’s going great for just being out a few weeks.
So your upcoming album is titled Afterglow, can you tell us anything more about this?
The album is titled from the track Afterglow. In short, the track is about getting out of a place of dark thoughts. It also ties into a few songs on the album well. So we thought it would work well for the title track.
What is your favourite track from the release?
We are really excited to release the upcoming single Undisguised, but I think Jordan’s favourite is Domino.
What was it like working with S.J. Kardash?
S.J. is great. We have worked with him in the past so we knew what to expect. We recorded the album in between tours and took our time writing. His ear in the studio is one of the best and made it an easy collaboration. We took a different approach this time and went through about 80 different ideas to cut them down to the 10 tracks. It’s exciting for us to start sharing the music with everyone.
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
Modest Mouse. I’ve always loved Issac Brock’s songwriting and guitar style. The work he did producing Wolf Parade was awesome too.
What’s the alternative scene like in Canada at the moment?
There’s a lot of great bands coming out of Canada. In Canada have the support of so many organizations to help us get our music out there. We are always hearing Canadian bands when we are on tour in the venues and on the radio in the States.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
A friend and I took a bus to a town about an hour from where we live in Saskatoon to see The Smalls. We were blown away by the show and ended up spending the weekend with them and the promoter at a cabin near some lake. About to head home, my friend discovered he lost his bus ticket so we ended up hitch-hiking back. That whole experience really made an impact on me. How much this band toured and the live show made me realize that this was what I was going to do.
What do you get up to in your spare time when not working on music?
Music definitely seems to take up most of my time. Whenever we are home from the road, we are either writing in the studio or getting ready for a new release and tour. When I get a chance, I like to check out a band I’ve never seen live and just hangout with good people.