BY: Chantal Dunn
Photo Courtesy: Bandsintown
Local rock band Desperado Pilots may be exactly what you’re missing on your playlist this year. These guys go anywhere from “experimental”, “cranked-up rock” jams to indie rock bangers. Full of energy and enthusiasm, they have hit a turning point in their career that is only moving up.
Desperado Pilots consists of four talented young men. Philip Beaton, the lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Brady Angus, the bassist and backup vocalist, Nelson Lemay, the lead guitarist, and Nick Bailie, the drummer. These four guys live all together in the same house, so you can only imagine the crazy events and sparks of inspiration that have built up a unique group like this.
The band put out a single last month, titled “Reality (is Edging Me Out)”. The song is a fun but chill jam. It begins right away with drums and a catchy guitar riff that pulls
you in. A lyric video for the single was released February 4 on the Desperado Pilots’ YouTube channel.
“We’ve been focusing on a series of singles”, the band said. Their main goal right now is recording quality songs and shooting them out in order “to be more present”.
The band is currently trying to dive more out of their comfort zone to reach out to their fan base and their community. Organizing shows with other local or Canadian
bands is one example of this. They have an upcoming show at The Bohemia on March 29.
“Phil writes all the lyrics, he’ll typically come up with the backbone of the song simplified, then bring it to us as a whole and we get to mix and create our own styles into it as a collective,” said Angus about the band’s writing process.
“We’ve been writing and producing like crazy so we are hoping to tune in the wheelhouse that Bon Voyage was in,” said Lemay. Bon Voyage was a single released by the band back in 2017. The music video received upwards of 2.2k views and captured a lot of attention. Striving to get better with each song is another motive
mentioned by Lemay. They want “something that people can get super stoked on”.
The band is now accumulating an arsenal of new and interesting jams, to drop something early next year. They are busy between new singles, music videos, concerts and even ideas of a video series. They tend to work mainly in their own home studio alongside producer Shawn Barnes. It is unknown exactly what Desperado Pilots will be announcing next, creatively with music or video. However keeping an eye on this local band is a good idea.
“It’s how we live our lives, which we are really changing at this moment”, they said. Desperado Pilots are constantly developing their career. The life of these rockers is a balancing act between trying to spend quality isolated time writing great music and reaching out to other musicians to play more shows.
