"Sky Eats Airplane Interview"

Sky Eats Airplane
Sky Eats Airplane’s current line-up is hardly breaking the brink of their first birthday together which makes it hard to believe that they’ve fielded the attention of both Equal Vision Records and producer extraordinaire Brian McTernan (Circa Survive, Hot Water Music). And yet they have, bringing with them a loyal fanbase and new creativity to an overly saturated genre.
Vocalist Jerry Roush, guitarists Lee Duck and Zack Ordway, drummer Kenny Schick and bassist John Erickson had been strangers to one another up until 2007, after original vocalist Brack Cantrell departed from the then two-piece to pursue other endeavors. In his absence, Duck carried on to find Erickson, Ordway and Schick who were already performing together, and then the final piece: an enigmatic Roush. Together the group wasted minimal time, playing and perfecting their blend of electronica, alt-metal riffs and guttural vocal stylistics until they had captivated the attention of media outlets and record labels alike; an ideal position for most aspiring bands to be. However, Erickson says the band had moderately specific characteristics in mind for the walls of their figurative home at a record label, by which Equal Vision eventually provided.

“We were looking for a group of people who were going to support us in whatever musical direction we decided to take on any of our albums, along with a group of people who would know how to get the word out about us,” the bassist says. “We felt EVR was the right choice because of their long history with a wide variety of bands and the success they’ve been able to have with them. We get along with everyone who works at the label. They’re all just great people,” Erickson continues and adds, “I think it’s (label support) just for peace of mind. [Now] we know that if everything goes wrong for us out on the road, we’re not going to be stranded. We have someone to help us out and get us through rough patches, along with being able to hook us up with a lot of things we’d never be able to do ourselves.”

The battle between label support and maintaining a DIY attitude has been a longstanding one within the realms of independent culture and growing bands, which Erickson jokes about but hasn’t completely neglected taking notice to.

“I suppose a few people have said we’ve ‘sold out’, but I think you actually have to be a successful band to have done that,” he laughs. “If people want to say that about us there’s really nothing we can do. We know we aren’t changing anything for everyone, and that’s the reason we went with EVR – we can do what we want. People will always talk I suppose, but it pretty much doesn’t matter to us. We stick to our roots by just doing what we’ve wanted to do from the beginning, which is write cool music. Progression and growth will only come if people think what we’re doing is cool, so ultimately it’s not up to us.”

Perhaps McTernan’s help on the band’s upcoming debut will pacify the cynics and further encourage SEA’s continual upsweep. After all, his proficiency and influence on the band’s upcoming July 22 drop is moderately evident, and the band credits him fully.

“It was pretty intense working with him,” says Erickson. “It was a good experience working with someone who knew exactly what he was doing and knew exactly how to get what he wanted…we’re anxious and excited to see what people think of it.”


www.equalvision.com