It’s been a circuitous journey for Copilots to reach their musical destination.
Formed almost a decade ago, the Vancouver-based experimental rock band began as a drummer-less folk quartet, populated by jazz musicians. Founding members and half-brothers Skye Brooks and Dylan Smith, along with close friend Pete Schmitt, have been playing music together since they were in high school in Mission in the late ‘90s, but the band was always a side project. Brooks put in his time as the drummer for the Juno award-winning Fond of Tigers, as well as backing up touring musicians like Veda Hille, Ndidi Onukwulu, and Tony Wilson. Schmitt and Smith, meanwhile, both earned Juno nominations as a member of Inhabitants.
Despite musical paths that have, at times, taken them in different directions over the years, the trio’s musical bond has held tight.
“We all grew up together, lived together, figured out how to play together, how to write together,” says Brooks, the band’s frontman. “It’s always kind of been a family band.”
The modern Copilots began to take shape after Smith moved to drums, and the band began experimenting with rock music. The addition of guitarist Cole Schmidt (who won a Juno of his own as the leader of Pugs and Crows) and Brooks’ wife Karma Sohn on keys further helped to chart the way forward.
On their third and most recent album, Sunstroke, Copilots have finally landed on a sound that is distinctly theirs. Both experimental and accessible, the band’s psychedelic art rock is reminiscent of Radiohead’s transitional work from the early aughts. But whereas Radiohead was comprised of rock musicians experimenting with jazz music, Copilots have reached a similar sound from the other direction: as jazz musicians experimenting with rock music.
The songs largely ignore the typical verse-chorus-verse song structure, instead growing and evolving from movement to movement, with many tracks clocking in at more than eight minutes in length (the exception being the radio-friendly indie rock tune “Mountain of Time”).
“The songs themselves dictate the length,” says Brooks. “I didn’t want to curtail them or place any preconceived notions about length on them. I just let my inspiration go where it would.”
To record the album, Copilots enlisted the help of another Juno award-winner, famed violinist and producer Jesse Zubot.
“He had a massive impact on the album,” says Brooks. “It was absolutely a positive experience working with him and it sounds like we spent 10 times as much money on it then we did.”
One of the biggest impacts Zubot had on the production of the album was the decision to record it all live off the floor, including vocals.
“As a jazz musician, I’m used to recording like that, but that’s pretty rare for rock music,” says Brooks.
That meant Brooks not only had to sing live with the band while recording, but play guitar too, as opposed to recording isolated vocal and guitar tracks after the fact, as is commonly done on rock records.
“There was a little bit of anxiety,” Brooks admits. “I was very intimidated as a singer… and playing guitar as well, it’s my distant second instrument.
“So I just had to practice. A lot.”
The months of preparation paid off, and the band was able to record the entire Sunstroke LP in just three days in the studio. The album’s longest song, the 11-minute “Come to Life”, was nailed in just one take.
The band has already toured across Canada in support of the album, which was released by Zubot’s own label, Drip Audio. This Friday, Copilots headlines the Biltmore to celebrate Sunstroke’s vinyl release, along with Calgary’s Ghostkeeper and Colin Cowan and the Elastic Stars.
Despite the numerous side projects the band’s members are currently involved in, Brooks says they plan to hit the road again in the new year and focus on the festival circuit.
“Everybody is busy, but we have a commitment to the music.”
