Aerodrone | Interview 2.19.2010

Photo/Interview: Mike McDougal

2009 seemed to have been a fairly shitty year for everyone you talk to. Everyone had their ups and downs, including Aerodrone, but they are taking the bad and are set to make 2010 their year

So what have you been up to the last year?

Last year was a busy year for us; we started out touring with The Ready Set and then recorded some new songs that we’re trying to put out this year in an EP. We also drove out to SXSW to play some unofficial shows and eat some great Texas BBQ, which worked out for us ’cause this year we’re officially showcasing for them. Then we hooked up with Mark Needham who is the producer for The Killers and innerpartysystem and ended up mixing some tracks with him. Finally we had a showcase for NACA, which puts on shows for colleges all across the nation and we travelled up to Portland to do that. Unfortunately, that’s when things went sour for us since we lost our guitar player as a result of that but it looks like this year we’re doing all we can to get back up to speed!

You recently released your single ‘Ready To Love’, what has the reception been like so far?

It’s been great, we’ve been swamped with contest entries for the song since we made a contest to promote it on our MySpace. We got everything from scene girls being soaked with super-soakers to Soulja Boy in drag. We’re taking the song to radio as well and are using a radio agency to try to build up a buzz before South By South West. We really think it’s a more straightforward radio single than what we’ve made before and it’s also been featured in a Hot Topic commercial. I hope everyone listened to that song on Valentine’s Day because it is the perfect song to get “ready to love” to.. Or so we think, lol.

Speaking of South By South West, what showcases will you signed on to play so far?

We are hopefully playing the MySpace Records showcase since we are signed to their marketing deal but they seem to be in disarray right now and I haven’t heard anything about that yet. However, we are officially scheduled to play our management company’s showcase March 20th at the Esylium.

Any good parties you recommend for the weekend?

Haha, the best party I can recommend for the weekend is… in Driftwood, TX there’s a backwoods road that will make you think you’re in the middle of nowhere but you will come to a big cabin-like place with raccoons scurrying around the garbage. And then you will walk into the cabin and discover the best BBQ known to man roasting in front of you. And then you will sit down and enjoy a mouth-watering experience like you’ve never experienced before. This place is called The Saltlick and we at Aerodrone have been spoiled by it many times. Their desert is to die for. It might not be a dance party but it’s definitely a party in Aerodrone’s mouth!

That sounds incredible. I’ve seen some random shit at SXSW, but I think that takes the cake! A little change of topic now, can you talk a little about your side project, Dismantled?

Dismantled always comes up in Aerodrone conversations one way or another unless we are at an all-ages club.. But, yes, I do have another project that’s much darker and harsher than Aerodrone. It’s a band on Metropolis Records and I originally started it before Aerodrone. We have toured with acts like Apoptygma Berzerk and Combichrist and will be releasing a new album soon.. But yeah, one project is me on a sunny day cruisin’ in a droptop and another one is me sulking around a barren wasteland. I guess it’s kind of bipolar of me?

Well back to Aerodrone, what are your plans for 2010? tours, new album, etc?

We do have big plans for 2010, first of all we want to finish our EP with Mark Needham and release that nationwide to stores and radio everywhere, then we want to tour as much as possible hopefully with bigger acts like innerpartysystem, The Faint, or She Wants Revenge. We are actually playing a few gigs with VNV Nation in April, which will be fun, I used to listen to them a lot in high school and find it an honor that they’re letting us do these shows together with them! I think we really won’t stop till we drop in this case.

What is your inspiration for Aerodrone?

It really is just the ordinary world around me and how I want to be a part of it or not. I always seem to find these connections that seem strange to other people but make so much sense to me. I think that’s how I end up writing all my music but the biggest challenge for me is to keep it understandable for the masses. And that’s hard when the masses want to hear “GET CRUNK / GET DRUNK!” You gotta be really blunt these days or else you will get run over and left in the dust. The best I can do is sing “I got my drop-top / I got my new wave / I got my Ray Bans / and I’m ready to love.”

What are your Desert Island CD picks?

If I was stranded on an Island, I’d want Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American, Bright Eyes – Fevers And Mirrors, The Bled – Pass The Flask, then probably a mix CD of great 80’s dance songs like New Order and whatever else is bright and fluffy.

Anything else?

Buy our new single Ready To Love on iTunes, you’ll thank me later! Oh and come party with us in Las Vegas, we’re throwing it down Friday March 12th at Beauty Bar as part of the Neon Reverb Festival. It’s gonna be a crazy time and we will have TZA rapping “Ice Ice Baby” to everyone at the end of the night like you’ve never heard before. We will also end the show with a hardcore breakdown courtesy of our new guitarist on guitar — J.A! Oh yea, Facebook us at http://www.facebook.com/aerodrone , it’s the new hotness.