Issue 58 / August 2015

6
Bido Lito! August 2015
Continuing Liverpool’s fascination with emotionally bruised
dream pop, and its endless ability for existing bands to coalesce
into new forms, expansive rock ensemble AVIATOR move back in
to the spotlight with the release of their new opus, No Friend Of
Mind. The group were founded by singer/guitarist Pete Wilkinson,
whose basslines have graced two generations of Merseyside
groups including Cast, Echo & The Bunnymen and much of Mick
Head’s work, solo and in Shack. Drawing inspiration from The
Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Cure and evergreens such as
Love and The Velvet Underground, and sharing a similar sonic
realm with Bido Lito! favourites The Sand Band, the group’s
fourth LP is a feast of expansive psychedelia founded on bedrock
acoustic strums, spiralling guitar lines and cushioning pedal
steel textures.
How Aviator initially came about, though, was through
serendipity rather than design. “Cast had split up and I needed
something to do to kill some time,” Wilkinson says on the phone
from his London base. “Paul Hemmings [former La’s guitarist]
from Viper Records said ‘Have you got any songs?’ I was writing
quite a few but I didn’t want to do anything with them really, I
wasn’t in any rush to start a new band. Paul had a studio setup
in his attic and we eventually recorded thirteen to fourteen
songs, and he said ‘Why don’t I put it out on Viper?’ which he did
[as 2002 debut Huxley Pig, Part 1]. And it did all right, it got really
decent reviews. I wouldn’t say it was a vanity project, but it was
a more cathartic pastime for me – I needed to do it.”
Given the number of albums that Wilkinson has played on
since Aviator’s inception (seven in all), maintaining the focus on
his own band can sometimes be a struggle. “Aviator definitely
works around everything else,” Wilkinson states, with the actual
album-making process itself being the reason the group was
established. “It’s a project I enjoy doing. I’m not too bothered
once it’s finished, I won’t listen to it. I really enjoy the moment, but
once it’s done it’s done. I’m wanting to move on to the next thing.”
Now firmly established as a duo with a loose affiliation of
additional players, Aviator comprise Wilkinson and Newcastleborn
studio engineer Mark Neary as the nucleus of the band.
Possessing a stellar CV that includes working with Baxter
Dury, Adele, Van Morrison and Roddy Frame, Neary's multiinstrumental
skill is showcased throughout the LP. With
Wilkinson handling “mainly guitar and vocals”, Neary takes
care of the remainder and production duties. “It’s very much
a collaboration,” Wilkinson says of the songwriting. “I’ll bring
the chords in – the skeleton of it – and Mark will flesh it out.”
Sticksman Simon Finley and occasional collaborator Paul
Fleming (aka Baltic Fleet) are two of the more regular members
of the revolving cast, both of whom Wilkinson met through
working with Echo & The Bunnymen. “As a band we have
musicians coming in and out: Paul Hemmings will come in, [Cast
drummer] Keith O’Neill will appear if he can. Patrick Walden, who
used to be in Babyshambles, plays on one track. We’ve got a kind
of rolling band of gypsies who kind of come in and out. I really
like working that way, it feels like something new can happen
every time with different musicians.” This set-up, meanwhile, has
aided Aviator’s songwriting. “The way it worked with Simon was
that we would do the track and send it to him in Liverpool, kind
of give him a bit of a brief about what we’d like and leave it up
to him. It was always quite exciting to get back what he’d done.
Ultimately, music should be an expression of the musicians in
the band; it frustrates me being told what I can and can’t do.”
Having worked in scores of groups over the years, Wilkinson’s
own methods of making music must surely have taken some
influence from the songwriters he’s worked with. I ask if there
have been any particular artists who have inspired him, and the
answer is instant. “Definitely working with Mick Head; his way
of working is really good,” Wilkinson enthuses. “He’s got this
way of including everybody in the band. He’d bring in the song
on vocals and acoustic guitar and then let you do whatever you
want on it. It’s clever, actually: if you turn round to someone and
say ‘do what you want’, you’ve brought them in and it becomes
inclusive. If you get someone saying, ‘Here’s the bassline, play
this’, there’s already a slight friction there.”
How does co-piloting Aviator compare to working as a
sideman? “It feels a lot different, it’s a lot easier,” Wilkinson
states. “There’s no agenda, there’s no deadline and that’s the
beauty of it.”
In a slight deviation from the norm, No Friend Of Mind is being
released on the band’s newly-minted label, AV8, after three
prior releases on the storied Viper Label. “I just thought, why
not have a go?” Wilkinson explains of the development. “Paul
[Hemmings] said, ‘I’ll put it out; this is what I’m gonna do’, and I
thought ‘Well I can do that’. We’re absolutely fine about it; I think
he wanted a break from Viper and I said, ‘I’ll do it’, and he said,
‘If you need any help let me know’, so it’s a mutual thing. It’s all
ready to go at the end of August. What we’re trying to work out
is a price. We don’t wanna take the piss; I’m not interested in
making any money, I just want it to pay for itself, really. If I break
even then job done as far as I’m concerned.”
Lyrically, the album’s title track suggests the direction for the
disc, with No Friend Of Mind taking aim at the all-pervasive social
media age. “It’s not a concept album, it’s not The Wall,” Wilkinson
explains. “But my idea is how everyone is always online and
connected.” Taking in the plangent psych of The Dove and the
waltz-time political swipes (and album highlight) of A Promise,
the LP is done and dusted in a concise thirty-two minutes.
Doubling as a comment on the rapid-fire consumption of music
in the present age, the album was designed as a short sprint.
“Any more tunes on it and people start getting bored,” Wilkinson
states. “It’s also a nod to people having no concentration, cos
there’s so many distractions. I suppose it’s an oxymoron, isn’t it?
We’ll have the album, which complains about people being so
connected and not able to concentrate, but we’ll make it [only]
thirty minutes so you don’t get too bored.”
The next step following the LP release is transferring the
material to the stage. “We pick songs we think we can do live.
We’ll do an interpretation of the album, otherwise we’d need
about ten of us onstage!” laughs Wilkinson. “We’re trying to
dress it up a little differently live than your usual guitar, drums,
bass, vocals set-up. We’d like to do cool shows, not just go out
there and batter it.”
“It’s about how people have lost their intuition and a natural
ability to discover new things,” Wilkinson sums up, reflecting on
what No Friend Of Mind means to him. “If you want something
you go into Google and just find it. When I first discovered Probe
Records it was like I’d just discovered Narnia; it was magical.
That kind of spontaneity has disappeared. I’m not a Luddite, but
I miss the sense of discovery.”
No Friend Of Mind is released on AV8 Records on 31st August.
aviator-music.co.uk
AVIATOR
Words: Richard Lewis
Photography: Charlotte Patmore / charlottepatmore.blogspot.co.uk