Paul Pilot

Paul Pilot (born Paul Wilkinson) is a founding member of the band The Amazing Pilots, along with his brother Phil Wilkinson.^[1] He is currently a member of Guidebooks,^[2] an experimental sample and song-based band, and a record producer. Pilot lives in Berlin.

Pilot is known for using unusual sounds and instruments alongside more traditional band arrangements. This has been variously with found sound samples or instruments such as bowed saw or bass clarinet. He was quoted as “it’s all about finding the unique creative voice of a songwriter, or a story and then finding the sounds and arrangement that match these moments”. Pilot has worked with bands such as Clare & the Reasons,^[3] The Black Atlantic, Beth Rowley, Rue Royale,^[4] and Tim Williams.

After disbanding The Amazing Pilots in 2007,^[5] Pilot became in demand as a record producer. Notably he has worked with Northern Ireland artist Duke Special, acting as co-producer for Songs from the Deep Forest^[6] and Oh Pioneer^[7] while acting as producer for I Never Thought This Day Would Come.^[8]

Pilot wrote the score for Bidder 70, a documentary film that in 2012 won the Moving Mountains Prize at the Telluride Film Festival^[9] and was named Best American Film at the Traverse City Film Festival.^[10] He also produced and recorded the live band music for the Academy Award nominated An Education,^[11] where he makes a cameo appearance as a band member in the club scene. His short film How To Make your own Paul Pilot Record was shown at the San Francisco International Festival of Short Films^[12] and the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival.^[13] Pilot has also worked as writer, composer, or performer on several ESPN-associated short films including Right to Play (2011),^[14] The Man vs. The Machine (2014),^[15] and What the Hell Happened to Jai Alai (2016).^[16]

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