You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone
I think you miss me already
And I’m gonna miss you too
But after all, that’s only natural

- The Amazing Pilots The Price of Winter

The Pilots with Iain Archer at the Irish Breakfast in ‘05.

Meeting up with The Pilots for those first two SXSW’s was so much fun, and both years there, we spent at least a day traveling around the town in search of a great backdrop to take some publicity stills.  While I don’t think it would have been possible to find a location as dynamic as the one we stumbled upon during our first year at the fest, that certainly didn’t keep us from trying.  And the second time around, we found this random junkyard.

The thing about The Amazing Pilots is, these brothers are some of the funniest guys I know.  Always quick with a sarcastic reply, an absurd observation or a bit of physical comedy; they’re truly a blast to hang out with.   Yet nearly every time I turned the camera onto them, the smiles went away, replaced by the stern and serious.  So it was quite refreshing and a lot of fun to finally get them to open up a bit at this junkyard shoot.

Here’s a candid shot of my good friends, The Amazing Pilots, on our second trip down to Austin together for SXSW in ‘05.

If it weren’t for these boys, I probably would have never discovered SXSW.  The Amazing Pilots looking serious in an Austin junkyard in ‘05.

If it’s hard for you
I can make it easier
I want it to be easy for you
It shouldn’t have to be hard

-PP

I figured it was about time to introduce some black & white to this little gallery!  This is one of my favorite portraits that I’ve ever taken.  It’s of my good friends from Northern Ireland, Paul & Phil, and their now defunct band, The Amazing Pilots.

Paul was an exchange student at the U of I, who just so happened to be living on my dorm floor during my freshman year.  It’s been through Paul that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with quite a few talented Irish artists, The Pilots included.  In ‘04, Paul & Phil got accepted to play SXSW down in Austin, and I was more than happy to meet them there for the show.  It was my first time to the fest, but I’ve been back every year since as it’s unlike any music event I’ve ever experienced.

We took this photo on our last day in Texas after a good ol’ fashioned breakfast from the International House of Pancakes, which was coincidentally my last ever non-vegetarian meal (biscuits & sausage gravy).