Global experimental rock collective Pirates of Radio have created some exquisite pieces of sonic art over the last few years. They’ve been pioneers of the remote creative collaboration model since 2018 (with the members all living in different parts of the world), and it’s this unique setup allowing both individual and collective creative freedom that has helped shape their unique experimental sound, infusing different cultures and genres into a special mix of emotion-heavy alternative/ indie rock.
Hey! Can you introduce yourselves and tell me how you formed as a band?
Hey! Thanks for the interview. Yeah sure, Pirates of Radio is a somewhat unique and experimental project started back in 2017 by a group of musicians all living in different parts of the world (UK, Dubai, Thailand, South Africa).
We have never been in a room together, and create collaboratively only via Whatsapp and the cloud. We started this remote collaboration model way before Covid, and at the time it felt quite new and exciting. Now it just feels like the normal way of working.
Our guitarist and synth master Vernon is the original glue – we all met him back in South Africa (where we’re from originally) way back in the 90s as we moved in the same creative circles with other bands and projects, and through the years kept in touch.
In 2017 Vernon reached out to each of us and Pirates of Radio was born. We’ve had a few other friends join in for periods over the years (and previous members Francious Kruger and Shaun Lyon both had a hand in a couple of songs from the album).
What do you think your role is in this world?
We’re primarily driven by our own needs for creative expression, and by writing music together in an authentic, honest way to create something that will resonate with others too and help them get through the day. There’s a strong vibe of emotional introspection and melancholy in our sound and lyrics which we hope listeners can connect with.
Congrats on the release of ‘WHEN STARS COLLIDE’, the album sounds great. How was the recording process – any studio meltdowns or unexpected dramas?
Thanks! It feels so good finally getting this album out into the wild. The recording process was interesting given that we’re all in different countries, but it’s a process we’ve refined over the last 5 years so no major meltdowns or dramas. We’ve created and recorded these 9 songs over this same period so each had enough time to find its own voice and get recorded without any time pressures or rush.
We write and record everything individually in our own studio setups and share ideas and files as we come up with it – first a new riff or melody or lyric idea will be shared, then a beat added, a bass riff tested, more lyrics written, melodies formed etc and this process will repeat and repeat and repeat until finally birth is given to a new creation. It can be hard work at times but as long as the creative inspiration is there we’ll continue with an idea, as it’s loads of fun and totally worth it.
What is one message you would give to your fans?
Just a heartfelt thanks for every listen, download, like or comment over the last few years, every bit of connection with our music means the world to us.
How do you spend your time?
We all live quite busy lives away from the band, with careers going full steam in other directions, but making time to get together and be creative is an important part of how we maintain balance, so we try to give it as much time as we can.
What are you most proud of?
Probably this album, after we finished our most recent new songs “Something / Nothing” and “S7V7N” we stepped back and looked at what we’ve created together over the last 5 years, and it just felt like a complete story, the first chapter in our book. By releasing it now we’re able to set the songs free and move on to the next chapter as a band.
If you could go open a show for any artist, who would it be?
Too many to mention… Probably INCUBUS, but we all have very different influences so the list will kind of create its own festival line up (maybe we should organise a Pirates of Radio festival haha). On that note it would be really cool to get a UK/US festival slot in the future, it would be loads of fun to share our live experience with a new audience in this way
What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as a band?
By continuing to push boundaries and trying something new every time.. Our project has always been an experimental one with no limits or boundaries which we think is represented in our songs, which cover quite a range of styles and influences. So we’ll continue exploring and growing in this way.
How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?
It’s of course been really positive in terms of opening up new ways to be creative and get discovered, but of course its also devalued the artform to an extent. The constant need to engage and create content on social channels, plus the focus on singles and immediate gratification is also not great for artistic expression in the long term.
But it’s the natural evolution of the world and brings loads of interesting new opportunities to innovate and improve the industry balance, especially for indie artists.
What are your plans for the future?
We’re in a bit of hibernation and creative recharging mode at the moment, enjoying the fruits of our labor before we write the next chapter. But lots of new ideas are already flowing around!
