Metronome #016: Pilo

Insomniac’s Metronome series features mixes from some of today’s fastest-rising electronic stars, as well as championed legends. It takes listeners deep across a wide range of genres, movements, cultures, producers, artists and sounds that make up the diverse world of electronic music.

When Boys Noize is seeking you out to work together on music, chances are you’re doing something right. Pilo’s brash style of techno has been gaining global recognition that has landed him EPs on Twin Turbo and Boysnoize Records, and he’s leading the charge of a crew of young producers in Los Angeles who are beginning to dominate the airwaves.

He’s dedicated to maturing his sound, and his strong desire to create new material will see him release a grip of boundary-pushing content this year. In his Metronome mix, he works in some unreleased material that includes a new track from his upcoming EP, as well as a powerful Radiohead bootleg. Dive in, and watch out for Pilo to make serious strides in 2015.

The other night at that ULTRAMAJIC party, you mentioned an upcoming collaboration with Boys Noize. What’s that all about?
Alex (Boys Noize) and I made a track for his upcoming mini-LP. He sent me a jam he did in his studio, and I did one as well in mine. Then from those sessions, we just created the track from there. It should be coming out very soon.

Do you ever find it hard to make techno living in L.A., when it’s sunny almost every day? What inspirations do you pull from this city?
Of course! I try not to struggle too hard with inspiring myself, as I think it should come naturally. But going downtown at night usually does the trick, or driving by one of those huge factories that are next to the freeways. Sometimes, I’ll get strong ideas at night or in the afternoon, and I’ll just jam out until I am content with the idea. But the main factor of my workflow is pondering what I have been exposed to recently. It could be a certain comic book, TV show, or a movie I’ve watched or an art piece I’ve seen.

Why’d you choose music?
It’s been a part of my whole lifetime, really. My dad was always playing me his cassettes and CDs all of the time: Essential Mixes from ‘98, Fatboy Slim/Norman Cook/Pizzaman collection, the Wiseguys Antidote, A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory, all of the Prodigy’s albums, etc. Then my mom inspired me to join a concert band when I was in 2nd grade that I was in until 9th grade. I learned to play percussion (drumline) for three years. I think the real inspiration was when my dad took me to Coachella in 2002. I was really young then, but by the time I was 18, I finally made myself learn how to produce with DAWs.

You’re in a crew of young producers in L.A. who are really pushing the boundaries. Who else have you been working with? Who should we know about?
It’s quite an indescribable feeling to know homies that you respect, and aspire to be like, also have similar hobbies, interests and passions in common. Justin Jay is one of them, for sure. Last year we worked on a track—”Denial,” for his EP on dirtybird—and we got great feedback on it, so we started working again to finish a full EP by this year. Another one is my good homie Sage Caswell. We have a two–three track EP that’s in progress. This project has a very unique sound, since Sage and I have very different styles. It’s really interesting to see how our styles collide. Lastly, I have been starting to work a lot with the man Pipes. So far, we have created some serious heaters. So there’s a lot of stuff. I’m pretty pumped on seeing how all of those projects shape up. My goal is to have all of them be released this year.

It seems like the US is losing some talents to places across the pond. Do you think you’d ever move to Berlin or somewhere else in Europe?
Yes! Venturing out into Europe is the best. I always aspire to improve myself as an individual every time I fly out there. But one of my biggest goals is to live somewhere in Europe, like Berlin, for six months to a year. Thinking of the history of Berlin gives me even more ambition to go out there sooner.

What’s next in the world of Pilo?
This year will be all about pushing lots of new tracks and demos to see the light of day. I want to show the public a lot more material and also improve my craft and the Pilo sound. But watch out for my next Sentimental Schematics EP that’ll be coming out soon on BNR.

Track List:

Fatboy Slim “The Sound of Milwaukee”
Costello “Primal”
RANDOMER “Stupid Things I Do” (New School Mix)
Jean Nipon “I Owe You So Much”
Radio Slave “The Clone Wars”
Robert Hood “Saved by the Fire”
Joy Orbison “Ladywell”
Marquis Hawkes “Let’s Do It”
Redshape “Itz”
The Creepy Autograph “The Yes Dance”
Percussions “KHLHI”
SCNTST “Generated”
Benjamin Damage “Revolve”
Radiohead “Pyramid Song” (Pilo Mix)
Justin Jay “Don’t Stop”
Jensen Interceptor “Antrax”
Thee Mike B “Theo Is in Charge”
FJAAK “Po Folk” (Hate Mix)
Dubfire ft. Kitten “Exit”
My Favorite Robot “White Light” (Jimmy Edgar Remix)
Pilo “Projectile (Demo)”
Speedy J “Something for Your Mind”
Clark “The Grit in the Pearl”

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