I Am Your Autopilot rediscovered themselves in 2006 having been lost for some time. Ben and Graeme were writing partners for a number of years in "The Italian Love Party" who recorded for Factory Too - Tony Wilson's valiant attempt to keep Factory going after being bought out by London Records. Playing the Hacienda and recording with Peter Hook were highlights for ILP (though perhaps not for Peter Hook who, apparently, never got paid by Tony Wilson for his work with ILP).
Their sound was described as "bursting out all over with a surrealist pop reminiscent of Eno's - Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy)" - Dave Simpson
When the band split, Ben and Graeme embarked on a number of different art projects. One of these projects brought Ben and Jasper together. Jasper runs a music media company called Omnisonics from his studio in Central Manchester. Following a chance meeting at the end of 2005, Ben and Graeme took tentative steps towards restarting the writing partnership along with Jasper. The result can be heard and seen on this page. "Smokescreens" and "All in Our Hands" have been released on a compilation on the Timbreland label showcasing emerging artists from a range of different styles from folk to electronica. I Am Your Autopilot have just finished their debut album "Robots in the Orchestra". Details of how you can purchase this will be posted here soon.
FREDO VIOLA'S REVIEW OF "ROBOTS IN THE ORCHESTRA" - Just wanted to start a buzz about the new album which I feel very grateful to have had an advance listen to by I Am Your Autopilot. The album is called Robots in the Orchestra and it is totally stunning.
There are several of the songs from this new album on thier myspace page, and truly my favorite is "All in Our Hands". But with a professional mastering job it sounds like a brand new song. I'm just bowled over again and again by this song, it has to be one of the most beautiful, moving and catchy songs I have ever heard. To me it rivals the best of Simon and Garfunkel.
But this whole album is so wonderful. So much care has been put into each song. Each has a particular sound, and yet they all gel so beautifully together. Ben's voice has such a soothing sweetness and beauty, there is a lot of soul and wisdom in Graeme's bass, and Jasper's analog synth mastery fascinates the hell out of me!
Obviously the boys are fond of the same odd mix of the strange and the sweet. It's present in every tune on this great album, which hopefully sometime soon YOU will have the opportunity to experience!
Reviews of I Am Your Autopilot on the Timbreland compilation - "Furthest Branches from the Trunk"
"Manchester’s hottest new label weighs in heavy for their first shot at a compilation…beautiful choppy electronic/choral (trust me) action from Manchester’s I Am Your Autopilot, who make broken synthesizers sound better than they ever did."
"I Am Your Autopilot play around with dreamy electronica but stay true to their clever use of bleeps and Brian Wilson-esque smoothly whispy vocals. "
If you enjoy the video for smokescreens, Please take a second to vote for it by clicking here.
The smokescreens video was directed and produced by Chris from Death to the Pixels, Manchester, UK.