Tommy (Cantillon) and The High Pilots (Michael Cantillon, Steven Libby, and Matt Palermo) have kept plenty busy since the release of their most recent record, Only Human, last spring — though it’s a cliché to say so in 2013. In the post–Sean Parker world of paltry record sales (made worse by antiquated and/or exploitive business models), musicians have to fight the tides of culture change and “relevance” more furiously than ever; now, bands tour nonstop and pray that one of their tracks will get licensed in a Lexus or Samsung commercial. That pace hasn’t done anything to stunt Tommy’s songwriting, though.
“If you’re sitting in one place for too long, your inspiration can kind of dry up, at least in my personal experience,” remarked Cantillon, who was driving north to San Francisco during our interview. “I love Santa Barbara, but I don’t think I could stay there for 12 months straight and manage to write a bunch of different types of songs.”
If the recent past is any indication (and it almost certainly is), Tommy will have no shortage of experiences on the road to draw upon. Since the release of the group’s first LP, 2009’s Everynight, Cantillon estimates that he’s spent 14 combined months on the road, driving a van through the Midwest and up and down the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, meeting people from every corner of the globe.