Feature / One Question Interviews
Banner Pilot

Words: Loren • July 12, 2014

Banner Pilot
Banner Pilot

Nate (Banner Pilot)

SPB: What is the hardest thing about touring in foreign countries? Last year (2 years ago?) you played in Russia…

Nate: I'm having a hard time answering this. Touring foreign countries is easy! I find it to be much easier than touring the States. You have someone driving for you, the language barrier is never that bad, they have a place set up for you to stay every night, the shows are incredible, the people are friendly...hell, I was going to say it's a little tricky being a vegetarian but then I remembered that half the shows *cook (awesome) vegan food for you*. 

I guess if I had to pick something, it would be the upfront prep work. Once you get there, it's great-- maybe we've been lucky, or maybe that's the norm, I don't know. But nothing really "bad" has happened to us. But it takes a lot longer, and requires more work, to get the whole thing set up than if you were just doing some dates in the US. I mean, in order to get into Russia we had to mail our passports to some place, and hope that they would send them back. Iowa never makes us do stuff like that.

These are minor things, though. Really, the hardest thing about touring foreign countries is coming home. (See what I did there?)

Loren • July 12, 2014

Banner Pilot
Banner Pilot

Related features

Banner Pilot

Interviews

Minnesota punks Banner Pilot continue to turn heads with their vintage pop-punk sound. Scene Point Blank chatted with bassist Nate Gangelhoff about the band's new full-length offering and their recent trip to The Fest. Scene Point Blank: Nate, you're listed as bass & guitar. Do you play both on the … Read more

Related news

Fest 14 - Dates and initial line-up unveiled

Posted in Shows on April 21, 2015

Banner Pilot names tour guitarist

Posted in Bands on December 7, 2014

Related reviews

Banner Pilot

Souvenir
Fat Wreck Chords (2014)

Often when a critic writes of a band not changing its sound it’s meant in the negative light: art should be about exploring new boundaries and punching the listener in the face with something new. But sometimes it’s not.Banner Pilot have been kicking out raspy pop-punk jams for the better part of a decade now—since 2005—and in that time they’ve … Read more

Banner Pilot

Heart Beats Pacific
Fat Wreck Chords (2011)

I’ll be honest. I was kind of hoping somebody else would review this record. I like Banner Pilot. A lot. The reason I didn’t want to do this myself has more to do with the fact that I’ve reviewed their past couple releases and I’m not sure I can bring much new insight to the table. Nate Gangelhoff and Nick … Read more

Banner Pilot

Collapser
Fat Wreck Chords (2009)

Banner Pilot's last album, Resignation Day earned them a lot of praise among punk fans. To me, I thought it was a very solid album but it didn't exactly stick out among the many great bands that are playing this style of punk right now. They're a good band, but I thought they were missing a few things before I … Read more

More from this section

Skyway

One Question Interviews • May 23, 2025

Andrew Burgess (Skyway) SPB: What is your favorite protest song? Burgess: My favorite protest song? That's a tough one. I think it's impossible to talk about protest songs without mentioning the all-time greats that have held up over the years. I'm talking about songs like "We Shall Overcome," "We Will … Read more

ButcherBird

One Question Interviews • May 22, 2025

Rob (ButcherBird – guitar) SPB: How do you draw the line between taking influence vs. mimicking? Rob: When it comes to human creativity, almost nothing is truly and completely new. There’s a song by Iron Monkey called “House Anxiety” which has an absolutely crushing riff in it -- and it’s … Read more

Perfect Buzz

One Question Interviews • May 20, 2025

Petey J. Cool (Perfect Buzz) SPB: What is the best TV theme song? Petey J. Cool: I’ve still never seen an episode of Hawaii Five-O, but when I was a kid I’d get to catch the opening sequence just before I was marched off to bed. I was fascinated because … Read more