Friday Pilots Club

Chicago's Friday Pilots Club craft a guitar-driven style marked by soulful moodiness and intricate sonic layers. After issuing several well-received EPs and singles that generated early attention, the group delivered its first full-length album, Nowhere, in 2024.

The band came together in 2017 around singer/guitarist Caleb Hiltunen, with bassist Drew Polovick, guitarists Sean Burke and James Kourafas, and drummer Eric Doar completing the lineup. All five musicians attended Chicago's Columbia College, where they first crossed paths and each participated in separate projects prior to uniting. Hiltunen, who grew up in Indiana, had already toured and cut a few tracks with an earlier configuration of players. Momentum built only after that earlier iteration dissolved and he began collaborating with Polovick near the end of 2016. Once the roster stabilized, the group issued singles such as "Hot Mess" and "Better With," both later included on the 2022 EP I Love You, Robot Superstar! Additional standalone tracks arrived the following year, among them "Pushing Daisies (Oh My My)," "Life Support/Ms. Supernova," and "Sleeping on the Ceiling." The 2024 single "Vampire Disco" arrived ahead of the full-length debut Nowhere.