Now, freshly inspired with a slew of new songs bouncing around his head, Cantillon started redecorating. Enter longtime friend and fellow Santa Barbarian Steve Libby (bass), Cantillon’s younger brother Michael (electrics, acoustics and keyboards) and California transplant Matt Palermo (drums). “Holden was based on a group of friends who wanted to play music together. Simple enough,” Cantillon says. “That’s our credo in Pilot world as well.” And thus, Tommy and The High Pilots was born.
With two albums to their name, dozens of songs in the hopper and even more yet to be written, Tommy and The High Pilots are just getting started. As is often the case in life, adversity led to opportunity for Cantillon and his fellow Pilots, and they plan on taking full advantage. “Learning from the past is huge for us,” Cantillon says. “We know what has worked so far and what maybe didn’t work too well. We get to draw from that and, in the long run, that will be very beneficial.” Barring any unexpected turbulence, this foursome sees nothing but blue skies ahead and has no plans to let their fast moving feet touch the ground any time soon.