Story

The Music

The music of Black Aeroplanes draws its influences from independent, post folk, dub, classic rock, blues, jazz with a dash of post punk and afro-beat. The music is based on the classical elements of drums, bass, guitar and vocals however the guitar is a tenor guitar and is tuned in fifths. Added to this are specially designed effects that produce a distinct sound.

The music is about capturing inspired performances and all our tracks are recorded live and together – no cut and paste – creating a unique experience for the band and the listener. The band makes it a point of not only playing fixed arrangements but of also letting improvisation flow. Channeling songs for a new decade.

The Band

Fabian Thoms layed the foundations. A man of the earth. Landscape gardener and drummer. Fabian has the wheels and the room, the space in which everything takes place.
Mattes Milles is the drive. Bassist and web designer.
Once these two came together they started to audition for the rest of the band, which turned out to be
Matti Rouse with a 5-string electric tenor guitar, the voice and a handful of effects.

This was one of those rare constellations that clicked immediately. Every rehearsal produced fresh and surprising material.

BA3 – Wingin‘ It

This is the second LP – BA3-Wingin‘ It – available on Bandcamp.

https://blackaeroplanes.bandcamp.com/album/ba-lll-wingin-it

Tender Hand

This is the first LP – Tender Hand – available on Bandcamp.

https://blackaeroplanes.bandcamp.com/album/tender-hand

Dèjá vu Hotel

This is the Demo – Dèjá vu Hotel – available on Bandcamp.

https://blackaeroplanes.bandcamp.com/album/d-j-vu-hotel-demo

The Name

As we were enjoying our early sessions, talking about what we had, we somehow got to me telling of how, as a small child, I constantly drew or painted black aeroplanes. If I was asked to draw a cat I would add a black aeroplane. I would draw the typical smiley sun and the wobbly house and then add a black aeroplane or two. This obviously happened frequently enough that it became family story. The next day Mattes made the Black Aeroplanes Logo and there it was, a real thing. Never has a band name arrived so quickly and easily, as if the name had been bestowed.

Googling our new name revealed there were no other bands of that name which was surprising. There was also this book:

The Book

Black Aeroplane by Frederick Forsyth
Summary:
The story “Black Aeroplane” is about a pilot who feels happy and contended to fly over a city that is sleeping (at the night time). He is flying from Paris to London. While taking his flight, he dreams about the long holiday with his family. He also fantasizes about the scrumptious breakfast he would have upon landing. As soon as he crosses Paris, he gets a look of the dark clouds that were a sign of the upcoming storm. The right decision would have been to turn back to Paris for the sake of safety. But he being overshadowed by his dreams and not wanting to delay them, risks the life of his passengers and heads straight into the storm. Everything gets dark, he is unable to see, all his direction instruments stopped functioning and he lost control of the plane. When all hope was lost, he saw another plane whose pilot was more than willing to rescue them. The author was panicking as there was very less amount of fuel left. The anonymous pilot guided them out of the storm and disappeared as soon as they saw light. Upon landing, when he asks the lady in the control room about the other pilot, he is left in shock when she says that his was the only plane in the sky.

So the Black Aeroplane is a guiding spirit, guiding you home when you are lost and can’t see the way ahead.