ПилОт, 17 October 2024

Pilot, also known as PilOt (Russian: Пилот, ПилОт) is a Russian rock band from Saint Petersburg, founded by Ilja Knabengof in 1997. The roots of the band stretch back to 1994, at which point it was called Military Jane. In this incarnation, the band had a raw, melodic grunge style reminiscent of Alice In Chains, and featured Knabengof singing in English. Military Jane released three albums, "Home" (1995) "Home Live '95", and "Blackest Paint Colored Brush" (1996) with limited success. The band's single "Wherry?" although popular, was met with controversy and the music video was banned from MTV. During the "Rock '96" festival in Saint Petersburg, the band performed a new song "Мама" (Mama) for the first time. The style of the song took on a contrasting pop direction, with Knabengof finding an original singing voice. The next year, Military Jane's name was changed to Pilot.