Chris Hughes Chris Johnson Rob Kucharek Phil Robinson
Autopilot Off is a punk rock band from Orange County, New York composed of Chris Hughes (guitar), Chris Johnson (guitar/vocals), Phil Robinson (drums) and Rob Kucharek (bass).
History
Autopilot Off formed in 1996 under the name Cooter. They slowly gained popularity by doing live shows throughout the 90s while sharing the stage with more popular bands such as MxPx, Goldfinger, Sum 41, Yellowcard and H2O. Cooter released a split with Slick Shoes on May 23, 2000.[1] They eventually recorded their first full-length album, Looking Up. In 2000 the band was involved in a bitter lawsuit with the Mississippi punk rock band The Cooters, who own the trademark to the name Cooter. The New York band changed their name to Autopilot Off in April 2001,[2] and settled out of court in 2002. However, Autopilot Off's record label Fastmusic, took the lawsuit all the way to Federal Court and lost to the Mississippi band. In December 2001, Autopilot Off signed with major label Island Records.[3] After this they released their eponymous EP of April 23, 2002.[4] They supported Sum 41 on their headlining tour of the east coast of the US and Canada.[5] In November and December 2002, the band supported the Ataris on their headlining US tour.[6] The band left the tour a week before it ended to start work on their next album,[7] which they started to record in March 2003.[8] The band went on "The Made Tour," which ran from June to August; they played alongside Further Seems Forever, the Movielife, and Anberlin.[9] The stint featured an appearance at Hellfest.[10] In August, the band released the Regenerator EP, which consisted of cover versions of songs by Quicksand, Bad Religion, U2, and Guns n' Wankers.[11] In September and November, the band played a handful of Northeast and Midwest shows with Lost City Angels.[12]
In 2004, under their new name Autopilot Off, they released their major debut album, Make a Sound. This included the single "What I Want", which was co-written by Rancid's Tim Armstrong. The track “Chromatic Fades” was also featured in the video game NASCAR Thunder 2004. "Make a Sound" appeared on Burnout 3: Takedown, "What I Want" appeared in Test Drive Eve of Destruction and Cars: The Video Game, and “Clockwork” appeared in the video game soundtracks for “NHL 2004” and SSX3.
Indefinite hiatus (2005–2010)
On August 26, 2005, the band decided to go on an indefinite hiatus and released the following statement on their official website:
We've decided to take an indefinite break from Autopilot Off. It has been nearly 10 years since the band started, and it has been full speed ahead for the majority of that time. We have all decided to take some time for our lives outside of the band. We are all still the best of friends. In addition to this we decided a few months back to leave our home of 4 years at Island Records. We apologize for leaving you all hanging for so long. Thank you so much for all the support and friendships that you all have given to us over the years. We could never have done it without you.
Since then, Chris Hughes has gone on to become a business manager (accountant) in the music industry.
Bassist Rob Kucharek has gone on to open American Icon Screen Printing which is an apparel screen printing company that serves many bands and the majority of the BMX industry on the East Coast.
Reunion (2011)
In May 2011, a Facebook page titled "Autopilot Off (Official)" was created, with an image of the band's name and the words "TwoThousandEleven" being uploaded soon after. This had led to speculation of a possible reunion, nearly six years after they announced their hiatus.
On June 20, 2011 an update was posted on the band's Facebook page confirming that they were working on new material. "Our plan is to record our songs in batches and release them for free download as they are completed. This way, we can share new music with you in the most expedient fashion. When we have recorded enough material, we will compile some or all of it into a new album."
An update posted on August 17, 2012 to Facebook confirmed that the band were set to begin recording again, officially ending their seven-year hiatus.
As of December 2013, the band's Facebook page had had no updates since August 2012 relating to the band. It was unclear whether the progress of the new songs was ongoing or at a standstill. However, on April 2, 2014, it was announced via their Facebook page that two brand new songs entitled "Alcologic" and "When I Was Young" respectively, were being made available for free digital download.
The post read:
"The wait is over. Here is a link to two new songs that we are releasing for free download. This has been an ambitious project for us, encompassing the past several months. We handled all aspects of production ourselves, working on weekends and whenever our collective personal schedules would permit. It has taken a long time to generate anything finished, but it has been worth it to us to do our songs our way. We hope you enjoy them, and hope that we can complete more in the future." -Chris J, Chris H, Rob, and Phil
On April 3 it was announced via their Facebook page that the download attempts had exceeded the free download limit through the host website to the songs, and a direct link was provided alternatively for the download.
With the release of these songs, Autopilot Off has confirmed that although band activity is minimal, they intend to continue playing music together in the future.
On April 9, 2015, Autopilot Off released their third new track entitled "Lining Them Up".
On September 17th, 2024, Autopilot Off announced their collaboration with Enjoy the Ride Records to release "Alcologic," "When I Was Young," and "Lining Them Up" on vinyl as The Encore EP, marking the first physical release of these songs. Make A Sound was later announced to also be receiving a vinyl re-release, as a celebration for the album's 20th anniversary.
