• Portuguese Translation

In a 2015 interview with Fuse producer John Feldmann said:

I love Glen Hansard, and that movie Once is one of my favorite movies ever. We hadn’t written a song in 6/8… I remember one time an A&R guy came to my house and I played him a song in 6/8 and he said, “What, do you want to waltz?” I realized that made an Irish drinking song–6/8 doesn’t work in pop music. I wrote “Airplanes” anyway.

To me, it was about being an artist living in the city. When I’m having a restful moment and I see that airplane, all of us can see it. The electrician, the plumber, whatever, we all see that airplane. That’s the thing that connects us all: Looking up. Those are the things that connect us—not the moon or the stars or the sun, it’s the airplanes, the cars. That’s my connection to the world that I live in. I sent 5SOS this song without thinking it was a 5SOS song. Because Calum already had “Invisible” on lock, Michael wanted his. This was going to be a Michael song. Michael really made the song his own. It’s a really hard song to sing, and it took forever for him to find his place. I don’t know what kind of song it is–it’s in 6/8, but it’s not emo, and it’s not an Irish drinking song.

Ashton played the entire song in one take. He came into the studio at midnight. I think he had just met his girlfriend…he was super worked-up. He put his hair in a ponytail, ripped his shirt off and I was like, “Fuck my neighbors are going to hate me but alright.” He was so inspired! It was on a little shitty kit, not the Zeppelin kit. When you listen to the song, it’s completely unedited. One fucking take. That song for me just solidified what this band is, for me, as excellent musicians. Ashton is one of the three best drummers I’ve ever recorded.

Writers Zakk Cervini and Matt Pauling also said:

Zakk: We like to record differently. Especially with this album, each guy has such a distinct personality. Ashton is the most creative drummer that I know. They’re all amazing singers, that’s known. They all have unique voices: Michael has the edgiest, punk voice. Luke has that smooth tone, Calum has a really unique voice, and Ashton’s just an amazing singer. With this album, we just left a lot of the rawness of them playing. We didn’t want to edit to be quote-unquote perfect.

Matt: “Airplanes” is Michael’s favorite song. I recorded it with him at like 4 in the morning and I just remember he played this solo and made me play it for him, blasting out of the speakers like 20 times in a row.