Up-and-coming Nashville alternative duo, thankmelater, talk musical influences and more!
I had the chance to sit down and chat with Nashville based alt, indie rock-duo, thankmelater. Thankmelater is a relatively new project between long-time friends Eric Vattima and Jacob Redding. We discussed their first single, shutmedown, that came out recently, what’s next for them, where their inspiration comes from, and some other fun questions. They are such genuinely nice and talented guys and we here at Melomania are looking forward to what’s next for thankmelater.
Image via thankmelater on Spotify
Question: Tell me a little bit about yourselves! How did you both meet?
Answer: Eric- I’m going to let Jake take this one (laughs)
Jake- My name is Jake, I’m originally from DC, Eric is originally from Las Vegas and we both went to Belmont University here in Nashville. Freshman year, we were in the same dorm. We met, I think, one of the first or second days there. We all started hanging out in a larger friend group, that in turn led to collaborating, and from there we have just been friends, co- collaborators and playing music together since then. And that was in 2016, so it's been about a good seven years now!
Q: Going off of that, how did thankmelater come into being?
A: Eric- Technically we launched [thankmelater] sometime at the end of last year. Thankmelater came into being because of the disbanding of our last band and because of that we decided that we wanted to continue doing music together, so we just kind of workshopped and created together in the studio until we got enough material this time around to be ahead of the curve instead of trying to play “catch up.” We kind of ending up becoming a thing because we both really enjoy playing music with each other and enjoy writing and producing. We are both writers, we are both singers, we are both producers and we just wanted to see what we could do together.
Q: What was the inspiration behind shutmedown.?
Eric- So shutmedown was a song that I wrote originally about three years ago. We kind of both take turns writing different stuff and we bring them to the other person, but with shutmedown, I was in a really dark point, and this was before COVID had actually hit and stopped everything. Shutmedown came about because I got to a breaking point of life, just in general, always kind of feeling like the world is crashing down no matter what whether it be personal relationships, romantic relationships at that point, bands, even then, I was at the end of college and I didn’t really know what I was supposed to be doing leaving college because you don’t really have a roadmap when you just want to be an artist. When I wrote it, it was more like a therapeutic call of help. As it took more shape it became ‘oh, I wonder how many people can relate to that feeling?’ Whether it be burn out from your job, working all of the time, burnout from life, burnout from everything going on around you and never actually having the safe space to express how you are feeling in a positive manner. The more we started piecing this together, the more it turned into an anthem of “how many people can relate to this idea of neglecting yourself and your mental health until it gets to a breaking point?”
Q: Can you outline a little bit of the writing, recording, producing process for your debut track for us?
A: Jake- For the writing, like he said, we are both songwriters, so a lot of the time it's one of us bringing the idea to the other person and then getting into the production stage. We both do production, we are into the whole recording thing so we are very hands- on with that and we are very lucky to have a producer and close friend, his name is Dallas Jack, and he has a studio that we are upstairs from actually, it's here at Record One in Nashville. He has been a close confidante and someone that we bring everything to. He and another friend, Matt Wagner, he’s another artist and session drummer that we bring in a lot. We bring what we think is our finished idea to them and they give us that outside feedback that we need, as well as the mixing, the mastering, everything that really takes what we had put down on our side composing to the final process. It’s like a family vibe, I mean we’ve both known each other a long time, we are very open and honest with each other so that helps bring everything back to the center to make us confident in the end.
Q: How did you decide to call yourselves “thankmelater”?
A: Eric- This is kind of a fun story here. So, growing up in Las Vegas, it’s a really big entertainment industry hub. If you grew up there, and you were anywhere involved in the arts, chances are you are a musician's kid or you’re tied to the industry at some point. I can’t speak for every kid that grew up there, but the people that I grew up around were all in the industry. The common phrase that was used anytime you would try to thank someone for doing something for you, they would always hit you with “don’t thank me now, don’t thank me yet, thank me later.” It was a phrase that I had put in the back of my mind for a while to eventually want to do a solo project under, but as we were piecing everything together, I brought it to him [Jake] and said, “I had this idea of thankmelater” because I always liked the idea of having a name that could give back to the people that bring you up. The idea of always paying it back, paying it forward into the industry itself because it’s always changing, you’re always focusing on helping others, or you’re being helped. It’s just the constant pay it forward concept that spawned the name.
Q: Where would you say your inspiration comes from when writing music?
A: Eric- I think we always pull from slightly different places when it comes to inspiration. I always pull inspiration from the melody of a song. I’ve been a melody writer for most of my life. Even with shutmedown, I heard the chorus melody come before I came up with the rest of the song. After I got the chorus I wrote the guitar line that became the guitar track that opens it up. I never really try to pull lyrical inspiration first, that kind of comes later, it’s always been more of a melody thing for me.
Jake- I would say a lot of it really comes instrumentally for me. Since we are collaborating, when you have two different people who have different ideas of how a song is going to end up, it can be kind of daunting. For us, it’s exciting. We love piecing together the puzzle that is a song and all of the production elements. So for me, it’s the idea that he’s going to bring something different, I’m going to bring something different and I just want to see how it’s going to end up. We really love the process and love to create, so getting to hang out with someone that you’re close with and create something, it really inspires me to pick something up and give it a try.
Q: If you could describe your sound in a few words, how would you describe it?
A: Jake- We have put a lot of thought into that and sometimes other artists these days have issues with trying to narrow it down. Truth be told, we draw inspiration from different types of music and we come from very different backgrounds and so for us I would say the biggest word that describes our sound would be diverse. You’re going to hear a little bit of something from every type of music. I would say it is also truly alternative. We aren’t really influenced by chart toppers and popular stuff, we like a little something different and something that challenges you. And then I would say… just creative. We don’t really box ourselves in, we aren’t going to say ‘we can’t add this or that in because it doesn’t fit’ because we are inspired by everything and that reflects itself in our sound.
Q: What is the best and worst advice you have ever been given?
A: Eric- I’m going to start with the worst… The worst advice that I was ever given was honestly the idea that you have to go to school to be successful. I’m glad that everything worked out the way that it did, but I had to learn by going to school to get a degree that I don’t practically use. I’m proud of that degree, I’m not bashing on the school I went to, I’m not bashing on everyone who encouraged me to go to college, but I definitely felt like there was an air in society of “if you don’t go to school, you’re never going to be successful.” I think that musicians and anyone in the arts can be the outliers to this sentiment. On the flip side, the best advice that I have ever been given… I was sixteen and a man named Jerry Lopez, he has a band out in Vegas called Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns. I went to a performing arts high school and he gave me this piece of advice: “learn as much as you can and then forget about it.” It was basically this concept of learn as much as you can in your day to day life, practicing what you learn, and then when you get in the moment (playing music, performing, whatever it may be) forget about it and let instincts take over.
Q: What advice would you give to someone looking to start sharing their music with the world?
A: Jake- I would say, especially in today's world with all of the different platforms that are out there, just get your art and music out there. It doesn’t matter if it's a big platform or a small platform, there are people on all of them, just get it out there. Something that I think I should’ve listened to more is don’t overthink it. Even if you’re just starting out and you don’t have all of the fancy equipment, work with what you have and just get it out there. This way people will see your growth as an artist and one day you will have this whole history to look back on. If you’re proud of it, post it. Let it be out there so that as many people as possible can see it.
Q: If you could perform with any artist dead or alive, who would it be?
A: Jake- We have slightly different answers, but my hometown hero is Dave Ghrol, from the Foo Fighters and Nirvana. He went to high school with my dad and my uncle in Fairfax county, Virginia. He’s a rockstar, in every sense of the word, and someone that I really look up to. I would love to hear his stories and just be able to jam with him. And then also Jimi Hendrix because who wouldn’t?
Eric- For me it would have to be either Jason Miraz or Rob Thomas. Jason Miraz is the reason I started writing songs in the first place. Rob Thomas really showed the depth you can have from one project to the next. He kind of did the Phil Collins thing where he’d get off the road with his band and immediately go into the studio to work on his solo project. I want to hear their stories, I want to hear what they’ve experienced over their entire careers in the industry.
Q: What is the best show that you have ever been to? The worst?
A: Eric- The best show I’ve ever been to in my life hands down, probably The Foo Fighters. When I saw them it was at a festival and I’ll never forget, it was about three songs in and Dave Ghrol was just doing his banter with the crowd. There had to be around 70 to 80 thousand people there, but it was still like he was talking to you one on one. The energy the band brought was just amazing as well. The worst, and this is not to rag on them, was The 1975. When I saw them, it was underwhelming, in the end. I can say that I’ve never really been to a bad show, but it was just underwhelming compared to all of the other shows I had been to.
Jake- We aren’t too far off from each other because the best show I have ever been to was also a Foo Fighters show. It was their Fourth of July festival in Washington DC. We talked about diverse music tastes, this festival was diverse! It was The Foo Fighters, Joan Jett, L.L. Cool J, Buddy Guy, Gary Clark Jr, RedGoldGreen, just all types of incredible legends. It was at RFK Stadium in DC, there were fireworks, its the atmosphere of the Fourth of July, you can imagine it was an incredible show, so much energy. The worst show that I have been to, and no offense to this great man, but Waka Flaka Flame. He was supposed to come on stage at 11pm and he didn’t come out until 2am. He performed for maybe thirty minutes. We waited for hours for thirty minutes of music, it was more frustrating than it actually being “bad.” I really haven’t seen too many bad shows, but I’ll say that one just for how long we had to wait.
Q: If you could tell your younger selves anything, what would you tell them?
A: Eric- Don’t stress as much. This would be funny for any of my friends to see over the course of my life because they know I am notoriously stressed, way more than I need to be. While I’m still working on it now, I wish I could go back and tell myself even at 13 or 14 years old, “hey, don’t stress. Do not do this to yourself.” Because I’ve found more often than not, things work themselves out and I ended up stressing over nothing.
Jake- Don’t overthink. It’s a little bit like don’t stress, but don’t overthink. Especially with music. I’ve known for a long time that I was going to go into music. My dad does music, so does his dad, so we’ve kind of known that we were going to be musicians in the future. I just wish I would’ve told myself to not overthink it, to put out what I was writing, and to be proud of the progress that I was and am making. Everybody early on, I feel like, thinks that they have to live up to some sort of superstar status, but that’s not true. If you’re playing guitar everyday, staying consistent, you’re on the right path and everything will work out and be okay.
Q: Take a minute and plug and promote yourselves here!
A: Jake- First and foremost, ‘shutmedown’ is out on all listening platforms now. Go give that a listen, that’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as what we have coming. Our next single is called ‘Karma.’ I’m going to be singing on the second single, so y’all will get to see the other side of our sound to form a complete picture of what our whole sound is like. It releases on June 21st! Our next show is coming up this Friday, May 26th in Nashville. But really just go stream shutmedown, follow us @just.thankmelater on instagram and tik tok!
