FOCUS "YOUR OWN WORDS" Interview to THANKMELATER.

Hi THANKMELATER.
What first inspired you to make music together?

Jacob- having been around each other since our college years and watching each other do solo projects and occasional collaborations, it made sense after all those years that we’d end up doing a project together.

How well do you know the music industry and its current trends?

Eric - Personally, I try to keep up with news within the industry for context of what’s going. When it comes to trends, it’s a different story. We listen to a lot of music between the two of us, so we get the opportunity to see what’s trending. Truthfully however, we don’t really try to follow trends. It’s really cool if we happen to get inspired by something that happens to be trending though!

Do any of your songs based on personal experiences?
Absolutely. Most songs of ours are inspired by personal events in our lives. Lyrically we like to recall how we felt during those moments or how those past events have shaped us. Our song “Karma” is a perfect example of this as it’s a story of a failed relationship of mine.

What does high quality sound mean to you?

Jacob- with both me and Eric being producers and engineers, we’re very informed on industry standards for audio quality so we focus on getting the best source recordings and takes as possible so that we can control the sound design when it comes to mixing and mastering and additional production. We like sounding hi-fi while still respecting the human feel that makes a great production.

THANKMELATER. 'karma.' on AFX

What’s the best compliment someone could give you about your songwriting?

Eric - I’m not sure if I speak for us both here, but the best compliment is when someone says that what we’re doing is “original” and “different” than other things out there, or really any kind of comment of the sorts. Some of our favorite bands made names for themselves by being different, so it’s always a compliment when someone thinks that what we’re doing is “different.” Also, when people can relate to the story or the lyrics, it means the world, because as a songwriter and storyteller it’s always incredible when you can make a message for a song drive home and resonate with people.

Jacob- for me it’d have to be that comment of doing something different. Like Eric mentioned it’s something we strive for. Especially when it comes to my guitar playing I always appreciate when someone notices something new i tried out.

What are some of your favourite songs to play live?

Eric - personally, one of my favorites is “karma.” Because we do it a bit different than the record and add a lot more than what people are normally used to. Also Jake’s vocals are killer on that song in both the recording and live, so it’s always a blast to play that. Besides that, I really love playing this other song “crazy.” just because it’s one of our most high energy ones to play live, and crowds get into it. Can’t wait for the day that we can teach these lyrics more to fans and start testing more of the newer songs too!

Jacob- for me it’d have to be “crazy” because of the high energy and the fact that I have a solo on that song. It really challenges me and makes me bring it when it comes to that one in the set.

Are you working on any new music or planning anything exciting that we can look forward to?

Eric - Oh yeah! So all these singles are part of our first EP that we’re slowly releasing, and we’re finishing up the recording for EP 2 as well! Jake and I are always writing, so we’ve even been working on songs for the EP after the next, just cause we love having a bunch of options for what we put out. Once we release a few more songs, we’re also looking at expanding outside of Nashville for more shows in some new cities too! We’re excited to start playing around more in the Southeast, Midwest, and the West Coast over the next year, and we can’t wait to share a lot of this music live while we keep rolling new songs out!

Catch 'karma.' on AFX Radio and on Spotify: