JATK

Matt Jatkola has a confession to make: He once rocked massive JNCO jeans, dangled an obnoxiously long wallet chain, and was quick to bust out a Hacky Sack (though he admits he kinda sucked at it). Normally such divulgence would carry a bit of shame, but for Jatkola, the multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer behind JATK, it brings back fond memories of yesterday – a time spent in middle school somewhere in Massachusetts, discovering new music, picking up the guitar, and developing crushes on classmates. 

The throwback mood to that carefree, pre-internet era is at the core of JATK’s new single, a fuzzed-out, synth-fueled, alt-rock anthem called “Ana.” The follow-up to last year’s debut album Shut Up and Be the Light and this past March’s retro-R&B seducer “Don’t Come Knockin’”, the infectious “Ana” hits the streams on Friday, June 16. 

“Emotionally, ‘Ana’ is an homage to a golden era of life,” Jatkola admits. “Musically, ‘Ana’ is an homage to a golden era of alternative rock. ‘Ana’ could be an idea. ‘Ana’ could be a person. My partner's name is Aneleise. We didn't meet in middle school, but we did go to the same elementary school for a couple years and didn't find out ‘til 20 years later when we met as adults and started dating... but that's another song!” 

Taking direct inspiration from a host of sources, from Weezer’s 1994 b-side and Mallrats contribution “Susanne”; the timeless power-pop of bands like The Rentals, The Special Goodness, and that dog.; and his own experiences coming of age around that era, “Ana” is both personal and abstract for Jatkola. It takes the music that helped shape Jatkola as a songwriter, and lets him play it back through his own songwriting speakers: Its title muses on woman’s name, its 6/8 time signature swirls with thick distorted guitars, and a simple, straight-sung top melody line echoes some of alt-rock’s most memorable moments. Hell, even the lyric "You're all that I wanted of a girl" is straight from "Susanne."

 “‘Ana’ is a love letter to a simpler time – a time when I was discovering music and myself,” Jatkola says. “This happens for most people – and it did for me, in earnest – during adolescence. I started getting into a band called Weezer, who to my ears at the time, sounded like The Beach Boys with distorted guitars. I liked the Blue Album and Pinkerton, but as I dove deeper, I also got obsessed with their treasure trove of catchy as hell b-sides from that era.”

Written and recorded during the Shut Up and Be the Light sessions, part of a batch of “new” compositions Jatkola is set to unveil now that the album has been released, “Ana” features features Jatkola on vocals, guitar, bass, and synthesizer; Eric Sheppard on backing vocals and synthesizer (hello, Moog Rogue); and Seth Botos on drums. It was produced by Jatkola; mixed and mastered by Jim Keaney, he of Weezer tribute band Tired of Sex; and engineered by Jatkola, Sheppard, and Botos. All share a common love for the source material cited above. 

“I'm not one to revel in nostalgia, generally speaking. I'm constantly looking forward, and rarely looking back – sometimes, to a fault,” he adds. “I just couldn't help myself with this song!” 

With JATK, Jatkola has been both looking back and pushing forward. And while parts of Shut Up and Be the Light were inspired by his cancer journey, written after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in early 2020 (he’s now fully healthy after extensive treatment), he’s excited to share other layers and themes of his songwriting – even if he fully admits to borrowing a Weezer lyric here and a vocal melody from that dog. there. 

He’s even begun playing the songs out live, from an appearance at Nashua River Brewers Festival in Fitchburg last summer to a show June 1 at Faces Brewing Co. in Malden. As the JATK project evolves from a solo pursuit to remote collaboration to full-on power-pop live band, he’s eager to take these songs to the stage. Especially “Ana.”  

“I'm so psyched to get the live band going!” Jatkola admits. “The live version of ‘Ana’ has already been morphing into something that's different from the recording and I'm really excited about that. Shut Up a Be the Light was born in a time when I couldn't collaborate with a group in person due to health and pandemic-related reasons, so while I'm super proud of the remote collaborations and recordings, they didn't have a chance to go through that creative phase where other people had lots of input into the parts of the song and how they're played. Now that's finally happening live. We've even worked out a unique semi-acoustic, keyboard-laden, version of "Ana" separate from the full rock band version. There are kind of two completely different versions of the JATK live band brewing right now and I'm loving it!” 

Leave your JNCOs, wallet chains, and Hacky Sacks at home.