JATK

BOSTON, MASS. [JANUARY 21, 2021] -- We communicate in all sorts of ways in 2022, but when we really need to reach someone, we tend to rely on the trusty ol’ telephone. And when we want to stay out of reach, avoiding an incoming call is the best way to do so. So when JATK, the musical project of multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Matt Jatkola, wants to remain unreachable, he issues a simple mantra: “Don’t Call.”  

That also doubles as the title of the new single, set for release via maxi-single on Friday, January 21. “Don’t Call,” complete with companion b-side “Don’t Come Knockin’” and a stripped-down Drums & Vocals version, marks the fifth JATK single from the forthcoming debut album, Shut Up and Be the Light, out April 15. It follows a quartet of 2021 singles – the rock-out anthem “When Tomorrow Comes”; power-pop sparkplug “Japanese Butterfly”; Americana slider “Conscious Wonder”; and dream-like “Ride the Wind” – and serves as the project’s first new music of 2022. 

While many of the tracks on Shut Up and Be the Light deal with Jatkola’s cancer journey, which began in March 2020 when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and chronicle his therapy, recovery, and all the emotions that came with facing his own mortality, this latest effort from the musician with a clean bill of health centers around an age-old tale of staying out of reach after the end of a relationship.   

“'Don't Call' is sort of a state of the union post-breakup song, but also an ‘I'm good, don't bother me’ song, which is my natural state of being in general,” says Jatkola. “So it was very easy to write from that point of view. It features a protagonist that is singing about everything that's good in their life now they aren't bothered by calls from the antagonist anymore. It also came from a process of automatic writing – just writing whatever came to my head in the moment and not thinking about it too hard. For all its idiosyncratic songwriting and production, it's also a song that means exactly what it says: ‘Don't call. Don’t Come. I'm fine here now.’ It's pretty straightforward in that regard.”

That might be the only thing straightforward about it. Perhaps the most quirky of JATK’s recent musical output, the soulful “Don’t Call” features no traditional chorus or pop song structure, and, maybe most bizarrely, no guitars. Instead it leans on a drum machine, samples, piano, bass, and pitched-up vocals and production – directly inspired by Prince. 

“I think this song is one of the weirdest songs on the album production-wise, but it's also pretty straightforward lyrically,” Jatkola admits. “The album is all over the place stylistically, and this track is on the outer edge of where it goes, trading in guitars for drum machines and piano, but the songs are always coming from a real place. So in that way, this song and the album are perfect examples of one another.”

Jatkola adds: “I really chose to do the vocals this way because it fits the song. It sounds like me, but it also sounds like a character. I was very inspired by Prince, specifically his work as his alter ego Camille. For these songs, he would often record the music at regular speed, slow the tape down as he recorded the vocals, then speed it back up when he mixed, which is essentially what I did. I recorded all the drum machine sounds, piano, and bass at regular speed, then slowed it all down while I recorded the vocals and sped it back up to mix it. I actually used this technique to varying degrees to record vocals on three songs on the album. Some are more apparent than others.”

As Jatkola toyed with the speed and pitch of his vocals, one thing that rings true is the sound of the traditional telephone that decorates the track, from its creepy three-note “no longer in service” tone that manifests itself into the song structure to a phantom voice mail message in Spanish by Jatkola’s FBGM bandmate and collaborator D. Orxata. There’s even a lyrical nod to No Doubt’s ‘90s ska-punk staple “Spiderwebs” as sounds from outdated technology haunt the track through its 3:42 runtime.    

And the call backs are not limited to the lyrical and production themes. While recent JATK releases have arrived in the maxi-single format, “Don’t Call” delivers a proper b-side in “Don’t Come Knockin’”, a sister song to the single and one that shares musical DNA with its companion. In a way, the two tracks communicate with each other.  

“Lyrically, they tackle similar themes,” says Jatkola. “One is about ‘Don't call, I'm fine’, and the other is ‘If you're gonna knock, you better be there when I open the door.’ The sentiments are related, but not the same. Both incorporate real world samples (door knocks and ringing phones) as well as R&B inspired production – ‘80s era Prince on 'Don't Call' and classic ‘60s R&B like The Temptations and Smokey Robinson on 'Don't Come Knockin''. 'Don't Come Knockin'' came first and I feel like I couldn't have written 'Don't Call' if I hadn't written 'Don't Come Knockin'' first. They will forever be linked to me, so I wanted to put them out together on this maxi-single.”

This latest single, as well as the four that came before it and another single set for release just before the April album drop, all help shape an extended narrative behind Shut Up And Be The Light – even if the 12 tracks, absorbed as a whole, shine rather eclectically. 

“We came out swinging with some loud as hell guitar rock tracks (‘When Tomorrow Comes' and 'Japanese Butterfly'), then there was some jangly power-pop ('Conscious Wonder') and even dream-pop going on ( 'Ride the Wind'), then this song is just... weird! But it's all pop and melody and it’s about the songs, even if the styles change,” Jatkola notes. “I hope putting these varied singles out paints the picture that Shut Up and Be the Light – and JATK in general – isn't one genre, sound, or style. The message is more like: Expect something real, even if it isn't cookie cutter or similar to what you've heard before.”