JATK

JATK is Matt Jatkola and friends

This album was conceived during Matt's recovery from Hodgkin's Lymphoma and during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was recorded remotely in over a dozen locations across the United States during 2020-21. Most of the musicians were never in the same room.

A percentage of album sales goes to The Samfund, a nonprofit organization that supports young adult cancer survivors as they recover from the financial impacts of cancer treatment.

Dedicated to the memory of Ben Ruggles and Mike Denneen.

BOSTON, MASS. [April 15, 2022] – In March 2020, when everyone was doing everything they could to avoid hospitals because of the oncoming pandemic, JATK was headed directly into one. The songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist born Matt Jatkola had just been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and the subsequent cancer journey, treatment, recovery, and everything else that has happened in the two years since has helped shape debut album Shut Up and Be the Light. The 12-track LP, preceded by six singles plus six new tracks, is set for release April 15 on vinyl, compact disc, and digital formats. 

Themes of existentialism and mortality help develop the core of Shut Up and Be the Light. It’s also a collaborative album that will be described as Jatkola’s experimentation with power-pop, synth-pop, R&B, and other eclectic styles and sounds that shape the music. But the true core of this LP isn’t an ailment or even an easily defined genre; it’s hope. 

“Yes, this album is all about hope,” Jatkola says. “You would think that being diagnosed with cancer and the world shutting down due to a pandemic within days of each other would have the opposite effect on my point of view, but I just didn't see it that way. All I had was hope. I mean, if you think about it, you can't get much lower than that, right? I had everything to complain about, but what good was it going to do? All I could do was be present, look ahead to the future, and try to make that better.” 

That shines through across the LP, showcasing Jatkola’s strengths as an artist, musician, and producer, and though the sound tightly packaged here may jump around in terms of different styles, instrumentation, feelings, and approaches, it’s still cohesive and tells a story. And like anything fit for 2022, there are several layers and corridors that funnel these stories, from his personal experiences to those shared by communities struggling with the pandemic to overarching themes of social awareness and empathy. Shut Up and Be The Light shines out of the speakers with a rightful purpose. And the urgency and drive that Jatkola weaves so flawlessly into rock and pop music comes straight from the heart. 

“The reality is when I was sick in bed during my cancer treatments,” Jatkola admits, “I was thinking about how much I wanted to get better so I could make music, and more specifically, this album. If that's not a sign that I really mean it, I don't know what is. This album, even during the most trying of times, has been a light in the dark. That's one of the reasons it's titled Shut Up and Be the Light.” 

Though some of the compositions on the album trace back through Jatkola’s various bands, projects, and collaborations over the years, Shut Up and Be the Light is firmly rooted in the now – to say nothing of the LP’s nearly 20 collaborators, all who worked remotely with Jatkola over the past two years, never once appearing in the same room as him. Themes of existentialism and mortality, breaking free from the mental and emotional restrictions we often place on ourselves and others, giving it everything and not holding back run through these dozen songs, crafted in the most 2022 way possible – connected through technology, but ultimately from a distance. Under the glossy surface, it’s quite simply music of empowerment and ambition, one massive hook and chorus at a time.  

“I could've made a rock album. I could've made a synth-pop album. I could've made an R&B album. I could've made an acoustic album,” Jatkola reasons. “It would be easier in so many ways to focus on just one of those things and stay in one lane, but I feel it's important to set the precedent for a diversity of styles and sounds – not only for this album, but as a basis for future JATK projects. So I did it all at once. Make your own rules! I didn't want to put out a batch of songs that wouldn't also be enlightening. I want this album to have some meaning beyond being a group of songs that I like. I hope it inspires something in others, just like the things I've written about have inspired me.” 

That inspiration came from a spectrum of experiences. In April 2021, JATK kicked off this new era with “When Tomorrow Comes,” a wildly celebratory, high-energy rock and roll anthem with nods to ‘70s prog, glam, and power-pop and ‘90s alternative rock bursting through the speakers. From there came a string of eccentric singles: Power-pop firecracker “Japanese Butterfly”; melancholic alt-country cruiser “Conscious Wonder”; dream-like hymnal “Ride The Wind”; the Prince-inspired R&B independence jam “Don’t Call”; and the quirky, synth-pop fueled “Never Gonna Be Your Girl, Friend.” 

Each of JATK’s six singles dating back less than a year has shown a different mood, a different vibe. And the new tracks, like album centerpiece “Making Love Til We're Breaking Up”, co-produced by Benny Grotto and featuring live strings, jangle-pop yearner “Slide Back Down” and opener/closer “Leave You”, all further this notion of unpredictability, all joined together by Jatkola’s knack for melody and storytelling. Like the rollercoaster of emotions we all endure when faced with trauma, JATK’s creative output speaks to a mind racing and a heart beating.   

“I'm coming out on the other end of a pandemic and my own cancer journey as someone who feels things differently and more personally than I did before,” says Jatkola. “The first full song on the album, ‘Easy to Kill’, includes a bunch of news reports playing in the background about the Breonna Taylor shooting. I remember feeling less overwhelmed by the pandemic and cancer, and more overwhelmed with the stories that were coming out about George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, or later with the January 6 Capitol riots, or now with the war in Ukraine. These injustices are always buzzing around in the background and it's like there's no way to stop them. I wanted to capture that with that song and this album.” 

Jatkola understands this album is bigger than him. Or his cancer journey. Or life, death, and relentless pursuit to move on and move forward that drives each of us to find whatever makes us happy, whatever allows us to pull through and see the next day, breathe our next breath, or record that next album. 

“That idea is a huge part of the emotional tapestry of the album,” he adds. “You might not be able to stop all the bad in the world, but you can shut up and be the light, do good in the ways you're able, and hope that it makes a difference.”

***

On ‘Shut Up and Be the Light’, by Matt Jatkola:

On existentialism & mortality. “Can't skirt around this one. I went through a cancer diagnosis and months of chemo and radiation treatments during a time when everything shut down due to a worldwide pandemic. I'd be lying if I said I didn't contemplate my own mortality over the past couple years and questioned what it all means or what my place is in the universe. That's the string holding the album together. It pops up in almost every song in some way.”

On not staying in his lane. “I could've made a rock album. I could've made a synth-pop album. I could've made an R&B album. I could've made an acoustic album. It would be easier in so many ways to focus on just one of those things and stay in one lane, but I feel it's important to set the precedent for a diversity of styles and sounds - not only for this album, but as a basis for future JATK projects. So I did it all at once. Make your own rules!”

On not holding back. “This is the debut JATK album. It's the first album of original music I've released in almost a decade. Many say the album format isn't relevant anymore, but what I want to say doesn't fit in one song. I want it to be appreciated as a whole, which has many parts. I've really struggled as an artist with this shift to singles and streaming/playlist culture, to the point where I've held back music because of it. With this project, I said no more! I'm putting it all out there and I'm going to work within those parameters instead. It's been a great year of not holding back and now I'm ready to really open the flood gates with the album.”

On being the light. “I didn't want to put out a batch of songs that wouldn't also be enlightening. I want this album to have some meaning beyond being a group of songs that I like. I hope it inspires something in others, just like the things I've written about have inspired me.”

On collaboration. “I tried to do a count, and it's safe to say over 20 musicians and producers actively collaborated with me on this record in various forms (not to mention those who collaborated on the non-musical elements of the album as well). I'm used to the good old fashioned band model where you're always working with the same few people for months or years at a time, and that's your band. Maybe you work with a producer along the way for recording, but that's the point of all you're doing – The Band. JATK is not that, and it's quite exciting and inspiring in that way, even though I do think of this as a band in other ways. It's almost like I have a different band on every track! I can steer the ship, but I can still have other musicians and producers give valuable contributions and input on a song. Best of all, I don't have the shackles of interpersonal band dynamics! It's the happiest I've ever been making music and I think it shows in the music. Everyone who worked on the songs did something I wouldn't or couldn't have done myself. That's the magic. I value having control over the final outcome, but I don't ever want to work in a vacuum or do everything, so it's the best of both worlds.”

On a dedication. “The album is dedicated to Ben Ruggles and Mike Denneen. Ben Ruggles was my partner's dad, whom we lost to cancer in 2019. Mike Denneen was a producer, co-founder of Q Division Studios, and president of the board at the Mosesian Center for the Arts where I worked with him closely. We lost Mike to cancer in 2018. Both of these men upheld the idea of shutting up and being the light. I follow their examples. Because of how quickly they left us, I truly don't think I would've gone to the doctor and gotten anything checked out for way longer, if at all, and who knows what would've been in that case. I dedicate this album to them because even though they had to leave, they helped me continue on.”

Media praise for JATK:

“A brisk, uplifting joy.” _Worcester Magazine

“Such poppy magic” _Boston Emissions

"...a fresh blast of indie rock/power-pop.” _Rebel Noise

“‘Japanese Butterfly’ is a burst of mid-’90s style power pop with some T-Rex style glam thrown in. It's all buzzy guitars swirling with some of the catchiest vocals around... [it's] one of the most positive songs about cancer out there."_If It’s Too Loud

"Opening with a wall of feedback... the song announces its arrival with a dark undertone, but barely thirty seconds in, its thinly disguised sunny alt-pop melody calls out with real confidence, while Matt's distorted guitar cranks through the riffs as if it's 1993 and he's an aspiring Bob Mould." _Real Gone Rocks

“[‘Japanese Butterfly’s’] guitar riffs sound straight out of a Dinosaur Jr. or Superdrag track from the ‘90s. On this maxi-single the great guitar work is even more apparent on the instrumental version. I don’t usually give grades or bullshit like that but this gets an A in my book, this student of music was paying attention in class.” _Blood Makes Noise

“The performer casts aside his usual Smashing Pumpkins, Cure, and Slowdive chops, opting for something completely different [with 'Don't Call']. So different, in fact, that you'd never recognize it as JATK at all... As homage to the much missed Prince and some of his more wayward pop experiments, it's pretty much perfect... via a mix of sheer balls and melodic ear, JATK serves a winner with this left field offering.” _Real Gone Rocks