JATK discovers a youthful collaboration in the ‘Conscious Wonder’ music video
Boston songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist releases his eclectic guitar-pop project’s inaugural visual on Tuesday, October 18
BANDCAMP . SPOTIFY . INSTAGRAM . YOUTUBE . FACEBOOK . TWITTER . AUDIOMACK . MULTI-LINK
Debut album ‘Shut Up and Be the Light’ out now on baby blue vinyl
Photo Credit: Shaun Clarke
BOSTON, MASS. [October 18, 2022] – Over the past few years, JATK’s debut album Shut Up And Be The Light came together as a purely collaborative affair. Matt Jatkola’s name sat atop the figurative masthead, but the songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist led a creative vision that included many of his friends and colleagues, taking what appeared to be a solo record on the surface and exposing something far more communal and intimate with the peeling back of each sonic layer. In April, Shut Up And Be The Light hit the streams alongside a CD release; this month, the LP gets the vinyl treatment, and the release is marked for the occasion with JATK’s debut music video for album standout “Conscious Wonder,” which premieres Tuesday, October 18.
And like the album, the video is yet another collective affair, with Jatkola teaming up with a host of creatives: Longtime collaborator in director and editor Shaun Clarke; his partner Aneleise Ruggles and 12-year-old niece Amelia Geddes; and Emerson College Graduate Advanced Cinematography students Brianna Cox, Richa Iyer, Asma Khoshmehr, Isabel Miranda, and Roxanne Wan, working together as a class project under their professor Clarke.
The video was filmed in two segments: In the studio in April with the Emerson students on 35mm film, and then digitally for the vibrant field and car scenes in July. The colorful video for “Conscious Wonder,” the third of six kaleidoscopic singles from Shut Up And Be The Light, swirls around a few different themes – primary colors, balloons, donuts, “and a loose idea of a celebration... for what, we don't know,” says Jatkola – to bring the power-pop song to visual life.
“‘Conscious Wonder’ has always felt like a song that sums up the album,” Jatkola says. “It's certainly a pop song in structure, but in terms of genre or overall sound, it's not terribly well-defined – in a good way! There are jangly guitars, a ton of vocal harmonies, and there's some lap steel that gives it a tinge of country; but it's not just any one of those things. It feels greater than the sum of its parts, which is sort of what the song is about – grappling with ideas that are part of you, but also bigger than you or maybe even beyond your comprehension. I wrote the song thinking, ‘What is it to truly wonder?’ You're wondering about wondering, consciously. And what is consciousness? What does it mean to be alive? To die? It's a head trip. It's finding your place in the sun. It's existential. Again, in a good way! We hope.”
When “Conscious Wonder” first surfaced as a streaming single last summer, it arrived with press photos of Jatkola out in a sunny, grassy field clutching a balloon. The visual gave the track a bit of innocent child-like wonder, and some levity as much of the musician’s music for the album was inspired by the heaviness of his cancer journey after successfully battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma the year before. That visual helped inform the art direction for the video, from the studio scenes led by the Emerson students to the outdoor locations, where the photos and video were shot in the same field near Jatkola’s hometown of Ashburnham approximately one year apart.
“I've worked with Shaun Clarke on many projects,” Jatkola says. “We've been collaborating for well over 10 years now. He's directed videos for other bands I've been in (The Bynars and FBGM) and I've worked with him on various films and shorts. He's a really talented cinematographer with a penchant for capturing movement and dance. For this, we kind of stepped back. Instead of the two of us driving the project in a hands-on way, we let the students take the reins. His students were great and it was really fun to see them learn how to shoot on film for this piece. I'm biased, but working with my niece was also a joy. It's really meaningful to collaborate with family on a creative project, and especially this song.”
While the Emerson students brought the song to life in the studio, Ruggles and Geddes joined Jatkola for the car and field scenes – filming as they drove around, and even showing Jatkola’s grandmother's house and the lake near where he grew up, which made the final cut. “We directed Amelia and showed her the ropes on how to use the camera and described the type of movement we were looking for – we wanted it to feel human, handheld, and alive,” Jatkola says. “We got all the shots on our list but there are a bunch of shots that were totally her idea, which we used in the video.”
Even the Krispy Kreme donuts featured in the video were purchased from his niece for her school chorus fundraiser. So the youth and education play a rather significant part of the video’s overall dynamic.
“Shaun and I discussed many ideas before landing on this,” Jatkola admits. “I originally wanted to incorporate all my friends into this video because it's the song on the album that was most collaborative when we recorded it. But as we started talking about it back in 2021, it was still really hard to pull something off like that because of COVID restrictions. It ended up becoming really simplified, centered around just me and balloons, which actually seems even more fitting for the song.”
He continues: “From a conceptual standpoint, the balloons signify that wondrous something just floating in the air. Balloons are these round, weird, colorful things floating in the sky. They're kind of magical. That's why kids are drawn to them. Relating to the song, the balloon is a simple distillation of a potentially complex concept – explain the physics of a floating balloon to a child and you will surely kill their dreams, or at least bore the hell out of them. In a way, the song is tackling an equally difficult concept – existentialism – in the digestible form of pop music.”
When JATK poses an existential question, he knows he’s got a friend, a collaborator, a partner, a family member, and even a whole classroom, right alongside to help him find the answer.
Contact michael@publisist.co or jatktheband@gmail.com for more information.
***
‘Shut Up and Be the Light’ vinyl art:
Art Credit: Niki Fandel
***
JATK short bio:
JATK (pronounced “Jack”), the power-pop project from Boston-based songwriter Matt Jatkola and his circle of collaborators, cranks up an arsenal of hooks and riffs with affecting jolts of guitar-rock reflected through his knack for pop melody. With the release of six eclectic singles between 2021 and 2022, the debut full-length album Shut Up and Be the Light was unveiled in April, with the vinyl release hitting shelves and record collections on October 7, 2022
***
‘Conscious Wonder’ credits:
Music video directed & edited by Shaun Clarke and Matt Jatkola
Studio 35mm film, Graduate Advanced Cinematography, Emerson College (April 2022):
Brianna Cox, Richa Iyer, Asma Khoshmehr, Isabel Miranda, and Roxanne Wan
Field and car digital (July 2022):
Amelia Geddes, Matt Jatkola, and Aneleise Ruggles
*
Matt Jatkola: Vocals, guitar
Anthony Hoey: Additional vocals
Anthony Savino: Lap steel
Kiel Szivos: Bass
Tim Wright: Drums
Recorded by Matt Jatkola at Peace & Love Laboratories, Arlington, MA; Anthony Hoey at The Wallpaper Room, Brooklyn, NY; Anthony Savino in Northridge, CA; Kiel Szivos at Parker's Room, Auburn, MA; Tim Wright at Trainsong Studio, Arlington, MA
Mixed by Benny Grotto at Mad Oak Studios, Allston, MA
Mastered by Nick Zampiello at New Alliance East, Somerville, MA
Produced by Matt Jatkola
Written by Matt Jatkola
© & ℗ 2022, 2 STEP IZ DED (ASCAP)
***
JATK press photo:
Photo Credit: Aneleise Ruggles
***
The music of JATK has been heard and featured on:
A1M Records (Indie Rock Manchester), BICT Radio, Banks Radio Australia, Bay State Rock, Blood Makes Noise, Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood, BumbleBee Radio, Christian’s Cosmic Corner (Mark Skin Radio), Citywide Blackout, Eric Alper’s 360 Degrees, Everything You Know Is Wrong (WMWM Salem State), Garagerocktopia with Robert Kreutzer, If It’s Too Loud, Laura Beth’s Mixtape Show (Reclaimed Radio UK), Lonely Oak Radio, Marc’s Alt-Rock Playground (Mark Skin Radio), Nova Southeastern University’s Radio X, Oh Hello Boston, On The Town with Mikey D (WMFO Tufts), Original Music Showcase (Mark Skin Radio), POP! The Beat Bubble Burst (KDHX), Real Gone Rocks, Ricky’s Daily Bangers, Rising with Skybar (WMFO Tufts), Sound Street Radio, Sweet Sunday Sounds (Valley FM), The Honey Pop, The Menace’s House of Indies, The Paradox Box (WMBR), The River 92.5 FM, The Rodney Bingenheimer Show (SiriusXM’s Underground Garage), Tinnitist, UncertainFM, Virtual Detention (WZBC), WODU Old Dominion University, Your First Listen (KNNZ), idobi Radio, and other fine radio stations, outlets, blogs, and programs.
***
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
***
Media contact and all press/radio inquiries: michael@publisist.co or jatktheband@gmail.com
BANDCAMP . SPOTIFY . INSTAGRAM . YOUTUBE . FACEBOOK . TWITTER . AUDIOMACK . MULTI-LINK