Thomas Erak | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Thomas Joseph Erak |
Origin | Mukilteo, Washington |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 2002–present |
Labels |
Thomas Joseph Erak is an American singer, songwriter, and musician from Mukilteo, Washington, best known as a founding member of the Seattle-based progressive mathcore band, The Fall of Troy and as a member of the band Just Like Vinyl; as well as his recent solo experiment Thomas Erak and The Shoreline. He is a former member of the band Chiodos. [1]
According to Thomas' appearance on the That One Time On Tour podcast, [2] Thomas' father was a touring, for-hire bass player in the 70s and 80s, and helped him get into music as a young child. Initially, he began playing drums, often practicing music from jazz and funk greats like Miles Davis, Ray Charles, and James Brown. Later on, he picked up bass around the age of 7 and excelled at the instrument, learning entire songs by ear. At age 12, Thomas started playing guitar, often playing Nirvana and Green Day, before moving onto more technical music, such as Sunny Day Real Estate and Deftones, all of which he has claimed to be influences on his music career. Erak attended Kamiak High School and graduated in 2003. While there, he met fellow Fall of Troy member Andrew Forsman while participating in the Kamiak Show Band drumline. [3] Along with classmates Mike Munro and Tim Ward, they formed a band called The 30 Years War. Munro left the band during their late high school years, and in 2003 the remaining members renamed the band to The Fall of Troy.
After forming in 2003, while in high school, the band released their first album through Lujo Records. Erak remained with the band until their 2010 hiatus, and joined again in 2013 when the band announced its reunion. The band has since released OK in 2016 independently to critical and fan acclaim alike. The band had been hinting at new material in 2019 that eventually became 2020's Mukiltearth. The band announced a weekend of shows on the east coast, as well of a handful of shows in California to close out 2019, to garner attention for the aforementioned Mukiltearth. More recently, they played several shows across the United States for the 20th anniversary of their self titled album.
During The Fall of Troy's hiatus, Erak played in the rock band Just Like Vinyl. They released two albums that are still available, the first being self-titled and the second being Black Mass released by Superball Records. Erak has said in many interviews he believes that Black Mass is one of his personally favorite albums he has had a part in making. The band is currently on Hiatus as Erak works on new music/The Fall of Troy.
In 2012, Erak joined Chiodos as the lead guitarist and backup vocalist. He is featured on their 2014 album, Devil . [4] [5]
He left Chiodos on December 9, 2014 to focus on the next The Fall of Troy album. [6]
Erak and ex-Dance Gavin Dance singer Kurt Travis released a 3-song "Demo" in 2017 via Travis’ Esque records, and have been since rumored to have recorded a full-length LP that has yet to be released.
During the Fall of Troy's original run, he was the lead vocalist in local Seattle Hardcore band "The Hills Have Eyes". He also spent a brief period of time as the drummer for The Monday Mornings. The Fall of Troy bandmate Andrew Forsman replaced him when he left. In early 2015, Erak performed with instrumental progressive rock band Chon at SXSW for Audiotree, and played a variety of songs from The Fall of Troy, Just Like Vinyl, and a cover of Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box". Despite being called a one-of-a-kind performance, Erak has since played two other shows with Chon. At the Audiotree Music Festival 2016 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, members of Chon featured with The Fall of Troy in multiple songs. Then, on Chon's "Super Chon Bros" tour stop in Detroit, Michigan, Erak performed on Chon's song "Can't Wait" and then the group proceeded to play The Fall of Troy's song "F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X." In 2018 Erak released an EP titled The Whole Story under the name "Thomas Erak and The Shoreline" which was music all written and recorded by Erak himself with help from former bandmate Jake Carden of Just Like Vinyl, and a couple other friends. The EP was released by Blue Swan records. Interestingly, Erak recorded the music in a very interesting and difficult format. Where he would start with the drums, and basically improv drum tracks to a chosen BMP or "click track" until the drums made up a song. He would then repeat this with bass, then guitars, and finally vocals. Erak stated in his biography "the making of the Whole Story" that he wanted to challenge himself, and used this opportunity as an experiment to "see if he could even do this by myself". The EP is full of experiments in genre for Erak as it both harkens back to his post-punk/hardcore roots with tracks like "Sick and Tired" as well as prog-rock, "Silver Tongue". The EP also explored genres yet explored by Erak, that tend to be some of the most interesting moments of The Whole Story such as "Payday Loans" An almost Alt-County anthem. As well as almost straight forward Pop-Rock with songs like "He Said, She Said" and ballad, "Heartpoon". Erak has said in the future he hopes to experiment more with "The Shoreline" moniker, but for now is hard at work on a brand new project that is yet to be named, but will be released in 2020, as well as a long-rumoured upcoming release from The Fall of Troy "Mukiltearth" once again.
The Thirty Years' War
The Fall of Troy
Just Like Vinyl
Chiodos
Push Over
Spit Spot
Solo Albums
The Thirty Years' War
The Fall of Troy
The Fall of Troy is an American post-hardcore band from Mukilteo, Washington. The band is a trio consisting of Thomas Erak, Andrew Forsman and Jon-Henry "Hendo" Batts. When the group started their bassist was Tim Ward, who was later replaced by Frank Ene following his departure from the band in late 2007. Ene would remain in the band until their initial break-up in 2010, but Ward rejoined the band in Ene's place for their reunion in 2013. Ward once again left the band in 2016, and was later replaced by Just Like Vinyl bassist Jon-Henry "Hendo" Batts. The trio is known for their technical and dynamic style, unorthodox song structures, energetic stage presence and also for their song "F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X." which was featured in several video games. The group has released six full-length albums, two EPs, and two singles. Prior to The Fall of Troy's formation, when each member was about 17 years old, all three founding members were in another group named The 30 Years War, who released two EPs.
The Fall of Troy is the debut studio album by The Fall of Troy, released on November 4, 2003. It was released by Lujo Records and Equal Vision Records on the re-release. It was recorded at The Hall of Justice in Seattle.
Doppelgänger is the second studio album from American mathcore band the Fall of Troy, which followed up the band's bootlegged Ghostship Demos EP from 2004 as well as their self-titled LP from 2003. Four of the songs were re-recorded versions of tracks from the self-titled album, hence the name Doppelgänger. "Macaulay McCulkin" was taken from the Ghostship Demos EP, and was put onto Doppelgänger for unknown reasons.
Chiodos is an American post-hardcore band from Davison, Michigan. Formed in 2001, the group was originally known as “The Light-hearted Carpet Knights” before changing their name to "The Chiodos Bros," the band's name was a tribute to filmmakers Stephen, Charles, and Edward Chiodo, responsible for the film Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Chiodos released their first full-length album, titled All's Well That Ends Well, on July 26, 2005. Their second album, Bone Palace Ballet, was released in North America on September 4, 2007 and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200 and number 1 on the Independent Albums. Warner Bros. Records released Bone Palace Ballet on January 26, 2009, as part of a new distribution deal in the UK. They released their third studio album, Illuminaudio in 2010, and it was the only studio album to feature Brandon Bolmer as lead vocalist and Tanner Wayne as drummer. The band released their fourth and final album, Devil on April 1, 2014, which marked the return of original vocalist Craig Owens and drummer Derrick Frost.
Andrew Clark Forsman is an American drummer and percussionist from Mukilteo, Washington, known as one of the founding members of the Seattle-based progressive rock band The Fall of Troy.
Timothy Christopher Ward is an American musician best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist for the Mukilteo, Washington based prog-rock band The Fall of Troy and as a singer and guitarist for the band Trash Kids.
Manipulator is the third studio album from mathcore band The Fall of Troy, from Mukilteo, Washington. It was recorded at Robert Lang Studios, Red Room Studios, and Avast Classic, in Seattle, Washington. It was released on May 1, 2007 through Equal Vision Records, and is the follow-up to their previous 2005 effort, Doppelgänger. The title of the album is taken from the song "Sledgehammer".
Moving Mountains is an American rock band from Purchase, New York. Combining elements of emo and post-rock, the band has often been compared to such acts as The Appleseed Cast and Thrice.
Phantom on the Horizon is a concept EP by American progressive rock band The Fall of Troy that was released on November 28, 2008, through Equal Vision Records. It is the completed version of the Ghostship Demos EP that the band released in 2004. This rerecorded version of the original demos features five "chapters" and was produced by Casey Bates.
In the Unlikely Event is the fourth studio album by American mathcore band The Fall of Troy, that was released on October 6, 2009. The album was recorded with producer Terry Date and is the only full-length album to feature bassist Frank Ene. It was recorded at Studio Lithio. The album featured a slightly less aggressive style compared to the band's earlier work, in turn facing mixed critical reception.
Kurt Travis is an American singer, musician, and songwriter from Sacramento, California. He is currently part of the post-hardcore bands Royal Coda and Push Over and the math rock duo Gold Necklace and was formerly a vocalist in the rock bands Dance Gavin Dance and A Lot Like Birds.
Illuminaudio is the third studio album by American post-hardcore band Chiodos. It was released on October 5, 2010 through Equal Vision Records. Illuminaudio is the first and only studio album from the band with vocalist Brandon Bolmer, formerly of Yesterdays Rising, after the departure of Craig Owens. Owens would return to the band in 2012, replacing Bolmer. This is also the first and only album with drummer Tanner Wayne, formerly of Underminded. He would leave the band in 2012, to be replaced by former drummer Derrick Frost. This is also the last album with original guitarist Jason Hale. He would leave the band in 2012 to be replaced by The Fall of Troy's guitarist and vocalist Thomas Erak. As of March 2014, the album has sold 49,000 copies in the United States.
Brandon Allen Bolmer is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, and visual artist.
The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die is an American emo/indie rock band formed in Willimantic, Connecticut, in 2009. Following the release of several EPs and splits featuring original lead singer Thomas Diaz, they released their debut LP Whenever, If Ever in 2013 to generally positive reviews. Undergoing a series of roster changes, they proceeded to release a 2014 collaboration with spoken word artist Christopher Zizzamia titled Between Bodies, as well as several full-length records, including Harmlessness in 2015, Always Foreign in 2017, and 2021's Illusory Walls.
Devil is the fourth and final studio album by Michigan post-hardcore band Chiodos, released on April 1, 2014. The album takes its name from the band's definition of the word "Devil." Returning vocalist Craig Owens explains:
Devil isn't something I thought long and hard about. It is something that hit me, and hard. I asked myself if I was brave enough to stand behind such a strong, emotionally evoking word.. and I knew right then, that was it. This title is not to be confused with the muscled, red horned man surrounded by fire. This is about the temptations of everyday life; the things that become regrets; the moments where you are forced to make a choice that will determine how it is that you look at yourself for the rest of your life. This album is my definition of Devil.
Chon was an American progressive rock and math rock band from Oceanside, California. Their music is largely instrumental with only a few songs containing vocal performances. The band consists of Mario Camarena (guitar), Erick Hansel (guitar), Esiah Camarena (bass) and Nathan Camarena (drums).
OK is the fifth studio album by American mathcore band The Fall of Troy, released on April 20, 2016. The album was self-released for free on the band's website. It was the first release since their 2009 album, In the Unlikely Event, and the first since their reunion in 2013. In May of 2016, the band released OK#2, an alternative and more raw mix of OK, which was also released for free. Two further versions, OK#3.1 and OK#3.2, instrumental versions of both OK and OK#2, respectively, were released for free on their website.
Push Over is an American post-hardcore musical duo composed of American musicians Thomas Erak, of mathcore band The Fall of Troy, and Kurt Travis, of rock band Royal Coda. Formed in 2017, the band released one demo extended play in February 2017 and were originally set to release their debut studio album in 2021, yet was postponed indefinitely. The duo are currently on hiatus and pursuing their respective endeavors.
There’s A Place I Want To Take You is the second studio album by American recording artist Kurt Travis, released on May 17, 2019, through Blue Swan Records and his own label, Esque Records. It also serves as a follow-up to his debut studio album, Everything Is Beautiful (2014). The album's lyrical content deals with heartbreak and emotional turmoil while, sonically, Travis pursued folk-inspired songwriting, using elements of indie rock, electronica, dream pop, and power pop. It was produced by Mike Watts and recorded at VuDu Recording Studios in Port Jefferson, New York and features a guest appearance from singer-rapper Andrés on two tracks.
Mukiltearth is the sixth studio album by American mathcore band The Fall of Troy, released on August 7, 2020. The album is composed of six songs written while the band members were still in high school, followed by four songs of new material.