I jumped on The Merrier train a little bit late, but it is never too late. There were many talking about The Merrier during summer and I had to check it out. The newest EP If We Fall Asleep Too Early got me after the first listen. It’s new, energetic, dreamy emo. Every song is different, as there are different collaborators on every song and it is the coolest thing about it.
The Merrier is bringing the standard of collaboration to a new level and brings us a fresh approach to the song creation process. The EP is as colorful as the music of the collaborators, so I recommend you to check out not only this EP but also the other music projects. If I ever want to collaborate with someone to make music, I would definitely reach out to The Merrier.
I really enjoyed this new, fresh approach to emo and it works so well. I am struggling to pick one song from the EP that stands out for me because all of them are so freaking good.
I can honestly say this is one of the best EPs I have listened to this year so far.
I have reached out to Jake aka The Merrier to do an interview together:
Filip: I have seen everyone talking about your music on Twitter(X) I have listened to your music because of that. How would you introduce yourself and your music in a few sentences to a fan who has just discovered you?
Jake: A dreamo collab band that only writes and records music. A different singer on every song with other musicians chipping in from time to time! No live shows! It’s really just as simple as that, you will learn about me if you follow me I’m pretty open about who I am there 🙂
F: What inspired you to start making music?
J: Gorillaz and The Cure when I was young
F: Do you have any memories of music from your childhood?
J: Mostly just my dad playing The Cure, he tried to get me to play when I was little but I wasn’t interested till I saw Gorillaz live in Harlem
F: Do you have any special memories with cassettes or vinyl records?
J: Not particularly, I do enjoy collecting band cassettes even though I do not have a player.
F: It has been a couple of months since the release of your recent EP, how does it feel now? How do you see the reception of the EP?
J: If We Fall Asleep Too Early was the first release that showcased what I was really trying to do with The Merrier, I think it’s a great intro for what’s next. The reception has been great! I still see my friends listening cuz they post their 5x5s. It always makes my day seeing the ep on those
F: Can you tell us more about the story behind the EP?
J: So since the guests write the lyrics it’s hard to pin down one theme, but for me while I was writing the music it was coming to a place of loneliness and being very overworked. The title came from a night when my girlfriend fell asleep while waiting for me to finish work and the feeling of missing out if I did stop and relax. If we fall asleep too early we may miss out on what we love…it was a toxic mindset but I used the EP to kinda turn it on its head.
F: You have released the EP on Lonely Ghost Records. How do you find working with this label?
J: It’s good! It’s really more of a hub for advice and having a lot of the little things get taken care of for me. They are great people and have helped guide me a lot. They give me a lot of confidence
F: People on Twitter recommend you as a person who likes to collaborate with other people. How do you find working on songs with others?
J: I love it in this context! A major reason I started The Merrier is because none of the old bands I was in took my ideas seriously. So I really love giving an idea to someone and letting them go wherever they feel it should go, the building off of that. It’s always exciting getting a trackback because you have no idea where it’s going to take the song.
F: You live in Cleveland, Ohio. Does this city have an impact on the music you make?
J: I wish I could say Cleveland gives me some kind of special secret feeling I feed off of but I’m just happy here and that’s enough to keep me going. Go Cavs!
F: What has the DIY community meant to you and your music?
J: It’s been amazing for me, and it’s opened my eyes to sooooooo many fantastic bands. I knew I wanted this to a DIY collab band and that’s exactly what the merrier is now :). I’m really happy to help showcase what these artists are capable of.
F: You have been very active on social media (Twitter/X). How do you find that?
J: Twitterxxx is a constant source of goofiness, information, misinformation, new bands, and new friends. I hope it can get bought by someone else one day but who knows, I’m just happy to be interacting with my friends there
F: I saw you trying to post your music on the Emo Reddit channel. How that went?
J: That was wild, I posted the music and it went pretty well till the mods took it down. Then someone uploaded my reaction to them taking it down….I dunno the internet is wild and fun
F: Your music is not a “classical” emo sound. Do you find it hard to connect with people in “Emo scene”?
J: Not really, most people are open to anything as long as you’re cool! Reddit was the only time things got weird.
F: You use the term a dreamo. How did that become your genre?
J: Coined by my friends Devon @bigugly and Taylor @georgetaylorG. They are both writers and gave me that tag. I think it’s pretty fitting given I’m doing this dream pop / emo sound!
Dream pop + emo = dreamo
F: How did you come up with your characteristic sound?
J: I went directly into a preamp and just layer effects on my guitars mostly. I have thin flat-wound strings to give more of a dreamy sound rather than a piercing tone. Lots of electronic drums and layered key effects. I’ve got this cool aguilar fuzz bass pedal that lets me mix in the fuzz with the clean tone, I love that and use it on almost every song.
F: Which artists have influenced your music the most?
J: Kero Kero Bonito, The Cure, Gorillaz, Short fictions, Hey ily, Exciting!! Excellent!!, Adventure Time, Jizue, and Zelda soundtracks.
F: What does your creative process look like?
J: Come up with and record a demo, send it to a potential guest, once the guest sends me tracks I’ll build on that! I try to keep everything super simple and easy
I will usually mess around with an idea for a few weeks before recording the demo, just so I have some structure in my head.
F: Do you search for the meaning through the music? Does the creative process help you to process your thoughts?
J: I just play music for fun and when the ideas come they come, sometimes I’m happy, sometimes I’m sad when they happen. It’s all different.
F: What is your daily job and how do you make music while working? How hard is it to find time?
J: I am a sound tech for venues! It does make it hard to find time but that’s okay, I write when I can, and that’s enough. I use a lot of what learn in the field in my recordings.
F: Do you have any other hobbies besides music?
J: Video games mostly! and hanging out with my cats.
F: Any favorite or inspirational books or movies?
J: I haven’t read a book in a while and I hate movies so not really!
F: What keeps you motivated to continue making music?
J: All these other bands in the scene making cool stuff!
F: What was the most challenging thing in your music (artistic) path?
J: Thinking I had to be in a band with other people to make music.
F: Do you have any set goals with your music? Some milestones you would like to achieve?
J: I want to make a song with Sarah Bonito.
F: What would you dream to do if anything was possible?
J: Live on an island with Kayla.
F: Do you have any advice for artists just starting out or maybe coming back to prior passions?
J: Learn to record yourself!
F: In the end, I have one challenge for you. Describe every song from your last EP “If We Fall Asleep Too Early“ in a single sentence, one sentence for each song.
J: Scenery2 – A chiptune rave inside of an old playstation
Wow! Relive!! – 3 people letting out a lot of emotion for 2 mins, with a really loud distorted bass
Lightsleeper – A digital stream of consciousness, Imagine Sonic the Hedgehog running around in cyberspace singing emo lyrics
If we fall asleep too early – Hitting the rock bottom of loneliness musically, and drowning lyrically…with a computer!
pokemmo! – Evil animal crossing villagers take over your island, with a bass and a synth
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