Legendary independent New York-based rock label Equal Vision Records and Thomas Erak & The Ouroboros are excited to announce the Friday, January 31, 2025 release of (AU), the new solo showcase from the singer-songwriter, revered guitarist and founding member of Seattle progressive post-hardcore dynamos The Fall of Troy (pre-save/pre-add HERE). A pandemic passion project, a life preserver, a journal, and now an album all in one, (AU) documents Erak’s remarkable life shift from just barely being able to stay afloat to somehow having all of his personal dreams come true.
Leading the collection is “A.D.D.T.M. (Attention Deficit Disorder Of The Masses),” a song written during the Seattle riots of the summer of 2020 that discusses the desire and hope to give your loved ones a better life than your own. Watch the music video for “A.D.D.T.M. (Attention Deficit Disorder Of The Masses)” directed by Alex Zarek on YouTube HERE.
2020 was a year that was both strange and difficult for all of us. Thomas Erak had been living in Nashville for a few years and was actually playing music less than ever before in his life, but learning more about guitar than ever by watching some of the pickers that would play gigs from 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., five days a week. In February of 2020, Erak went back to Seattle to visit his family and plan his moves for the next year; he had been wanting to move to San Diego for close to eight years with his group of friends located there because it was his bug-out spot when the weather was too much to handle in Seattle, Nashville and other seasonally unforgiving places.
Then March rolled around and all of his plans went to shit. With the pandemic, there were no tours and no rehearsals, and he didn’t even know when he’d see the stage again. So he did the only thing he knew how to do — he started writing songs with friends. During another difficult time, Erak took a break and reconnected with Ranen Johnson, a good friend and amazing engineer who worked out of Robert Lang, Erak’s favorite Seattle studio.
“I owe him lots of love and props for getting me a rate I could afford as I wasn’t able to work,” Erak recalls. “My royalty checks aren’t rockstar money. Haha. Plus, they only come three times a year and I was using them all for either rent or this album since I was on EBT and was living in the cheapest spot in the U-District in Seattle I could find. It was nicknamed ‘The Hole’ … Fitting. Ranen helped me finish up the guitars and the vocals and was just a pleasure to be around as by now I’d been locked up for years not knowing if I’d ever play music live again.”
Going crazy inside, Erak figured the least he could do is turn his current circumstances into something positive and go to the studio as much as possible. Finally the winds of change slowly started to blow as he was able to play a couple one-off shows, which he’d use the money to record more of this “Album” that was never meant to be. At this point, it was simply Erak operating in survival mode, trying not to self-implode.
Eventually live music was back and Erak was touring again. He would go on to meet a very special person who would go from being his best friend and support to being his wife in a chapel in Las Vegas in less than three months (“Hey, it’s punk rock, not Mozart,” he says jokingly). A testament to hard work and determination in both life and his art, (AU) marks a new dawn for a celebrated artist that fell on some pretty tough times but came out the other side.
“I truly can’t believe it. I’m married to my best friend, with my little french bulldog Banzai, and our stepson, Gabriel,” he says proudly. “I also made an album all by myself and played all the instruments. I hope it surprises you and you enjoy it (as much as I surprised myself with what I was able to pull out of myself).”
(AU) track listing:
1. Unlawful Assembly
2.Conjugal Visits
3. A.D.D.T.M. (Attention Deficit Disorder of The Masses)
4. DCLXVI (666)
5. How High Is Your I.Q.?
6. Figure It Out!
7. Fucking Up
8. Colic
9. Thousands of Dead Satellites
10. Triggered
11. “You Got The Wrong One Today, Buddy…”
12. Dial Tone
13. Wormhole