Wild Nothing

John Alexander Tatum a.k.a. Jack Tatum had been slowly raising his profile during his teenage years as a musician in the bands Jack and the Whale and FACEPAINT, in his hometown of Blacksburg. In the summer of 2009 however, Tatum began writing and recording breezy, laid back summer soundtracks under the moniker Wild Nothing. Alongside the likes of Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Beach Fossils, who were also gaining attention for their similar musical output, Tatum’s profile was first raised when his cover of Kate Bush’s “Cloudbusting” started making waves in indie circles.

The success of the cover and subsequent tracks led Wild Nothing to sign with Captured Tracks and began touring with the musicians Jeff Haley (bass), Nathan Goodman (guitar), and Max Brooks (drums). Ahead of their debut album, the band issued the single “Summer Holiday” in 2009, followed shortly afterwards by “Cloudbusting”. The following year in May, Wild Nothing issued their debut studio album “Gemini” to a wave of critical acclaim, including a feature on Pitchforks’ Best Albums of 2010. Whilst failing to make inroads into the charts, the record endeared Tatum to the hearts of indie-music lovers the world over, and raised anticipation for future releases.

Briding the gap between another full-length release, Tatum et al. issued the EP “Golden Haze”, complete with percussive bells, clean guitars and laboured, love-inflected lyrics. Featuring Nicolas Vernhes on production duties, Wild Nothing’s sophomore full-length “Nocturne” arrived in 2012. Record at Rare Book Room Studios, the record was an extension of previous work with added skills, experience and maturity, and topped the U.S. Heatseekers Chart. Marked by Tatum’s most experimental and genre-defying work to date, he released the EP “Empty Estate” in 2013.