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. Early life and youth career According to Thomas' appearance on the That One Time On Tour podcast, 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. 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. Career 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. Just Like Vinyl 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