The typical routine of a college student consists of many late-night study sessions, part-time jobs, and the occasional existential crisis. Jake Thistle’s life consists of all of that, plus a successful music career on the side.
A journalism and communication double major at Rutgers University, Thistle grew up in Bergen County, New Jersey, but his musical career extends far beyond the walls of the Garden State. His love for music started at a very early age– three years old to be exact– when a late-night Super Bowl Halftime show changed everything for him.
“It started when my parents let me stay up to watch the Super Bowl, thinking I would get into sports, which wasn’t really the case,” he said. “Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers [performed], and for whatever reason, it just mesmerized me. I’ve been a fan of that band and genre basically ever since.”
At nine years old, Thistle received his first guitar from a family friend and learned to play off YouTube and a couple of taught chords. “It sort of snowballed from there,” he explained.
“I started out at an open mic, it was like a week and a half before my 10th birthday, but I had been playing for probably about five or six months at the time,” Thistle recalled. “I did like three cover songs to open the night, and I just had a great time. I loved it, I loved being in front of people and hanging out with the crowd. I just kept coming back, and eventually that turned into a paying gig at the venue.”
Now 21, Thistle has signed with Golden Retriever Records and has recorded in New Jersey and Nashville, with upcoming studio time in L.A. He explained, “I make pretty elaborate demos in my home studio, and then typically I will give those demos to a producer, and then we will go in to record somewhere else.”
“I’ve been writing basically as long as I’ve learned how to play because all of my influences wrote, it wasn’t really a conscious decision to say, ‘Oh, now I want to start writing.’ It’s just they played and wrote the songs, so I wanted to, as well,” he said. Inspired by artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and of course, Tom Petty, Thistle decided to place himself into the songwriting traditions of his idols. “I try to write the songs that I think I would want to hear, that would resonate with me. I take what I’ve learned from [my influences] and make it my own.”
Though his first song, “Chasing the Sun,” never made it past his own ears, his approach to writing has remained the same, starting with the music and letting the story follow. “I typically have a hard time writing lyrics without some sort of melodic structure,” he explained. “Typically, the chords come first, and then from the chords I write lyrics, and then those lyrics sort of shape the melody.”
Thistle has realized, looking back on his previous music, that his lyrics sometimes reveal more of himself than he initially thought. “I think some artists’ best work comes from when they feel like it needs to be expressed,” he said. “Looking back on my first two albums, I notice parts of my life are in these songs—I just didn’t realize it at the time.”
Along with writing and recording, Thistle enjoys taking to the stage and being able to perform his songs live for an audience. With various upcoming performances around NJ, Thistle has no plan to leave the stage anytime soon. He reflected on his past performances that shaped him into the live musician he is today. “I did a show in 2019 that meant a lot, it was the first time I played in Los Angeles,” he explained. “It was a memorial for Tom Petty about a few years after he passed; we did it with a couple of the Heartbreakers and a couple of other people that have played with him and were in his circle.”
“I’ve learned so much from watching these guys over the years that to share the stage with them for two hours in front of over 1,000 people was really something that meant a lot to me. I had to get special permission to get out of the SATS early to fly there,” he joked.
“In terms of stuff more recently, I turned 21 in Spring, so I did a show at the Wonder Bar [in Asbury Park, NJ]. I played the Wonder Bar a bunch of times, they were always supportive but they were always strictly 21 and over so when I was playing there when I was younger, I couldn’t go through the front door, sometimes it was hard to sell merch in the main part of the room, I had to really hang back,” Thistle said. “I’ve done opening slots there, but for my twenty-first birthday show, it was my first headline there, and it ended up being a sellout, so that meant a lot, and I do a lot of shows in Asbury, so it was sort of a homecoming, I guess.”
Throughout Thistle’s career, he has raised over $100,000 in donations for several organizations such as the American Cancer Society, the Light of Day Foundation, and the Tazzie Animal Rescue Fund. “At one point, I realized if I wasn’t playing live, I was doing it in my room anyway. [I used that to] help other people through something I do anyway; I thought that was a really good opportunity,” he said. From early gigs auctioned by the American Cancer Society at just 11 years old to performing at live shows today, Thistle remains dedicated to using his music to benefit both others and himself. “I try to help out basically as much as I can because I just love playing. If I can do that and help other people, because playing helps me, why not?”
Thistle released his first album, Down the Line, in 2021, followed by an EP, The Half Left Out, in 2023. He admits that after being in the business for so long, he’s grown more confident and intentional with each release. “I definitely think I’m more proud of everything that comes out. I think it’s that I’m just more involved with the process, and so I think [with each project] I’ve been a little happier with the result because now I know a little more of what I’m asking for and looking for.”
Recently, Thistle released a new single on June 11 titled “The City Whispers,” which he admits is a different direction for him and his music. “It is definitely my most up-tempo, high-energy song I’ve put out,” he said. “I’ve always been excited, especially when I’m with my band, to play that song live because it is a little bit of a turning point compared to some of the softer music I have put out before.”
This new single is planned to be part of Thistle’s new album, which is projected to be released at the end of this year. “I feel like it could be considered my third album, second album, or first album,” he said. “Because I put out that record in 2021 [Down the Line] completely on my own, like I didn’t know what I was doing at all, I wasn’t signed or anything like that. Then, when I signed with the label, we put out an EP [The Half Left Out], a pretty long EP, it was like 7 songs. It’s funny, I think the label is probably going to bill it as my debut album, but I consider it my third album.”
With an impressive music career already under his belt, Thistle has already proven he has the passion and persistence to make it big. He has already seen success that many artists his age can only dream of. “It’s been my full-time job my entire life, basically, and I had a great time in school getting degrees that are non-music related, but with any luck, I won’t use them,” he joked. “I’m excited to see where things go, but as long as I can live a life playing and writing music, and also maybe have a roof over my head and eat, those are my goals… that is what success looks like for me.”
Photo taken from jakethistle.com | Interviewed on July 2, 2025
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