ifitbeyourwill S06E10 • Thanks Light...

A sunlit hook can feel like a hand on your shoulder. That’s the energy we chase with Zane Ruttenberg of Thanks Light, as we unpack how Good Timing blends tropical psych shimmer, country ease, and harmony-rich craftsmanship into a record that invites you to stay for the whole side. Zane takes us from his backseat education with The Byrds and the Beach Boys to a lifelong obsession with layered vocals and melodies that last, sharing the human moments that seed lyrics—like a rough morning that turned into a song-worthy phrase.

We get inside the engine room of collaboration. Zane’s ear-trained, punk-spirited songwriting meets the classical rigour of longtime partner Michael Frels, creating friction that sharpens ideas without killing their spark. That push and pull shows up in arrangements that know what to protect—a defining riff, a hooky bassline—and what to open up for play. Along the way, we talk rotating lineups, shared fingerprints on records, and the quiet, unglamorous truth of trusting people after long van rides and late nights. It’s a portrait of a project that feels more like an art collective than a fixed band, yet still manages to sound unmistakably like Thanks Light.

Then we zoom in on Good Timing itself: the faux radio stinger that frames the album’s world, the exotica nods on the nine-minute closer, and the sequencing that makes each song feel necessary. Zane name-checks influences from Martin Denny and Jimmy Buffett to Granddaddy and Texas country pillars, weaving them into a sound that’s escapist without being empty. Finally, he teases what’s next—two albums tracked in parallel, one bright and breezy, the other tender and blue—both shaped to feel cohesive from first note to last.

If you love harmony-rich indie, tropical psych colours, and songs built to last, hit play, follow the show, and leave a review to tell us which moment stuck with you most. Your notes guide future conversations and help more listeners find the music.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Artist Introduction
• 0:33 Early Influences And Harmony Obsession
• 2:42 Why Bands And Collaboration Matter
• 4:02 Longtime Partner Michael Frells
• 5:38 Punk Instinct Meets Classical Training
• 8:28 Songwriting As Lightning Strikes
• 11:30 From Hooks To Demos To Albums
• 14:09 Protecting The Core Of A Song
• 16:40 Building The Sound Of Good Timing
• 19:20 Sequencing, Warmth, And Vocal Textures
• 21:06 Borrowing Techniques And Evolving Style
• 23:20 What’s Next: Two Contrasting Records

Transcript

Thanks Light...: 0:00

One, two, one, two, three, and with such a I can stay your hair like And if you break my heart, I'll tell you.

colleyc: 0:30

All right. Welcome everyone. We're here, another episode of the ifitbeyourwill podcast. Um, trying to find the most amazing indie artists out there uh worldwide. Um, and I have a very nice treat for us today. I'm reaching down to Austin, Texas, and I have Zane Ruttenberg, who's a part. Well, who is Thanks Light? Um, a great, great psych rock band. I mean, they got some tropical influences, country influences. It's whimsical, it's fun. It just makes me feel like I miss summer. It makes me feel like I miss summer. That's definitely. But Zane, thanks so much, man, for coming on here. I've really, really been enjoying. Zane just put out this record called Good Time, uh, Good Timing, sorry, uh, just this year, and it's just been blasting through my speakers for a pretty steady since it's come out, I'd say. So thanks for putting that out, Zane. It's amazing. No, that's that makes me so happy to hear that. Uh, thank you for sharing that. Um, it's it's a record that's so individual too. Like, you don't hear those sounds much, but we'll talk about that record a little bit in a little bit. But I like to start these off, saying, with just a little where did all this start for you? Like, where did music start to become like, hey, I think I might like this, and maybe I want to try to see if I can pursue this as a part of who I am.

Zane Ruttenberg: 1:54

I I've been I've been obsessed with music. I mean, since I think I first heard it in my dad's car when I was, you know, I mean, you know, growing up, uh, my dad and mom had great taste in music. You know, I grew up listening to like the The Birds, Neil Young, obviously the Beatles, but like the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, just like all those classics, right? And um, you know, I I really love like just harmony, vocal harmony. And I think a lot of that probably had to do with the fact that I grew up listening to Brian Wilson's compositions and the birds, who I think are like peak classic rock harmony bands, you know. I mean, just angelic vocals. Um, so yeah, I mean it's it's been ever since I was little, I've been obsessed. You know, my family used to say I had tunes in my head because I was singing all the time. And then when I was 10 years old, I got my first guitar and it was all over from there, you know. Um I and more than anything, I wanted to be in a band, you know. I love songwriting, but I love the idea of being in a band. So I think a lot of my identity revolves around bringing me and my friends together to try and make songs. That to me is just fun because um, you know, I've definitely recorded and written a lot of stuff by myself, but there's just so much more satisfaction to me in collaboration with music.

colleyc: 3:18

Right.

Zane Ruttenberg: 3:18

Right. And I tend to find that the the the songs end up stronger, you know, if it's done right, if you're honest with each other, and sometimes it's it's hard to be honest with each other, so yeah, it's a fragile relationship ship at the times, eh?

colleyc: 3:34

Being in a band, because you're revealing really personal things about you to someone else that you want to trust and confide in, but that they also see what you were trying to see or put forth what you were trying to put forth. Could you tell us, Zane, like um you before we hopped on, you had mentioned a collaborator that you had worked a lot with. Can you explain that relationship and and the length of time that you guys have collaborated for and what's kept that alive for so many years?

Zane Ruttenberg: 4:02

Yeah, I mean, uh my dear friend Michael Frells, I've been working with him uh on music, god, I mean, forever when we since we were like 19. So 20 years probably now. Um, and we've been in, I think, three, three or four bands. I think three bands, if I can remember correctly. Um and uh yeah, I mean, he's just kind of been, you know, Thingslight Start as a solo project when I was in high school, and then I went to college and did a bunch of other bands, and I really liked the name and came back to it. And as a solo project, I brought it back as like a full band where it was almost like uh I kind of almost describe it as like an art collective. You know, we have I'm usually doing the visual stuff, but as far as like the arrangements and like creating ideas, I have like this rotating cast of friends that uh I've worked with over the years. Um, you know, some have left and come back, you know. Uh we just had uh one of our our buddies, Paul, he was a drummer on Three Records, and he came back to play drums and guitar for our album release party. Um and so yeah, I mean the collaboration's a big part of this project, and Michael Frels has been a very consistent part of that for a lot of his project's life.

colleyc: 5:24

What does Michael see and what you bring to him? Like, does he does he have a similar approach when you bring him something new, or does it always kind of vary depending on what the album is or what the track is?

Zane Ruttenberg: 5:38

Um, it's so interesting. We come from such different aspects of music. He is a classically trained pianist that was like top of his class at the University of Texas. He's uh he's been an art he's been a music teacher for like 20 years now. So he just eats, sleeps, and breathes music. And you know, and like he's kind of like the more classical theory side of it. And then I'm more of like uh very much a singer-songwriter side of it, um, where um the music is a huge part of it, but also to me, it's like the concept of the song, the lyrics, the hook, all that. And so we kind of approach it from two different sides, which is actually, I think, great. It shows a very a very different perspective on the music. Um, and I feel like it really like reinforces it. And I think for him, a lot of what's uh so interesting, and we've talked about this, is that I come from, I mean, I know a fair amount of music theory, I've taught myself a lot over the years, but I come from a very untrained background. I mean, it's a very like punk rock ethos, what I've come from, and he's a very classical trained pianist. So you have this like punk rock songwriters pianists, you know, meeting together, um merging, yeah, yeah. And then that, you know, in a lot of ways, you get all my influences in there as well. Um, yeah, so it's just like it's really interesting to have uh somebody from that other side of the spectrum. And I think that my untrainedness to him, uh I just kind of stumble into these interesting musical compositions that are kind of uh just you know, I'm very ear-trained, you know. Um very ear-trained. Uh, and so I think that it's just like I'm going off a lot of impulse and feeling, and I think as a classical musician, he's like very like intrigued by the fact that he's like, you know, uh sometimes like you did this crazy thing where you did this thing and then you changed this thing, and it's like really, and I'm just like, I don't know, I just thought it sounded cool, man. Like, you know, so it's like it's really funny. Just thought I should play a little lower on the neck, or this chord sounded weird and I liked it, you know. It's just like um it's a really funny, great relationship, and you know, also just like shout out to the other other guys that we've been working with forever, you know, Wes Sims and Giuseppe Ponti, like they're my homies that like we've been working on this uh the good timing record together, and you know, I I really appreciate just like uh all my friends who have helped me, you know. I you know, the music wouldn't be the same without them, like everybody's thumb prints are all over it. And to me, I really love it. It should kind of shows like uh different chapters because I mean gosh, we're you know, we've had so many different people come through this group, and it's and so to me it's always been such a it's like such a you know, they come through, they I kind of think of it as then kind of helping sail a ship kind of a little bit, right? You know, they we all get on and we sail from one island to the other, and then some people are like I'm getting off. Oh you got good time and playing in the back, yeah, you're right. And I'm like later, all right, you know, we'll be back. And you know, some other people jump on and they help sail the ship to the other island, and it's kind of like the metaphor, I've always thought about it, because it is a it is a journey and it does get tough, and you know, but you end up just like so close to these people because you've been so vulnerable with them, you've slept in crappy rooms in other cities with them, you've you know, seen them at their best and their worst, and they've seen you at your best and your worst.

colleyc: 9:09

Yeah, um, so there's not much place to hide anymore, right? It's just like you know who I am, you know why I did that or how I responded this way.

Zane Ruttenberg: 9:19

Yeah, you spend yeah, you spend a coup a week in a van with somebody and there's nowhere to hide, you know.

colleyc: 9:23

So um that's it. But Zayn, I mean, your writing is prorific. I mean, you have a catalog that's like this is not your first record. You've been I think the first record 2008 was the one I found Mother Kiss the Sun, which is just you stripped down beautiful. I mean, it's just such a a singer-songwriting, indie folky, like really touching album, I find.

Zane Ruttenberg: 9:46

Thank you.

colleyc: 9:46

And then it goes to the next, you know. Then you have Alive and Naked and the Hallucinations and Cyclonaut and American Hamburger and what like from 2008 pretty much to right now, you've been putting a record out each year or every other year. How do you how do you approach writing these all these songs? Like, how do they come to you? Like, could you maybe like open that box up on Zane's process of songwriting and how songs come to you? Yeah.

Zane Ruttenberg: 10:19

I mean it sounds so cliche and I feel like I hear this a lot, but it's like it really is like lightning strikes, you know. And like sometimes I'll have like a phrase rattling around in my head for like a month, a year. Sometimes I'll get a verse and I'll have it for 10 years. I'm not even kidding. I mean, a song on wildcatting I wrote when I was 27 and got put out when I was 30 36. You know, and it took a long time. It took me 10 years to write the the verse and record it with a band and get a version that I liked and put it on a vinyl record. Um, and so like for me, it's like uh it all starts with lightning strikes and I hear a hook.

colleyc: 11:02

Is that a phrase, Zane, like you're saying? Like you'll hear words in your head, or you sometimes pick your guitar up and then it it would, you know, escalate that faster.

Zane Ruttenberg: 11:13

It's like it like it's beamed. I mean, this sounds so funny. It like it's beamed in, you know, it's like there's a m suddenly I'm singing this melody and I don't know where this melody came from. Right. Or, you know, I was I was playing around with some wordplay in my head, and you know, like the song I Am Fire, for example. I wrote that, that was on Wildcatting, right? And I just I don't know how I just thought of that word, I am fire, because I was just like, I was kind of like really hating on myself one day. I woke up hung over. Um I had gone on a really bad date the night before, uh, and just kind of sabotage the whole thing. And I literally woke up in bed the next day and I just said, I am fired of myself. And uh and then it just stuck with me for for like months. It just rattled around in my head, and eventually that turned into a song. So sometimes it starts with a phrase, you know, I'll I'll my wife will say something and then I'll go, That's that's a song lyric, or that's a you know, there's something there, you know, and I'll write it down. I have like it's it's all over the place, scraps of paper in my notes in my phone. I mean, I'm ADHD to all hell. Um, and so uh it's just like very just like I mean, you know, you kind of get a sense from my office, but it's just like it's a total just like uh mess in here in a good way. It's my it's my mess.

colleyc: 12:34

Well, I mean, it's your mess. So I'm sure you could I ask you for one thing, you'd know exactly where it is, right? So it's it's perception, I guess, in in a sense. Um yeah, that's so it's kind of like gathering from here, there, and everywhere, just through processing life and experiences and always, right?

Zane Ruttenberg: 12:54

Like, because I mean it has to like my ultimate goal is to connect with somebody right out there, and that's what like great music does to me, is it's like somebody like reaches out through time and space and they have this idea and it resonates with you. And like that's my ultimate goal. And so it's like if I'm writing, I need to write something that like means something to me, so hopefully it means something out there to somebody else. And so it's always coming from like a genuine earnest place of just like existence as a human here on earth, and just like kind of the human condition that's kind of my like mantra, okay. And um and so it's like okay, the song beams in, right? I get like a scrap of the song, and sometimes I'll flesh out like a demo on my phone. So that on my phone, there's just all these crappy demos, and I'll record it, and then I'll usually have it bouncing around in my head for a couple days, and it'll either get stuck or not. And I think a lot of that relies on like the hook and the melody. And sometimes I'll come back and be like, This is crap, and just throw it in the trash. And then sometimes I'll come back and be like, This is going on the next record. And for me, it's constantly catch up. I have three records I'm about to start recording, one of which I segmented off that's gonna be like a different thing, and two others that I kind of have plans for, and it's just like amazing, constantly catching up with myself and trying to clear my plate kind of thing of ideas I have, and I want to get them recorded and out while they're still fresh and inspiring to me, too. So it's like there's like this like perfect moment where you have like I think for some some songs, like they kind of fizzle out um if you don't record them fast enough. It's almost like they kind of have a shelf life. Right, right.

colleyc: 14:37

And when when you finally have come to okay, I have kind of an idea of what I want to do, I have the basic structure, lyrics, maybe you have to add a couple in, adjust, whatever. When you bring them to your collaborators, is it is it pretty much settled how the song struck structure is gonna be, or do they add a change? You know, like do you allow going off on different lanes and oh let's try that out, and or we'll add that in there? Like when you bring your songs, are they pretty much the way you want them? Or you're saying, here's a song, let's have fun.

Zane Ruttenberg: 15:17

Some you know, it really varies song to song. Like sometimes I'll come in and be like, it's got this has got to be the arrangement, and then sometimes I'll come in and be like, I I don't know. Sometimes I'll come in and be like, this bass line is an essential part of the hook, and you know, juice, I need you to learn this exact bass line. Or sometimes I'll be like, I don't know, you know, it's a country beat, you play to the kick, figure it out. So it really just like it really does vary song to song, and I think a lot of it just depends on what I've put together in the demo process because sometimes with a song, like the bass is an essential component, and it the bass has to be a certain way for it to work with the hook or the timing. Sometimes it's like these certain elements are really important to like making a composition a composition. It's like, you know, what if what if uh this is a funny okay? Uh of course, this is the first example. I don't know why Guns and Roses came to head to my mind, but it's like okay, Slash comes in and plays the riff for Sweet Child of Mine, right? That's an that's an essential element of what you think of when you think of that song. And like it wouldn't be Sweet Child of Mind if they changed that riff, maybe, right? And so when maybe when Slash and Axel were writing that song together, you know, uh, you know, that was kind of like a no, that was like a no-brainer that that wasn't gonna get changed, or maybe they didn't quite have it when they went to the studio and the other guitarists, like who knows? But it's like, you know, it's very good example.

colleyc: 16:47

There's you know, I like that. I like it. It that makes a ton of sense, you know. Like there's just some that some certain things that are there that you produced or created, and you're just like, no, it's really gotta stay really close to that, because that's that's the essence of the song, right? There, you know, it's it it it gives people that marker of ooh, this song, you know, as opposed to any other. Um and I I was curious too, like, have you found that you're you're you're well, I mean it's pretty it's obvious, but maybe let me rephrase it. How did you come to creating this style of good timing? Because when I listened to the earlier records, you know, I mean wildcatting and you know, American hamburger, I mean they're still they have that psych and that dusty, you know, country tinge and stuff to them. But then you've you've brought birds in, you know, you as you referenced before, the beach boys and Brian Wilson. It just feels somebody one of your critics, I'll read what they well, they they quoted it this way a hammock drifting island infused record. Now, were you is that what you were out to make when you started good timing?

Zane Ruttenberg: 18:02

Yeah, I mean, I'm like I'm slowly settling in, I think, on this style that I want to try and make for a while. Where but it is gonna shift, you know. It's like it's the next record is gonna sound like this, but I really want it's funny, I I grew up listening to a lot of Jimmy Buffett, and um along with classic rock, along with punk rock, so it's like you know, the Ramones, Jimmy Buffett, David Bowie, you know, Leonard Skinnard, it's all in there. And and then of course, country. I mean, I grew up in Austin, Texas. So Willie Nelson, Whelan Jennings, J Jeff Walker, uh Dolly Parton, you know, those those are all like major influences. And for me, it's like um I also love I also love exotica music, Martin Denny. And I mean, you know, the last track on good timing is my attempt at an exotica song. Okay, um, you know, and so it, you know, it kind of ends up being, you know, a thanks slideified exotica song, but it's like that's like my exotica through my filter, right? And uh I I did it was a while where we were putting, we were just kind of going in and cutting songs, and I was kind of just what I was doing is I was taking songs that just like worked together as a single because I originally wanted to do like seven inches, okay. And then I was kind of like looking at these four songs that we had done, and I was like, these all work great together, and and then I was working on this exotica song, and I was like, this would work great as a B side to like a record for this, and then um I think this radio station reached out to me. Sorry, radio station, I forget which one, asking me to make a stinger for them, and I got totally like sidetracked, of course. Um, but I was like, it would be so cool to kind of make like a thanks light radio stinger for this record, almost kind of like you're tuning into a record station introducing the record and as almost like a concept, so it slowly kind of crystallized, and I knew that I wanted them all to be together and I wanted them to have this kind of vibe, but I feel like this record's kind of set me off in this direction, which I really like. Where I want to make like um kind of like you know the band Granddaddy, if you're listening to them, yeah, totally. Oh, I love Granddaddy so much, I'm so glad they're touring again. I want to go see one of their shows so badly.

colleyc: 20:22

Yeah, incredible.

Zane Ruttenberg: 20:23

They just had a couple of reissues too, eh? Oh god, the sophomore slump and just it was standing. Absolutely phenomenal records, huge part of my life. And Granddaddy kind of like I realized like Jason, Jason Lytle is like just a huge influence in that he really does just kind of blend. He like blends aha with like country with grunge with all these cool sounds, and like you know, I think without even realizing it, I kind of you know a lot of artists do that, right? You just you love you want to make what you love, and yeah, so for me it's like I'm kind of shooting for this more um country laid back, country tropical rock music. I don't even yeah, psych and of course psychedelic.

colleyc: 21:05

I think you you nailed it with it. I mean, it's six tracks, but I mean the last track's nine minutes, yeah. But it's they're they're catchy, they're like they swoon you into like the weekend. Thank you, thank you. The songwriting is solid and I love the arrangement. I think how you sequence those rec the songs together. Um, it just really builds and builds, and it's not a you can't pull it out as a single, let me just listen to Costa Rica. It needs to be followed by Stand in the Sunshine, or it's like it doesn't feel complete, you know. So I really admire how you put those songs together in that sequence. Thank you. And they all do have that feel, that like warm sunshine tropical hug to them. And the washed out vocals. I mean, I just love that, like that, and that's what what what granddaddy was so good at too, hey? Kind of washing those out or putting them through like an old radio speaker or like all kinds of different experimenting, you know, just trying things out. So when you said that, I'm like, yeah, he's doing this. That's what he he does. Uh so accurate how you describes that. That's amazing.

Zane Ruttenberg: 22:21

I love I love that you're able to draw that connection. Like, I mean, straight up, well, it's like you'll like emulate what you your heroes do, right? So it's like uh on California Sober, there's this one section where I'm like, Dana forum uh in beef space. There's like a call and response in there, and I was like straight up like I totally got this idea from granddaddy. I totally just like borrowed this technique from granddaddy. I feel like I've heard this in granddaddy's songs, and now I'm able to apply it here. But I mean, that's just like to me, that's the ultimate compliment, right?

colleyc: 22:53

I mean, they're my heroes, I'm totally you know, and um you've been doing this for a long time, so you've had lots of practice at your craft, and it totally shows. Um you're putting stuff out, like I've just felt that and I try I try to start with the first records and I like go through the years, and I've really just felt this progression. Um, and I've seen more collaborators, you know, come in and come out, like you said. Like sometimes it's the same, sometimes it's new, but it keeps it always fresh and kind of exciting because you're not really gonna expecting what you know. Like, I never expected good timing to sound like it does. It's like it just was like really fun. So I appreciate that. So, Zayn, as we kind of wrap things here, again, thanks so much for this. This has been really fun.

Zane Ruttenberg: 23:40

Thank you so much, Chris.

colleyc: 23:41

This has been great stories, great examples. It's just been really, really fun to kind of get to see your story a bit. But what can we look forward to? You said you had three records kind of here and there and everywhere. Are you heading out on the road? Is there anything that you could tell us what's coming up for Thanks Light?

Zane Ruttenberg: 23:58

I think uh right now I'm just really focused on recording. Um, and I'm I'm I'm we're gonna there'll be some like solo out-of-town shows. We just had a huge album release party that was a blast. We have another, I'm gonna play like an acoustic set with a couple other members at Antone's Records here in Austin for another little showcase. And then I think you know, regional out-of-town shows here and there, but really, you know, I'm focusing on these next two records, you know. Good timing is a fluke in a way, but I want to continue that because uh things like songs are just like sometimes so dark and pessimistic sometimes, you know, right? Um, and sometimes they're not, they're brighter and happier. And so I'm really trying to like um sequence all these songs I'm writing into albums that are like cohesive. That's like my goal. And so I kind of have this like really bright, happy, country, tropical record I'm working on, and then this like really melancholy other record. So those are gonna be probably getting tracked simultaneously just to save time with in the studio setups and stuff like that. Um, but yeah, just tracking, tracking, tracking. I wanna, I would just want to put out a lot of music in the next uh couple years and I don't really get on with my collaborators, so yeah, totally.

colleyc: 25:15

It's good when you're like kind of like you said before, when lightning strikes, it feels like lightning striking again, like and you're on this great thread right now. If if we can anticipate something similar to this record that you're working on, life is beautiful. Um so thank you. I love this thread that you're on right now. Yeah, well, I want to thank you a lot and uh wish you all the best with the next albums coming out. And thanks, whenever you have a next record coming, Zayn, we could just keep talking for hours. I know it, but uh, I want to respect our time all the time. Um we'll definitely I'll definitely reach out, come the next record, and we could continue this. I would love that.

Zane Ruttenberg: 25:54

I really appreciate it. Thank you. Honestly, I I really appreciate your in-depth look into uh our music, my music. It really means a lot. So thank you. Cool. I love it. So keep it keep it up.

Thanks Light...: 26:05

Right on gears.