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Matt Jaffe‘s newest single, released a couple weeks ago, is “The Saddest Happy Ever After.” A wistful, dreamy ballad with a vintage rock ‘n’ roll vibe, the song lives up to its name. “Does the story end or begin again? Is this a new book or just a new chapter?” the lyrics ask in the chorus.
For singer-songwriter Jaffe, the song is the latest chapter in a musical career that kicked off while Jaffe was still in high school. He was mentored by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads.
Since then, he has co-written with Tom Higgenson of Plain White T’s and toured or performed with Blues Traveler, Wilco and Bob Weir.
Jaffe, who grew up in Mill Valley, is now 31 and based in San Francisco, He has recorded eight albums and is at work on a new album, “Station Eleven,” which includes “The Saddest Happy Ever After” and four other singles released so far this year.
Peninsula audiences can hear from Jaffe when he opens for Bob Schneider Aug. 28 at The Guild Theatre.
Jaffe discovered an interest in music at a young age after his older sister began playing classical violin, and he was inspired to take it up as well.
“Our mom was very, very disciplined in getting us to practice. It wasn’t so much about it being violin, but about having something to focus on,” Jaffe recalled.
The practice paid off, even though his instrument of choice would quickly switch to acoustic guitar — and he’d begin to play music closer to what he heard his parents listening to.
“When I would drive around with my parents, we’d listen to U2 albums and Rolling Stones and stuff far less violin-heavy. So I just wanted to take after the groups that started inspiring me,” he said.
While still a teenager, Jaffe performed at local open mics, where he was discovered by a fellow Mill Valley resident whose music he admired: Talking Heads key-
boardist and guitarist Harrison. He shepherded Jaffe through recording demos and refining his songwriting.
“That was a huge nudge towards getting me to pursue music full-time,” he said.
The experience introduced him to playing with a band, and taught him to write music with a band in mind, rather than writing for himself solo.
“He taught me how to take some quirkier impulses and turn it into something more palatable. He ushered me into a phase of knowing how to write a song that represented what I wanted to say,” Jaffe said. “They always say that editing is actually the most important part of a writing process. I think it’s so much what you take out, and he helped me streamline.”
Harrison and Jaffe are still in touch. “We have still worked together over the years, and he continues to be a very cherished mentor,” he said.
Starting a music career so early gave him a solid foundation early on, and like so many things in life, came with trade-offs. When he’d play open mics, he’d always be given a slot early in the evening because he would often be playing on a school night.
“You get eyeballs and ears on you immediately. People are curious what you’re going to do, whether that’s premature unfair judgment or encouragement and enthusiasm,” he said.
“I think also having been discovered, or whatever word you want to use, while I still did have a lot of sort of youthful strangeness in the music before I learned how something ‘quote unquote’ should be, which is obviously not really a real thing. But still, we develop these ideas of what should or shouldn’t (be).”
There were challenges as well — the early start gave him an impression that launching a music career might have a simpler trajectory than it typically does. Also, there was the challenge of striking a balance between career demands and the life experiences that might never come again, or just spending time with peers as a teen or young adult. Jaffe dropped out of college and formed a band.
“I don’t have any regrets, but I also acknowledge that choices are made and things are lost,” he said.
Since the early days of his career, Jaffe said he’s found that he’s focusing less on hewing to the sound of a particular genre and more on whatever direction a song might be taking him.
“I’ve gotten much more into learning how to present a song in the most exciting way, rather than being more dogmatic about it being rock ‘n’ roll. For me, it’s become more important for the substance to guide and sometimes that’s maintained the rock ‘n’ roll approach, but other times, no guitars appear on the song, or it’s just a string section, or entirely synthetic. So, yeah, just trying to think more about how to produce a song with the song’s best interest at heart,” he said.
Jaffe’s lyrics have a strong sense of imagery, and when it comes to lyrics especially, he said he’s often inspired by novels — that includes his latest work in progress, “Station Eleven,” which takes its name from Emily St. John Mandel’s dystopian novel. “Station Eleven” will be his first concept album. He aims to release the album early next year.
“The long and short of it is the utter brutalizing of the environment by humanity, and the sort of Hail Mary of trying to find a habitable planet elsewhere in the universe, and mourning our planet, but also embracing technology that will allow for a future for the species,” he said.
“For me, it’s been trying to find the balance of something sort of sci-fi, but that’s still human-driven, emotionally-driven. I love sci-fi movies and speculative fiction and dystopian stuff, but I don’t like it as much when it’s driven by technology more than humanity. So, trying to find the balance of enthusiasm for space travel and time travel balanced with grief for a place, despite that grief being wrought upon oneself.”
Audiences at The Guild can expect to hear some songs from this latest work, as well as music from throughout Jaffe’s career. Although he sometimes plays solo, for this show, it will be a “power trio,” he said.
“It’s very much energy driven. The studio has allowed me to explore some ballad-type material with more nuance, but the live show is still very much meant to be sort of a freight train, so hopefully we can bring that. We’ve gotten to play The Guild a couple of times, and it’s always been a real treat to be there.
Matt Jaffe opens for Bob Schneider, Aug. 28, 7 p.m. (doors), at The Guild Theatre, 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park; $43.87-$136.65. guildtheatre.com. For more about Matt Jaffe, visit mattjaffemusic.com.
