Encore

Brick Street Bar swarms with parents and students decked out in Miami University gear. It’s parents’ weekend, and the RedHawks have just won their Saturday afternoon football game. The energy in Brick is electric, and Thumbtack Mechanics is about to take the stage.

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In his junior year at Miami, pre-medical studies, psychology and neuroscience major Miles Lynn decided to form a band. As an amateur guitarist who wanted to take his playing to the next level, Lynn hung fliers all over campus. He took his request for band members to residence hall quads, performing arts buildings and anywhere else he thought he could recruit fellow musicians looking for their start.

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In the following months, he found six budding musicians, and Thumbtack Mechanics was born. 

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On Saturday, Oct. 7, Thumbtack Mechanics starts off its show day hauling equipment to Miami’s Interfraternity Council-hosted football tailgate outside Millett Hall. The band arrives at the venue hours before its set to start, ensuring everything is ready for the performance.

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It’s the first chilly day of fall, and the leaves are just starting to change. The West Millett Hall Lot is lined with multicolored tents adorned with fraternity letters. Students are playing beer pong, tossing footballs and blasting music. Meanwhile, band members prepare for the show by passing out printed copies of their setlist and cans of Natty Light among themselves. 

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Lead vocalist Jane Feck has performed at Miami for years. During her time as a student, she was a member of the Treblemakers, an a cappella group on campus. Even though she is no stranger to a crowd, especially one made up of Miami students, she still encounters jitters.

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“I still get nervous before shows,” Feck said while laughing. “Sometimes I’ll feel fine at first, but then I walk on stage.” 

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The group finishes getting the equipment ready as cheerleaders and the marching band start to line the street. The event’s emcee welcomes the football team as horns blare and students yell. Immediately after the players arrive at Yager Stadium, Thumbtack Mechanics opens its set with a rendition of Paramore’s “Still Into You.” 

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The crowd gathered for the game quickly turn their attention to the stage, singing and dancing along. Some more enthusiastic members of the mob yell, “I love you!” to the musicians between swigs of their drinks.

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“I’m only here for them!” one audience member yells.

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Over the next hour, the band plays a mix of fan-favorite rock hits and debuts some of its original songs for the first time. When it comes to songwriting, Thumbtack Mechanics takes inspiration from groups like The Beatles, The Strokes and band-favorite Fleetwood Mac.

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“That’s the blueprint I always think of when I’m writing,” songwriter and vocalist Ethan Kraus said.

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After their set, the band members scatter to talk to friends and family in the crowd. They then pack up their instruments and head to their next show at Brick. 

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The audition process for band members did not include many people. While Lynn wanted to seek out talented musicians, he also wanted to find members who had a similar drive to make the band happen. 

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“All six of these people were so ready and willing to put in the effort to make this thing into what it was,” Lynn said. “I would just meet with these people and be like, ‘OK, you're in the band,’ … and we started going over plans. They were so ready to work at it and see the vision come together.”

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The only real audition that took place was for drummer Brock Shults. A first-year at the time, Shults had years of experience playing live music, but he didn’t have his own equipment. After their first meeting, Lynn asked him to invest in a new drum kit, but Shults hesitated. After playing in some self-described “bad bands” in the past, he wanted to practice with the band to ensure it was the real deal before investing in a new kit. 

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“After I heard Ethan, Jane and Zach, there was just a connection there. They were so musical,” Shults said. “I didn’t even have a drum set. In my first rehearsal, I was playing on my legs. After hearing that I was like, ‘alright, this is real,’ so I bought everything.”

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Halfway through its Brick set, Thumbtack Mechanics performs a new original song, “This Time Around,” which debuted earlier that day at Millett. The ’70s style and Beatles influence is palpable. The crowd is loving it. 

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Miami parents dance, and students jump around as their drinks spill into the hot, sticky air. Kraus takes in all of that energy and climbs up onto Shults’s drum set. He takes a look into the crowd and then jumps back on to the stage. The audience claps and cheers as the band keeps rocking out. 

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Thumbtack Mechanics, which got its name from the thumbtacks used to hang audition posters, began by playing shows at sorority and fraternity events on campus. In November 2021, just months after the band formed, it had its first show at Corner Bar. This initiated its transition into the Oxford bar scene.

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While performances at Brick Street and other bars have been highlights for the band, some of the members’ fondest memories are from those early shows. They named their first show at an Oktoberfest-themed party as one of their favorite moments. 

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“That was the moment that I think I realized that we could actually turn this into something that was not just an idea Miles had,” bassist Zach Hillman said. “We could make it into something that we could really continue to work on.”

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While Thumbtack Mechanics has experienced these moments of inspiration, being in the band also comes with downsides. In May 2023, four out of the seven members graduated from Miami. Balancing careers, school and other responsibilities has proved difficult to juggle. 

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These difficulties don’t mean that the band isn’t able to keep perfecting its sound, though. After a hiatus from May to September of this year, Thumbtack Mechanics reunited for its first show back at Brick. 

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“After that set, our sound guy told us that was our best sounding show yet,” Lynn said. “It's good to be able to work on our own and then come together and have it still work so well. I think that we all feel very comfortable musically with each other and that’s a pretty special thing.”

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Kraus moved to Chicago after his graduation from Miami in May. He worked in management consulting and spent much of his time traveling, which didn’t leave time for his music. Two months in, he left Chicago and decided to pursue music full-time, both on solo projects and with Thumbtack Mechanics. 

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“There was just so much to do, and I was moving around too much,” Kraus said. “It was hard to have these conflicting priorities, especially because I knew what I wanted to be doing.” 

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Being apart has not stopped the band from pursuing new projects. This fall, Hillman, along with keyboardist Sara Noall and Shults formed a side group, New Haven. As for Thumbtack Mechanics, the band plans to release an original album within the next year. It hopes to eventually take its show on the road, traveling to other colleges and venues nationwide. 

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In true Thumback Mechanics fashion, the band finishes off its Brick show with an encore of three songs. The crowd screams the lyrics to “Gives You Hell” and fights to catch the guitar picks and T-shirts the band throws toward the dance floor. Fans storm the stage for photos and a chat with the musicians, who encourage them to make it to their next show. 

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Thumbtack Mechanics hasn’t seen the last of Brick Street, with shows planned for the rest of the semester. While the band members might not know exactly what their future holds beyond Oxford, it’s clear that Thumbtack Mechanics is just getting started.