Jack Stratton (musician)

Stratton grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and started on drums at an early age. Growing up, he played in his high school band and in his father's klezmer band.^[1][2] He studied performing arts technology at the University of Michigan.^[3][a] While in college he formed a band called Groove Spoon.^[5] The band released an EP titled Live From the Dude in 2010.^[6] Early on, Stratton released several short comic-music skits. In these he performs as the fictional characters Mushy Krongold, Craigs Stewarts, and DJ Bean Ornish.^[7][8][9]

In 2011, Stratton founded Vulfpeck. The band has released six studio albums and four extended plays. Stratton does most of the band's management and production.^[2][10] He first adopted the persona of Vulfmon, an old-school German record producer, to promote a Kickstarter project for the band's first vinyl record.^[8] As the band's producer, he experimented with audio compressors and helped develop the Vulf Compressor audio plug-in in collaboration with Goodhertz Inc.^[3][11][12]

In 2014, Vulfpeck released Sleepify, a silent album on Spotify. Royalties from the album (which had no audible sound) financed an admission-free tour and attracted international media coverage.^[13][14] In 2019, the band headlined a sold out concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City.^[10]

In 2020, Stratton performed a publicity stunt and fundraiser for Vulfpeck by auctioning the "real estate" of track 10 on Vulfpeck's album The Joy of Music, The Job of Real Estate.^[15] The rights to publish on track 10 were sold to the New York-based band Earthquake Lights. A portion of the proceeds were donated to public schools through the DonorsChoose organization.^[16][17]

Stratton conceived the instrumental band The Fearless Flyers, which was formed in 2018 with Stratton as producer. He produced the band's music through 2024.^[18][19] In 2023, he released a live album of klezmer music with the three-piece band Yiddishe Pirat consisting of Michael Winograd on clarinet, Josh Dolgin on piano, and Stratton on drums.^[20]

In 2022, Stratton released his first solo album, titled Here We Go Jack, under his mononym Vulfmon. He has since released three more albums, titled Vulfnik, Dot, and Deg.^[21] On streaming services, he categorizes his solo albums as pop and R&B/soul.^[b] The albums feature contributions by Louis Cato, Jacob Jeffries, Evangeline, Harrison Whitford, Monica Martin, David T. Walker, Drew Taubenfeld, Mike Viola, Antwaun Stanley, Rich Hinman and others.^[c] Stratton's music has been featured on Radio Milwaukee and on David Byrne Radio playlists.^[22][23]

Stratton has named Bernard Purdie, The Meters, The Jackson 5, and Mickey Katz as musical influences, among others. Doug Lussenhop is an inspiration for Stratton's video editing, along with Mel Brooks and Woody Allen.^{[1][2][10][24]}