Clayton Thomas has spent most of his life rooting for the losing side. From watching his grandfather waste entire weeks just to see the Cleveland Browns disappoint on Sunday afternoons, to his own career-ending football injury that derailed a Division I-AA scholarship, Thomas has become intimately familiar with what it means to keep showing up despite the odds. Now, with his latest single "Sunday Afternoon," the Reverse Pathogen frontman has turned that painful familiarity into something approaching art.
The track, backed by legendary drummer Josh Freese of Foo Fighters and Devo fame, emerged from a conversation with his father about his grandfather's unwavering Browns loyalty. "The hook actually came from my dad, talking about my grandfather wasting his whole week just to watch the Browns lose," Thomas explains. "The Browns rarely have a winning season, so it's this endless cycle of disappointment. That stuck with me. Most songs are about victory, but I figured more people could relate to the losing side."
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It's a perspective born from experience. Thomas's own journey reads like a series of near-misses and forced pivots. His football career ended almost as soon as it began, leaving him with a scholarship he couldn't keep and a limp he still carries. "Since then, whether in football or music, I've never really had a big 'win,'" he admits with characteristic bluntness. "I don't even know why I keep going sometimes, but in that way I guess I'm like my grandfather: sticking with something even when it doesn't pay off."
But those football years weren't entirely wasted. The discipline and mental toughness required to survive in a locker room translated surprisingly well to the music industry. "Football taught me discipline: how to work with people one moment and then deal with isolation the next," Thomas reflects. "Music's the same: you need to recharge to stay original, and you have to push through the lows without losing yourself."
That resilience served him well during his unexpected detour into hip-hop, where he built a substantial following as Ghostluvme, working with major acts like Future, Lil Uzi Vert, and Trippie Redd. The genre taught him something crucial about rhythm that he's now bringing back to rock. "Hip-hop taught me rhythm. My guitars and drums bounce off each other like funk or James Brown, instead of just showy solos. Everything swings, instead of being locked to a grid," he explains.
The Josh Freese collaboration on "Sunday Afternoon" came through his engineer, though Thomas is quick to point out the ironic contrast between their career trajectories. "Josh tracked his drums almost two years ago, so it wasn't emotional for him. He's had an incredibly successful career: more like a Kansas City Chiefs dynasty than the Browns. For him, life's been mostly wins. His playing just elevated the song rhythmically."
With his latest album, Accidentally Fetishized, Thomas has positioned Reverse Pathogen as a deliberate pushback against what he sees as the over-sanitization of modern rock. "Authentic rock in 2025 looks like Reverse Pathogen," he declares. "A lot of modern rock feels over-sanitized. I want grit, mistakes, and swing. I've been going to shows again: Neil Young, Oasis, The Who. Artists like that remind me how powerful imperfection can be."
That commitment to imperfection extends to his production approach. While many artists work with teams of writers and producers, Thomas handles everything himself. "It's not independence by choice: I just don't have the budget. If I had the money, I'd love to make an album with Rick Rubin at Shangri-La. But since I can play the instruments and hear the parts in my head, I just get them down myself."
His production philosophy actively rejects modern polish. "I avoid overly polished, in-the-box production. I invest in outboard gear for warmth and imperfection. I cut brightness from vocals and keep things darker. If something sounds a little off, I like it that way: it feels human. Perfection is boring."
This aesthetic choice reflects a deeper philosophy about authenticity in an Instagram-curated world. "Because life is ordinary," Thomas says when asked why he writes about everyday moments rather than manufactured success. "Ego gets loud when you're failing, but there's beauty in admitting failure. Writing about the day-to-day feels more honest than pretending everything's a win."
Thomas sees himself as part of a larger pattern in rock history: the sacrificial lamb who pushes boundaries without getting credit, paving the way for others to follow. "I'll probably be a sacrificial lamb: do something different, not get the credit, but younger bands will copy me and shift the sound. Like Dinosaur Jr. to Nirvana. Sometimes you need those overlooked bands to steer the ship."
For someone who's made peace with being perpetually overlooked, Thomas seems remarkably determined to keep pushing forward. Like his grandfather cheering for the Browns week after week, he's found something worth celebrating in the act of showing up, regardless of the outcome.
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