Letdown. (Blake Coddington), courtesy Joseph Ross.

Shortly after Blake Coddington (Letdown.) moved from Chicago to Indiana in early 2020 and starting a new job, he became isolated when the pandemic made its entrance and lockdowns emptied the streets.

“I didn’t have time to meet anyone at my company; I didn’t have time to meet any friends and now I’m told I can’t leave my apartment. I know no one, and I don’t have any family,” Coddington said. “So I was just stuck in a box.”

Coddington turned to songwriting, eventually posting them online.

“I downloaded that godforsaken app,” Coddington said of TikTok. “I didn’t think anyone was going to think anything of it, so I just started putting my music up there and here I am!”

Letdown. (Blake Coddington) performs at The Sand Dollar in downtown Las Vegas on April 26, 2023. Courtesy The Gathering.

Even now, Coddington admits he thought no one would find his hard-edged rock on the app preferred by younger generations.

“I thought it was all dancing and pop music,” Coddington said. “Then again I guess my music is pretty pop for the rock world.”

Coddington said the isolation forced on him provided a personal and musical freedom to dig deeper into his emotions. His lyrics were driven by inward reflection and tackling mental health challenges head on. Songs like “Crying in the Shower,” “Empty” and “Evil”—off on 2023 debut EP Crying In the Shower—all speak to the struggle with loneliness, fear and anger bottled up and reconciled through music, one of the reasons Letdown. tracks performed so well on “that godforsaken app.”

“During it, I thought it was terrible and depressing, but looking back I think that was some of the happiest moments of my life,” he said. “It was the most free I ever felt. … I didn’t realize how many people felt not only like me, but exactly like me, and I found a family. They meant a lot to me, and they still mean a lot to me.”

Letdown. (Blake Coddington) photographed at Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento on Oct. 5, 2023. Mike DeWald/STAFF.

The musician had spent the last couple of years getting to know the fans of his music. But since he was able tour, he’s had fun put faces to the names he’d been interacting with online as his music came to life.

“I’ve never not responded to a DM,” said Coddington, adding that he remembers these conversations when he meets fans at shows. “I have all these friends now, and we all come together through the music and we understand each other. It’s beautiful.”

While Letdown. may have been borne out of a difficult circumstance, Coddington has had his hands in music for a while, working as an audio and recording engineer for bands in Chicago and in Texas.

“That was my passion. … My dream is still to become an engineer,” he said.

Coddington said he’s writing constantly and has at least a half dozen songs that he wrote on his last tour. He began January by releasing two new singles, “Anxiety” and “Making Miseries.” He’s described the former as being about his inner fears and the latter about the health effects of a bad relationship. More releases are on the way, he’s hinted.

He said he wants to play support act on as many tours as possible and grow his audience. One thing he doesn’t want to waste time on is reflection, nor is it easy to enjoy the moment.

“When you’re a young musician, the dream is signing a record deal, going on tour and putting music out; that’s the unreachable goal,” he said. “Then it happens, and the only thing you think is, ‘All right, what’s next?'”

“If I could talk to 10-year-old me, I’d just fist-bump him and say, ‘Dude, we did it,'” Blake Coddington said. “Even if I lost all of this tomorrow, I’d still say I fucking did it and accomplished all of my dreams.”

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.