Having the last name Newton I believe qualifies me to answer this question. Having said that, my take on the blending of the two concepts is that, “Arbys sandwiches will make you want to quantum leap out of your body and create a powerful attraction to the nearest restroom”.
“I woke up as the sun was reddening; and that was the one distinct time in my life, the strangest moment of all, when I didn’t know who I was — I was far away from home, haunted and tired with travel, in a cheap hotel room I’d never seen, hearing the hiss of steam outside, and the creak of the old wood of the hotel, and footsteps upstairs, and all the sad sounds, and I looked at the cracked high ceiling and really didn’t know who I was for about fifteen strange seconds.” - Jack Kerouac, On the Road, Part 1, Ch. 3
This is perhaps my favorite part of the book. The narrator finds himself somewhere he’s never been, with the cadence of a night owl just waking as the rest of the world is beginning to rest. Many spiritual practices from various cultures teach a form of escaping one’s self as a tool toward divinity, that to lose the head is to gain the soul.
I’m not sure about other musicians and artists, but I feel the reason I keep playing shows and dealing with promoters, early flights, bad truck stop food, icy perilous roads, sound techs that qualify for the mentally handicapped, and plain old just not being in my own bed every night, is because I’m chasing that feeling. The feeling when your head gets feverish and your nervous adrenaline switches to hot fire. It’s a hot fire that counterintuitively makes you as smooth as the surface of a calm lake when you want to be, tyrannical as a forest fire, dangerous as the broken lip of a wine glass. Nature’s fury in a 3 1/2 minute song. You lose yourself. I think God gave us music for these kind of moments.
Sure it’s entertainment, I get that. But there’s something about a room full of people hushed and waiting for what’s going to happen in verse 2 of a silly song you wrote one night in your bedroom. You honor each other’s humanity in that moment. That’s God. That’s magic.
Samuel Clemens chose his pen name while working as a Ferry Boat pilot on the Mississippi. The term, “Mark Twain” was used when the water was deeper than 12 feet, meaning essentially that it was safe, thereby giving the Pilot a sense of relief. The connotation carried within the simple seemingly nonsensical term “Mark Twain” meant so much to him as a Ferryman, that to merely hear it must have engendered a Pavlovian autonomic response of relaxation and peace.
In this same spirit, I’m going to change my performing name to
Myspace now feels like the the rich kid that no one likes trailing behind facebook, taking copious notes on facebook’s habits and clothes, then showing up the next day with a more confusing version of facebook’s outfit from the day before. I miss the old myspace. Before it became all twitchy. That being said you can check out my page at www.myspace.com/jakenewton
I had the pleasure to lend my acting to a piece written by Scott Blaszack for NPR’s Studio 360. It’s a great piece about the madness of the movie making business, plus it also uses music by the Shins, which makes it double awesome. You can check it out here at www.studio360.com and if you want to hear it on the actual radio check your local listings here, LOCAL LISTINGS
Today will be resplendent with an insane schedule, filming for the kickstarter campaign (keep your eyes peeled!) recording voice over, and capping the whole shebang off with Austin Hartley-Leonard at the Hotel Cafe tonight. Here’s to the magic and splendor of the universe, and to the thai food I will reward myself with when all this is over.
Today will be resplendent with an insane schedule, filming for the kickstarter campaign (keep your eyes peeled!) recording voice over, and capping the whole shebang off with Austin Hartley-Leonard at the Hotel Cafe tonight. Here’s to the magic and splendor of the universe, and to the thai food I will reward myself with when all this is over. 