Riot Profile: Jonah

I decided to interview my good friend Jonah Winton for this profile project. Jonah was one of the first people I became friends with at SPHS. We met during my freshman year in the hallway. We struck up a conversation due to wearing the same band on our shirts. Since then, we’ve done all types of things together. Whether that’s being in short lived bands or collaborative art pieces, he’s always been very easy to work with and incredibly helpful as I’ve tried to get my footing within all of the different mediums I work in. This interview was conducted in Jonah’s basement, the setting for dozens upon dozens of shenanigans throughout these past years. We had our friend Zephyr sitting next to us, trying to stay as still and silent as possible. The following is a very short conversation about art, school, work ethic and much more.

Me: What grade are you in?

JW: I’m in my senior year.

How has your experience at SPHS been?

It’s been good, I think that I’ve […] learned a lot while I’ve been at the school.

Do you think you’ve learned a lot school-wise or as a person?

I think [giggles] I’ve learned a lot more as a person and experientially than school-wise, but I’ve still learned some things academically.

When you talk about academics, do you think there are any teachers or classes that have helped you grow academically

Let me think about that one [….] it’s hard for me to say specifically, but I know there have been some classes over my time at the school that have helped me develop my work ethic and stuff. […] They mostly helped me divide my time better.

Do you think having to work really hard at school helps prepare you to work on things you enjoy, or is it the opposite?

I think it did prepare me to a certain extent. It allowed me to balance things better, but the way in which I had to spend my time in school doing the things I had to do for school is very different from how I spend my time doing what I enjoy.

What do you think are your biggest passions

I’d say, learning and creating.

What do you enjoy creating?

I really like making music, I like writing, I enjoy drawing and sketching, [….] I like film and video. I love all of that stuff.

Do you think all of those different interests grew separately?

I think they all complement each other. The ideas that I pursue in each of them all combine into one sort of entity.

Do you think it’s a spiritual or philosophical idea that you present most?

Say that normal.

What do you get out of what you do?

If we’re talking about philosophical or spiritual, I think the two are very intertwined. It could come across as philosophical but definitely at its core it’s more spiritual.

When you make music, do you tend to obsess over certain things? Do you have an idea that will persist for a long time, or is it much more scatter-brained and random?

I have a lot of ideas for things that I want to do! I think there’s lots of things that I want to do but I can’t convey what I really want to convey. That kind of discourages me. But, overall there’s a ton of ideas that I do have that I strive towards being able to show through music.

When you feel discouraged, are there any strategies that you have to push through?

For sure. I just work around that. I see what I can switch up to make me like it more. Sometimes it makes it worse, but I’m at least glad that I tried. I wasn’t proud of it in the first place, so I’d rather try my best to be proud of it than sit with something that I think sucks.

I really love your drawings-

Thank you.

Where do your ideas for drawings come from? Is it inspiration from your surroundings, or much more internal?

It’s very internal. A lot of what I draw are things I can’t ever articulate with words normally. Whenever I feel like I can’t articulate something, I get a pen and paper and start trying to draw it.

Does writing a lot help you find a way to articulate your thoughts better?

Yeah. But, lots of the time I don’t even reallly know what I’m feeling. The only way I feel like I can faithfully express what I want to express is giving it a very strange, abstract form which can’t be pinned down by words.

I feel like with a visual format it’s much easier to create something attractive to people, with words it’s sort of hard unless you’re some renowned author. With a drawing it’s really easy to just [claps] something onto a paper.

There’s definitely a lot more you can do with drawing than you can with words.

Do you feel that way about film too?

I think drawing is still much more freeing than film, because with film theres still lots of restrictions with what you can make.

Budget, growing wings, et cetera.

Yeah. [laughs]

Do you think that the work you do creatively has impacted what you want to see from other people’s work?

I don’t really know. They sort of enforce each other. Maybe I’ll create something because I feel a certain way and I’ll see someone else create something because they feel something similar. I’ll really appreciate the way that they express that. Sometimes I’ll see someone do something in a really interesting way and I’ll be inspired to express something in a somewhat similar way.

Who do you think evokes that feeling in you the most?

In terms of artists?

What artists do you think capture some form of yourself 

That’s a toughie. Let me think. […] It’s so hard to say. Every form of media I like, I like because it shows something I wish I could show.

What’s something that you wish would be more talked about within media and/or art?

Specific concepts?

That, and just things you think are important.

I think it’s very important to be authentic. 

Do you think people now aren't as authentic as they once were? [the washer ends it's cycle and plays a little tune]

Absolutely, I think a lot of it comes from wanting to compete. I think the idea that wanting to create something that is inherently better than something stifles authenticity within art. You cannot create something beautiful by trying to just be better than someone else!

Do you think that’s always been the case, or is that more new to you. Like how when you were a little kid and you would draw, there was absolutely no sense of competition, because it didn't matter. Do you think now that you’re in high school and other people are doing similar things that you have to compete or that they feel the need to compete with you?

There’s for sure an underlying sense of competition when I look at my peers, but I don’t like to focus on that. I like to focus purely on what I’m making. Whether we realize it or not, we are always comparing ourselves to people and trying to compete because we like to feel good about ourselves.

Does creating allow you to separate yourself from the feeling of competition, like I feel for me personally when I’m actively in the mindset of making something, I’m not thinking about other people’s opinions. It’s typically an afterthought. Do you feel the same?

Everything I make that I’m proud of, I’m creating completely disconnected from the thoughts of other people.

Who’s your favorite philosopher? [laughs]

That’s a hard question.

They’re all stupid

I mean if you're asking whose work I admire most, that’s a really tough question. But if you’re asking about who I personally follow most, I don’t even know.

What are you looking to get out of your experiences?

I try to balance appreciation, giving back, and improving the experiences of people I care about. There’s lots of things that I pursue in the way I go about living. Right now I’m focusing on growing as a person before I shift more towards helping other people.

Thank you for the interview Jonah, I really appreciate it

Of course.

Off record we hung out for a while and continued to talk a lot. Over this period we discussed many things about our states of living, our intention with life, and many moral and mental roadblocks we have found. The time we spent had a somewhat somber atmosphere around it. Many tears streamed down cheeks and lots of word vomit was produced. This conversation is incredibly important to me. I thought a lot of things I’ve never thought before and came up with solutions for problems I’ve been dealing with for long periods of time. All because of a conversation with two of my great friends. Now, I face today with a renewed vigor and intensity nobody has ever seen before.