We first met Jonathan Fuller talking with him and his bandmates with Jaguar Jaguar; tonight we got to talk to him about his solo work as Jonny Darko and the recent release of his full album Symbolica. Pro Tip: the album is best taken in via video!
Love the idea of the visual album. This work is very personal. It’s about the internal struggle to embrace and/or at lease peacefully exist with our best and worst sides. It’s about living with and learning from the ghosts of our past. The music is very moody in an evocative sense. Even if you don’t listen to the words you will get a feeling from each song. Then there’s the visual of the video too, which also offers insight into the music. Some of the videos are lyric videos and some are more storytelling, live-action videos.
Experiencing the visual album is part guided journey, part music enjoyment and part catharsis. There are so many ways to take in the music; it’s very fulfilling. It offers a unique, yet universal view of how we grow as humans, through generations. Jonathan talked about why he made the album and noted that he didn’t crave attention but wanted connection, which I thought was an interesting and astute observation. I think the album has the potential to create community. We’ll get a glimpse of that in person on October 26 when he plays at the Seventh Street Entry. (He’s working on new visuals for that show!)
Mostly Minnesota 