Jon Watts is a dedicated member of the Religious Society of Friends as well as a prolific songwriter and poet. He has spent the last two years touring extensively throughout North America and is now in the studio recording his 3rd full-length album.
QQQQandA is a great resource: a blog made up of answers to questions sent to FGC’s Quaker Information Center. Recently they received a question inspired by my music video, “Dance Party Erupts During Quaker Meeting for Worship”:
Please explain — what is the deal about Quakers and music? Is it true that music is considered sinful? Why? If music is bad, how do you explain the video “Dance Party Erupts at Quaker Meeting for Worship”?
I recommend that you check out Joan Broadfield’s response.
This is the second in a series of five brief essays reflecting on my process of writing my June ’09 release, Mixed Vice Work. In order to help make sense of the project and in an effort to further include listeners in my process, I’ll be sharing three more in the coming months – each in reference to a specific song from the EP.
Here is the story of “Faded”
(as I write on each song, I will post that song online. Please feel free to listen along at www.myspace.com/jonwattsmusic)
“I’m Great”
Back when I was a camp counselor at Shiloh Quaker Camp, we often had to get creative in order to come up with afternoon activities towards the end of the Summer. Thus it was decided one afternoon that we would have a rap battle. The joy of seeing 11 year old Quaker kids battle-rapping was only supplemented by the fun of writing my own verse, which I shared at the close of the camp-wide event later on that evening.
Having always existed somewhere on the fringes of hip hop culture, I am made uncomfortable by the self-centered-ness, competetive braggadacio and put-down culture of the battle scene. Rappers freestyle insults about each other and whichever side looks less pathetic at the end of the event ascends to the next round. As a Quaker trying to “get low” and encourage the ongoing healing of those around us, the rap battle is in many ways the furthest away I could stray my faith.
There is, however, some redeeming value in virtuostic displays of self-affirmation and at Camp Shiloh I was given the opportunity to freely explore that side of my art form. I sat down with a few fellow counselors and out came the first verse of “I’m Great,” which contains some real lyrical gems:
“I’m going to bounce from this town to get a pound of mouse pals. Around smiles I frown to put down the bound styles. The ground is shaking, making fakers statement makers. Hate your neighbors. Do favors like Quaker saviors, helping people meet their makers.”
-From “I’m Great,” The Art of Fully Being
“Faded”
There was no song that I looked forward to re-mixing, re-vising and re-working more than “I’m Great.” The opportunity for full and unfettered word-play-ful-ness is so exciting! I intentionally included as many tongue twisters as possible, which makes it one of my hardest songs to perform yet:
“Bounce to the mountain top. Look in the thrift shop. Find a little nice piece of linen, living sin and for your pen top: send it in a tin top. Listen, when offense is given, that’s a thin slice of living like a gentleman. Be a gentle woman; women sending signals mixed within any silly simple little sentences.”
I changed the chorus to be a bit more inclusive:
“We’re Great. Your sedatives can’t keep us sedate, and while same sex marriage stays state-to-state, we’re going local. Pick up the mic and throw vocals in your phone book, send it to folks that you know. Look, we’re related.”
…and I wrote one of my favorite verses EVER:
“…our forefathers got lost in Boston, it’s the fault of Lord Baltimore and it’s all the more solemn for the following of psalms; some sons and daughters of the hypocrites, which, to the benefit of many, found themselves giving into sentimental money”
Whew! what fun. (try saying that out loud)
The Invitation…
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
-Marianne Robertson, written for Nelson Mandela
An important part of our religious movement and counter-cultural committment is to find a different way to be in relationship with the ego and all of its attachments and posturing. But simply wishing our egos away is not enough to make them dissappear.
Pretending that my ego doesn’t exist isn’t any less dangerous than ignoring my pain or my sadness. Each is a part of me, and ignoring a part of me always results in that part acting out in ways that I have no control over and am not aware of.
So I invite you, Friends, be whole. Invite your ego to speak in a safe environment and do not hate or judge yourself for what comes out. It is only when we fully accept ourselves that we can begin to lovingly shift our way of being.
in peace,
Jon
More About “Faded”
“Faded” is online and available for anyone to listen to. Visit the Listen page and find “I’m Great” on Mixed Vice Work
Mixed Vice Work can be purchased at the Store and now downloaded!
This is the first of a series of five brief essays reflecting on my process of writing the new EP, Mixed Vice Work. In order to help make sense of the project and in an effort to further include listeners in my process, I’ll be sharing four more in the coming months – each in reference to a specific song from the EP.
Jon Watts in the Studio for his newest EP, Mixed Vice Work.
As you may know from having watched the promotional video for the new EP, Mixed Vice Work is an ambitious project… reflecting on themes previously explored and turning old ideas entirely on their heads.
Each essay will contain two sections: the 1st – a brief history of the old song from The Art of Fully Being that is being referenced and the 2nd – the story of how the Mixed Vice Work reflection song emerged.
Here is the story of “Grab a Pen.”
(as I write on each song, I will post that song online. Please feel free to listen along at www.myspace.com/jonwattsmusic)
“This is Just a Song.”
In the Winter of 2006-2007, I completed recording on Plateau, the album that I produced for Joshua Shelton and Bull and Mouth Records. Afterwards, I was left with my recording studio in a neighbor’s empty house, minimal instrumentation and a good deal of angst in reaction to my transitioning role in my family and my feelings of being undervalued and my work underappreciated.
In a particularly angsty moment, I retreated to my studio and layed down a dark bassline and quickly wrote a song around it, sarcastically rapping about the meaninglessness of the work that is my passion and focus.
“It’s just my voice. It’s just the core of me. It’s just as deep as you’ve ever heard me speak. It’s just some beats on a screen.”
The song was difficult and raw and I named it “This is Just a Song.”
“Grab a Pen”
In my process of reflecting on “This is Just a Song.” it occurred to me that there is a real playfulness to my tongue-in-cheek self-dismissal. There is a background vocal two-thirds of the way through the song which follows a concertina melody, in which I turned on the microphone and brazenly shouted the melody, not caring who heard me.
I began the process of writing “Grab a Pen” by focusing on this raw and unburdened noise. As I re-arranged the rest of the elements of the song, it took on a new energy. Instead of hating or trying to change the darkness that sometimes emerges when I open myself to the muse, I focused instead on celebrating the opportunity to open myself and pour out whatever I am holding.
The first verse of “This is Just a Song” hinges on the phrase “It’s not”:
(“It’s not: everybody living in the same space. It’s not: one thing you said or did that brought me to this place.”)
so I began my parallel poem by dancing around a phrase with the opposite energy,
“This IS”:”This is: an interfaith dialogue. It’s intergenerational. This is on the internet. It’s personal, sensational. This is individual and group consciousness. It’s emotional and logical, abstract common sense.”
And off I went. Given the opportunity, I gushed about the power of what I do.
“If you’re broken, this can heal you or help you heal yourself. This is spoken word and song and it’s only here to help.”
Looking back at “This is Just a Song.”, I wasn’t giving my ability to affect my own situation enough weight. While I wasn’t serious when I said “It’s just some beats on a screen,” I was dedicating my resources (my voice and my art) to focusing on the external messages that were causing me to falter in my confidence.
In “Grab a Pen,” I have adjusted my response to be more healthy and productive – dedicating my energy to giving my self the support and affirmation that I was bitterly waiting for when I wrote “This is Just a Song.”
What a powerful and insightful process! I give thanks for the wisdom and love that this piece of art has bestowed upon me.
An Invitation…
In our counter-cultural reaction to the egotism of the mainstream, we shy away from anything that could be construed as bragging. And yet we all know that verbal affirmation and reinforcement are at the foundation of a peaceful, calm and confident human being.
How often do you allow yourself to say out loud that you are good at something, or that you are important? Are you able to let go of fear that people won’t percieve you as humble and tell them that you are great and your work in the world is powerful and meaningful? (Are you able to tell yourself that?)
So I invite you, friend… affirm yourself. I expect it matters a lot to you what you think of yourself, and it is in everyone’s interest that you feel loved.
A week ago I got this email from a Meeting in Pennsylvania who had some questions about the song “Friend Speaks My Mind” after I performed for them this past April. Their questions were not uncommon, and so I took the time to respond carefully and in depth and am re-posting the response here. Hope it is helpful.
Here is the original email:
Dear Jon Watts,
Sadsbury Friends Meeting enjoyed your time with us in April. Thanks for that!
In the time since then some of us are wondering about a line in a refrain from one of the songs you sang for us.
“I’m not a Christian
I’m a Quaker
I live a Christ-centered life
But Jesus is not my saviour”
Some of us are curious as to your definition of “Christian” in the context of that refrain. (We plan to discuss this at an adult forum in a few weeks.)
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Connie
Sadsbury Monthy Meeting
And my response:
Hi Connie!
Sorry to take a while with this response… I have been busy in the recording studio.
“I’m not a Christian
but I’m a Quaker
I’ve got Christ’s inner light
but he’s not my savior”
I’m am very glad to hear that the lines have sparked discussion in your Meeting. I am pulled into conversation about the topic often, as it deals with a somewhat touchy subject in FGC Quakerism.
My process for writing the song was to think back to my adolescence growing up in Young Friends in FGC and other Quaker organizations and to try to capture the attitude towards Christianity that – though rarely spoken this brazenly – is pervasive.
Judging from the number of Quakers from across the generational spectrum who approach me in solidarity with these particular lines, I would venture to say that I hit the nail on the head.
Thus – and I hope it doesn’t sound like I am dodging your question – the song is not about me, but rather, it’s about modern FGC Quakerism and a relatively common FGC approach to Christianity.
So what might be perhaps more valuable than asking me how I define the word “Christian” in the song is to create a space for members of your Meeting or discussion group who identify with those lines to explain their personal connection.
“What makes a person a ‘Christian’?” is a great question to start off with! Some other queries that might be valuable to explore are:
What is your inward reaction when someone asks you if Christ is your savior? (or says that Christ is theirs?)
In your practice, what is the relationship between the Quaker concept of the “inner light” and Christianity? (if there is one)
Can Quakerism thrive without Christianity?
…and we’re just getting started! Again, this is a very valuable discussion and I’m glad to see you engaging with it. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to support your process.
Greetings! Another beautiful and blessed arrival of summer is upon us!
When last I wrote, it was to celebrate the success of my travels in the ministry in Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in the months of March and April. Little did I know what lurked just around the corner…
Disaster!
Jon Watts with a smashed car in PYM
Need I say more? Sunday morning, after my final show (opening for Tribe One) in Philadelphia, I walked across the street to start packing my car for the trip home to Virginia. What I discovered – a crushed rear blinker, bent back axle, crumpled trunk and mysterious business card (“I seen everything”) – was a bit unexpected.
And that’s not all!
A week later, after much support and hospitality from some very giving f/Friends, hours and hours on the phone with the (mostly unavailable) insurance companies, with the (entirely unhelpful) Philadelphia police department and with the (very confused) girl who crashed into me, I arrived back in Virginia to play doctor to the computer that serves as my recording studio, which had mysteriously stopped working altogether:
Jon Watts with a smashed computer in Richmond, VA
I’ll spare you the gory details.
Faith endures.
Have you ever experienced a series of disasters that were too punch-line-y to be simply coincidence? This was one of those times that so much went wrong so suddenly that I felt like I was in a farce. For lack of an audience, I was the only one that got to giggle at the sheer ridiculousness of things going wrong. Perhaps that was part of the point.
Either way, I emerge feeling as though I have just been involved in a tickling fight with God.
No need to panic.
Mixed Vice Work comes together in passion and excitement – release (still) scheduled for June 25th!
Jon Watts recording the Mixed Vice Work EP
Nothing explodes out of the gate like pent-up artistic energy.
As soon as my equipment was fixed and ready, Spirit took hold of my body and filled me with passion and ideas that I had long meditated on, only now they became real, tangible, exciting.
Songs that I thought were done weren’t. Songs I had no ideas for transformed in the brilliant light of the muse.
Today I am shipping off the final master copy of the EP, and after these past two weeks of nitpicking and polishing, that original explosion of creativity rests in the past but my body still tingles when I think back on it.
Once again I have been witness to a miracle. I give thanks.
Back Home after a successful trip in the ministry in Philadelphia
It has been good to be back in Ashland, visiting old friends, meeting some new ones and of course hanging out with my Mom’s chickens, who just gave birth to 4 new chicks!
I have been collecting photos of my trip to Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and have gotten some good ones, thanks to helpful F/friends. Here are a few samples.
The time is just flying by – another summer is upon us! My primary performance opportunity this Summer is at the FGC Gathering at the end of June. If you’re planning on attending the Gathering, be sure to look out for me — and check out my table at the Gathering store! Here’s a photo from my performance last year:
Jon Watts performing at FGC in Johnstown, PA
Beyond that, I’ll be spending the summer with my brother Coleman, his wife Elizabeth and their baby Althea at the Sierra Friends Center in California (Coleman works for the Woolman Semester), helping him institute a new internship program and fixing up some of their decaying sports equipment. Perhaps I’ll have a few performance opportunities at Meetings in the area.
I look forward to much fishing and ping pong, reflecting on my recent travels and recording experiences and discerning my next steps for the months and years to come!
Mixed Vice Work!
I invite you to also be witness to the truth and passion that has traveled through me. After June 25th, the project will become available in the store – and now accepting advance orders.
Much love to those who choose to pre-order! And… much love to those who don’t too.
And if you haven’t taken a look
at the video for Mixed Vice Work,
now might be a good time:
“When I say peace I mean it”
-from the intro track to Mixed Vice Work, entitled “Soul Food”.
