Backstage Intro: Meet Jake!

[MichaelW]

Our Community Rock Stars with the Wordsmith role can submit blog posts to be published on the Spotify Community Blog. This Backstage Intro interview submission comes from Rock Star @MichaelW.

Hey there, @Jake (Moderator), nice to meet you! Tell us something about yourself.

I love a good film and make some in my spare time too!

I'm a fan of Arsenal FC and love a kick-about, I enjoy going to gigs and festivals, playing video games, cooking, sleeping/dreaming and I love to travel! As St Augustine said -  "Life is a book and those who do not travel only read one page."

I used to have a pet tortoise called Arnold. He was such a dude.

So, what music are you into?

Favourite band of all time -- The Mars Volta. Bands with great drummers -- Deftones. I also like really ambient stuff -- Boards of Canada & Helios.  Not forgetting fast, loud driven rock and indie -- Queens of The Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys and Foals. I grew up in the 90's so loved Grunge -- Smashing Pumpkins and now Wolf Alice. Chuck a bit of Duke Ellington in there...oh and Zepplin. I forgot Jeff Buckley - what a voice, Mercury Program and Tears for Fears... I'll stop now.

You’re at Spotify for some time, what do you like the most?

Favourite thing about Spotify would be the passion everyone has for music and the feeling that everyone shares the same love for it. Constantly finding new friends and new tunes!

Tell us something more about your ‘pet-passion’!

Pet passion. Stick me at a restaurant table anywhere in the world and I'll be smiling.

Thanks for taking time to share your moments. Before we go, what joke always makes you laugh?

Man walks into a bar and pauses: at the other end of the bar, there's this guy with a big orange head. Just kind of sitting there, mooning into his drink. So the man asks the bartender, "Say, what's up with the guy with the big orange head?" And the bartender says, "It's an interesting story. Buy him a drink and maybe he'll tell it to you."
So the man walks over and introduces himself and offers to buy a round. The guy with the big orange head says, "Yeah, I'll bet you want to know the story, huh?" To which the man replies, "Sure, if you don't mind."
The man with the big orange head sighs and says, "You know, I've gone over it in my mind a million times. Basically, it's like this: I was walking along the beach one day, when I stubbed my toe on something. I looked down, and there was an antique brass lamp. I picked it up and dusted it off a little -- when all of a sudden this enormous genie pops out!
"The genie thundered, 'You have released me from my ten-thousand year imprisonment, and I am in your debt. I will grant you three wishes as a token of my gratitude.'
The man at the bar is agape. The guy with the big orange head continues: "So I said, 'Wow, okay. Well, my first wish is to be fantastically wealthy.'
"The genie says, 'Your wish is granted.' And all of a sudden I have rings on my fingers and a crown on my head, and my wallet is full of money and a dozen ATM cards and the deed to a mansion in the hills -- I mean, I was loaded!
"So I said, 'Amazing! Okay, for my next wish , I want to be married to the most beautiful woman in the world.'
"The genie says, 'Your wish is granted.' And the ocean parts, and out walks this gorgeous woman in this beautiful dress, and she takes my hand and we fall in love and the genie marries us right there. It was incredible.
"The genie booms, 'You have one wish remaining.'"
The man with the big orange head pauses and sips his beer. He says, "Now, you know, this may be where I went wrong. I wished for a big orange head."