Next up in my 'records I listened to a lot whilst driving around California' series is the latest offering from Jonah Matranga / Onelinedrawing. Back in mid May I went to see Jonah perform at a venue that is only about 5 miles from my house, in Windsor. In all of the years that I have lived in this part of the country I have never been to a show in Windsor, and the novelty of being able to drive to a show in 15-20 minutes was very appealing. I hadn't listened to Jonah or any of his bands too much in recent years, although every year without fail I play my Far records.
This new record was put together just in time for the UK shows, and Jonah was clearly very excited about the project, as it is a record and comic book. He talked about how he had always wanted to do a comic book, and finally in 2025 here we are. The record is self released, and has no record label involved. According to Jonah's bandcamp there were 250 copies made, and as I type this there are currently 17 remaining.
The comic book was drawn by an illustrator named Andy Clift, with words written by Jonah. The theme is loneliness and connection, and the songs are also based around this.
Seeing Jonah play live was a really great experience. I was very moved by the performance for a number of reasons. But I will say that I was absolutely obsessed by the man for a few weeks afterwards. The show was small and intimate, with the audience all sat in chairs at tables. Some people had drinks delivered to their table while he played. This is absolutely not the kind of thing I would usually attend, but somehow it fitted the music perfectly. I felt annoyed at myself that I had lost track of his music a little and missed a couple of records over the last few years, which is something I want to fix. For now though, this beautiful piece of art is enough to keep me happy.
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