Jonathan Hanst

Meet Jonathan Hanst, owner of  Jonathan Hanst Voiceovers. He is a music nut, a pinball geek, an 80s kid, and a Colorado transplant.  Jonathan started in radio which gave him a chance to write copy and produce audio every day. After leaving radio, he filled the void with his mixtape series DETOUR and later, a visual art project based on LP artwork called HiFi Jones.

Jonathan, your passion for the community and seeking out ways to support your own creativity as well as those of the community is inspiring.  Excited to see your “creative clubhouse” evolve along with the community invite to Frogger Friday!

 

Questions:

Q: What inspired you or led you to your current career?

A:  I left the radio in 2005 and became self employed.  I realized that radio provided me a framework to do something creative all the time in a regimented way. Every week was writing, producing, goes on air – repeat. I realized if I didn’t keep myself being creative, I was  going to miss it. This is way before I was doing visual art of any kind. I consider myself a creative person. I began to do pod casts and a mixed tape series where I put together the best mixing I could for whatever era of time that I was “living in.” Then I realized, that creativity was the central component of my life and that’s what continues to motivate, excite, and stimulate me.

Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Louisville and Lafayette, and what do you love there?

A: Right now I am really digging Teocalli Cocina, I love the macha salsa. I’m a huge taco fan of El Mercado.  I want to thank Dave Query, because he believed in Lafayette and brought the Post Brewing Co in and then came Community, Tangerine, and others followed.

Q: How long have you lived or worked in Louisville and Lafayette?

A: I’ve been here in 1998, near Waneka Lake, and then I bought this place in the late 2010.  I’m a Lafayette fan!

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?  And why?

A: I would love to travel internationally and I have done very little of that. Through some client appreciation trips, I’ve discovered great places like Portland (ME), Memphis, and D.C. I think you have to be there for several weeks to really get it. I usually like to have a little pin on the map, traveling around and popping into places. Next month I’m going to Portland, Oregon and the coast of Oregon, which I’m super excited about because I’ve not spent a lot of time in the northwest.

Q: What is your favorite movie OR what is the first movie you remember seeing in a theatre?

A: My favorite movie is not the first one I saw.  But, one of the movies that made a real indelible mark is Raiders of the Lost Ark because my father saw it in 1981 and he came home, collected me and took me back to the theatre immediately to see the movie. That was the biggest cinematic moment as well as a moment to bond with my dad. The movie itself was totally arresting and captivating. I think it left a huge impression on me.

Q: What advice would you give a crowd of people?

A: Please consider or eliminating your use of single use plastic.  Until recently I was on the Waste Reduction Advisory Committee in Lafayette, I’ve gone door to door collecting recyclables, and I’m not perfect by any means, but we seem so attached to things that have no where to go other than a landfill.

Q: What is your favorite music/ 3 bands you would like to see (dead or alive)?

A: Led Zeppelin, it feels like a cliche, but I’d loved to have seen a band like that. I’m a big jazz guy too, so to see somebody like Miles Davis or John Coltrane. Even “lesser figures” in a smaller setting, I love that.  What I love about live music is for the chance for it to live, breathe, and be different than the record.  I like artists, that you can just tell, even early in their arch, that you can just tell have something special going on, and that is where the live music context is probably best.

Q: What current / former local business makes you the most nostalgic about Louisville and Lafayette?

A: The Lafayette Collectibles and Flea Market is my favorite place to go. I love to wonder around the flea market and just see what I see.  It has gone from this funky place to an even funkier, cool place to wander.

Q: Choosing anyone alive and a non-relative: with whom would you love to have lunch?  Why?  Where in Lafayette would you have lunch?

A: There is a guy, Justin, I’ve never met that I became aware of, and he owns a book shop in Breckenridge that I just discovered. It’s called Old Man Berkins Bookstore. I found this book shop, it’s off of Main St by like a half block. It was like stepping into somebody else’s world. I asked the girl at the counter who the owner was of the place. She told me that the owner was traveling at that time and gave me his information. I would love to tell him in person how much that inspired me and how much I’m trying to mirror in my own way here what he did in that book shop. I would bring him here, in my place.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?

A: I want this place to expand (referring to his studio). I definitely want to be at a much bigger foot print for everything that we’re talking about in 5 years. I want it to be outside, to have areas that people can create, meditate, gather, perform, play, and even stay the night. I imagine my studio which I call my “Creative Clubhouse” expanding. One of my predominant goals is to create like I’ve never created before. So that’s going to be my north star in 2020 and beyond.

Q: (Even for friends or family), what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?

A: I’m pretty transparent.  I’ve been sober for four years, which I openly talk about as it’s helped me focus and sharpen and been hugely positive. I don’t take any issue with alcohol, but deciding to quit… it’s been fantastic. I think a lot of what I’m doing now, that I’m exponentially more focused and ardent about it, is a result of not drinking.

Q: What 3 words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?

A: Love, Warmth, Happiness.

Q: If you were cast into a major motion picture and had your choice of anyone to be your co-star, who would you choose?

A: An actor I miss a lot is Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Q: If you had a full time staff member that was fully paid for, who would you choose?

Chef, Housekeeper, Driver, Coach, Physical Fitness Trainer, or Nanny?

A: A personal assistant. One of my key things this year is to delegate. It’s not an easy thing for me to do historically, but I’m learning and I would love that.  It’s a way of not only lightening myself up for bigger, juicier projects, but it’s a way to spread love and wealth that others can grow from.

Q: Is there something that you felt would benefit the community?

A: I want this (studio) to be that and the community to benefit from this place. The city has done a great job incubating and encouraging the community as an artistic place and literally branding it as a home for artists. I would love to see that continue to expand. Keep Lafayette weird, funky, and bohemian. More taco carts and Flea Markets. Fewer Arby’s and Les Schwab tire stores. The more Lafayette fosters and broadcasts its commitment to the local, the better.

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