Jonathan Miller

Jonathan Miller was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota where he attended Anoka High School. He went to the University of Minnesota where he studied literature, and Columbia College Chicago where he studied film. He moved to Athens in January, 2012. Jonathan is co-owner of Flicker Theatre and Bar, delivers bread for Luna Baking Co., caters for LRG Provisions and is a tour manager for the band Deep State. He is also part of the musical project Hand Sand Hands and writes literary fiction books. Jonathan lives in Five Points with his wife, Annie Marcum, their dogs Pinda and Opie, and they are expecting their first child in October.

 

 

 

What inspired you or led you to your current career?

 

Well, I like art. I love owning a venue that does try to treat bands as well as possible. I do Luna because everyone there is awesome. LRG Provisions because I know everyone there and they’re also amazing folks. I like the ease of lifestyle of it all. I just pick up shifts whenever I feel like it.

 

What is your favorite Athens restaurant, and what do you love there?

 

Hi-Lo Lounge or The National. The National is where we take people who come to visit, but Hi-Lo might be my favorite. Everyone that works there is amazing. Also half of Deep State worked there at one time. So, every time they would go on tour, they would panic to not have enough staff. I love the Kraut Dog there. No, actually the Tempeh Salad is the best thing, actually. It is the best Tempeh in town.

 

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

 

Bhutan or Antarctica. I think Bhutan because it is impossible to get in, and they have the Gross Domestic Happiness that is their country doctrine. So, it is a super strange, exclusive and a time stalled type of place and it is really untouched because they don’t want to be dominated by tourism. Or, Antarctica because it is Antarctica. Tibet and Nepal for mountains or Montana forever.

 

If you could have a billboard with anything on it, what would it say?

 

Everything is fine.

 

What is your favorite movie, or the first movie you remember seeing in a theatre?

 

I remember seeing Lawrence of Arabia in a small theatre really young. I was kind of blown away and bored at the same time. My favorite movie is probably 2001 Space Odyssey; that or Raging Bull or Days of Heaven or There Will Be Blood or Cinema Paradiso or Elling or Kurosawa’s Dreams.

 

What advice would you give to your younger self?

 

Everything is fine. Chill out dude. You think things matter more than they do.

 

If you could see any band, dead or alive, anywhere, who would it be and where?

 

I saw Radiohead in a small-ish place. I don’t even like The Doors, but The Doors at The Fillmore would be amazing for people watching. What about The Band, that show that was the movie The Last Waltz [their farewell show at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom on Nov. 25, 1976, filmed by Martin Scorsese] because that was like a five and a half hour show before it was edited. You would actually be able to see the cocaine coming out of Neil Young’s nose before they edited it out.

 

What is your favorite thing to do in Athens?

 

Biking. I bike every day.

 

What is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?

 

I was a professional tap dancer for thirteen years. My sister is still a pro, she tours the world.

 

What are three words or phrases that come to mind when you think of the word “home”?

 

Dogs, comfort and love.

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