Sparks and the comfort of an Interest

 Hey everyone, so I’ve been trying for a while to create the perfect short post that requires not as intense of a need for research or lyric reading, today I thought I’d do a post on how Sparks is a comforting interest for me. Before I begin and let you all read on, my name is Jack but some people call me Noodle, I am still waiting on my autism assessment and I’m also queer. Sparks in the recent times have helped me through many challenges good and bad and provide a safer world for me. If you haven’t already today, I suggest getting a drink of water or some snack while reading this post. I am writing this while, unfortunately sick myself; I had a cold last week and this week I ended up sick again with a chest infection but alas the world can’t stop for me, I’m currently working on my uni final piece and I’m exhausted but wanted to create a time to make a short and sweet post. Remember you’re very welcome to message, comment or share this post; after all I am always happy reading feedback and gaining other people’s stories. Without much standing I give you the post. 

(Me when I do my deep dives be like, a lot of researching and thinking)

So you might be asking a few questions. The first one is “What is a Special Interest?”, a special interest is when a person is super into something and often to a neurodivergent person it could be a niche topic such as lifts, elevators, lightbulbs, fire alarms, washing machines etc; these interests could also be amplified in ways such as collections or archives of videos/photos. Growing up for me as a kid I was really into dogs as my best friend at home was a lab called Heather and we did a lot together. As a kid I took to getting family to get me teddies of dogs and books on dogs and I was curious about every dog and wanted to understand how to care for one. When I was a bit older we got a whippet Toffee who became my bestie when Heather passed on, she and I won 3rd in a junior handling competition (she pooped at the end of our round, I think she was expressing how I did or giving me a gift) alas Toffee during lockdown got sick but always stuck by me, she seemed happiest seeing me communicating or wearing something comfortable. Toffee taught me a lot about dogs. Now I have a leonberger who is one of the biggest sparks fans, Esme, she is 8 in November and she has to put up with Sparks on almost everyday. Another example of a special interest is as a Teen I was really into anime especially Pokémon which spawned plushies and figures and books (a lot I still own because I’m attached to my past and miss it badly). 

The second question I think you might have is “How do special interests differ from someone liking something?”, that’s a very interesting question as I believe I’ve noticed most people’s special interests can have a positive power or negative effect on them. Positively, they can help a person become social or connect with others and help them understand their world. Negatively, some of us forget to eat or drink or go to the toilet or even do our routines because we get sucked into it. This is why I often will post here ‘have a snack or drink’ as I’m aware that some of my readers also have a special interest in this band or have not eaten or drank the entire day. These differ from liking something because when I like something I tend to be able to let go of it and scurry to the bathroom when needed or can pause it and come back later. It can worry people sometimes because my art is a special interest as I love learning about art or studying arty outfits and often zone out so much I’m drained but I just spent hours on Pinterest. 

(Me looking for things around my special interests)

So where does Sparks fit into all this? Why did you call sparks a ‘comfort’? Sparks to me have stayed rent free (asides the odd spending on music and merch) for 3 years nearly. I began my passion for this band during a time of anxiety and stress for my family, at the time my dad had an awful van and it constantly broke down and on our way for a weekend away it broke down at a retail park (a big place of shops for Americans) and I had recently got into glam rock and thus began listening to the music on this album I had on my phone around glam music. I heard ‘This Town Ain’t big Enough for the Both of Us’ and was amazed, I had heard it previously during the movie England is Mine, a movie around the life of a pre-the smiths morrissey. I then began playing it a lot and it grew on me until during my first year of university when I began finding more songs of there’s; I felt safe and understood by the music and the fans and the art surrounding it. To add, I also call sparks a ‘comfort’ because of numerous reasons as in the past 2-3 years a lot has happened to me and my life and I’m so so grateful for their music. 

(Me getting ready to discuss the comfort of Sparks)

I was going to do a deep and intense section on what’s happened in my life in the last 2 years being a sparks fan as Sparks have helped me through a lot of scary moments in my life, however, I’m not ready to open my doors to everyone just yet. I can say that nearly 2 years ago my mum passed on and she was a huge inspiration for me and helped me become the man I am today, she wanted to be a writer and often write short stories and would intensely research things she liked. 2 years ago my world was chaos, she was sick and I was in my 1st year of university and uncertain if I’d stay in education or I’d have to stop to do things for her. She probably wouldn’t have liked that, she always wanted me to pursue a dream I had whether it was being an artist or to just be happy in the moments. I’ve tried since the year anniversary of this place to write a blog around grief and sparks but it is immensely hard because grief as an autistic person is weird, one minute I’m too upset to talk to anyone or be around anyone, the next I’m happy I have people and distract myself with everyone else’s needs and issues. Death for me led me to realise my life on earth is super short and I’m trying hard at the moment to make it worth something. So if I ever apologise for a delay in a post because I was busy with my life, please feel free to stop me apologising as I know I do it way too much. 

Sparks have helped me in these last few years because they helped me get the colour back into my life, both in my personality and in my art. Someone who has been around me these recent years noticed how before my mums passing I used a lot of muted, plain and dark tones for work and gradually as I opened my mind and healed from traumatic moments and started realising life needs living I used more colour. In my still life book I take out on days out or even just to walk in my local area for a bit of air I use so much colour to reflect that I’m living in the now. Sparks have helped find this colour because they have great songs to dance to and songs to sing to and songs to think about. I have a few ideas for this blog on the great songs which leave me both dancing and thinking as I want to share those moments with you. I also feel like whenever I’ve seen a live video of spark past, their outfits and personas rub off on a person; whether subconsciously or not. I told my therapist how in June I’m planning either to make an outfit around their outfits from the 70s/80s or be full cosplay style and he was happy to hear how I’m aware that old and young fans partake in this cosplay to the gig idea. Jokingly I have told my best friend that I’m going as Angst in my Pants Ron because I have naturally wavy hair that can be styled easily like that era. I probably won’t do this as it is immensely rare I find an affordable wedding dress and can make it work. I’m most definitely going to try looking glam though as I grew up  surrounded by the glam music my parents liked. 

(Possibly a gothic/post punk take on Russell’s outfit here…if the boiler suit I got fits)

My favourite album of Sparks that brings me comfort is No.1 in Heaven(1979) this is due to the amount of layers and colours and patterns I feel listening to it, if I find time (before I post this) to make art on what I see and feel listening to this album I hope I relate and connect with some fellow readers. But I always find this album has wavy patterns in pink, pastel blues, purples and the occasional yellow. I also love it because it’s comforting to talk about, in my university work I’m using it as a marker to remind my readers that this album is what helped many 80s new wave artists feel so excited by music that they became part of a movement. I also find no.1 in heave comforting as it’s an album I can play anytime and help me feel happier or energetic. I also recommend this to non sparks fans because many people I’m around like old music or they want to understand the 80s music scenes. My teacher found me at one point making a “family tree” of people inspired by sparks who then inspired more and so on. I’m so thrilled to be mentioning this in my work because I feel in the UK No.1 in Heaven is overlooked by many 80s fans because they aren’t aware of their influence or aren’t aware they made this album.

Another Sparks album I find comforting is Angst in My Pants (1982) because I wrote a huge deep post here on the connections to the queer scene in this period, this also is one of my inspirations in the work I’m doing at university. I could’ve easily focused my work around sparks and their influences, however, I didn’t want to become sick of sparks or force innocent people into liking a band because I do. I feel angst was the eye opening stage for queer new wave music, around the year angst came out the new wave scenes in both the US and UK were thriving and queer bands like B-52s, Oingo Boingo and much more were at their peak and inspiring a lot of listeners. Angst also came out at the time of darkness for the queer community, with the AIDs crisis spreading gay fear worldwide; many believed queer people were riddled with diseases and could give them the illness by existing. Luckily, my existence can’t make people ill, but sadly few still believe I don’t deserve a life because I’m happy in my identity. I am hopeful MAD! Will do similar impacts and hints that Angst did over 40 years ago (I had to do the math in my head, it’s scary it’s that old). This album also connects with me as I feel it helps me feel seen and heard, especially on tracks like I Predict which narrates the story of someone knowing what someone’s next actions will be. The lyric “Someone’s gonna die, I can’t reveal who” feels very haunting yet understanding from my awareness that Sparks don’t like to show political leaning but want to create emotion and relatability in music. 

(Excuse if the quality of this image isn’t great, it came from Pinterest) 

My final point and note on Sparks and their comfort is the fact they have very private personal lives but the stuff we do know is they lead very simple lives. I find this comforting as I too enjoy a simple life, when I’m not working on my work I’m found at a museum or outside on a walk or doodling something else. I also like hanging out with my friends, speaking of that my bestie and I will be hanging out and doing our favourite thing which is playing video games and making things. I find my life simple as I don’t do shopping often, usually leaving it up to my dad because I don’t have the energy to face a huge store and carry bags of food. I also find their simple life interesting as, even though they’ve gained fame and sold out venues, they’ve still kept their regular guy status. I’m hoping when my work is seen worldwide and I’m getting calls everywhere for an interview I’m still that guy who wants a mocha and a cheese pasty from Greggs. 

Thank you everyone for reading my post, I do apologise for the delays, I’ve been exhausted with my university work, however, by the time Sparks in Glasgow comes around I’ll be free and on my trip I’ll be making a blog here on my adventures as I go to a new city. I recently decided to experiment and see how I cope outside on my own on a night in a shopping centre and it went surprisingly well. I’m hoping by Sparks time I am ready to not be afraid of whatever food I see and I can survive entertaining myself. I’m most excited for seeing fellow fans and people being shocked at how tiny I am. In other areas of life, next weekend I am showing off my art in the exhibition to my dad, his gf and her daughter which is very scary but my dads gf recently heard sparks and found them interesting.

I have been Noodle, you have been a reader and I hope to catch you in the next post or even in comment sections. Please remember to eat and stay hydrated and have plenty rest. And if we don’t cross paths again, it was nice while we knew each other