We had the good fortune of connecting with Jonathan Wilson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jonathan, what role has risk played in your life or career?
If you don’t take a chance, you won’t get one! Playing it safe at the expense of authenticity is not safe! When I started TogaMan GuitarViols, I was not trying to fit into a market. No I was simply creating my own specialty instrument for my own applications. There was no boardroom committee! Unexpectedly, people were more interested in The instrument I made rather than my musical skills! It turned out that it was a perfect match for Film/TV composers and I could not make them fast enough! They had deadlines and I had all the deadline killers! My queue was populated by people with IMDb profiles! Between the years of 2002 and 2008, it was part time until I was so stressed I couldn’t do everything! The big jump out of the airplane without a parachute? That was quitting my day job in January 2008 and doing this full-time with the family and tow! What could possibly go wrong? It’s been rocky at times but I could not imagine anything else! I dug my heels in it’s stuck to my concepts in the size without regard to Industry standards, tradition, for popular tastes. Authenticity and attracting the right customers (not the wrong ones) in a niche market is better than trying to please everybody in a big market and being unremarkable. Remarkable wins even if it’s risky! Unremarkable and average is riskier! You have to believe in your vision so deeply that conventional opinions are just distractions. If they compromise your vision. Just start! If it brings you joy, the right people will come.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am best known as the creator of the TogaMan GuitarViol; A guitar formatted viola that few know exist but is widely heard in 20 years of Film/TV/game media soundtracks. It enables guitar natives to explore bowed string sounds otherwise associated with violin, Viola, cello. Its distinctive timbre can be heard in projects ranging from 300, John Wick, to Game of Thrones. I initially invented it for myself for my own recording carreer. Instead the instrument itself took off!

This particular art encompasses a wide range of skills! Music, art, craft, engineering, and industrial design. After an initial collaborative attempt in the early 90s, I returned to the drawing board by Y2k to address ergonomic issues of the earlier model. To do this it was important for me to isolate away from any committee or unwanted opinions. It had to be my brain to my hands without distractions! GuitarViols exist apart from industry standards and I had the temerity to make it exist without a committee’s approval. (This was key!). Unexpectedly, this took off from scratch! There was no shop or factory! No show rooms! essentially I created something for myself that other people did not know they needed until they saw it! It turns out, the RIGHT people were attracted to it and “got it”

The journey was not easy ! It became an ongoing story of problem solving! Things had to be engineered into an otherwise manufacturing resistant instrument! These instruments had production issues that typical guitar and violin makers do not face. This evolution spanned a few decades! Early versions are still in service but they are what I would consider to be rocket stages to where the state of the art is today! In recent years I have abandoned conventional woodworking after hundreds of instruments. I now make these out of HEMP composites that solve issues of relative humidity and cracking problems of wood. HEMP turns out to be a superwood! This approach also allows for superior consistency in geometry otherwise impractical with traditional wood bending methods. It also is a sustainable non-inflammatory material to work with! And,, they have a more satisfying response and sound from it! Win-Win!

I have learned that you do have to follow your vision and not be distracted by the Salieris out there! (Google “ Salieri syndrome“). Even well-meaning people can foist their own bias and agenda on your project to the point where you can’t even recognize what you started! (that by itself is depressing!) It is better to fail spectacularly with something authentic and remarkable then it is to succeed with something unremarkable. And banal. This IS the space where the ART exists!

The success of the GuitarViol is personal to me! I was a diffident misfit loner kid who survived early life trauma (mother’s suicide and the only child of a Los Angeles homicide detective). I hated school and sports! Music and art where are my go-to survival mechanisms. I was told “you can’t do that”, get a “real job!” It turns out that was bad advice! Several soul crushing “jobs” later drove me into the musical instrument sales and service industry where I felt at home and my specialized skills were useful and valued. It’s where I learned about the business. through mentor s. Over the years I myself Had some protégés who themselves are fine instrument makers today! I would like to be remembered as the guy who was authentic against all odds! I would like my brand TogaMan GuitarViols to live on as and innovative Company that invites musical explorers who wants something more! It warms my heart that there are musicians, artists, producers Who have literally built a career with my instrument! Maybe a wine brand later! Who knows! I typically end my video blogs with the line “ have an exceedingly awesome day and STAY inspired“. I mean it!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There is nothing like a coastal California drive and hitting various points of interest along the way! The first leg of the trip would be likely Santa Barbara
and then Solvang/Los Olivos
Rather like the famous “Sideways” movie trip! Plenty of restaurants, vineyards and wineries! Also picnic opportunities! Or could drive straight up to NAPA and the San Francisco Bay, then drive down The coast! Carmel, The Hearst castle? Morro Bay, Pismo clam festivals, to make it more fun! Perhaps we would bring a few instruments along and crash a few tasting rooms with spontaneous jams! Good times!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Besides my loving, praying wife encouraging me to “go for it” when I had doubts, There is an entire film/TV industry that embraced my work when traditional musicians viewed my instrument as a strange anathema that they could not wrap their head around. Without the relentless client base of film composers, I would still be working my old job in the music store growing old. It is collectively that international film scoring industry that made the GuitarViol what it is today! Shout out to The composers, musicians, who work closely with filmmakers to tell the story using the voice of my instruments!

Website: https://togamanguitars.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/togaman_guitarviols?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@togamanguitarviols?si=ahph4KA0d7wG98MM

Other: https://open.substack.com/pub/jonathanericwilson?r=pila7&utm_medium=ios

Image Credits
Jonathan Eric Wilson
Nela Wilson

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