Super Connected Conversations

’Creativity, Inspiration and Precognition’ with Eric Wargo and Tim Arnold

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Episode notes

Musician Tim Arnold and science writer Eric Wargo discuss the themes of Wargo's forthcoming book about 'Creativity, Inspiration and Precognition'.

This discussion is in context of one of the artworks from Arnold's new album and film 'Super Connected'. The artwork foresaw Apple's Vision Pro, 5 years before Apple announced it.

In 2018, Arnold conceived a fictional wearable headset named "iHead" for the story of his album 'Super Connected'. A model of the "iHead" was made between the Winter of 2018 and Spring 2019 by artist and and model maker Valerie Charlton, with principle photography on the movie of 'Super Connected' completed by the end of 2019. The album and movie were slated for a 2020 release.

With the pandemic hitting, Arnold paused all plans on releasing the album and the film. He tried to release the project in 2021, and then again in 2022, but the industry was still only just getting back on it's feet, so Arnold paused the project, along with the "iHead".

In 2022 Arnold was diagnosed with autism after two years of assessments. With a fresh perspective on his life and his work, he decided to release the 'Super Connected' project in 2023. On submitting his album for release in January 2023, Arnold was told by his digital distributor 'Ditto Music' that Apple would not accept the album unless the track that mentioned the "iHead" was removed from the album. Protecting his vision, Arnold refused to remove the track for artistic reasons, so the album was submitted to all platforms by Ditto Music, excluding Apple. In April 2023, Arnold released the first single from the album with a scene from the movie that featured the "iHead".

The full album launched on all platforms in May, 2023 except for Apple. 

With overwhelming praise in the press, including 4-star reviews in Mojo and The Times, Arnold launched a public campaign with an open letter to Apple requesting they include his album on Apple Music. The public letter was supported with signatories from celebrities in the entertainment world. It drew attention in the media and, within six days, the album 'Super Connected' was made available on Apple Music.

Here's the history of the 'iHead' -

"iHead" in action 

"iHead" parody commercial featuring Stephen Fry  

Hear the critically acclaimed album, now available on Apple Music

Learn more about Eric Wargo here