THE COLLECTIVE
The Curator
Talon Stradley serves as the Curator of Newton’s Dark Room. His responsibilities include being the public face of NDR, organizing projects, scheduling releases, and keeping the collective as a whole moving properly. The Curator is the live performer of most of NDR’s music. You can find him occasionally performing around the Long Beach area in Southern California
Sumpra Pepnia
Sumpra Pepnia is an audio engineer and writer for Newton's Dark Room. Due to her deafness she uses a device called The Concreteifier to solidify sound waves so they can be physically altered. The process resembles someone using a pottery wheel. Outside of her audio duties, Sumpra has become an integral part of NDR and a mother figure to all with her care, patience, and wisdom.
Augie Pepnia
Augie Pepnia is the script editor for Newton's Dark Room and the younger sister of Sumpra. Due to her blindness and tactile nature, she prefers to edit with a modified antique printing press. The top has traditional lettering with braille on the backside. She wheels underneath like a mechanic to make her edits. Augie is an energetic cat-lover who has ventured the dessert for her cat, Astatine.
S. Owen Sow
S. Owen Sow (AKA Owen) is an illustrator and graphic designer for Newton's Dark Room. Early in his childhood, he got himself stuck on a cloud that rolled across the countryside. He lived on that cloud for many years, hunting rainbows for sustenance. This caused his blood to have many different colors. He will sometimes prick his fingertips to finger paint with those colors.
Julia Sawbone
Julia Sawbone is an academic and traveling Folklorist. She has spent most of her days wandering across American cities and documenting cultural phenomenon. Her most recent work involved documenting the legends of a modern pantheon of gods. These documents were adapted and recorded for podcast. You can hear the legends on our podcast Main Street Mythology.
AI 4-82
AI 4-82 is a vintage artificial intelligence that runs our communal home on Calisand. The bulk of the AI resides in a large garage-like shed to the side of the house. It is one of the first AI's with it's construction somewhere in the 1970's. AI 4-82 is large, with many buttons, switches, and knobs. Much of The Calisland Caretakers' time is spent maintaining AI 4-82.
The Calisland Caretakers
The Calisland Caretakers are a pair of maintenance workers and musicians for Newton's Dark Room. They are comprised of Harold and Shannon. The two have lived on Calisland since it's construction in the 1970's. Their duties include house repairs, overseeing the Roombas, and maintaining AI 4-82. They have also released music under The Calisland Caretakers.
Crash the Cosmic Crackshot
Crash, the Cosmic Crackshot is an ancient space being who serves as a composer for Newton's Dark Room. He has been around since before the start of time. Most of his life has been spent as the top marbles player in the cosmiverse. After a fall from grace, he began maintaining the Saturn Marble Museum. He helped foster life on earth and now watches over us on lunch breaks.
Tur-Toise
Tur-Toise is a magician and founding member of Newton's Dark Room. Despite being born in the 1600's, Tur-Toise still appears to be in his mid-40's. He has stepped down from his position as Curator and is enjoying his retirement on Calisland. Occasionally, he will have an idea that requires the collective's help, but he spends most of his time alone in his room.
Tommy B.
Tommy B. is a performance artist and live events coordinator for Newton's Dark Room. He famously has zero possessions, instead choosing to live exclusively in the moment. He is extremely good at pinball, beating the devil in 2019 to save the entire album. He can be found wandering around the building, falling asleep in various nooks and crannies.
Sophie Rivera
Sophie Rivera is a filmmaker for Newton's Dark Room. While filming a short film for school, she stumbled on The Church of the False Morning Sun, an ancient cult that believed Sophie's lighting equipment was the fulfillment of a prophecy. The church listens to her every word. She has used this to turn them into a film crew for her projects.