Creativity in computing, with music in the mix

An edition of my Artists' Career Stories series…

Larry has been in the computer business for a long time…and he's been playing guitar for even longer. I interviewed him to find out how he combines the two and how his computer work feeds his music, and vice versa.

Who: Larry, age 49, full-time software engineer and amateur guitar player

Where: Denver, Colorado

Audio clip: Larry discussing creativity in software work:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Interview

BH: What kind of music do you play?

L: I play jazz, blues, lots of different styles.

BH: How long have you been playing guitar?

L: Almost 40 years, since I was a kid.

BH: Have you ever played for money, or are you strictly amateur?

L: I played for money back in college. I did solo acoustic stuff and played with a few bands, but nothing really big-time.

BH: What set you on the path toward where you are today?

L: I was a music major in college, and I was getting a little tired of doing nothing but music all the time. It seemed like when I was growing up, music was something I did more for enjoyment, and when it got to be work, I wasn’t enjoying it as much. Plus, I was always interested in computers and tech., and it seemed to be passing me by. Back in those days, there wasn’t a lot of synergy between the computer and the music interests – it was before home music technology.

I started taking math and computer science classes. I mainly wanted to have a job when I got out of college, because a lot of my music major friends were graduating and not getting jobs, and I didn’t want to put in that much effort and not be able to get a job. So, I guess a lot of it was fear, but I was interested in computers and math and took off with that.

BH: And you’ve been doing both ever since?

L: There have been times when I’ve given up the guitar except to play now and then, and there was a time when I started working part-time because I wanted to devote more time to the music. For the most part, it’s been trying to find a balance between the two things.

BH: What are some of the biggest challenges with working full-time and finding time to play guitar?

L: Sometimes after working in front of a computer all day, I’m tired, my eyes are tired, it’s a little hard to maintain the energy level you need to have for music. But then other times, I feel tired after work, and I start playing and get a second wind. The challenge then is that it’s late at night, I start focusing, and I can’t seem to turn it off. I don’t want to go to sleep then, I want to stay up all night and play, but I have to transition to the next thing. Sometimes it’s hard to transition from one activity to the other. I want to play music, but I have to do the software stuff, or the other way around.

BH: What do you like about the software work?

L: It’s really creative, I do a lot of problem-solving, it’s like solving puzzles. I like the interesting twists and turns it takes when I’m trying to diagnose a problem. I enjoy the creative part of it, working on new projects.

BH: Can you talk a little more about the creativity? There’s an impression amongst a lot of people that computer work isn’t that creative, that it’s technical, therefore not creative.

L: You don’t follow a set of steps – it’s not mechanical. Sometimes, you try things and they don’t work, and you have to think, “What if I tried this, what if I did that?” Sometimes the answer is something you never would have thought of, something that doesn’t logically make sense, but it works. So people often don’t understand that, but it really is very creative. You learn from the patterns from past problems you've seen, but then you also have to not be so tied to the past answers, because you might be seeing something new. You have to be really open-minded and have a good understanding of things. The facts sometimes contradict each other, and you have to learn to think your way around those things.

BH: Do any of those types of problem-solving or creative thought processes apply to your music – is there a connection?

L: Yes, there are similar things in music, like working with a set of facts and trying to find a solution. It’s kind of the same when you’re trying to create something or play something a certain way. There may be 6 or 7 different ways to play a chord, and you have to solve that problem. How does this chord connect with the music I’m playing right now? It’s a similar thought process, a lot of trial and error and trying to think of new ways to do things.

BH: Tell me about your typical day, if there is such a thing.

L: I usually try to start with a plan for what I hope to get accomplished, and usually all sorts of problems come in, or people ask me a lot of questions and I get sidetracked. In the ideal world, you’d be able to pick what you wanted to do and go with that all day, but my job is almost never like that. I take the different sidetracks, solve different problems people are having, ask people questions, research things, and then actually write code and do some debugging and work on the problems I’d planned to work on. It’s not nicely set up so I do one thing and then the next. I’m switching back and forth all the time.

It is frustrating, because I like to get into the “zone” and not be interrupted, yet sometimes when I take a different track, I am subconsciously working on the first problem and thinking of things I might not have thought of before. In some ways, that can be good. But it drives a lot of people crazy, and it sometimes drives me crazy. It works out most of the time, and is something I have to accept.

BH: A lot of creative people worry that a full-time job will be too structured or that it won't have enough variety. This doesn't sound like the case with your job.

L: I sort of have a routine and far as the hours I keep, but other than that I'm always doing different things. There's almost never a chance to get bored, and it isn't repetitive.

BH: Has it always been that way?

L: When I started, I was doing testing, and that was really boring. I took the job because the economy was really bad back then and I took the first thing I could get. But I made some recommendations and got involved in helping the company automate their processes, and that part was interesting.

BH: What motivational challenges do you face with your music, considering you have a full-time job?

L: Most of the time I really look forward to coming home and playing. The challenge is that to really progress as a musician, you can't just play the same stuff over and over and do the same things. You have to take the time to learn things, slow things down and try different things, do some research, and listen a lot. Those are the little things I cannot do as much. And when I can block out an hour or two to play, I really want to play and sound good, not go back and struggle with things I'm practicing. There are times when I really can't motivate myself, but other times when I'm a little more receptive to it.

I also find it motivating to listen a lot. I listen to music when I'm at work. I can put on my headphones and block the world out when I am working, although I can't always focus on the music as much as I would like to.

BH: Who are you listening to these days?

L: Robyn Ford, for blues; Pat Metheny; Frank Vignola; lots of guitar players.

BH: You did a show recently.

L: Yes, my guitar teacher and a couple of his professional musicians friends and I got together and did a show at the D-Note in Arvada. I did about 10 songs with them. It was really intimidating with all these professionals, especially because I don't do it on a regular basis.

BH: So it is possible to have a full-time job and prepare for and put on a show at a public place.

L: Definitely. Sometimes I have to work long hours and stay late at work, so it would be hard to be in a full-time band, but I have friends who do that because they have more regular hours. Instead of playing in a band, I just play by myself and learn things on my own.

BH: Do you have any particular visions, dreams, or goals for yourself as a musician or as a software engineer?

L: I don't really think about a lot of long-term goals, but I always want to improve and to learn. The technology with software engineering changes so much, so I don't always have a lot of goals because it changes so quickly. I learn what I need to learn at the time. With music, it's a little different, because a lot of the foundations of music are still the same as they were when I first picked up the guitar – the scales, the chords. My goal is to learn as much I can, but my interests change over time, so it can be hard to have goals with music.

BH: What would you tell someone who is just starting off in their career and who has interests similar to yours?

L: When I was younger, I felt like I had to pick one or the other and throw everything into the that one thing. As I've gotten older, I've realized it's OK to do more than one thing. Maybe I won't be as good of a musician or as good of a software engineer, but it’s really satisfy for me to be able to do both things. Just because you're a musician, you don't have to do music all the time. If you have a lot of different interests, don't be afraid to pursue other things. Having outside interests can in some ways make your music better. Likewise, keeping up your music keeps you happier at your day job if you have one. You can be good at more than one thing, and it's OK.

BH: What connection does your happiness as a software engineer have to the income you're able to generate?

L: That definitely had a lot to do with my decision back in college, and it definitely matters now. It's a big motivation. Lessons and equipment are really expensive, and my job helps the musical part of my life. I appreciate having a dependable (well, I hope it's dependable!) income to support my music. But, I definitely have an interest in computers, so it's not like I'm doing something just for the money.

Thanks, Larry!