Nerd Composer

They say you should write about what you know.

Recently, I have taken this completely to heart in a series of new compositions on “nerd culture” topics. These pieces include: Visionary, a short tribute to Steve Jobs; Small Messages, which is based upon the structure of a tweet; and, most overtly, Nerd Songs, a collection of five songs on nerdy topics from my 1980s upbringing.

It isn’t coincidental that I am writing these works at the same time that nerd culture has taken off. Thanks to the success of the television show The Big Bang Theory—not to mention America’s recent obsession with Doctor Who, Marvel comics, Lord of the Rings, and other topics that come straight from my childhood—it seemed like a no-brainer for me to write music echoing these trends. After all, since it is clear I am not the only person who is interested in all of this, it might stand to reason that this could be a way to tap into a new market that might not be fully aware of new classical music.

Growing up, I was ashamed of being a nerd. This was pretty typical. After all, at the time being labeled a nerd was considered about as bad as showing up to school in nothing but your underwear. It invited ridicule and—at times—bullying. Living through the ’80s, you simply didn’t advertise that you would prefer to spend your free time playing a computer game, obsessing over Star Trek, or reading a comic book.

Those were tough years for me.

Having spent the late ’80s as a social outcast, I spent most of my early teen years working diligently at concealing the fact that I was a nerd. Fortunately for me, I had a proverbial ace up my sleeve. It was in 1987 that I first took up the saxophone, and by the early ’90s I was no longer known by my peers as a nerd, but rather a music nerd! At most schools this wouldn’t have been much better, but I also had the good fortune of attending a performing arts school, the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts. This meant that my “music nerd” status was in fact one that garnered popularity among my peers, rather than derision.
I spent these next few years in a more-or-less socially accepted state, embracing my music side while forever concealing the nerd. Those whom I socialized with knew that I loved music, that I had started to compose, and that I was more than likely going to pursue music at the collegiate level. Few were aware that, beneath this all, lurked the heart of a true Trekkie-computer-programming-comic-book-collecting-video-game-obsessed geek. Those friends that did know shared similar interests and—not surprisingly—also worked to conceal these same interests.

Of course, times have changed. Today, being a nerd is no longer a label to be feared. It is, in fact, now a badge to be worn proudly by all of us who still obsess over whether or not Han Solo fired first, if Deep Space Nine will ever be recognized as the truly great television show that it was, or if there will ever be a decent Fantastic Four movie. This dramatic change in culture started about a decade ago, which not surprisingly coincided with my own coming of age, when I finally stopped hiding and embraced my nerd side. I am 100% sure that I was not the only nerd in hiding out there, and that we all finally grew up. And took over.
So, it isn’t by chance that I have composed works that celebrate nerd culture. Nor is this a gimmick that I am trying to exploit. This is me, making a conscious decision to write about what I know, with the hope of bringing that music back to my roots so that it can speak to all those who have similar, nerdy interests.

Which makes me wonder: new music at a Comic-Con, anyone?