Make it! Ep 24 with Matthew Billman
Matthew Billman, Stanford grad that dabbled in many different "fields" from biology to music. Although, Matthew says fields are a myth seeing as everything informs everything else - everything is connected! Music took off for him and he followed his passion, while also picking up another passion - computer science. Matthew ended up switching his major to Bioinformatics. Post college he stayed involved with music through different organizations and groups, eventually moving to New York. He worked on a cruise line doing shows and touring for 3 months, and found a great appreciation for really dedicating yourself to a craft. He taught himself some different CS courses in the spare time and began tutoring, which has now lead to consulting! Matthew was very involved with music and auditioning pre pandemic and has now pivoted into consulting and working on projects that tie tech and music together. His advice to students: A quote from Jim Carrey, "You canfail at doing something you don't like, so you might as well fail at something you do like." You CAN find a way to make what you really like to do into a living. Don't let realism and practicality get in the way of your passion, practicality and passion don't need to be enemies. Don't try to be like Beyonce. Embrace the sound that makes you unique. It's the only thing that can be marketed by YOU.