Meet Gulli Bjornsson

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gulli Bjornsson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Gulli, thank you for joining us today and sharing your experiences and acquired wisdom with us. Burnout is a huge topic these days and so we’d love to kick things off by discussing your thoughts on overcoming or avoiding burnout

As a guitarist, I have learned that developing musical skills and ambitions outside of just performance (composition, music technology improvising, teaching, film scoring, music production, designing software plugins, creating visuals, etc.) has been really helpful to avoid burnout. I can effectively take a little breather from time to time and focus on skillbuilding that I am interested in. It can be difficult to balance this, but when I then come back to the thing I was getting tired of, I feel refreshed and can again wholeheartedly tackle it again – at least for a while. I also make sure to balance my personal and work life.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m a guitarist, composer, and programmer from Iceland, currently completing my Ph.D. in music composition at Princeton University, where my research explores the intersection of acoustics and electronics. My music often connects live instruments, electronics, and visuals with themes inspired by the natural world. I previously studied at Manhattan School of Music, Yale School of Music and worked as professor of electronic composition at University of Kansas for two years.

A significant part of my creative practice involves designing and composing music within a custom environment I’ve developed in Max, a visual programming language for music and multimedia. This workflow allows me to automate and dynamically modulate the parameters of audio effects—many of which I design myself—over time, creating dynamic, evolving sounds. You might imagine the dials of a guitar pedal or amp moving and shifting on their own. Here’s an example of a piece exploring this concept:
Dirrindí – for two guitars and Max-patch

While the above is my main focus, I also enjoy composing a wide variety of music, including classical concert works and, in particular, classical guitar music. Here are two more examples:
String Quartet no. 1 – Bergmál

Landslög – for Solo Guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8SPDieQpBo

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

In regards to finding my own voice as a musician. Everyone’s path and pacing in their development are unique. For me, it has been important to go through these steps.

1. Practice: Consistent and intentional practice on my primary instrument to achieve fluency and expressive freedom.
2. Broadening Skills: Stepping out of my comfort zone to explore new techniques, genres, and creative approaches.
3. Experimentation: Embracing risks and learning from failure to discover what matters most to me as an artist.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

I have learned that I am a “pre-crastinator” and am constantly trying to finish things early, so I can relax and stop worrying about them.

This has its advantages: I’m almost always well-prepared and consistently meet deadlines. However, it also leads to a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety. I’ll often find myself over-preparing for situations that probably didn’t require so much effort.

While I don’t think I can completely change this about myself, simply recognizing this tendency has been incredibly helpful. It’s allowed me to approach projects and collaborations more mindfully.

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