Meet the Clover Band!
As a software engineer at Clover Health, I care deeply about my technical contributions to our company. I also know that it is important to pursue non-work-related interests and hobbies that enrich my life outside of working hours. One of these interests is music: going to shows at great local venues, taking music lessons, and playing music with others.
At Clover, I was fortunate to find that many of my colleagues also have a deep connection to, and enjoyment of, music. That is how — over the course of the past several years — we formed the Clover Band. Comprised of both past and present team members, the band has grown from a small, four-person, one-song performance at a company talent show, to a full-fledged, almost-10-people group that gets professionally booked at Clover events for a full set (with an encore!).
Our musical interests range from Top 40 to Death Metal to Country to Classic Rock to Ambient and more. And, it turns out that performing in a band not only allows us to rock out, debate our future band names and set lists, and do something we love, it actually has contributed positively to our work and team atmosphere at Clover.
Let’s hear from some of the band members of Clover Band (aka Logistic Aggression aka Zombie Process aka Scope Creep aka Elton JSON aka Florence and the State Machines).
How is being in a band similar to software engineering?
Avi: Software is a communal experience just like playing in a band. You can create things by yourself but the really fun, great and frustrating things happen when you create with people.
The largest similarities are in:
- How people riff on ideas to refine them and bring them to life as a group. There are almost always many solutions to a problem at hand but you usually strive to establish a foundation and evolve it over time.
- You cannot, and aren’t expected to, know everything. You are constantly honing your craft by working with people and seeking out resources (I’m so glad guitar tabulature was invented by the way)
Cooper: A good software engineering team is a group of people with a diversity of core competencies and expertise, and a fundamental part of the workflow is integrating that diversity of viewpoints and expertise toward a common goal. Being comfortable both with stepping up to dive deep into your expertise, or with stepping back and supporting someone else, is crucial. Similarly, in a band you have players on different instruments with different musical backgrounds, tastes, and viewpoints, coming together and finding solutions to shared musical challenges, crafting a single musical argument. Some of my favorite bands, like CAN, derive part of their magic from the mismatch of their members’ musical backgrounds. By coming together and finding something that engages and inspires each other, they (or we, the Clover Band), can create something different than would be possible as individuals.
Jesus: When playing in a band, there are a lot of moving pieces. Everyone has a specific role in a band, such as keeping the beat as a drummer or adding the melody as a vocalist. Each person must be in sync with the rest of the band, listening to the other band members as they play a song in order to provide the best musical experience for the band and its audience.
Software engineering is pretty similar to playing in a band in that sense. As an engineer, one has a specific role — frontend engineer, backend engineer, etc. — that must work together with a team in order to create the best experience for the product’s users. This comes into play if one looks at it from a higher level with stakeholders, product managers, and designers, where everyone must work together to discover, design, and implement a solution or products that will serve the target audience, or at a smaller scale where engineers must integrate different moving pieces together in order to build a project that will deliver more value than the individual parts.
How has playing in a band helped you with working in teams or on projects at Clover?
Avi: I’d say playing in a band reinforces the importance of having and giving “space”. One instrument or component becoming dominant when you have a variety of them wanting to play together usually results in an arrangement or song becoming less enjoyable and bland, for both performers and listeners.
Consciously fostering an environment where people have the space to express their ideas, learn, do and grow makes for happy and healthy teams.
Alyssa: Specifically with Clover Band, I love how it gives us a new venue to work together. The majority of us are software engineers, and it creates a new type of space for us to interact in. We have all mixed levels of experience in our instruments, in playing in bands, and very varied taste in music — so it’s fun to learn from and teach each other what we know about music instead of software engineering.
Alex: For one, playing in a band has helped me pick up a lot of non-verbal communication skills. Subtle things like reading the mood in a group can help reduce friction when working with people and also makes it more enjoyable. More specifically, when playing improvisational music you can do one of two things: play the lead part or compliment the lead. The lead part will change organically over the course of an improv-heavy song. Being able to know when you are supposed to lead or comp really does translate to everyday teamwork skills.
What’s the best part about being in a band?
Bijan: The best part of being in this band is when we play live and see the enjoyment in our audiences’ faces. This is really what music should be about.
Cooper: I love the instant feedback and tight collaboration of playing in a group, whether it’s a rock band, a four-hand classical piano performance, or accompanying a choir or opera. Hearing someone’s idea in their performance and finding a way to support it in your own part (even if just by not doing anything) is very fun, whether it’s jazz or rock improvisation, or in a classical context interpretation. It’s all about supporting each other and growing our ideas together.
Jesus: The opportunities that being in a band brings are a great part of being in a band. I attended a school that didn’t provide much for their students due to lack of programs and funding, so music was one of the few programs where students could be creative and develop skills that you can’t learn through your basic math and English courses.
Through that program, I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to different cities, perform in places I could have never imagined I would step foot in such as the Hollywood Bowl and Disney Concert Hall, and perform with amazing people that I could have never dreamed of playing with such as jazz legend Herbie Hancock and the one and only Alicia Keys. However, the ability to create wonderful art and have fun with friends is enough opportunity for me to join a band.
Roger: The best part about being in the band is being a part of something bigger than one could accomplish by themselves. I love the way that each of us injects our personal musical experiences and styles into what we play. Also all the inside jokes that come out of practice.
How do you make your song selections?
Avi: We generally go by themes (Halloween and Homecoming were two recent themes) and maintain a playlist of songs we aspire to learn and play together. A handful of them are picked at a time and worked on by the band.
Bijan: I bribe Avi ;-)
No seriously… we have a Slack channel (or two) where we discuss the playlist and provide links to Spotify. The songs that end up being picked are the ones that are FUN for our audience (this is the most important thing).
Cooper: I like picking songs that give everyone in the group something to sink their teeth into. My favorite song to cover live is Firth of Fifth by Genesis, partly because I get to play that amazing Tony Banks solo, but also because there is just so much going on and it still finds a way to be moving, focused, and cohesive. My favorite song to play with the Clover band so far is Don’t Stop Believin’, with all its countermelodies, fun bassline and solos, and neat pedal point harmonies.
Alex (IT)
I started with percussion 14 years ago and then transitioned into songwriting on Guitar and ultimately into doing larger compositions electronically. Since then I’ve played many instruments and styles, including Javanese Gamelan. Currently, I focus mostly on songwriting with Guitar.
Alyssa (Engineering, Infrastructure)
I play guitar, keys, vocals — and bass and drums if I have to! I’m currently the lead singer in Clover Band.
My first instrument was the piano, in elementary school. My childhood neighbor used to let me plunk around on her baby grand piano, and after a while I insisted on taking lessons. I currently have a Yamaha P-115 in my apartment.
Once I reached middle school, all I wanted to do was play electric guitar. I took lessons until I graduated high school and was obsessed with classic and glam rock (especially The Beatles, The Velvet Underground, T. Rex and The Rolling Stones). I played in several bands during those years and taught myself drums (my only act of rebellion as a teenager was to buy a full Pearl Export drumset).
A little over three years ago, I finally worked up the courage to take voice lessons: I had always wanted to do it, but was terrified to try. I’ve been at my current studio, Songbird Studios (https://songbirdsf.com/) ever since! My teacher, Kristen, has played a huge role in my musical development. I participated in my first recital at Bottom of the Hill last April — it was terrifying, but I gained a ton of confidence from it. I love geeking out on the technical aspects of vocal production and learning songs that push my limits as a singer.
Avi (Engineering, Data)
I play electric guitar. I’ve been playing for around 5 years now. I picked up the guitar in my senior year of college when I started yearning to play a musical instrument — soon after getting threatened with eviction by my roommates when I started on the saxophone. I’ve never had any formal music training and learn things with the help of resources on the internet.
I’m a huge fan of cheesy rock riffs and various melodic metal genres. I love tinkering with effects and circuitry on the guitar. Being able to easily bridge the analog and digital realms is a big draw for me.
Music is my favorite way to wind down after a day and keeps me feeling creative (though I’m not very good at the instrument…) Learning music and the guitar is personally challenging enough to keep me engaged while allowing for small amounts of progress over time.
Bijan (Engineering, Engagement)
I play electric guitar (a white Fender squire). I have been playing for about 4 years starting in Toronto and continuing to take lessons in San Francisco.
I had grown up playing on classical piano and trumpet in my high school band. I had always wanted to play classic or modern rock songs since seeing Van Halen’s video for “Jump” on MTV. Music is definitely a very joyful part of my life. I listen to rock, alternative, house, trance, and some jazz. I like to switch between the genres as the variety can be refreshing. My favorite rock bands are Rush, The Tea Party, Soundgarden and U2. Even though I’m from Toronto, I despise Drake. I wish more people would listen to K-OS (another hip hop artist from Toronto who is far more talented and more positive).
Cooper (Engineering, Infrastructure)
I play the piano, and more recently synthesizers, both keyed and generative. These days I play a Roland Juno DS-88, and am working on assembling a modular synthesizer.
As a kid, digging through my mom’s record collection got me hooked on rock and jazz (Queen, Yes, and Keith Jarrett), and I started writing and playing rock music in high school. I also studied classical piano (Debussy, Grieg, Ravel, and Beethoven were favorites in my repertoire) with the amazing teacher Alan Boehmer. In college, my excursions into 20th century music theory (Ernő Lendvai’s axis theory analysis of Béla Bartók’s harmonic material was a big influence) got me interested in mathematics, which led to switching my major, studying number theory, learning to code, and eventually my career path in software engineering.
Jesus (Engineering, Engagement)
With the Clover band, I play the trombone and vocals. I started to play trombone when I was 11 years old, when I was assigned to take band class in middle school. The trombone is so unique and quirky that it drew me to choose it. Throughout middle and high school I built my relationship with music through the trombone, gaining opportunities to play different roles between melodies and harmonies and experience what it was like to create wonderful music with a group of people.
Vocals is pretty much a new thing for me. I didn’t start singing in public until I joined the Clover band when during one rehearsal we were missing some people and we needed someone to fill in. Before then, I stuck to singing in the privacy of my home where no one else could hear me. I enjoy singing — even if I’m not really great at it — because it allows me to continue to create music any time I wanted to without needing to pull out an instrument or worrying that my neighbors will submit noise complaints about someone playing a trombone in their apartment.
Roger (Engineering, Data)
After 5-year old me discovered that firefighters have to do more than make great pancakes, I decided I was going to become a musician. I started out on the recorder and tried out a bunch of things before settling on the piano and piccolo. I was fairly serious about practicing and getting better until part way through high school when I discovered my love for math and biology. I’ve been playing the keytar in the Clover Band for a couple weeks. Sometimes I’m on the low end grooving the bass line and sometimes I’m at the top adding some sparkle. I’ve had a different part on most of the songs each practice so far, but I like to wear different hats, so it’s been fun and challenging.
Music has been a great way to meet new people and get to know friends better. All of my closest friends are musical in some capacity. It’s taught me the importance of synergy and what it feels like to work together with an amazing team.
