Jonas Bonér, CTO of Lightbend on Skiing and Jazz
Hi, my name is Jonas Bonér, my day job is CTO and co-founder of Lightbend. I was born and raised in Uppsala, Sweden. Over the years my wife and I have lived in different parts of Sweden, Austria, USA, France, and Italy. We moved back to Uppsala when we had our first child a few years back.
I was initially thinking of becoming a mathematician. But a couple of years into the university I realized that it would probably be too theoretical. I needed a break and took a programming course as a change of pace (introduction to C++), and I immediately fell in love with programming. It was applied math — a great mix of science and art.
My parents put me on skis when I was 2–3 years old and took the family skiing at least 2 weeks every year. That laid a solid foundation for my passion for skiing. I am normally on skis about 30 days per year. I used to ski much more when I was younger. I have done a few full seasons of “ski-bumming”; perhaps I will get back to doing that when I retire.
When I was a kid, I loved being out on the mountain with friends and family, racing down the slopes, and catching some air here and there. The mountain is just a big playground. Being out in nature always inspires me, and I met my wife in the slopes, so it definitely changed my life for the better.
I prefer to ski wherever there is good powder, preferably dry powder. Japan gets tons of it and is my favourite place to ski. There is an amazing, almost weightless feeling to skiing powder. You feel part of nature, playing along with it, on its terms. Once you try it, you are hooked for life.
Enjoying Japan’s amazing powder. pic.twitter.com/WvmaCtDxoU
— Jonas Bonér (@jboner) January 27, 2016
When it comes to skiing, my only goal is to stay healthy enough to be able ski for a few more decades, and to avoid any dangerous scenarios. My wife was caught in an avalanche a few years back and was dragged towards a huge cliff. Everything went fine in the end, but it was a terrifying experience.
I would tell newcomers to ski with people who inspire you, who are better than you, and who can help you push your limits. Most importantly, find people who you will have fun with. Make sure you practice avalanche safety regularly, and do not slack too much during the off-season training, since I can tell you from experience that it is a recipe for injuries.
Another passion of mine is music — specifically, jazz. My dad got me into Weather Report and Miles Davis when I was 9 or 10 years old. I remember the first time I heard Weather Report. It was the Heavy Weather album with classic tunes like Birdland, Teen Town, and A Remark You Made, and I was blown away and never stopped exploring music after that.
When I grew up records were very expensive and I remember spending hours in the local record store listening albums until they politely threw me out. Today, it is so much easier to explore music and find out what you like. iTunes was a revolution for me, and now streaming services like Spotify and Tidal even allow you to stream in lossless.
What I listen to goes in cycles. Currently, I am exploring the ECM catalogue. I was so happy when ECM decided to put all their music on Tidal and Spotify a couple of months back. They host some of my favourite musicians: guys like Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Eberhard Weber, Pat Metheny, and Ralph Towner. But I am also listening to a lot of Jazz from the ’50s and ’60s; John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Herbie Hancock, and Miles Davis are my role models. There are also many great contemporary Jazz musicians. I love listening to Chris Potter, E.S.T, Christian Scott, Tribal Tech, Ibrahim Maalouf, and many others. Jazz is very much alive and kicking.
It is really hard to pick a favourite album, but if I am forced to do it then let’s say Pat Metheny’s debut album, Bright Size Life, which features one of my all-time favourites, Jaco Pastorius on bass.
I am also a musician, although I think the term, “wannabee musician” is more accurate. My main instrument is saxophone; I play tenor, alto, and soprano. But nowadays I mainly play fretless bass — which I started learning to be able to play with the kids who play guitar and drums — and to tinker around with electronic music using the Linnstrument MIDI controller.
Both music and skiing help to put me into a mindful, meditative state in which ideas are allowed to flow more easily without filtering or judgement. I think that creative work in one area, in particular in arts, opens up the brain for being more creative and receptive to intuition in others.
