Gravitywho? #2 Sam

In this series I interview the award-winning team of creative geeks, thinkers and grafters, one by one.

 

Hi Sam, lovely to meet you. Where are you from and how long have you been at Gravitywell?

I've lived in Bristol for 5 years now but before that I lived in Cornwall and the Channel Islands. I grew up around here though, so would definitely call Bristol and the West Country home! I've been at Gravitywell for a little over 3 months.

Those are some scenic addresses! So you're still a Gravitywell newbie (sort of), what's been the best thing about working here so far?

The team! Everybody is friendly and we get on well together. It's a really fun place to work. Everybody is a complete pro at what they do, so whether we're working in smaller teams or all together, it's a really easy and fun process.

Very true, there is some serious talent in the studio. If you could put yours to use for a dream client, who would they be and what would you like to work on for them?

I'd love to work on the Spotify platform. It's a really good piece of software and something that I use every single day. Last year I clocked 95,000 minutes of listening...

Wow, that's almost an entire prog rock album! Okay, so how did you get into Software Development?

I started my career as a designer - graduating with a BA in Graphic Design - but I've always built websites and apps on the side and slowly that has trickled into my day-to-day job role. Recently it's been a more focused push in that direction, made so much easier by learning amazing tech that's readily available, such as React and AWS - it's now so much easier to code cool stuff, and more enjoyable too.

What would be your advice for someone wanting to get into Software Development?

Just code things for fun as much as you can. Sometimes you'll have to work on small pieces of massive software, and that can sometimes make you feel like you aren't creating something (more just fixing or patching). I think to constantly have little projects that you have complete control over from design to delivery helps keep you sane!

And the worst thing about being a Software Developer?

This is a hard one because I haven't been in the game long enough to have any lasting resentments towards any particular aspect of software development! I guess as a small nitpick, as I've come from a background of design, I sometimes crave making things look pretty when working on something in the back-end where the result of your work is an API endpoint. It's not that this type of work isn't creative, because it's still a big design challenge - it just isn't particularly visual!

I can imagine that took some getting used to. Right, what's your favourite piece of tech and why?

I'm really getting into synthesisers, and what I'm drooling over at the moment is the Moog Grandmother semi-modular synth. It's insane what sounds that piece of kit can come out with!

Your dream Hackathon destination would be..?

Somewhere on the coast with surf! Or mountains, although that might make the death march even more precarious...

Quite! Finally, what's the best kept secret in Bristol?

The Bristolian cafe in Montpelier is where dreams are made. Their veggie breakfast is amazing!

Thank you to Sam for being interviewed. You can find him on Instagram.

Stay tuned for another edition of Gravitywho? ...