We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Donovan Dorrance a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Donovan, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I try to never take for granted the many privileges I had growing up as it relates to my career: parents that appreciated music and wanted me to pursue it as an extra-curricular, lessons on a number of instruments, regular access to those instruments in my home… the list is endless. But one that I do sometimes forget about, maybe because it is now so integral to my daily life, is access to a computer.

Somehow in 6th grade I figured out that I could make music on the computer if I downloaded a program called Fruity Loops. My mom was surely weary of a preteen downloading things on to the family computer, but she’d let me spend hours on it, grinding away on 6 minute long trance beats and likely frying our cheap desktop speakers from turning it up too loud. I remember that with the trial version of FL Studio, you couldn’t even save your projects, so I’d tell my mom that we couldn’t turn off the computer until I had exported an mp3 (so, several days in a row). The idea of that now, never being able to save or go back to a project, is hilarious and absolutely insane! But I love that that’s how composing really started for me. Of course, having a piano in the home, and a little ADHD to steer me into improvising and away from the classical practicing I should have been doing, was absolutely fundamental to my skillset. But the landscape of a DAW (digital audio workstation) on a computer is where I felt the most at-home. And still do, to this day.

The one thing that could have radically changed my path and perhaps put me ahead of where I am now is having a tutor specifically in producing and composing. I had music teachers that I will never forget and will always be grateful for – ones that encouraged me to compose, even. But if I’d had a teacher in music production (which, to be fair, was probably not something any parent would have fathomed in the early aughts), I think much of my learning would have accelerated significantly. I struggle to educate myself, even though I do it every day. It’s probably the ADHD (which went undiagnosed for most of my life). But I think one on one tutoring or mentoring is the most effective way for anyone to learn anything.

Donovan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a composer, producer, and audio engineer living and working in North Carolina and New York City. The reason I’m able to make a career in music and audio today is because of my sister, Michelle Dorrance. When I graduated from college, she asked me to move to New York to help her run her newly founded tap dance company, Dorrance Dance. We both found out quickly that I did not have ANY potential or capacity as an administrative assistant, but somehow her faith in me was not shaken and she threw me on stage to play music for a couple shows; that went a lot better. I continued to tour with the company and eventually started to compose for them and was made Musical Director, a title I eventually shared with Gregory Richardson, another composer for Dorrance Dance (and my bandmate).

I’ve always admired minimalist composers and find that the core of many of my musical compositions is tied to elements I learned from studying their work. Sprinkle in an obsession with any and all forms of rhythm and groove, and you’ve got the foundations of the bulk of my work. But speaking of minimalist composers, I have huge admiration for the career of Philip Glass. He composes for dance, theatre, feature films, documentaries, television, art installations… any art that might be improved by adding music. I’ve always wanted to have the same kind of career where my collaborators were vast and varied, so once I was comfortable writing for dance, I started to make connections with directors, playwrights, and other creatives. Having more opportunities to compose, even if I wasn’t making any money, was great experience and helped me build a lot of confidence and skill.

The pandemic brought me back to North Carolina, where I’m from, and put me in the position to freelance more and tour less (which, thus far, has brought me a lot of personal peace). I’ve started to work in the podcast and film audio world as a mix engineer (a skill that came naturally from years working in music) and I continue to compose and produce music as well.

The time away from touring and the physical space I have that I didn’t have in New York has allowed me to pursue something I’ve always wanted since I first got into music – writing and producing my own solo album. I’ve previously released an album of music I wrote for Dorrance Dance with Gregory Richardson years ago, but I’ve yet to release an album of songs that is entirely my own. The aforementioned album that I wrote with Greg is something I’m incredibly proud of and the larger dance piece that it is a part of is likely the biggest thing I’ve been a part of as far as career accomplishments go. But the album I’m working on right now has brought me the longest streak of creativity I’ve ever felt. I get the note that I am often overcritical of myself and my work, and so to be working really hard on something that’s so personal and challenging and have it lead to a few cathartic moments of immense pride is incredibly satisfying – and honestly something I’ve been waiting for for a long time.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Even though all work and careers involve creativity, I do find myself thinking about this every time I introduce myself to someone with a more traditional job. I think some people aren’t sure how to view me. I was raised in, and spent most of my adult life attending, a conservative church (I like to call it a soft cult). There were many things taught to me that I still value tremendously but there are a lot of things I’ve had to recently unlearn as they have never rung true to me and were causing some internal harm. One of those things is the idea of fitting into a mold, or box, or way of living one’s life.

I have the luxury of two great parents who both do what they love for a living – a soccer coach and a ballet dancer, instructor, & business owner. Despite their examples, I’ve still always felt societal pressure to pursue a career that is “stable” or “lucrative” or “practical” or “insert-word-that-essentially-means-unfulfilling-here”. I have friends that are becoming doctors and lawyers and financiers and I’m so glad that, for the most part, they love what they’re pursuing. But having a creative or freelance career is less encouraged in society than those former careers. And that’s not a secret. The main reasons are probably money and stability. And that’s okay – those are good reasons. But I could NEVER be a doctor. Or a lawyer. Or a financier. Or an administrator (I did try this one!). I would perform so poorly.

I think what’s often misunderstood here is that people who choose to do creative work lack the work ethic to be successful in a more traditional field. In reality, creative work is never-ending; there is no “off the clock”. It requires a mental fortitude where some careers may not because the lines between personal life and professional life are so frequently blurred. Ultimately, what I feel prevents me from working in a more traditional field is authenticity. I am, at my core, a creator. And it has taken me SO long to be able to say that. It took me almost as long to feel comfortable calling myself a musician. I hope I never forget how long it took me to find that confidence because it is a reflection of how ingrained these “molds,” for what people should be doing with their careers, are in so many of us. I still need pep talks from other creators regularly! But the feelings of authenticity are innate and unshakeable. I am entirely restless and defeated in a cubicle, and I am set on fire when I get to create.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

There’s one quote that has had more impact on my creative ambitions than anything else I’ve read or watched. It’s from an interview with Ira Glass: “Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, and I really wish somebody had told this to me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But it’s like there is this gap. For the first couple years that you’re making stuff, what you’re making isn’t so good. It’s not that great. It’s trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but it’s not that good. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you’re making is kind of a disappointment to you. A lot of people never get past that phase. They quit. Everybody I know who does interesting, creative work they went through years where they had really good taste and they could tell that what they were making wasn’t as good as they wanted it to be. They knew it fell short. Everybody goes through that. And if you are just starting out or if you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week or every month you know you’re going to finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you’re going to catch up and close that gap. And the work you’re making will be as good as your ambitions. I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It takes awhile. It’s gonna take you a while. It’s normal to take a while. You just have to fight your way through that.” And sometimes I’ll paraphrase this when delivering the quote to others and just say “There is a prerequisite to creating great work, and it’s creating a lot of shit work first.” When I figured out that I had to suffer through and confront my own shortcomings REGULARLY in order to improve, that changed the game. Beyond that key piece of advice, the quote is just so inspiring and relatable too! “Ahh, yes my taste IS killer and THAT’S why I’m dissatisfied with my own work! I just gotta close the gap!” And for Ira to end that pep talk with saying ” I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met” really takes the edge off and helps you not beat yourself up about not being good enough. It is such an honest yet very kind piece of advice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.donovandorrance.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donovandeez/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/donovan-dorrance
• Youtube: http://youtube.com/@donovandorrance
• Other: https://linktr.ee/donovandorrance

Image Credits
Diego Quintanar, Em Watson, Jamie Kraus and Stephanie Berger