We are all hackers | Niamh Houston | TEDxWandsworth

I'm one of these confusing millenials

that's managed to making a living
through a weird hobby.

This hobby envolves making music

on retro consoles and machines

something known as Chiptune.

With very little experience

I learned to compose through programming

or hacking this, a Nintendo Gameboy

using a piece of homebrew software

called LSDJ or Little Sound DJ.

This allows me to treat the Gameboy

as if it's a very basic synthesizer.

So I can command it to generate a tone,

which I can then craft into something

that resembles a traditional instrument

like a kick drum or a bassline.

With those instruments I'd create a song.

But it's a Gameboy right?

That chippy sound is probably something

that you remember from your childhood
or from when you were younger

What you can do with it in music making
is incredibly limited

and yet you can create an array of signs.

These limitations force you to think

very differently and to approach
creation in an entirely new light.

As soon as I came across
this scene, I was hooked

and with only a novice knowledge
on how to make music

let alone make music on a Gameboy,

I started to play with it

see what it could do
and what I could do with it.

I technically became a hacker.

But it wasn't just me

there was an entire collective of people

from all over the world dedicated

to cracking the capabilities of this tech

some on Commodore 64's
or Amiga's or Atari's.

They were hacking their toys

to make music and digital art.

They were hackers
with a "Do It Yourself" attitude,

expressing individualism through
these machines

and forming an online movement

to bring 'bedroom consoles' to the stage

in front of live audiences.

We had this ability to discover,

create and share in the newly

connected world, the Digital Era

which was born of this concept

of the hacker ethic.

Something that's completely at odds

with the rigid practices
of the Industrial Era.

Ours was one of openness,

creativity through computers

and the prospect of a better world

using technology and with it

there came a sense that
anyone could be a hacker.

So when I say hacker

it's probably not too difficult to imagine

the stereotypical hooded figure
maybe a cyber terrorist of some sort

or maybe the guy fox mask comes to mind.

But it used to be that a hacker was
an expert or an enthusiast of any kind.

Someone who was inquisitive and passionate

and found enjoyment in exploring
especially within technology.

So with that description surely
any one of us could be a hacker.

I mean, it's in our nature to be
inquisitive and curious.

We're all curious with our technology
in one way or another

because I'm sure that each and
everyone of us

myself included

is guilty of sitting up
until 3 am in the morning

in the depths of YouTube or
Facebook or Instagram or whatever

knowing that you have to be up early

but hey the Internet is that gift
that just keeps giving.

But before we had these
pocket sized super computers

hackers would be known to
explore their machines,

crack them open, see how they work,
what makes them tick.

If they didn't have something
that worked for them

they'd just make it themselves.

Make their own software or
build their own machines.

If they hadn't, the names Steve Jobs
or Steve Wozniak

would be meaningless to us.

We wouldn't even have personal computers,
let alone our smartphones and tablets.

The first home computers were built
with the radical vision of the future

that everyone should own
a personal computer.

And this spurred generations
of inquisitive creatives

to recalibrate those very machines,

and to repurpose them into something

that they were never intended to be.

Like me with this Gameboy, for example.

This hacker activity
was known to be joyful

where overcoming problems
arised genuine curiosity

and led to a want for more knowledge.

Solutions would be deemed
to have hacker value

if they were executed with
cleverness,

brilliance or finesse.

And this made creativity
an essential part of meaning.

Curiosity is the crocs
of creativity afterall

and it's in our nature to be creative.

So I was blown away by this idea that

you could make
music on a Gameboy

and I'm sure that some of you today
probably are as well.

So at 16, I got myself kitted out.

I dug out the old classic Gameboy

from the depths of the toy cupboard,

dusted it off and revived it
with some fresh batteries.

My LSDJ cartridge arrived

and before I'd even gotten past
the first few pages of the manual

I was eagerly making some noise.

I was determined to just make something

and before I knew it, I had some songs.

They were not good songs.

They certainly weren't without heart

but I was very overenthusiastic

with melodies and didn't have
much sense of rhythm

for it to feel like it was anything

but they were mine,

they were my own little creations

crafted from nothing

and I was proud of that.

So I put them online

and I awaited the email from Sony Records.

But alas, no email!

But I didn't need a lable

it was the spirit of the Digital Age,

I could just put them out into
the world online and hope

that someone out there somewhere
might be interested in listening.

And they were! Thankfully.

Chiptune had it's own community
of visualists, artists, event promoters

and fans spread out all over the globe.

So eventually I got to travel,

I met incredibly talented like minded individuals

and this all gave me the confidence
to actually pursue a life of music,

to continue exploring,

and to follow my own path.

It gave me this "Do It Yourself" attitude
that really stuck with me.

And approaching music composition
with these constraints

gave me almost a programmer's mindset.

The writing process often
provoked serendipity,

there would be little happy accidents

that would give birth to a new idea.

And that kept the creative flow
forever interesting and refreshing.

It was such a free means
of self expression.

There were no standards
to be met to define its quality.

And it was accessible.

It forced me to to overcome
limitations in a creative way.

And that was no doubt
an important life lesson.

But overall it was just fun!

And this essence of fun

is rooted within that hacker ethic

achieving unexpected results through
playfully cracking a constraint.

Before Chiptune, a movement surfaced
in Europe in the late eightees

called the Demo Scene.

And it was probably the very first
computer art subculture.

It started out as what would probably
now be any parent's nightmare,

with a teenage boy, alone
in his room with a computer.

It's not what you're thinking!

Instead making art.

These computer obsessed teens

started to flaunt their programming skills

through pirating or cracking softwares,

something we're quite
familiar with today.

And they'd share it with their friends

or other computer enthusiasts.

Eventually these things
called 'demos' started to appear

when you'd open the file.

They wanted to flaunt their talent right?

So they'd create these audiovisual
presentations that had insane

graphics and music for the time.

Sometimes they'd even talk smack
about other hacker groups

presented for everyone to see

like and early, but much more
innocent and creative form

of the demonic YouTube
comment section.

It got to the point where people
didn't even care about

the software anymore.

They just wanted to see these demos,

they were really impressive.

So eventually individual creators would

team up to compete with one another

at these things called 'demo parties',

where huge crowds would assemble
to watch the results.

Nerds!

They'd compete like their
lives depended on it,

longing for that moment when
jaws hit the floor

and people were just absolutely blown away

by what they'd achieved.

But what was it all for?

Why did they do this?

Honestly, it was for the art,

it was for that final product.

There wasn't exactly that big
prize money to be won

and the parties weren't
exactly big budget.

So rather than focus on
commercial gain

they worked to the extremes that they did

because they loved doing it, it was fun!

And like Chiptune, the musical
love letter to the demo scene,

this movement was dedicated
to cracking constraints

and breaking boundaries.

They were making things with computers

that people did not believe
to be possible at the time.

And because of their desire to create

some went on to form
video game companies,

or went into software development

or animation, like Pixar.

Something that they trained
themselves to be.

So I inadvertently became a
video game composer

through my weird hobby.

Without really realizing
the scope of it

I had created a brand for myself

as a teenager.

Marketing was something that
almost came naturally

to us who grew up with the Internet.

Because creating an Internet persona

was as simple as setting up your
very first embarrassing email address.

And growing up I was raised to
understand the value of money

not as a goal in life,

but as a necessity for survival.

To make a living doing something
that you love is the goal, right?

And a hacker is not naïve.

They understand that income is essential

to have that freedom to create

and to control your art.

But this transition from simply playing

to making a living was a complete
shock to the system for me.

I think as adults we start to become

systematic thinkers.

We're constantly stretching logic

trying to find answers to things

that might not necessarily
have a logical outcome.

We can end up valuing our own
worth through keeping score,

comparing ourself to others,

something that is very much
the driving force in school

through our grading system

and this competitive nature
we're told defines success.

And teen years come
with a natural swagger.

An ego.

And this can give us the belief
that anything is possible.

But with an ego in the
driving seat for too long,

we can end up with this
distorted vision of reality.

A world of self

based on our own perceptions

and illusions, however
diminished or glorified.

Where our understanding
of our abilities

is not what they are right now

but rather what they
should be in the future.

And this can hold us back

from moving forward.

Or it can morph into
overconfidence and arrogance

sometimes coupled with the
desire for fame or money,

mimicking others or following
trends to find the spotlight.

But arrogance brings no
contribution to your work.

Nor does it inspire others.

In fact, it has the opposite effect.

I'm sure that maybe we've all experienced

a feeling of anxiety,

of treading water,

self depreciation,
trying to keep it all together.

Sometimes the Digital Era
can just set the bar so high

that it's almost enough

to stop you from even trying.

But make no mistake,

we are all born creative.

Our academic studies
may tell us otherwise,

with such little focus on self discovery,

creativity, and self advocacy.

But we've been forever
compared to one another

in terms of our achievements

and abilities.

But comparison is the thief of joy,

and any creator will
know that all too well.

That creative impulse is within all of us.

Creativity comes from exploring

and from being curious,

doing what we could do
and not what we should do.

We're all eager to throw
caution to the wind and

go nuts with our imagination
when we're kids

but somewhere along the line

this adult state of mind
comes into play

where we don't believe in ourselves
to go against the grain.

Through discovering Chiptune

I felt like I stepped into
a world of the unknown.

One with all the right sites,

and signs

and people.

It resonated with me on a
much higher scale.

Here was a community of novice

or self taught artists,
just like the Demo Scene.

A breeding ground for self expression,

raw unedited talent without...

with unfiltered emotion.

And there was something
incredibly beautiful about that.

Tiny machines making huge sounds.

I instantly fell in love with it.

And the scene had an attitude,

it didn't care what you thought.

It was playfully wild and free,

creatively beautiful in its own rights.

Where having fun and dismissing
standards was the focus.

Each one of us had taken a...

had resonated with this movement
in one way or another,

and taken upon ourselves to join in,

to push the limits of our creativity.

And our artistic expression
should be about absorbing life,

our hopes, our aspirations, our fears,

and creating something with it.

There's a therapeutic value in creation.

We can make sense of those emotions
through giving them an entity.

The limitation that we must crack

is to overcome what stops us
from getting creative

or having fun with it.

It's the essence of the Digital Era,

where hackability is to participate
instead of being a passive consumer.

We can invent the future that we want

and not the one that we're given.

So instead of staying up all
night passively consuming,

find your community

or the people that will help you grow.

Approach creation with wonder,
determination, curiosity,

and create for yourself.

You'll never know what will come of it.

But above all, strive for authenticity,

where the goal is not
for money or fame

or you will probably become lost.

Find a bigger meaning,

whatever it may be.

Do it for yourself.

Be a hacker

and take that first step into the unknown.

Thank you.