Joe DeGeorge: Science and Music

(logo whooshing) (slow upbeat music) - Science and music.

It's almost like I spend half my time with my science and the other half with my music.

I play in a band called, "Harry and the Potters" with my brother.

We're both Harry Potter from different points in time.

We wanted to sort of use this band as a tool, almost subversively to get kids interested in a sort of musical culture.

Young kids will come to see us and see a sort of raw music that they not gonna see on MTV or hear on the radio.

I remember playing one of our first shows and just seeing a bunch of seven year olds head banging and like, and thinking like, wow, we did it.

When the seventh and final Harry Potter book was released, we were able to get a show booked in Harvard Yard.

That's where they do graduation at Harvard every year.

There were thousands and thousands of people that came.

I think the police estimated somewhere between 10 to 15,000 people.

When there's that many people in front of you, you can really only comprehend the first thousand baby.

After that, it's just a wave of heads, sea of faces.

It felt like being Bruce Springsteen at that moment.

This chemistry happens in your brain that's like this immense joy that all these other people around you are with you on the same page and having a great time at the same time.

It's great when we can create a magical sort of energy.

It's something that transcends a language.

You know, you can't communicate that with words.

Science and music are similar, in that, you can't change the laws of nature.

Being able to work creatively to solve those problems is kind of similar to being in a band about Harry Potter where you can only write songs about Harry Potter but try to find creative ways to make those songs exciting.

I know for certain that science and music will always be part of my life.

(slow upbeat music)