Be Open to Inputs: Jarbas Agnelli

Are you walking through life with blinders on or are you catching the wonder around you? Brazilian advertiser Jarbas Agnelli has his eyes wide open and creating new meaning with what he sees. Where most of us would think nothing of birds on a telephone wire, except to hope they don't poop on us, Jarbas saw music in a photograph of birds on a wire. Ever the experimenter he took his vision to the piano and composed a score. Little did he know it would quickly evolve into an award-winning viral video, Birds on the Wires, that gave him the chance to tour the world and exhibit his work at Guggenheim museums in New York, Berlin, Bilbao and Venice.

What caused Jarbas to see music in something so mundane? How did he become a viral success? Read my interview with him to find out.

What led to Birds on the Wires?

One morning I was reading the newspaper and I saw this photograph of birds on a wire. And I saw music in it. I’m not that good of a musician that I can hear the music when I read a score. So I took it to the piano and interpreted the position of the birds as the notes. I decided to do it in the C scale and 4/4 time. It had a fine melody and interesting chords. With the melody I did an arrangement in my computer, using virtual orchestral instruments. I never studied music very deeply or seriously. Everything I learned was by myself. Intuitively.

I found the photographer on the internet. He was a sports photographer who took the photograph in his mother’s backyard. I sent him the music and he was thrilled. That’s what he saw too, a musical score. I asked for the original photograph because I wanted to do a video to show my method in a very clear and didactic way, to make people understand the process. It was funny because there were more birds in the original photograph so I had to redo the melody and arrangement.

How did Birds on the Wires become an internet success?

I posted a one-minute video on Vimeo and YouTube. Vimeo started to have some views. But a guy who lives in Japan and became my friend loved the video and put it Reddit. On Reddit people vote and one week it was number one. From there it went viral. Everything happened in 2-3 days. It got a million views and with that came interviews with NPR All Things Considered, France, Germany and NHK in Japan. One month later I was giving a Ted Talk in São Paulo where I told the story and at the end a small orchestra came on stage. It was a huge success. Standing ovation. I did this speech several other times in other countries. The next year there was a YouTube Festival in partnership with the Guggenheim Museum where they were choosing the best 25 videos of the year. I sent Birds on The Wires and it was chosen as one of the winning videos out of 32,000 videos from 92 countries. I got to perform the piece in the Guggenheim Museum. After this the video became a hit on YouTube also. It was interesting to see how such a simple idea, a short video could touch people like that and how the whole world can connect through music.

What were your hopes when you first wrote the song?

When I made it I wasn’t thinking about it being a big thing. I just like to try ideas and not let them escape. This success is not about music, or the video, or the birds. This is about initiative, taking the scissors, cutting the photograph, taking it to the piano, and trying it. Sometimes I think about how many other musicians, much better than me, saw this same photograph. Thousands. But didn’t care to try this simple idea: play it. So it’s about initiative, trying. It’s a childish, naïve thinking that led to a little poetic piece. I’m happy to have this energy that moves me to try things.

Who or what has influenced your way of thinking and seeing the world?

It’s important to talk about what happened with my childhood. I have a father who was in advertising. A creative director for all his life. He was a teacher to me and my brother, a coach, preparing us to be in advertising. He was also an illustrator and a painter. My father turned our childhood into a big creativity class. We had to draw, create, record invented stories on cassette tapes and super 8. I grew up with this mindset of being open to new ideas and ideas can come from everywhere. This state of mind is constant to me.

My great grandfather, Furio Franceschini, also had a big influence on me. He was a Roman musician who came to Brazil on a trip as a conductor and decided to stay here. He played sacred music and pipe organ on Sundays. He was incredibly passionate about music. My great grandmother protected him from the world, from social parties and social life so he could just dedicate his time as a composer. At the end, he was a hunchback, old and curved. He died at almost 100 years old. Still, he played and composed every day. He was incredibly dedicated to music and to God. I am not religious but I admire the way he was passionate about his work. It’s strange because when I was a teenager my father got worried about me because I played in a rock band and he really had high hopes for me in advertising. I had this serious relationship with music that I never abandoned, even after becoming a successful advertiser. Probably because of Furio.

How often do you experience inspiration?

I don’t know if it’s inspiration because it comes from the outside. I call it being open to inputs. Inspiration is something you train yourself to have. It’s not something that comes from Heaven or a muse. It’s a muscle you have to exercise.

How do you develop this inspiration muscle?

Put some protein in the creation process. Treat it like you are going to the gym. Do it every day. Every day you try to compose, write or paint. It’s difficult at the beginning and you want to quit. After some weeks you start seeing some results. With sports, you have to sleep well, eat well. Creativity is the same. You have to gravitate your life around it. Feed yourself with interesting stuff. Go to art blogs or Pinterest. Galleries and shows. Watch good movies. Read exciting books. We have no excuses anymore. We have Apple TV, Netflix, critics and journalists who can help us, lists of what is good or creative. Online tutorials and classes. It’s a matter of feeding oneself with good inputs and trying. Failing. And eventually getting it right.

For myself I created a method for working during the off hours from midnight to six in the morning. My mind is automatically more creative during this time. It’s like a dog receiving a treat. The telephone doesn’t ring. My daughter is sleeping. I know I can focus. I did it so many times and I know it’s not that healthy but at the same time I know it’s a method I created. My mind is bubbling with ideas when it’s dark.

How did this experience impact your career?

It’s strange because not much. In the advertising world is kind of cannibalistic. They tend to eat themselves. Feed from the same sources. All the time. Themselves. The profile I have in advertising is that of an experimenter. They see me as the guy who is a little bit nerd, a little bit crazy, who is not afraid of trying different things. By the time this idea was becoming a hit I received invitations to sell the idea (“Let’s do Birds on The Wires for this car brand.”) and I didn’t do it. I wanted this work to be in the artistic realm and not mix it with advertising. So I didn’t sell Birds on The Wires. This art I do for myself.

What are your goals going forward?

My dream is to one day do more of the artistic things I use on advertising just for myself. Now I mostly do advertising on my production house. That’s what pays the bills. My biggest dream is to make feature films. That’s what I really really love. I’m a film addict. I like to tell stories. Even with Birds on the Wires there is a story there, taking the newspaper, going to the piano, finding the photographer, that’s part of the piece. I’d like to learn more about dramaturgy and writing scripts. I already wrote some scripts. I’ll start small with a short film and then do documentary of my great grandfather. I think films are the ultimate art, where I can stretch all of my creative muscles, put together several artistic languages.

What advice do you have people who are itching but struggling to express their creativity because they are in a “non-creative” environment?

Everyone has artistic sides. People just have to discover what they are. When we’re small we do everything, we don’t fear. Then we start charging ourselves with needing to do it well. Properly. I think that’s wrong. I’m not an excellent musician or classically trained. I do not consider myself very good in anything because I have all these role models around me. I look at other peoples’ illustrations on the internet that are much better than mine but that doesn’t stop me from doing illustrations. We can’t stop ourselves from doing things because we aren’t good enough. This is where most people stop doing art. People should be trying and failing. Forget about what’s right or perfect and just have pleasure in doing whatever it is. We have access to everything, if you want to learn in Photoshop or After Effects in twenty minutes you can learn through a tutorial. We have free education on the internet and we have no excuses anymore.

For more information about Jarbas’ work check out his website at http://jarbasagnelli.com/ or https://vimeo.com/agnelli.

Julie Friedberg is an executive, business and personal leadership coach. She works with executives, entrepreneurs, changemakers and creative ambitious people to nurture and express their genius, unleash their creativity, expand their impact, launch and grow their dream venture and create the work and life they want. She also coaches polymaths juggling disparate worlds to find wholeness, success and joy. To learn more about Julie's coaching see www.juliefriedberg.com.