Behind the Scenes with Charles

A few weeks ago we shined the employee spotlight on Service and Application Administrator Charles Deichman, who was nominated by his peers to receive a Coin of Excellence. Charles is well known for bringing exuberance and his whole self to work every day, and finding ways to integrate his passion for music and performing into his work. He performs locally (including on KFFR radio), and every year volunteers to take the stage at our employee picnic. 

We sat down with Charles to talk about his musical roots, his work on the team, and how his love for performing all began.

When did you begin playing?

I got my first guitar for Christmas when I was in kindergarten. That must have been 1991. I could not figure out how to play it, and the strings hurt my fingers, so it basically collected dust until a "friend" borrowed it and they never gave it back.

In Texas, there was a mall I would go to all the time in high school. They had this store that sold music, movies, games, and even had some musical instruments. I would go there and grab their display guitar and plug it into the small amp they had, and just mess around with it and figure out songs that I listened to a lot. I remember some kid asked me how long I have been playing and I told him "the last 5 minutes." 

Around the same time, our pastor gave me a couple banjos which ended up becoming a stepping stone to guitar. I sounded like hot garbage, but I got used to the pain in the fingers to the point I actually enjoy it. 

I got my second guitar for my 20th birthday. From there, I fell madly in love with the instrument. I once stayed up for 48 hours straight just practicing and teaching myself things. Within a month or two I was playing Crazy Train. I have not stopped since.

What inspired your interest in music?

I come from a musical family. My late father was an ordained music minister, a high school choir director, and a trombonist. My mom played piano and sang. My older sister played trumpet in high school. My brother has a Master's in trombone. I have always been around music. Most of my free time as a kid was just sitting around and listening to music.

I started my journey in music when I was in 6th grade. I played trumpet throughout middle and high school, and also sang in choir and went to contests with band and choir. I continued playing trumpet for a little while in college before I changed my major from music to history and finally computer science.

Who's your favorite musician?

Anyone who makes music that makes me feel something is someone I enjoy listening to.

The biggest impact for me was hearing Crazy Train for the first time. I had no idea a guitar could sound the way it did, and could even be played like that. I was immediately hooked! That guitarist was Randy Rhoads. All these years later, he is still my biggest source of inspiration and my drive to get better, try new things, and develop new techniques. And of course, you cannot have Randy Rhoads without the legendary Ozzy Osbourne. Those two guys are by far my all time favorites and made me want to pursue music the way I do now. 

Where do your interests in IT and music intersect?

I have always been good with computers and the ins and outs of how they work. I wanted to work in a career that paid well enough to support my music and guitar addiction.

I also use a computer to write, record, and mix my songs, and that requires a more specialized piece of hardware with better specs than a typical computer. It needs to be able to do a lot, and all at once. I push that computer to the limit!

There is a little bit of cross-over between IT and my style of music and guitar playing: 

• You have to understand the different types of cables and how signal travels.
• You have to keep the length of cabling to a minimum. The signal will degrade and weaken if it must travel a longer distance. 
• I take the same approach to troubleshooting my rig as I do to troubleshooting computers around the county.

Fun fact:

Right before I started working for the county, I was trying to audition to play guitar for the Smashing Pumpkins. Obviously I did not get the job, but I do know they viewed my résumé. 

Here at The Grand Stand, we think the Smashing Pumpkins missed out. Watch Charles' performance of "Dee," a piece Randy Rhoads wrote for classical guitar in tribute to his mother, Delores "Dee" Rhoads who inspired Rhoads' love for music. 

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