Tune in to the
Transatlantic
Groove Haul
By Caden Williamson /
Photos by Russell Cothren
Caden Williamson is an Honors College Fellow from Fayetteville, Arkansas, studying computer science and German. When he’s not coding or hitting the books, he’s spinning tunes as a DJ at KXUA, the U of A’s student-run radio station. His show, Transatlantic Groove Haul, blends Japanese jazz-fusion, City Pop and other international sounds, music that opened his eyes to the power of sharing culture across borders. After spending a year abroad in Darmstadt, Germany, as part of the International Engineering Program, Williamson has come to see how combining his passions for music, engineering and language helps him find new ways to connect with people. Read on as he shares his journey through music and honors. Need something to jam out to? Check out a curated playlist from his show at the end.
If you’d told me four years ago that I’d be learning German in Berlin and Darmstadt, hosting a Japanese jazz-fusion radio show and interning with an audio engineer in Nashville—all while majoring in computer science—I would’ve laughed. In high school, I planned on pursuing physics or mechanical engineering in college: fields grounded in formulas and structure. But somewhere between my first coding class, a guitar picked up during quarantine and a jazz band audition, everything changed.
The first change I made was pivoting to computer science to allow me the greatest flexibility in developing technical skills that I could combine with physics or other personal interests to come. Thankfully, I also started my first year with credits that I earned in high school. This ended up being a major factor in my college career, as it gave me extra time to explore new disciplines like music and German.
Music and German were two interests I had only recently discovered at the time. I took a couple of introductory German courses in high school and had just started playing guitar during the tail-end of COVID, which quickly became my favorite creative outlet. During my first semester, I heard about the International Engineering Program (IEP), which allows students to pursue degrees in both German and engineering and includes a year abroad in Germany.
I had always wanted to travel outside of the United States, and the IEP offered the perfect opportunity to do so while holding myself accountable for learning a second language through coursework. Alongside my German and computer science courses, I decided to take courses in popular music and basic musicianship during my first year, out of interest for playing the guitar and learning about some of my favorite bands. These two courses were the most exciting I took that year and made me curious about how else I could involve myself with music through academics or extracurricular activities on campus, even as an engineering student.
In my second year, I reached out to one of the guitar professors in the music department who, after a short interview and jam session, encouraged me to take individual lessons and join one of the many introductory ensembles on campus. I was most interested in joining the introductory jazz combo. I didn’t really listen to much jazz, but I became a fan of 1970s Japanese jazz-fusion and funk after discovering the melodic and optimistic guitar stylings of artists like Masaki Matsubara, Issei Noro of the band Casiopea, and Masayoshi Takanaka. Eager to learn the jazz context of my favorite music genres, I applied to audition for the ensemble.
Despite my lack of experience, I convinced the instructor of the ensemble to allow me to audition for the band with a piece of music that I was more comfortable with: “Lenny” by Stevie Ray Vaughan. Weeks later, I was welcomed into the ensemble for the spring semester. This was my first time playing in a band, and I was thrilled to participate. By the time the semester was over, I had completed a full semester of STEM and German courses while still managing to improve my guitar playing. Seeing that it was possible to juggle my responsibilities and personal interests, I couldn’t wait to return to campus the next fall. I was also completely infatuated with guitar at this point, even taking my electric guitar overseas with me during a month-long summer study abroad trip in Berlin.
The next semester, instead of playing in the jazz ensemble, I applied and was accepted to be a host for KXUA, the student-run radio station on campus. My show, Transatlantic Groove Haul, featured a lot of the same music that got me interested in joining the jazz band. I mostly played Japanese jazz-fusion and funk from the ‘70s and ‘80s on the show, but I liked to include City Pop and similar music from other countries. I think it is important to introduce people to international music, and as a DJ, I was able to broadcast these new genres to my community. Although I had a particular interest in the instrumentation of this music, I knew that it would be a challenge to get people to engage with music in a different language from English. To remedy this, I made a point to highlight how these genres have influenced, and been influenced by, American popular music. I also incorporate familiar jazz and funk tracks to help listeners connect international sounds to contemporary music.
Hosting the Transatlantic Groove Haul showed me one more way I could interact with my community through music and helped me decide to work in the music industry. I completed an internship with an audio engineer in Nashville, Tennessee, who helped open my eyes to the possibilities of a career that involves both music and computer science. I spent most of my college career being uncertain about what I should do after my studies, so I am grateful to have had the chance to explore my interests and find direction through music. My year abroad also helped me realize the importance of music and communicating with others through sharing it.
In my final year of undergraduate studies, I am excited to host the Transatlantic Groove Haul again and further my understanding of audio engineering as I prepare to graduate. After graduation, I hope to work in the music production software industry while producing my own music on the side. Regardless of how those plans turn out, I am excited to apply my skills in computer science and German to give back to the world of music in any way possible.
Caden Williamson’s Playlist:
Tokai – Taeko Onuki
Business Man, Pt. 2 – Makoto Matsushita
Breeze – Jiro Inagaki and His Soul Media
Sunrise – ZEROSEN
An Undersea Stone – Boys Age
Scramble – Hiromasa Suzuki
Kiska – Tatsuro Yamashita
You Can Never Come to this Place – Masayoshi Takanaka
You Can Be a Robot, Too – Shintaro Sakamoto