If you have a podcast and need guests to interview on these topics, I’m articulate and love having these conversations – get in touch!
My Creative Philosophy
My current creative process includes using AI tools – not as a replacement for my own creativity, but as a way to steward it, the quality of its productions, and ultimately time itself, which is the most valuable resource any of us have in life. My approach to production (which is all over the place) is built on decades of experimental experience in music composition, production, and sonic exploration long before AI was on the scene.
For example, every track on my Artifactual album was 100% home-grown human-produced in my spare time (over years). But even it was only possible using a host of technology tools that transformed my imagination and ideas into final songs. As a case-in-point, every sound in “Crafty” originated as recordings of random tools and things my kids and I banged on in our shop plus a vocal sample of my daughter from when she was tiny. The bridge between the random noises and final music was the creative employment of technology.
I see AI as another amazing technology tool in that suite of options that can help bridge the gap between human creativity and tangible Artifacts. I used Suno to help me produce a pseudo-sequel album to Artifactual called Hyperealaizations including new versions of some tracks and finally finishing other tracks that I had never shared before.
This might sound like I’m trying to provide the human “credentials” behind my explorations, but that’s not really the case. I mostly just want to maintain creative transparency as a core value and add my voice to the raging debate around AI-assisted creativity. Some of that debate is fascinatingly critical to have while a LOT of it is absurdly (and ironically) dehumanizing. Like every other social-media-fueled debate space (alongside entertainment, politics, religion, etc.), this has become another arena dominated by echo chambers and emotionally driven confirmation bias rage-fests replete with insult-slinging and ad hominem attacks. Some (hopefully many) of us are capable of a more respectful* and nuanced discourse.
It might help if we remember there is nothing new under the sun. AI hasn’t introduced any new debates, it has simply amplified existing debates in incredibly interesting ways. And it’s painful to watch both “sides” often arguing right past each other about it when they might actually have more common ground than they realize or admit.
It is also worth noting that I express my values to engage with complex and fascinating topics – not out of any moral disclosure obligation. Never before has there been any expectation or demand on this level of artistic transparency. Have musicians previously been expected to disclose usage of arpeggiators or auto-tune or modular sequencing synths or any number of other technology shortcuts / enhancements / automations that they didn’t create or even completely control the output of? And yet historically many musicians have generously, voluntarily shared some their processes and tricks which have helped others learn and grow and pioneer new territory and that’s the spirit I wish was more prevalent in the debates about AI versus the turf wars, scapegoating, and straw man logic I typically come across.
My Primary Creative Values in the AI era
As an inadequate oversimplification (within the confines of this format) here are my top, personal principles and values guiding how I view and use AI-assistance in my creative processes:
I respect others who operate under different guiding principles than these (except where primary direct motives include greed, deception, or other harmful intentions). *For clarity: respect and maintaining respectful behavior are different things to me.
I see (true) AI-Slop as a problem, but I believe that Pop-Slop has always been a problem too. And the vast majority of both might have a common denominator in the “harmful intentions” department. The main difference is that now AI can help individuals perpetuate “slop” on more equal footing to what the studios have always had.
Even so, ultimately, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and unfortunately the appetites of beholders are often culturally engineered. Authenticity is a huge question, but not only in terms of production – also in terms of consumption. Do we consume what we truly love or do we consume what we’ve been programmed to believe we love because we think everybody else loves it too?
I write my lyrics. It’s fun (and can be hilarious) to see what happens when AI writes. AI can seem “creative” in ways that humans might not be. That fascinates me. It can even be inspiring in ways. But I want my thoughts and emotions to be expressed in my own words.
I compose intentionally. I don’t see AI as a insta-magic-easy-button where outputs are instant, final products.
I create and input my own vocals, performances, instruments, ideas, thoughts, sounds, and more as raw materials and ingredients. Technologies (including AI) help me put those materials and new takes together into final Artifacts. Every track has its own unique production story from inspiration to realization.
I am interested in discovering and sharing something unique and constantly experimenting with ways to do that. From creating custom models filled with only my original non-AI influenced music to exploring what happens when AI is pushed into hallucination territory and everything in between.
Fraud, theft, and plagiarism will always be wrong. LLM training and machine learning are not inherently fraud, theft, or plagiarism. It’s easy for people to fear and hate what they don’t fully understand. There are legitimate conversations to have around the legal system constantly trying to catch up with technology, copyright issues, and artists’ rights, but hating on the way AI’s are trained from publicly available sources – including scraping – requires the moral consistency of not using any AI tool for anything – they are all trained the same way – on human creativity and thought analogous to the way any of us learn (albeit much faster).
Although I use AI assistance for many things (exploring creative production, architecting / coding other technologies, completing home repair projects, etc.) I remain very skeptical that its ultimate trajectory will be beneficial for humanity. Right now there are benefits. And naturally, risks too. A hammer is superior to a rock for pounding nails and an air-nailer even more so. Tools can be misused too. And the most powerful tools hold the most potential for both good and bad. I do NOT consider my perspectives or conclusions or employment of AI to be on autopilot. It’s an area we should all be thinking about deeply in ways I know I never would have thought necessary in my lifetime just 5 years ago.
I will likely refine and/or expand and/or revise these values and principles over time with more experience and more data to inform them.
I hope to write and/or record more in-depth treatments on all of these and related topics in other formats in the future! There are so many branching side quests to explore, and this is just a cursory scratch on the vast surface of so much to explore in all of this.
I’m not sure if there’s a normal way for songwriters to say, “I wrote this song when…” or “…because…” or “…while…” but as I’m sure many others have experienced, this song just sort of spilled out of me in the late winter of early 2009. It was around the same time we were writing preparatory entries on this blog like 6 weeks and counting… and Clarity…
We were about to leave EVERYTHING we knew behind – including an entire way of life – and reach for something we had never done before nor knew how to do. But we knew we were supposed to even if we couldn’t yet see all the hows. In the same way that those moments became paradigms of our entire lives, this song was birthed in an original super rough “live” 1-track recording I made inside our camper that was about to become our only home for years. It was terrifying and exciting and we knew that if Yah didn’t lead and provide, we’d be lost.
Now, almost 17 years later it is quite an experience to look back at all of that and produce this polished version with the testimony that every word came true and continues to be just as true today.
It’s hard to believe, but I am finally releasing an album of songs that I’ve written over the past 20 years! There’s a lot more backstory here that may one day get added… I need to write up the story of each individual song as part of the overall Testimony record. Ah the never ending projects that need to be! But for now, this major milestone will have to tolerate an all too inadequate announcement blurb here. The album will be out tomorrow (Dec 3, 2025) on all the major music platforms.
In the middle of some uncertainty about where will actually be for the entire duration of winter this year we’ve started building a Winter Ark. Our friends here in PA have been awesome and have made it clear that we can stay as long as we’d like. And we have truly felt blessed being here, although it has been very very hard to watch what is likely the final decline of our dear friend to cancer. She was always so full of life and energy and laughter, that the extreme opposite just doesn’t seem like reality. But it is. For whatever bigger purpose, it is, and our friends, her family, have been an amazing testimony of grace and trust and love in the middle of a situation so tragic.
Renee has had some really wonderful moments with her over the last few weeks since they returned from Israel. We’re very thankful for the time we’ve had here with all of them. And the community living is working very well so far in terms logistics and the blessing of fellowship between busy routines.
Our biggest motivation for keeping our radar out to see if Father will provide something else like a cheap, furnished rental or a house sitting situation really boils down to one simple equation:
((Sky Aysh Yachalel + 200 sq. ft * 12 hr / day) * (Zach + Jaiden)) ^(Bennah) * (Joy + Joy) / Reayah = mass chaos @ 9K PSI & 6 megajoules
So far leads have been dead ends and I am more than content to winter it out here in the trailer, but Renee deals with that equation more directly than I do in many ways, and so, we’re praying looking. In the meantime winter isn’t waiting for us. Overall, it has been mild so far, but our hose did freeze up the other night as I had not taken any precautions with no freezing temps in the forecast. Thank you weather men. Anyway…
With the possibility for a few months of winter in the trailer and at the very least a few more weeks when it’s already November, I have been building up the battle lines, digging the trenches, and constructing elaborate winter weather defense systems this week while Renee continues her prenatal nesting patterns. I’ll have to post some more project pics another time when I can get some daylight shots, but for now, here is the latest from our cozy little pre-winter den:
[I am not making this up. Zach wrote this completely from his own brain for school. I am merely the scribe. Enjoy. –Andrew]
Part 1 – 6/7/2012:
Once upon a time there was a family and their last name was the Lundquists. They were a family of spies. There was four people altogether. There was a dad, a mom, a boy who was six, and a girl who was nine.
The dad taught the older class how to be spies. The mom taught the younger class. They gave the kids grappling hooks and taught them how to climb walls.
One day: the dad quit his job and started a new job. His new job was to guard the button that turns the whole world upside down. The button is on the wall of the tallest bank in the world.
The people who wanted to push the button were ninjas! There were 3 of them. And they lived in the African Savannah.
The spy family lived in Colorado.
Part 2 – added 7/4/2012:
The ninjas came to Colorado to invade. The spy family tried to stop them, but it was too late.
The ninjas pushed the button and the reason why they wanted to push the button was because it snapped the vault open and the money fell out.
Three weeks later the spies tricked the ninjas for a bribe and because the ninjas believed the trick they gave the money back to the spies.
Then at night the spies dragged the ninjas into the trees while they were sleeping and kept the house.
Well, I’ve managed to do something to my back. I probably would never even mention it either except perhaps that it’s part of the story. An interesting part for sure, because it’s amazing how quickly everything we take for granted can come into stark relief against something that challenges it all. So, the normal and routine have become epic and painfully slow. Walking, sitting, lying down, standing up… bending over, wait no that’s actually impossible right now along with other things that I could do a few days ago. I can’t even do a single sit-up for crying outloud and I tried to run a little tonight, but that was totally not happening.
So far it hasn’t stopped me from tending to most of the normal chores, but they take way longer and I can’t help but wonder if I’m only aggravating the condition with my stubbornness. I guess a chiropractor is getting added to my itinerary for the week. Too bad my buddy Will isn’t around. Arg.
You know, the really annoying thing too is that it wasn’t some heroic injury saving a baby from a burning building or anything either. I’ve had a weak spot in my lower back for a few years after wiping out while performing a ridiculous stunt for my kids that involved a hill full of snow and a body board in Pennsylvania. And it flares up from time to time, but never incapacitating like this. I guess all the winter fun – like shoveling a 300 foot path for my family in a foot depth of snow (before we had the 4×4 shovel out 😉 ) and digging out snow forts with the kids really did a number on it. One of those things that doesn’t bite until the next day, but wow it bit hard. I guess I wasn’t practicing proper form. Arg.
Well, I’m sure there is a purpose and perhaps my Creator is just trying to get my attention about something. Well, I’m close to all ears, and trying to get there, and wondering what implications this is going to stir up that haven’t occurred to me yet. I really don’t have the time or energy for this, but I guess I have no choice but to slow down and recover. After all I have a house to build.
Finally finished another episode of Journeys…. yay – I’m almost only a year behind now. Arg.
