An Interview About Making Music with AI
(Yes, I see the irony too.)
I’ve gotten a range of reactions since I started using AI tools to help create music. Some thoughtful. Some skeptical. Some dismissive. A few openly hostile.
Rather than argue about it, I thought I’d try something different: answer the questions that actually matter.
What follows is a lightly edited conversation between me and an AI assistant, talking about why I make music, why I use the tools I do, and what any of that really has to do with the songs themselves.
And yes — an AI is interviewing me about using AI. I find that amusing rather than troubling.
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Before we talk about AI at all: what does making music give you now that it didn’t earlier in your life?
I think any “artist” — painter, sculptor, writer, musician, whatever — is trying to communicate something of themselves to others. In that respect, making music is still giving me what it’s always given me: the joy of communication, of self-expression when it’s done well.
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If that’s the constant, what changed that made AI feel like a welcome tool?
AI removed friction that had always impeded my creative process.
Over the years I collected lots of song ideas — bits and pieces, unfinished demos. The problem was always the same: how do I finish them? How do I translate what I hear in my head into something someone else can actually hear?
I’m not a world-class singer. I don’t play a dozen instruments. I’m not a skilled recording engineer, and I don’t own — or want to spend long hours in — a recording studio.
For most of my life, those were requirements if you wanted to take an idea from infancy to a finished project. AI changed that.
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Some critics say, “It’s not really you if a machine is involved.” What do they misunderstand?
To be blunt: almost nothing you hear in recorded music is entirely “real.” It’s processed, massaged, overdubbed, auto-tuned, edited — always has been.
On a more personal level, I try to be completely honest about what I’m producing. A few songs I’ve put out are all me from start to finish. You can probably tell — they sound amateur, because they are.
Some are AI remixes of those. Most at this stage are collaborations to one degree or another. I don’t hide that.
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When people use phrases like “AI slop” or say “the industry is wary,” what do you hear beneath that?
When someone uses “AI slop” without any reasoning, it usually sounds like they’re parroting something they read online. A pop-culture phrase of the week.
“The industry is wary” is different. I’ve heard that from musician friends I respect, and they’re probably right. The industry has always been slow to adapt, and it’s clearly struggling to figure out what to do with AI.
The difference is: they’re still marketing themselves as recording and performing artists. I’m not. So while their concern may be valid, it simply isn’t relevant to my situation.
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If there’s no industry to impress and no ladder to climb, who are you making music for now? What does success look like?
I’m really glad you asked this — it’s the crux of the biscuit.
When I was in high school and a new song came out that I loved — Ventura Highway, for example — I’d play it on repeat until I wore out the cassette or vinyl. Somewhere around that time I realized, hey… I can write songs too.
Fast forward half a century. New music still has that effect on me, and I can still write songs. These days, I mostly write for me. When I finish a song I’m happy with, I play it on repeat until I get tired of it or write another one to take its place.
Success, for me, is when I’m able to share that same feeling with someone else — when a song makes them smile, laugh, remember something good, or maybe even brings a tear. That’s success.
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Some assume AI is about speed or volume. How do you keep it from replacing the feeling that got you into music in the first place?
I can see why people assume that. I’ve certainly produced more songs in less time since using AI tools.
But if all you’re interested in is producing content, you could crank out material by the gigabyte. What would be the point?
Speaking only for myself: if it isn’t honest, if it isn’t real, if it doesn’t speak for me and my heart, I have no interest in creating it — or listening to it.
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Do you worry that AI could distance you from your own voice?
Yes and no — mostly no.
I see AI as a tool. A powerful one, sometimes comparable to skilled human collaborators. But I retain final say on what I do and don’t call my own.
Since I’m not chasing clicks or money, I have no incentive to put something out that doesn’t resonate with me. If the music — especially the lyrics — doesn’t strike a chord, I’d lose interest quickly.
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If someone listens to one of your songs and thinks, “I’m not sure how I feel about AI — but this moved me,” what would you want them to take away?
We’ve come full circle. That’s always been my hope.
Why this word instead of that one. The way a line sounds when spoken, not just what it means. All of it has to serve the feeling I’m trying to express.
Maybe it works for the listener. Maybe it doesn’t. That’s out of my hands.
In the end, it’s not really about me or the tools I use.
It’s about the song.
Listen to the music.
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