Press Release - AH-Music

AT RANDOM IS BACK

Forty-five years after Ann Arbor, Michigan based At Random broke up, founding members
Robert L. Hunt and Jon F. Anderson have decided to put the band back together.
They plan to re-release some of the original songs they wrote and recorded with At Random, along with other material written and recorded individually and together through the years.

What is exciting is that this time, along with Nashville, TN based producer Shiro Onedera, they are making use of AI. Unlike the controversial array of music being turned out by simply having AI make up the lyrics and music, all of the songs being released were written, copyrighted and performed by Hunt and Anderson either in groups or individually since 1975.

The new At Random is hands on for the entire process. Instead of just having AI do everything, each song being released takes many days to perfect as the group programs instruments, vocal sound, harmonies, genre and tempo of each song before spending more hours mixing and mastering.

Anderson and Hunt will also be adding new and previously recorded instrument and vocal parts in addition to stems from previous recordings to the productions. According to both Anderson and Hunt what is most exciting about this project is being able to take songs they performed as rock and produce them as country, jazz, pop or EDM versions.

While he initially resisted the idea, producer Shiro Onedera changed Robert’s mind after playing him a few updated versions of songs Hunt and Anderson had recorded at Emerald Studio in Nashville, TN and at Solid Sound in Ann Arbor MI. Once he was convinced of the quality of the material, Hunt went all in and spent a week arranging and reproducing a couple songs written by Jon Anderson and that was all it took for the two former bandmates to get the show back on the road.

They are currently working on their new album, AT RANDOM NOW and THEN.

AI STATEMENT

Jon and I have been musical partners for many years, sometimes together, sometimes off doing our own thing. After decades apart we are back at it working on revised versions of early compositions and creating new material. This time we’re adding a new element to our music: we’re using AI to enhance and assist in the creation of new sounds and jamming with robots.

We understand that some people, both in and out of the industry, are concerned about the use of AI in entertainment. We want to share our thoughts on the topic.

If you have watched a movie in the last decade, you’ve already enjoyed AI in art. In music artists and studios are already using AI in mastering. Some artists have embraced AI-generated tracks—like when Randy Travis’s voice was recreated with technology.

Jon and I have spent decades writing, recording and performing original music and we have copyrights (and the stories) to go along with that work. If anyone prefers a purely human approach, feel free to book us some studio time or send a check- we’ll get a bunch of really talented humans to help us lay down these new tracks old school style.

For those who worry that AI is the death of human creation, consider this: the first drum machines were made nearly 1300 years ago in the Middle East and the machine entertained royalty. The first fully programmed drum machine was released in 1972 and by the late 1980’s sampling and sequencing loops were common. Drum machines, synthesizers and sequencers, have influenced hip hop for decades without causing the end of heartfelt music. Musicians have been using computers for nearly 40 years, starting with tape loops and manipulating audio recordings. Still, the world keeps turning and new solo artists and bands keep writing and touring.

Just as it is unreasonable to reject sampling because it replaces humans by taking the sound created by other artists, it is unreasonable to think that AI doesn’t have a place in the music world. The Beatles just won the first Grammy ever presented for a song using AI when they released a song with two of our heroes, the deceased John Lennon and George Harrison.

What Jon and I won’t be doing is turning out “AI Slop”. Every song release is written, produced and mastered by us and our human partners. We will also be adding human vocals or instruments to some of our music. So, while we embrace the future, we will never just prompt AI to write a song and call it our own. We have no need to do so.

In closing here are some “I remember when” moments:

I remember when people were against cars replacing horses and buggies.
I remember when flying surpassed traveling by train
I remember when computers shrank from the size of a building to the size of a phone.
I remember when phones had a cord and COULD NOT BE CARRIED AROUND…OMG

AI is here and we’re excited to see where we can go together. We hope you’ll enjoy the ride and give us a listen…we think you’ll like it.

Robert L Hunt

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