“They can hear it in the song, see it in the art, and they’re, like, ‘Ah, that ain’t it’” Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix says he loves rock’s pushback against AI
Artificial intelligence may be creeping into all aspects of music-making, but Jacoby Shaddix believes rock is pushing back – and he’s all for it.
Speaking on the LA Lloyd Rock 30 radio show, the Papa Roach frontman reflects on the genre’s resistance to AI, noting the way rock fans can “smell” when something’s off. He describes the current moment as “a strange time” for artists, particularly those just starting out, and sees the rise of AI as yet another turning point for the industry, much like the collapse of the CD era.
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“I think now, at this point, we’re at another kind of strange time in music where this AI element is coming through, and it can be frightening, I think, for a lot of people, for a lot of young artists maybe,” Shaddix explains [via Blabbermouth].
“But then there’s this hopeful element in it that I feel. Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas was trying to explain it, and I think he kind of hit the nail on the head in a way of, like, when you go to the grocery store, you can get the organic or you can get the GMO. What do you want? So if you want music, do you want fake music or do you want the music that’s coming from a human being? And we have a choice.”
For Shaddix, the issue lies in what AI currently represents: imitation over intention.
“AI is really essentially studying us. It’s a study of us,” says the musician. “And how does it regurgitate us back at us in a generic way? And that’s where it’s at right now. And it will be interesting to see how this plays out.”
“But I love the pushback from rock culture against it. I think that a lot of people in rock culture can smell it. They can hear it in the song, they can see it in the art, and they’re, like, ‘Ah, that ain’t it.’”
“And I love collaborating with people,” Shaddix continues. “I love the humanness of it. I love the push and pull in the relationship of creating with another person and having to have a conversation in a room, creating a song. And sometimes my idea isn’t the best idea in the room, and it gets shot down. And then sometimes my idea is the idea that sticks, whereas this other one is, ‘I have a prompt. Let me press a button.’ It’s just lazy, man.”
“I think the people in the rock culture and in the rock space, we could smell it a mile away. There’s room for the human in that.”
That mindset is already shaping how Papa Roach approach recording. Shaddix says the rise of AI has prompted the band to strip things back in the studio and rethink overproduction.
“[It’s] prompted us, when we go into the studio, to kind of dial back some of the tech and the overproduction of things,” he says. “[Our latest single] Wake Up Calling being one of those. There’s no samples on the drums in that song. It’s just raw drums. It’s just a recording of a drummer playing drums. And I think that that element is coming back into the play.”
Papa Roach’s new album – the follow-up to 2022’s Ego Trip – will be out later this year. Listen to the single Wake Up Calling below.
The post “They can hear it in the song, see it in the art, and they’re, like, ‘Ah, that ain’t it’” Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix says he loves rock’s pushback against AI appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
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