Jimmy Ether

So, when I put out a 100-song psychedelic horror-core concept album called “At War With Rats”, know that it’s not metaphorical. I’m not railing against corporatism and bootlickers. Well, I am, generally but … no, it’s my literal current life. And so far the varmints are winning.

I’ve somehow squeezed two weeks into the last two days. Talked all day yesterday with septic guys and building contractors. Trying to uncover the construction history of the house add ons. Going over all the options with the barn studio build, which keep changing (for the better). Got fiber internet installed so I can work there during all the build and renovation. Have to get tree people out today. The wife and I have weeks of interior patching, painting, and moulding work ahead of us.

We closed on a 1970 built property with a big goat/chicken barn yesterday. Going to build my dream “barn studio”. This will be my 7th studio build, but the biggest and most no-holds-barred. I’ll try to document the whole experience.

I think I want to write an album about grifters, and this alien-channeling Darryl Anka (BASHAR) character is definitely getting a song.

Come see my band Loud Humans at Underground Atlanta this Saturday with an amazing lineup.

Atlanta folk: Hope to see you at Eyedrum tomorrow (Saturday Aug 3rd). Early show! Doors at 7:00. Music at 8:00 starting with Shutdown Shipyard. Followed by MTN ISL. Victory Hands go on just after 9:00pm. Home in time to watch your Dragon stories or murder documentaries.

515 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd SW, Atlanta, GA 30312

$10. Vinyl and T-shirts for sale.

Let's beat a dead horse, shall we. Anthony nails every point. And I'm not the biggest fantano fan.

Rick Beato Is Wrong The Real Reason Why Music Is Getting Worse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bZ0OSEViyoRick's follow-up vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU96wCDHGKM=====...

A great technical breakdown of why AI in music creation produces poor results.

Why Does AI Music Suck? A conversation with music theory professor Christopher White

In this episode of Fretful Dreams, Randy King and Jimmy Ether talk about their introductions to playing music, the music posters they had in their rooms as kids, hair metal, and the Atlanta club load-ins in the 90s.

The Wrong Mouth For Guitar - Fretful Dreams Episode 006 In this episode of Fretful Dreams, Randy King and Jimmy Ether talk about their introductions to playing music, the music posters they had in their rooms as k...

Songwriters: we don’t want to hear your story. Nobody wants to hear about you. If people pay attention to lyrics at all, they want 1 of 3 things.

1. To relate to something novel that you’re saying. Because that’s comforting and enriches the listener’s identity and connection to the world.

2. To be jarred into seeing detail from an unusual perspective.

3. They just like the way the nonsense you’re caterwauling phonetically sounds when they caterwaul along.

It’s about them, not you.

Yesterday, Rick Beato claimed that “music is getting worse”. I wonder what he and his legion of subscribers qualify as music. Is it merely what’s on the radio? What’s rising in the streaming charts? What’s getting press attention?

Read more here:

Music is not getting worse. Perhaps, your discovery process is simply lazy.

Ted Gioia posted this about AI in music to his The Honest Broker music newsletter:

https://open.substack.com/pub/tedgioia/p/how-the-music-business-can-tame-the

I don’t necessarily disagree with anything Gioia says here. But as someone who’s consistently grappling with the concept of authenticity in music production, I’m neither concerned nor terribly interested in any changes AI technology professes to bring to it. I don’t see how this technology is any less of a manipulation than, for instance, autotune—possibly the most recent equivalent tool and a favorite poster child of lameness in production.

But practically everything a musician does is a manipulation using technology no matter how authentic they purport to be. The moment you stick a microphone in front of someone or something, you are fabricating a false reality.

So, where’s your line in the sand? Artists will use technology to conceal inferiority. Some will use it to explore new artistic territory. Recoding engineers will use it forensically to enhance imperfections in recordings. Many will use it to copy popular trends. And absolutely nobody is going to stamp “created using AI” on their album. You can’t legislate that line, because it goes back to the invention of recorded music. We’ve all bought into the manipulation from day one.

That said, there will be an AI backlash. People are looking for authenticity and a human connection. The wise artist is the one who unabashedly shows themselves—flaws and all—and highlights the things that no technology will ever be able to replicate convincingly to the discriminating listener. Artists just have to figure out what is uniquely human about what they do and lean into it.

How the Music Business Can Tame the Dangerous AI Dragon Here's a five point plan that makes a difference (and not just for music)