"We're pro-AI and we're pro-consent. Those things don't have to be mutually exclusive." The activists and artists talk about the hot button issues facing AI's governance.
The world is deep in the throes of a heightening debate over AI. Just this week, the Vatican published an essay addressing the potential, and risks, of AI in a new high-tech world as well as its intersection with religion and humanity. In politics, figures like Elon Musk are advising citizens that the US government will become increasingly "AI-first," using data about its individuals to make federal decisions. And in the world of culture and the humanities, the alarm has been sounded on AI's ability to both aid in creativity and homogenise the art and music being produced and consumed, raising concerns that much of what's being released is sounding increasingly the same.
There are probably no better experts on this far-ranging topic than Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, two Berlin-based academics and artists who have entrenched themselves in the world of AI ethics, advocacy and art for the past two decades. Now married, they come from DIY punk backgrounds, both having lived in the Bay Area pre-tech bubble while Herndon completed a Ph.D in Computer Music at Stanford. Their work is primarily concerned with how AI is governed as it becomes more ubiquitous in our everyday lives, and what its implications are for ownership of AI-generated artworks.
In this urgent and timely RA Exchange, the duo talk about their shift closer to the art world following their 2024 exhibition at The Whitney Biennial and their most recent show at Serpentine Gallery in London, The Call, which will close at the end of this month. It's one of many forward-thinking projects they've worked on to move away from the fear narrative dominating dialogue around how AI is influencing art and music, instead showcasing how machine learning can be used to push art forward. They also address their view of socialist democratic values with the rise of the far right, raising a young child and doing work that sits squarely between activism and art. Listen to the episode in full. – Chloe Lula
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EX.750 Call Super
"If a record is falling apart at the seams, I'll probably like it." Recorded live at Houghton 2024, our latest Playing Favourites episode sees the London artist discussing the beautiful leftfield music that's soundtracked his life.
British DJ and producer Call Super brings some colour to the depths of winter with this week's RA Exchange. The multifaceted artist has released music on Houndstooth, Hessle Audio, fabric, Dekmantel and the label he co-runs with Parris, can you feel the sun, becoming known for a deep yet always party-ready sound that combines house, UK funky, tech house and plenty more besides.
In this interview, recorded at last year's Houghton Festival, he talks to RA's managing editor, Carlos Hawthorn, as part of our flagship live series, Playing Favourites. Among his choices are the music he listened to as a child; the record that inspired his passion for DJing; an artist who changed his perspective on music at large; and more practical songs he deploys in sets to refresh a crowd. The territory he covers is huge, from tech house and acid house to contemporary classical, experimental leftfield, abstract percussion and choral music. There are some tracks, he claims, that only work in certain contexts, but if played at the right time, "they send people." Listen to the episode in full. – Chloe Lula
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EX.749 Luke Slater
"I'm like a collector—everything I come across makes it into my music." The dance music don talks about the music that shaped him and his recent L.B. Dub Corp album on Dekmantel.
Luke Slater, the British DJ, producer and occasional drummer, has been making music under a slew of monikers since the '80s: Planetary Assault Systems, L.B. Dub Corp, LSD, The 7th Plain, Clementine—the list goes on. While he's put out an excellent range of dynamic analogue music that runs the gamut of house, acid, breakbeat, electro and even spoken word, he's probably best known for his productions and live shows that focus on sleek and solid techno, as showcased on Ostgut Ton and his own imprint, Mote-Evolver.
In the latest instalment of our flagship live series Playing Favourites, Slater unpacks the tracks that, for him, best illustrate the history of techno at large, as well as the records that define his creative process and career trajectory. He speaks with Chloe Lula live from Polifonic festival about his love of Detroit and Underground Resistance, as well as the abiding influence of hip-hop on his early work and his love of intentionally integrating mistakes in his music. He also reflects on how he became the first non-German artist to release on Berghain's esteemed record label, as well as discussing his most recent release, Saturn to Home, for Dekmantel. The double LP saw him return to his drumming practice and introduce surprising and powerful collaborations from electronic music contemporaries and vocalists like Kittin and the poet Benjamin Zephaniah. Listen to the episode in full.
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EX.748 Faithless
"We put all of these philosophical concepts into our lyrics." Sister Bliss talks about the band after Maxi Jazz, weaving politics into rave anthems and the dance floor as salvation.
Even if you're not into electronic music, chances are you've heard tracks like "Insomnia" or "God Is A DJ" on the radio or in a film. These '90s rave anthems were written by Faithless, a British electronic band that received huge acclaim in the UK especially. Its original members, who launched the project in 1995, were Sister Bliss, Rollo and charismatic lead singer Maxi Jazz, who died in 2022. At their peak, they sold millions of records, performed all over the world and played giant festivals like Coachella and Glastonbury to hundreds of thousands of people.
Faithless is now toured solely by Sister Bliss, the keyboardist and songwriter. She speaks with Chloe Lula about the band's trajectory and the legacy left behind by Maxi Jazz. In her words, Faithless appeals to such a wide audience because its output isn't dance floor music in a traditional sense. Instead, it occupies a space where poetry, beats and melodies meet. With Maxi Jazz as their frontman, the group spoke to themes around human rights, politics, protest, equity, collapse, spirituality and the notion of dance music as a secular religion. Their transcendent live shows—which Sister Bliss will revive in 2025—have even been called a "church for the unchurched." Maxi Jazz was a practicing Buddhist monk whose lyrics and message of connection and compassion touched legions of fans over the years.
In this Exchange, Sister Bliss reflects on Maxi Jazz's death, being a mother on the road, continuing to release music under the Faithless banner and what it ultimately means to find salvation in faith, music, community and life at large. Listen to the episode in full.
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EX.747 Patrick Mason
"Why would you care about anyone else's opinion?" The DJ and dancer talks about work ethic, living authentically and the power of lifting each other up.
DJ and dancer Patrick Mason emits high vibrations and high-energy dance music. But that wasn't always the case. Before he was playing the world's biggest techno festivals, he grew up in conservative Bavaria, where he claims that he "suppressed his truest self" as a closeted gay Black man. Born to an American GI father and a German mother, he learned the power of visualisation and hard work in order to launch himself to Berlin and the freedom of expression it represented. It was in the capital that he had his first sexual experiences and climbed the ranks of fashion and modelling, spending weekend stints at Berghain and immersing himself in the new world of techno.
Career burnout and the Covid-19 lockdowns set Mason down the path of DJing in 2020, and he's since carved out a niche as a party-starter known for flamboyant selections that accompany his elaborate dance routines behind (and even on top of) the decks. In this interview recorded live at ADE 2024, he speaks with Chloe Lula about the obstacles he's overcome to get to the top, personal trauma and struggles with self-acceptance, body dysmorphia, depression, and gay male culture's sometimes unrealistic physical ideals. He also discusses his ambitions to marry the worlds of fashion and music, and his vision for a more authentic music industry. Listen to the episode in full.
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