The Future of Music is Closer Than You Think

1:36 Well, it's good, everybody.Scoobert Doobert here.Today I want to talk about the three most important thingsthat I forecast for musicians, producers, engineers.Almost maybe anybody in the economy doing anything.And it's kind of crazy to say that.But everything that's going on with AI,with sampling, with all of the software companiesthat are obviously a very big deal in music,but also a very big deal in everything.

2:05 I think it boils down to be clever, be creative,be creative, and have taste.Develop your taste.So I want to cover each of those in turn.Some of them, you can refine.Some of them, you can't, you know,some of them, you're kind of born with it,you're lucky or you time out.But let's focus on the things that you can't controlbecause obviously each of us only have so much.

2:39 Being clever, being clever I think is more about seeing the systems.You know, figuring out where is a gap?Where is an area that somebody's not looking?And so for example, in music, is there a genreor is there a country or is there a musical scenethat's super under the radar that has the potentialto change everything?Can you find those?Can you amplify them?Can you connect with them on a very deep level

3:11 and join forces with something that's a rising wave?Like all of the people at CBGB, I think that's a good example.Or like the Beastie Boys recognizing the hardcore sceneand then writing that wave, or like Blondie.You know, there's a bunch of these different bandsthat used a musical scene,and I'm not saying they used it in a bad way,it's a good way.Everybody wins, especially music fans.

3:35 You identify something that's on the upand you position yourself to catch that wave.Being creative means knowing yourself,knowing what you're capable of, and doubling down.Or using your weaknesses in an interesting way.Like how many vocalists, or like bad vocalists,but are famous?And I don't think that's a coincidence.I think maybe some of the like modern examplesmight be kind of more brutal because of autotune

4:05 and all the kind of things that you can do for vocals.But I think ultimately it's about finding the pointsof interests, the reasons why people would listento you rather than someone else.Or you know, finding the cleverness of,you know how they can different musical periods,people all kind of sing the same way.Hey, I'm not even absolved of this.Like I'm in bedroom pop.

4:29 I started to sing a sort of bedroom poppy kind of way.I sing quieter, I crank the preamps,and I leave a little bit of room reverbso I don't have my room perfectly treatedlike a padded box because you want it to feel likeyou're intimately singing to somebody in the bedroom.Or like the bedroom of your beach house have a, in my case.But finding about like what is you, like where's your range?

4:57 Or what is most special about your guitar playingor your songwriting or your production styleand highlighting it and centering it?Or using your weaknesses as points of interestthat will never change.It's just part of you.And that's okay.Like I think that because the voice,my voice is the way that it is.It's a little bit lower.They're just certain genresthat I don't think I sound as good singing

5:23 because I just have like a lower voice.It doesn't cut through a mix.But when I make like more chill music, it worksbecause like my voice is lower.So it's like a little smoother, you know?And it's actually turning like a weakness into a strength.Arnold Schwarzenegger would talk about that a lotwith bodybuilding, which I think is super interesting.He's like, I had bad abs,I turned it into my like greatest strength

5:42 because he just focused on it.But I think in music, we're all human,we're all gonna have limitations.And sometimes it's beautiful to push yourself.Like I think David Byrne is a really good jobwith this like with psycho killer.His vocal range does not quite support the melodythat he chose to sing,but that's part of the meaning of the song, you know?That's what it's punk about it.That's what it's cool about it.

6:07 It connects them to that CBGB heritage of,I'm going above and beyond what I'm capable of intentionally,knowing that I'm gonna fail, but that's the point.So I think that's what really creativity means to meis it's different than the being clever.Sometimes people think of the creative as the cleverand I really think they're two different things.The clever is catching the wave,setting yourself up, seeing the scene.

6:31 The creative is looking at yourselfand saying, how do I fit into that?How can I evolve it?What vision do I have that the rest of the herd doesn't?So the clever is more like social,creative is more personal.But then the taste bit, that's the art, in my opinion.I also think that's where everything is coalescing.I've been hearing a lot of that about thisin like AI software circlesbecause I like that stuff.

6:56 I'm trying, trying my best to learn some of it.As I think it's gonna be important for music creation,in the future I think all musiciansare going to be software engineers.Like I think it's almost gonna be necessary.And I think there's a cool way to do it.Like Nolan from all of the work that he didone of my guests, all the work that he did in Copenhagenand all the museums where he is using

7:26 the analog and the digital in tandem.I just looked up the episode.It is called of signals and systems with Nolan Lem.Nolan Lem.And I've been thinking a lot about himand the same way that I've thought aboutsome of the software developers that have come on the podand all that kind of stuff.And now that these tools are accessiblethere are another musical instrument.So that's the be clever part.

7:50 The creative part is I understand thatI am not a software engineer.I don't know what I'm doing.But I'm fearless.I like taking risks.I like breaking things.I like trying things.So I recognize that's my strength versus my weaknessis I don't know what the hell I'm doing.But that can be a strength.In the same way that like punk music,you don't want to be too good at your instruments.Because you want that authenticity.

8:13 Or like even some of the things that I've seenin recording studios were really good drummers.Specifically I'm thinking of recording sessionfor Portugal the Man.One of the drummers made his life harder.He changed his throne, moved his sticks,moved the drumkits in kind of chaotic waysso that he played with a more novice childlike approachto the drum kit or you can think about like Meg White.

8:42 There is a, you can channel thatby creating the circumstances around you.But I also think that like something likerecording engineering plus software engineeringmight create different perspectivesthat a software engineer,like a native software engineer would never have.So that weakness can become a strength,can become that punk authenticity.But the real mix is the taste.The taste is gonna be like,

9:04 what is the problem I'm actually trying to solve?What is the point that I'm trying to get to?What do I see that nobody else sees?What's the vision?That's so hard to cultivatebecause I think that the only way cannot be taught.It can only be learned.One of the ways that you do it is automatically.You have to just be around stuff.People that are cooler than you.And you start to pick up a vibe

9:27 and then eventually you wake up and you see something.Those are the,those are the things that make me believe in spiritualityand things bigger than yourself.Is the creative arts, the true,like the act of molding the clay is a craft.The act of recording the audio is a craftbut there are moments of enlightenment.You don't know where they come from but that's the vision.That's the muses.That's the spirituality.

9:56 Finding ways to channel itand creating room for it within your creative process.And whatever that creative process is yieldingI think is going to be super important.It's funny seeing visionaries like Rick Rubingetting laughed out on social mediabecause like what does he actually do?It's like oh, he only does the most important partof the process have a vision and keep people viving.

10:17 There are technical skills of which he also haslike, are you kidding me?You don't think he's exaggerating.It's like a technical skills.He's doing that on purpose thoughso that he can center his time and energyon the value that he actually does createwhich is helping extract vision and tasteand he believes in what he believes.And oftentimes in the creative arts,people forget what they believe.They're chasing.

10:48 They're trying to be too clever.It's like a pyramid, right?Like the most important bit, that's the taste.You can have taste and not the other thingsand actually I think you're gonna be okay.But I'm hearing it for software engineering toowhere people say, you know, I don't write code anymorebecause of the AI's writing most of the code.Most of what I'm doing is just trying to structure

11:07 how to solve a problem and having the taste to say,oh, that's off the marker, that's on the mark.Like one of the things that I used to console myself withwas it's really hard for computers to do guitar.That's not really the case anymoreand it's going to get better every six monthsfor the rest of our lives and tell eventuallyit will be completely undistinguishableand the computers might be better

11:30 at synthesizing a guitar than I am at playing it.So at that point, what's left for meother than saying yes or no closer or farther?I still will play, don't worry.But ultimately like as those lines blur,the role of the musician becomes increasinglythe role of the producer, the role of the samplerwhere you're creating, you're prompting,you're developing all in pursuit of a futurethat only you can see, so get to it.

12:04 I am, come join me, let's do it.If you'd like to hear my music,go to scoobertdoobert.pizza.I play most of it, don't worry.But you know, you gotta prepare for this future.That's part of trying to be clever.Please share this podcast with your friends,rate it five stars and coming up next weekanother great guest episode can't wait for you to hear it.Until then, thank you so much.Hope you love music a little bit more.

12:27 See ya.