Where does your journey with AI start?
Honestly, it started when I was a kid, which might be weird. We went through my old sketchpads from college last year and we found a ton of AI theory. I’ve always talked about this; it just wasn’t possible before. But I started to delve into the possibilities of art a little before the crypto times. That’s when we tried to open-source Grimes for the first time – 2018 or 2019.
What does it mean to make Grimes ‘open-source’?
I am very interested in the art of identity. We tried to sell my soul – 10 percent of it – in a legally binding agreement. But no one cared, and it’s also at a ridiculously high price that no one will ever buy – like $10 billion. But if they buy it, I accept my fate and it’s worth it.
Only one person you know can afford that.
Yeah, I don’t think he’s going to pay for that. But my soul is already gone. I already have complete lost control of the Grimes story. I get accused of war crimes all the time.
So how do you go from that to open-sourcing Grimes musically?
I probably feel less pain than the average person about such things because the amount of ego death I’ve had to go through to even just stay functional is pretty high. The kind of weird, gross feeling a lot of people get when they hear their voices being used in a way they didn’t mean to – I’m just subject to more crazy press than the average person. I’m so used to it.
Grimes started because I was in a very punk scene and it seemed edgy to put on a pink dress and dance around and make pop music. Part of what I wanted to do at the time was upset people. What are the limits now? What is the Overton Window of Art? What is allowed?
For example, how would you explain to your grandmother what you are doing with AI now?
People keep getting very upset and say, “I want to hear something that a man made!” And I’m like, people made all this. You still have to write the song, produce the song and sing the vocals. The part that is AI takes the harmonics and timbre of the voice and moves them so they are consistent with my voice as opposed to the person’s original voice. It’s like a new microphone.
