Soundcheck: The Robots Aren’t Playing In Bars (yet)

By Missi Hasting, an Oregon musician

There has never been a better time (at least in our lifetimes) to be a human creative.

Art is a process. Art requires a soul. There is no artificial soul.

Honestly, I hope I never succumb to the notion that there's an artificial shortcut to making what I make. What I make is rowdy live music and extremely detailed, massively imperfect visual art. So LOL, genuinely, to the idea that a robot would even want to try either. Last time I checked, people aren't drinking and dancing to AI music in small bars on Saturday nights.

For those of us who are already actively creating with our own bodies, our own hands, our own voices, let’s do more. Help flood the world with the human soul. Respect your creativity enough to actually nurture it. For me, that looks like getting songs out of my head and journal and birthed into the world. It means adding a weekly rehearsal day with my music partner dedicated solely to new material. It's learning a new drum rhythm. It's practicing my paradiddles (iykyk).

I know so many musician and artist friends who are also sitting on something — a song, a project, a sound, an idea that's been wriggling around inside us since childhood. If you've been waiting for the right time to answer that call, this is it. The world is going to appreciate human art more than ever in the era we're walking into.

I'm not alone in believing that a creative renaissance is coming. And I think it's going to push us toward something more local, more community-driven, with self-sustaining systems for how we make, share, and support art and music. Maybe we'll rebuild a real camaraderie in this industry that isn't so warped by fame-chasing and algorithmic approval. One that’s more focused on being at peace with ourselves and each other. Not utopia. Just balanced.

I personally believe a lot of art and music is going to fuel that change. So keep making (or start doing) your thing. Make it weirder, make it more yours, make it more human. 

Thoughts? Send me an email at Missi@musicoregon.org