Online: Rock band balances machines, humanity
By Alex Palmer
Aug. 10, 2003 9:00 p.m.
Rock music often looks at the tensions between man and machine,
sometimes casting technology as a force that takes the humanity out
of the songs, reducing musicians to cogs in the OK Computer.
Other times technology is seen as something empowering, giving
musicians more freedom and outlets for expression than would
otherwise be possible. The electro-psychedelic rock band A.I.
brings these tensions into its music, using electronic
instrumentation while being careful not to let the machines take
too much control of its sound.
A.I. will be playing this Sunday at Westwood Brew Co. along with
four other L.A. bands as part of the Acoustic Live showcase of Los
Angeles-area music. The show is free and open to all ages.
With a name that stands for Artificial Intelligence, bringing to
mind images of robots and technological advancement, it’s no
surprise that the band incorporates electronic music styles into
their sound. Drum loops, vocal distortion, trip hop beats and drum
and bass add texture to the group’s energetic music. But Nick
Young, the guitarist and singer for A.I., made it clear that
it’s not the machines that do the thinking in their
music.
“Our name means us giving life to our instruments, using
electronics to make really organic music,” said Young.
“It’s actually kind of the opposite of what you think
of as Artificial Intelligence.”
Keeping this feeling of humanity in their machine-dominated
music is important to the three members of A.I. For their debut
album which they released last August, instead of recording in the
traditional way of layering and cutting and pasting sounds using
computers, the members learned live arrangements of all their
songs, playing all instruments simultaneously. Onstage A.I. also
differs from a lot of electronic-inclined bands by refusing to use
sequencers or DAT recordings during live shows.
This musical ethic gives A.I.’s songs a more spontaneous,
organic quality, but it also means the members have to multi-task.
Pablo Manzarek, A.I.’s keyboardist, lays out bass lines with
his right hand and plays melody with his left. Zack Young,
Nick’s brother, plays the drums and brings in 17 different
beat triggers during a typical set.
“We love the huge palette all these electronic instruments
offer us,” said Young. “But in the end, we’re
just doing a song about the world we live in or feelings for a
girl, just simple human emotions but expressing them in newer,
exciting ways.”
A.I.’s latest project is scoring the film “Below the
Belt” on which Nick and Zack’s father, film director
Robert Young, just finished production. The film is set in a
factory where the characters are dominated by the machines they
work with: themes that are fitting to A.I.’s music. The
members have used this project to expand their sound, bringing in
tango, breakbeats, and orchestral arrangements.
But A.I.’s show on Sunday will be a more stripped-down,
acoustically-oriented set than their work on “Below the
Belt” or their album. For the Acoustic Live performance, A.I.
will be playing versions of their songs with fewer instruments and
an even more pronounced human touch than usual.
“We’ll still bring in a little electronic
music,” said Young. “Not because we rely on it but
because it will sound cool.”
