Shakespeare said, “To AI or not to AI, that is the question?”
Okay, he didn’t really say that, but you catch my drift.
In the making of ‘Intercontinental Man’, I’d like to give you some background on the recording process, and also how and where the music emerged from.
The story
Intercontinental Man is an EP and has four tracks. Three of these were written and recorded over 15 years ago and were meant be on my first solo album. My first solo album turned out to be ‘Bach to Me’ and the title was influenced by how the album was conceived and developed.
I’m a big Classical music enthusiast and equally a huge Progressive Rock fan. I had always wanted to do an album that combined the two. And in the classical field I think Johan Sebastian Bach is one the all-time greats! He was so progressive for his time, so I chose to do an album centred around Bach’s music – hence the title ‘Bach to Me’. I’m very proud of this work and it got great reviews in many territories around the world including Canada, Italy, UK and Holland. Musicians on the album have links to artists such as Kate Bush, Bryan Adams, Dave Matthews and It Bites.
Bach to Me was released with ‘Georg Voros’ as the artist. All fine and good as it was a solo album. For Intercontinental Man this has changed and ‘The Voros Collective’ is now the artist.
I chose this because my intention is to create a community vibe, which includes you reading this right now. This of course extends to the great musicians who by being involved are all part of the ‘Collective’. And I want this to grow as a community so that in time as a Collective subscriber, you will be able to enjoy special privileges that only members will receive.
The music on Intercontinental Man
There is one track on the upcoming album that is new (to me anyway). I wrote ‘This World’ recently, playing and recording everything. The track is actually influenced by ‘Roof is leaking’ by Phil Collins off his first solo album ‘Face Value’. Even though ‘This world’ sounds nothing like it, you may be able to hear where the influences are.
There is no greater sense of achievement than composing a piece of music and then sitting back and hearing it play back to you.
In regard to the other three tracks: These were initially recorded as demos. All full versions with all the parts played by myself, with the intention to have working ‘prototypes’ that I could give to musicians. This because it was always my intention to have other musicians play the guitar, bass and even other keyboard parts that I had already played.
When I decided to go ahead with Intercontinental Man, I began contacting musicians I know to see if they might be interested in playing on the album. I’m so very pleased to say that I’ve again assembled some great players on this album.
Meet the musicians
Andy Roberston on bass (UK)
Andy is a multi-instrumentalist playing 4, 5, 6 & 7 String Electric Bass, Upright Bass, Drums, Keyboards and Guitar. He has been performing and recording for over 20 years, playing in over ten countries around the globe with artists as diverse as Andy Abraham (X factor), Bizzi Dixon (The Voice), Marisa Turner (U.S-Prince & Chaka Khan), The Foundations and Alex Wilson’s Salsa Orchestra. As well as tours, studio work and production, Andy regularly performs with some of the UK’s top function and covers bands. Most recently Andy has been playing bass with funk & soul band ‘The Nanna Radleys’, Guitar in ‘Bird & The Bad Man’ and piano in ‘Strawberry Letter’.
Andy Lewis on piano (UK)
Andy is a classically-trained pianist and keyboard player who began lessons at age eight and has since graced hundreds of gigs across Southern Africa and the UK — from pub duos to national, sold-out theatre shows to performing for the Miss World pageant in 1994. Now based in the UK, Andy plays with the festival rock-covers band Fired Up whilst also running his successful commercial audio distribution business.
Keith Hutchinson on piano and keys (Ireland)
Keith’s musical education started at the age of nine and his career spans several decades.
A prolific composer across many different genres of music, ranging from full orchestral works for film, documentaries, theatre productions and big band arrangements, to television and radio station identity and advertisements.
Myles Shannon on guitar (Switzerland)
Myles is a session musician, who has worked with various bands and artists such as Chris de Burgh and Hotline, a chart topping anti-apartheid group in South Africa during the late 1980s. Recently he has been playing guitar and singing in a rock band called “Smile”, performing concerts all around Switzerland and occasionally France.
Mike Bester, guitar on Cool Mountain Waters (South Africa)
And a special mention must go to Mike Bester in South Africa who played on the original recording of ‘Cool Mountain Waters’. When I wrote this music back in the mid 2000’s my intention then was to form a band. So, I auditioned musicians. Mike was one of the musicians who came over to my place and played on Cool Mountain Waters.
When this track was chosen for Intercontinental Man, I started thinking who would play guitar on this. It then clicked that Mike had already done such a great job, so why change it. I approached him to see if he would be happy with me using his guitar parts. I’m so happy to say that he agreed and gave it his blessing.
I’d like to acknowledge Quinton Hoffmann here. A former student of mine, now based in Cape Town is a graphic designer, as well as a brilliant branding and web expert, who has been instrumental in helping me pull everything together, including designing the front cover of Intercontinental Man. I’m truly grateful for his support. Thank you Quinton.
Onto AI!
I recently saw a post on Facebook where a guy was beaming about how he created this amazing music by pressing some buttons on an AI music app. So, no composing, no writing, no creativity – AI just spurned out this music. Very clever! But… where’s the heart, soul, sweat, tears, joy, frustration, enjoyment, collaboration, human element, etc etc etc? That’s not music, that’s algorithms.
All the music on Intercontinental Man has been written and performed by human beings. I’m proud of that fact and shout it to the world. However, I have used AI technology as a tool to get this music to a point where it’s suitable for release. This is where AI is useful and how in my opinion should be used, allowing an unsigned musician such as myself to create and release music. Not just spurt it out of an app.
I feel strongly about this and am a bit concerned in where music is going. This is why my intention is to form a live unit to play this music to live audiences. Real people, playing real music, for real people.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. The next time you hear from me will be to announce the release of the album.
Thanks again for your support and interest.
Georg – Chief Collective
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