So, Gabriel Kahane and I did a thing. Earlier this week, we hoped on Substack Live — he from his music studio in Portland, Oregon, me from a home office just outside of Philly — for a talk we called Honest Songcraft in the Slop Era. It was, as we’d hoped, a far-ranging yet focused conversation about creative practice, productive friction, and the way we’re all making do at a moment of peak precarity. It was also, as I knew it would be, a lot of fun. I’m happy to bring you the full video here at The Gig. Gabriel is doing the same on his platform, Gabriel Kahane: Words & Music.
Among our fruitful digressions was one on the merits and limitations of Stephen Sondheim’s music for the stage (which prompted some friendly pushback from a noted artist in the comments, and which I think Gabriel is going to follow up on). We also, of course, talked about artificial intelligence and other forms of automation, with what I’d like to call a fair amount of nuance.
Thank you Brad Mehldau, Sam Newsome, Bob Gluck, Mark Stryker, Carolina Miranda, and many others for tuning into my live video with Gabriel Kahane! Join me for my next live video in the app.
Speaking for myself, in the interest of full disclosure: The Gig is a 100% AI-free zone on the level of the sentence, and with respect to self-expression. But I do take advantage of some AI tools built into the platform — like the acknowledgment above, which struck me as a friendly touch. The sentiment is true to life, even if the gesture came from someplace else.
My promise to you is that I’ll never use an LLM to do my writing or thinking, let alone my listening. After all, that’s the good stuff! I want it for myself, and I’m grateful that on some level you want it, too.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy my talk with Gabriel — let us know what you think! Even if you disagree with any part of what we’re saying. Thanks for checking it out!
