Disco I Love You

A brand new disco party.

Warning: kitchen disco hazard!

On 10th October my debut album The Gift will finally be released. Creating it has been a wild, joyful, and at times frustrating journey — and I’ve learned a lot along the way.

Lesson number one about today’s so-called music business? It’s 20% music and 80% business. Most of that “business” is creating endless content and chasing followers. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about all that. Taylor Swift I am not.

My AI music journey

I’m not shy about saying my album was created with the help of AI tools. In fact, I’d like to share a little about my process, because everyone’s experience of AI music is different.

I always write my own lyrics. Sometimes I begin with a story, scribbled out as a free-form poem or a stream of consciousness. Occasionally I’ll share an early draft with ChatGPT to help tighten the structure. Other times I keep working on my own until I’m happy.

Once the lyrics feel right, I start thinking about the sound I’m trying to create. I’ve discovered that emotionally rich language makes prompts far more effective. Suno — the music AI platform I use — has recently introduced a “prompt wizard” to help strengthen inputs. Sometimes I use it, sometimes I don’t.

From there it’s still trial and error. Every now and then, you put in your first lyrics and your first draft prompt and — as if by magic — something beautiful emerges. More often, though, a lyric is mis-pronounced, sung out of sync, or, worst of all, you hear little glitches and artifacts. Then it’s back (almost) to the drawing board.

Some songs on the album include my own melodies as well as lyrics. Suno lets you upload original music or any other sound to use as additional prompt information. It’s powerful — and a little addictive.

Suno then and now

I started using Suno less than six months ago, back on version 3.5. The new 5.0 release includes its own web-based DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), which I’ve been using to cover, re-record and remix tracks. I think this kind of built-in editing will become a standard part of the AI music workflow soon.

In practice, it means you can “disassemble” a song, focus on a specific section, and write a targeted prompt to change just that part — add an instrument, tweak the vocals, or swap out an arrangement.

What AI really changes

A creative friend of mine recently said, “AI bypasses the ‘craft’ aspect, allowing people with artistic seeds but no technical training to water those seeds and grow something real.” My own experience is that getting the best out of AI is a craft in itself.

Another friend, not a musician, uses the free version of Suno to create deeply personal playlists and original tracks to reflect his moods. It suggests to me that creativity is becoming far more individualised — not mass-produced but tailored to each person’s inner world.

I see a similar future for advertising, my day job. Soon, much of the content will be AI-generated. Media planning and buying will be handled by AI, with testing and learning built in to ensure maximum ROI. Big-budget broadcast campaigns may still be handled by human creative professionals, but almost everything else will be AI-powered. The adland I knew will be unrecognisable within five years.

And back to the music

I spent about five months writing and recording (AI-ing?) The Gift, and I’ve already devoted several more to the amplification and back-end technical work that will continue long after its release.

I needed a mental break from it all. So I decided to have some fun.

Enter Disco I Love You — an unashamedly discotastic pop-dance track. I haven’t released it yet, but I’d love to know what you think. The lyrics? They’re gloriously simple: “I love disco. Disco, I love you. I love you.” (I’m exaggerating slightly, but you get the idea.)

So kick back the chairs and the kitchen table. Have a dance. With me. With Suno. And with Aiden (that’s what my ChatGPT decided to call itself).

Because, yes. Disco — I do love you.