Ep4: AI Nostalgia and the Monster Mash That Never Was

Artist Ian Sklarsky joins Michael to talk about AI, nostalgia, and the weird, beautiful ways media is changing. They get into Ian’s experience at SXSW, his AI-generated music projects, and how old-school aesthetics blend with new tech. From the Monster Mash myth to recreating video rental store experiences and modern beekeeping, this one hits everything from mood to metadata. See below for timestamps and links to his projects: Ian's Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/the-royalty-freeian Ryan's "Manufactured Memory" project: https://ryanwbauer.notion.site/Manufactured-Memory-15f9fc7d5fe8469295f33fa3477ac474 And Ian's instagram profile can be found at https://www.instagram.com/thesingleline 01:30 – AI nostalgia 04:40 – SXSW panel recap: “Redefining Creation” with AI music tools 06:45 – Music generation with BandLab and Udio 09:30 – Early access to DALL·E, image prompting 12:00 – Halloween nostalgia 13:45 – Parody songs, Monster Mash remixes, and 1950s pop satire 15:30 – Retro music and creating cultural memories for sub niches 18:00 – Prompting techniques: AI lyrics, voice-to-text, structure tips 20:30 – the AI music quality spectrum: Fast food vs fine dining 23:10 – Spotify’s AI content strategy and artist royalty issues 26:00 – Creating personalized music instead of passive listening 29:00 – The Madonna rat song and spontaneous AI DJing 30:30 – Real-time AI music creation and performance idea 32:45 – AR art and puppetry 35:00 – "Singleline" drawings (blind contour art) 37:40 – Ian’s background in media production and documentary film 40:10 – Ian’s VHS installation and collecting 3,400 tapes 43:30 – NFC media, tangible nostalgia, and ownership questions 45:30 – Inheriting digital media and rights 47:00 – Ian’s take on Ambistream: metadata, remix attribution, tagging 51:00 – AI-generated media tagging and future curator agents 54:30 – MVP app, casting channels at venues and house parties 57:00 – Beekeeping journey, rooftop hives, and AI for bee health