Paul Feder ingeniously bounces between sounds, styles and sources on eclectic new electronica new EP Echoes — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Ever the genre-hopper, experimental artist Feder had a concept for Echoes — but intriguingly enough, it was not meant to be reflected in the music. Where the preview track Paperclips is retro and robotic a la Kraftwerk — a bit of a departure from the Brooklyn artist’s usual repertoire — Human Love and the title track are more dreamy and ambient. All of the tracks, however, were made with the help of AI, as were the videos for Paperclips and Echoes. This concept comes from Feder’s own interpretation of what many artists are currently grappling with: can AI really fit in with art in a way that’s cohesive and harmonious? And if so, how?
Paperclips really looks at that question with one of the many doomsday theories that have been projected since the advent of AI, philosopher Nick Bostrom’s Paperclip Theory. “Paperclips is based on AI thought experiment in which a sentient AI is given a simple task: Maximize paperclip production,” explains Feder. “The end result is a Terminator-style future in which humanity is eradicated in the service of making A LOT of paperclips.”
The song not only feels very robotic, but the desperation of this paperclip dystopia really comes through in the music, which, while a bop, has that very rigid, robotic feel to it. If Feder wasn’t forthcoming about the track being inspired by AI, it would likely be obvious. The video, which depicts the robots in a frantic assembly line of paperclip production, nails the point home. Or at least affixes it with a peperclip.
Human Love and Echoes also seem to be written from the perspective of AI, with the former containing a sort of wistful tone as the machines attempt to come to grips with humanity. A house-pop dance tune with a cool future bass break, Human Love explores the likely consternation of an AI being of never being able to feel human love. In the world Feder’s created with Echoes, grasping that could be perhaps the only thing that could pull the machines away from their paperclip obsession.
Human Love merges into Echoes, a short, beatless, ambient track that, in contrast to the emotionless Paperclips and the somewhat confused Human Love, is all emotion and tone. Sinewaves and echoes match up with the swirling, celestial images in the all-AI video which seems to show all the brilliance of humanity and the universe, but it also has an unreal quality because it’s made by AI. Is this the machines finally understanding? Is The Matrix taking over? It’s anyone’s guess, and there’s nowhere to go now but forward.
“I’ve watched the rapid advances in artificial intelligence with a mix of wonder and existential dread,” Feder says. “In Echoes, I explores the anxiety I feel about being replaced by AI while using AI technology in the creative process. I navigated through this uneasy territory and ultimately embraced the collaborative potential of human and machine.
As an ’80s kid, Paul would listen with rapt attention whenever his parents would play their cassette tape of Trans Europa Express by Kraftwerk. This early exposure to electronic music set the stage for Paul’s first mashups in high school, synth instrumentals in college, and MIDI interfaces in grad school. In his 20s and 30s, Paul started DJing and producing Vocoder synthpop songs as Pico Fermi. In 2012 Paul co-founded Charcole Federation — a sitar-infused electronic band — that released their eponymous EP in 2015.
One day in 2019, Paul brought a laptop, a synth, and an old beat-up harmonizer to Battalion Studios in Gowanus. The solitude of that day, coupled with trying out old gear in a new way led to a creative and technical “aha moment”. Paul found his voice and began working on his debut solo EP Nightwalk, featuring sparse, open-ended lyrics and dense, visually evocative production, with contributions by members of the band Jane In Space. In 2023, Paul released Never Sleep, a more personal and introspective EP dedicated to his late father Jack.
Listen to Echoes below, watch the animated videos for the tracks above, and connect with Paul Feder below on his website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
