April 7, 2023

HS29 - 7M3 Zeroes and Ones

I had a sticker on my first car, an ’86 Oldsmobile Cutlass, that read: KILL YOUR TELEVISION. I had no idea that 20 years later I’d be carrying one in my pocket. 

Technology was aspirational to me growing up—I didn’t even have a computer until after we recorded Rock Crown. I loved to read science fiction and fantasy as a kid, so by the early 2000s, Blackberry in hand, I was hooked. I’ve been fortunate enough to work alongside the cutting-edge of tech and music for almost two decades now. 

With all the promise of technology, the question still remains: Should we build it just because we can? I eschew tech for tech’s sake. Today, however, we seem poised at a critical juncture, one that is perhaps among the most categorically disruptive of many lifetimes. Ipods? Quaint. Streaming? Snore. Now we have robust AI. Now we have telescopes that can see galaxies before there were galaxies! Before there was light! Mind. Blown.

I’ve explored the subject of technology and change in my work many times. It's now amusing to revisit certain songs and find what still lands and what has become obsolete. Anybody remember dial-up (suffocating their phones!—“Truck Drivin’ Citizens”)?!

I guess for me, technology has always been associated with space, a future unknown, and adventure. Ultimately, though, past all the innovation and new-fangled gadgets, it’s still just Star Wars to me. A battle between good and evil. 

You can get lost in the worlds technology offers. Real lost. Forever lost. It can be a great place to hide. 

But it’s never, ever, taken me to the places I want to go while hiding within it.

Here’s the original demo of “Zeros and Ones,” along with the album version.   

Go for a walk outside and have a listen.  

Whatever reality this is today, whatever intelligence artificial or otherwise is here to stay, the sky is blue and the sun is still shining.

Yours,

JR