Computer assisted music and art by Infinite Vibes

Using Aphex Twin’s software samplebrain, and some computer generated art of Richard D. James, Infinite Vibes erupted into the art and musc scene in the last month with their work. Their unique videos encapsulate their original sound into visual, morphic, work that uses AI to produce them. In a short interview, I talked with the creator of these videos and their creative processes.

Firstly, who are you? How would you explain yourself to a random person?

I'm Infinite Vibes although Infinite Vibes was meant to be a music collective. The pandemic happened and I kept vaguely sane by getting heavily into making imagery at home instead of hanging out in the world making music so now it's just me doing both. I figure everyone contains multitudes so a collective of one is probably an okay thing.

Can you talk me through the process of creating your work?

Just fuck around and find out. I spend pretty much all day everyday experimenting. No specific methodology or notes kept. Usually trying to make something that evokes a particular feeling and getting there involves a sort of feedback process between the work in progress and myself. Action and reaction.

Have you been able to make a living through your work, or is this a hobby?

I've been living off music and sound stuff for a while now, the visual thing is a lockdown hobby that's gotten out of hand and has sort of morphed into a second job. Hopefully I can fund myself by selling hats rather than taking commissions in the near future.

What inspires your artwork?

Everything's interesting but I'm not sure about the whole concept of inspiration. Making stuff is a way of life for me, just part of daily existence. There's something really beautiful about the human experience of music and art. There's so much to say about the situation we find ourselves in that words can't express (except maybe for poets), so having other means to reach across the void and share our feelings + ideas is a real treat.

AI generated content, particularly artwork, has really come into the world in the last year. This is likely a question you're asked a lot, but do you think it poses as much as a threat as people says it will?

In the coming years AI is going to have such a profound and unpredictable impact on the world. It scares the shit out of me sometimes but is also a pretty exciting. As far as artwork goes it's important to make distinctions between image, craft, kitsch and art. 3 out of 4 of those are going to get devalued.
Art isn't just an image or a song, it's a thing that people do for themselves and each other. I don't think people will readily consume completely automated material even if it's technically impressive aside from for the novelty value.

It's pretty cool what one person with modern tools and a vision can do now.

What are the key components that you use for the generated videos? pictures found on the internet? When you listen to music, do you 'see' what the video is and the AI helps you bring it into the real world?

It's usually a combination of some homemade animation and/or film with the AI stuff. I've definitely had that experience with 'seeing' the visual to the music before making it but it's not always the music that comes first, sometimes I make the visual before creating any sound and sometimes they both happen at the same time. It's usually the intuitive process of reaching towards a feeling/idea and working on it until it feels right.

Do you have any general thoughts about the music industry right now? any grievenaces or things you love?
It seems bad. Music is as beautiful as ever but the stuff surrounding it is a toilet at the moment.

Thank you for talking to me, Infinite vibes! You can follow their page here.