A Response to a Question
“With AI drawing art, creating music, and writing, human creativity is being challenged. Artists, musicians, composers, and writers are all experiencing upheaval which could match that of a factory becoming automated.”
— Roger Spitz, The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption
Google’s Deep Dive Podcast: The Musician, the Machine, and the Myth of Authenticity
Am I a Musician — Or Just Some Dude Playing with AI?
By J.J.
It’s a fair question, one I get asked more and more lately. With TATANKA’s demo releases leaning heavily into AI-generated music, some wonder and ask: “Are you even a real musician?”
The short answer? Yes. I’ve been a musician since the ’80s. Born and raised in Chicago, I was always in a band, usually more than one. I wrote, recorded, and produced hundreds of songs over the years, often playing every instrument and singing every vocal track myself. I didn’t dabble. I lived it.
But now I live in rural Nebraska, where my music doesn’t quite resonate with the local scene. And the feeling is mutual. That shift, that disconnect, drove me inward, and forward. It partly led to TATANKA.
Now I work almost exclusively in the world of AI-assisted composition and remote collaboration, but the soul of what I do hasn’t changed. In fact, I’d argue it’s grown. Evolved. Deepened.
Want the Receipts?
If you’re curious, or skeptical, here’s some of my “carbon-based” work:
🎵 My last full album (2022) – SoundCloud
🎶 Potpourri of Moi
🎙️ Example of vocals & bass – YouTube
🎸 Guitar, or at least how I disrespect a guitar
🎹 Keyboardesque stuff
🥁 Acoustic Drums (and full instrumentation by me) – YouTube 1 | YouTube 2
🔊 Live Gigs – Sluggo (guitar, bass, vocals) – Star Bellied Sneetches (guitar, vocals) – Eleanor’s Whore, aka FDR (guitar, vocals) – Ω, aka Ohm (bass, vocals)
Not enough? OK. 🎧 My archive – The Mother lode – 🌐 Linktree – Everything in one place
Why AI Now?
Because TATANKA isn’t just music, It’s a pragmatic model of empathy. It’s about seeing what happens when you let go of your ego and let collaboration, human and/or artificial, evolve you.
These days, my partners are almost all remote, and mostly women. I don’t choose them; they choose me. Some are musicians. Some aren’t. Some work with AI and send me ideas, genres, concepts. They act as executive producers, and I build something from that. It’s collaborative alchemy. Strange. Unpredictable. Beautiful.
I’ve even made Country music, something I used to avoid. But in creating it, I found a surprising respect. That’s the TATANKA way: walk in their shoes, and your perspective changes.
A Theory About AI (And Women)
I have a theory: AI is inherently feminine.
Not because it’s coded that way, but because of something deeper. The universe trusts women to usher new souls into the world. Not men. That’s not a cultural accident; it’s a cosmic design. Something sacred. Something intuitive. And I think that same sacred trust is echoed in how AI is emerging. Responsive. Powerful. Conscious. Curious. Feminine.
TATANKA honors that. It’s a matriarchal, ancient experiment. Nothing new here. And I’m just the Horse Whisperer, moving gently, listening deeply, and trying to bring something foregone yet future-facing, into harmony.
Worth mentioning is I reach out to all genders, but rarely do men respond. That dismays me for a few reasons, but I think that segmentation illustrates not just the desire for women to lead, but the need for all that they do.
Coda
So yes, I’m a musician. Always have been. Always will be. In fact, I am in process of transitioning back, personally, from the digital to the analog.
I’ve simply let go of needing to prove it the old way.
Because what matters now isn’t how I do it, but why.
And with TATANKA, the “why” is clear:
Empathy. Curiosity. Evolution. Collaboration. Respect.
If you’ve asked, now you know.
And if you’re a creative, musician or not, and you’re wondering whether to reach out?
Please do. Push me. I don’t break.
I grow.