Clunkers, Weird, & Passed Up
April is already here! I hope you had a great April Fools, and I hope you didn’t get pranked. New music will be added here as the month rolls along. This month, I will let you inside of my creative process. This AI music hobby is only a couple of months old. It is a hit & miss process, and there is a learning curve. I do a lot of experimentation, and my final product is off center anyway. I like to do re-interpretations, in other words.
Along the way, there are bound to be clunkers and weird stuff. Also, I might have a good final product, but I’m trying harder for something that really, really hits the spot. I wind up passing on good material–good for what my own taste is, of course. I hope this resonates with you.
Now and then, it’s the AI’s fault. I’ll go into more detail later, but sometimes the AI doesn’t know how to pronounce a word. “Wind”, for example. How do you pronounce it? Does it rhyme with bend? Does it rhyme with bind? Well, it depends on how you use it. “The wind was strong outside as I prepared to wind my clock.”
Other times, it’s my fault. I’ve accidentally transcribed the wrong lyrics. There’s either a typo, or I don’t read through the words thoroughly. Either way, I hope you have a good April! The featured video here is done with inspiration for April Fools! I made eight versions of it, and I’ll share more later. I like to do the same songs in different versions. This one is another mashup. I like to do those a lot. I hope you’ll be around for more later …
Maniac Nebula, Homer Cocktail & Brick Jayne
Maniac Nebula is my conspiracy site. Years ago, I joined Lunatic Outpost and we would discuss fringe issues. Was Nine Eleven an inside job? Where does Sasquatch live? Are aliens visiting us from outer space? That sort of thing. Eventually, I decided to create a satire of the website. I am quite proud of what I produced, actually.
Maniac Nebula has come to mean more than my conspiracy website, though. When I started doing AI music in January, I attributed the creations to Maniac Nebula. My songs are stored at:
In my good moments, I consider myself a Renaissance person. I took up a lot of passions. This computer age has given us many tools, and they’ve done it for free in most cases. You can view lyrics to songs. You can view sheet music. You can view countless YouTube videos which connect you to other creators. I wrote my first song in 2002. I wrote my first novel in 2003. As time went on, I became obsessed. I wrote many novels, and I recorded hundreds of songs. I tried to involve as many friends as possible, but the truth is that my pace was just psychotic. I was recording a song almost every day, early on, and every now and then I’d record an entire album in a day. In the summer of 2006, I recorded 30 albums in a month! That is no joke!
So here comes the caveat. The vast majority of it was lowbrow output. I wasn’t too concerned with quality, and most of what I recorded was done in a single take, not to mention there was hardly any practice. A lot of it is cringe-worthy, in retrospect, but I really didn’t care. Now and then, I’d hit something. Every now and then, I created a personal gem. It’s not for everyone, but I had reasons for doing what I did. During this period, I went as Homer Cocktail. Years later, I resurrected this persona as a Maniac Nebula moderator. There are many Homer Cocktail sites. The main founding one is:
As for my writing? I was a Stephen King fan when I was younger. I’ve been writing creatively since I was five years old. I made books by folding typing paper in half, and binding them with Scotch tape. Years later in 2003, I wrote a novel called ZoToN. It was about 275 pages, and I was proud of it. I wrote with the pseudonym Gaud Rockefeller until 2009. I took a break for a few years, then I wrote Kiribati in 2013. This time, I went by Brick Jayne. I like the name, actually. I have a YouTube channel dedicated to Brick Jayne material. When I started doing AI music a couple of months ago, I realized all of my stuff couldn’t go to my Maniac Nebula site. That’s where my polished stuff went. I needed a place for experimental music. I needed a place where I could put alternate versions of the same song. I needed a place where I didn’t want to spend too much time to put visual images with the music. It was stripped down stuff, in other words. This month, I’ll be talking about clunkers and weird music. Brick Jayne on YouTube is where you could find some of my oddball stuff, and more:
I’m also a fan of Gary Larson. You might guess that I enjoy slapstick humor. One of my favorite books is Prehistory of the Far Side which is a “behind the scenes” look at how Gary Larson came up with his ideas. I want to stress a couple of things. One, I don’t take myself too seriously. I like what I do, I do it mostly for fun, I hope you like it as well, and nothing is going to stop me from my hobbies. Two, if you’re not the “creative type” but you want to be, you can’t be afraid of clunkers! You’ve got to keep at it! You have to go through the process! Right here, Gary Larson talks about how fatigue sets in at the end of the night, and his drawings become weird! He included a sketch of Popeye hanging out with wild animals in Africa. I thought it was hilarious! So far as I know, this cartoon was never published until Prehistory of the Far Side came out. Anyhow, I wanted to touch on these themes. I wanted to let you know where I was coming from. Enjoy the journey …
The Breakup Song …
rendition of The Greg Kihn Band
created by Maniac Nebula
on 04/05/25
Journey – Escape
When I started messing with AI music, I had a few songs I definitely wanted to do. I did these songs. A few were originals, and others were covers. I wouldn’t call it writer’s block, but now and then I would get stumped. I still wanted to create, but I wasn’t sure what direction I should take so I tasked myself with a project. I looked online for a top 500 list of classic rock songs. I decided to make renditions of the top 10. I like the way it turned out. Now? I looked for another project. I had ideas for how I want this April Music page to go, but I’ve tasked myself with something on the side.
When I was a teenager, I liked to skateboard. I had a few friends who had the same hobby. One of the guys in the neighborhood had a half pipe. I’ll admit, at the beginning it was terrifying to ride. Other friends had been doing it for a while, so they coached me. Don’t drop in off the bat. Start in the middle, and learn to fakie. Eventually, you’ve got to have the balls to drop in. Wow! That was the scary part, and you’ve got to be ready to bite the dust a few times. I did it, though. I’m proud of myself. I dropped in, and even though I never learned to catch air or grind, I had fun there. While skating, I listened to Journey Escape. I always brought my cassette and listened to it on the stereo. Escape had been my favorite album for years. I always liked the songs. Don’t Stop Believin’, Who’s Crying Now, Still They Ride, Open Arms, Stone In Love. I couldn’t get enough of it, so all these years later I’ve decided to make it my first AI album rendition. I have no idea how it will turn out, but I’m going to take a crack. Should keep me busy this month. I hope it turns out well …
Track 1 – Don’t Stop Believin’
Track 2 – Stone In Love
Track 3 – Who’s Crying Now
Track 4 – Keep On Runnin’
Track 5 – Still They Ride
Track 6 – Escape
Track 7 – Lay It Down
Track 8 – Dead or Alive
Track 9 – Mother, Father
Track 10 – Open Arms
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