Backstage

What is Katstrophal Klang really? A look behind the scenes.

How it all started

My name is Marcel, I'm very enthusiastic about IT and AI. It all started when I used AI to generate songs for fun. It quickly became clear that the lyrics generated by AI weren't that good, so I wrote my own. On a whim, I thought: Why not create a virtual band and see what happens.

A creative experiment

Katastrophal Klang ist ein kreatives Experiment. Die Band, ihre Website, Fotos und Songs wurden - so weit möglich - mit KI generiert. Einzig die Songtexte sind ohne KI-Hilfe entstanden. Bei den Songs habe ich mir Zeit gelassen, es war mir wichtig, dass diese so gut wie möglich werden. Die Band-Mitglieder sind KI generierte Charaktere, mit deren Hilfe ich ihre Statements und Inhalte der Website generiert habe. Bei den Videos, Web-Inhalte, Bilder, Logo, etc. habe ich bewusst keine Zeit investiert und das Erstbeste genommen, was die KI-Tools ausgespuckt haben. Da ist qualitativ sicher mehr drin, wenn man sich besser auskennt und mehr Zeit investiert.

Why I do this

It's not about profit for me. The merch shop is just a gag; releasing the songs on Spotify, Deezer and YouTube Music is just an attempt to see how far you can get. If these platforms really make a profit, I would donate to them. So it's not about the money, I just wanted to see how far you can get with the current tools (as of April 2024). I also like to let off steam creatively and I enjoy it. That's what it's about.

The effort

Thanks to AI tools, the time required is relatively short. The first version of the band's media presence (Facebook profile, Instagram account, YouTube channel, website) was quickly created in two evenings and one free afternoon.
Generating a song can take almost an entire evening.
This is quite a small effort and is largely thanks to AI tools.

Why punk?

I'm not a punk, I like different genres of music, one of them is punk rock. I play around with different genres when generating songs, the fact that it became a punk band was more or less a coincidence.

Is this political?

I personally have a political opinion. But this plays no role in the band's songs or media appearance - apart from the fact that they are pro-democracy, against violence and incitement, and for proven facts and against opinion-making and claims. But the political view doesn't have to play a role either. The songs are intentionally about people and their behavior - in other words, about things that have an effect without any political affiliation. Direct messages, in other words.

What is the goal?

I haven't set myself a fixed goal - I want to see how far it goes. I would be delighted if one of the songs could be heard on a radio station. It would also be great if a real band did a cover of one of the songs. That would be great! That would clearly show where the limits of AI are: people who inspire people cannot be replaced!