Bozwell

I read an article today that struck home. I have recently found what appear to be AI generated albums (and album covers) and songs by an “artist” using the same artist name (“Bozwell”) on most of the streaming platforms to which my music was distributed, though not Spotify or Apple Music (or now Amazon or Deezer, who both recently fixed it at my request). There are dozens of these music distributors now. Apparently, some use automated algorithms that don’t differentiate between artists of the same name, nor do they do any kind of validating of the artist’s identity before posting this “music” to someone else’s profile on a platform.  Once there, it is extremely difficult to get it removed. Even as the artist you often cannot control the content on your profile. You have to rely on the distributor or the streaming platform’s support team (if they are even human) and these sites are also probably busy being deluged with this AI content. 

The following albums appear on my artist profile on several streaming platforms, but are not my creations: “Synthetic Shinobi”, “Neon Nights”, “Opal Wave”, “City Lights”. I don’t believe the person who created this content (whether he/she used AI or not, who knows) is the person in this news story, but this story explains why someone might be motivated to create and post AI generated music. Get a load o’this…

US man pleads guilty to defrauding music streamers out of millions using AI | US crime | The Guardian 

For those remembering Wayne O’Brien today, I am posting an audio track that Wayne and I created when we got together to create our album “Drift” (by Fix the Human). I elaborate on that memory in another post, but I know Wayne would enjoy people listening to his music when they remember him. We all know how central music was to his life. I was looking forward to making more music with him, preferably in Ireland in between pints. But he was taken too soon. R.I.P. WayneO

March 14, 2026

It is one year ago today that my good friend since childhood, Wayne O’Brien, succumbed to cancer. He is dearly loved and sorely missed by many. I had the immense pleasure years ago of making a CD with Wayne. The CD was called “Drift” and the Artist name we chose, which Wayne came up with, and I loved, was “Fix the Human”. Ambient music was Wayne’s favourite genre, though he also had extremely diverse musical tastes. He particularly liked albums that kept a consistent mood throughout. I enjoyed much of the ambient music I had heard, almost all of which was introduced to me through Wayne. However, I tended to be more interested in music that had melodic themes, whether it was classical, jazz, folk or rock. This is not usually found in ambient music, and is more or less contrary to its mandate. However, for each of us, the prime objective was to create some music together that was entirely our own. Stylistically, we met in the middle and were pleased with the result. We called it “ambient world” music, because we couldn’t find an established genre that it fit into.

You can listen to tracks from Fix the Human’s “Drift” on this website, and the major streaming services such as Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. Wayne played keyboards, EWI (electronic wind instrument – you can think of it as a synthesizer/saxophone), hand drums and percussion. I played guitar and bass and some keyboards. We created most of the tracks by spontaneously jamming. The resulting live duo recording was often then augmented by each of us adding another track, sometimes two. The tracks “Avignon Café” and “Clock were good examples of this method, and I think they were two of our favourites. I learned a valuable lesson from Wayne in these sessions, which has affected the way I compose, perform and record ever since.  Basically, it was the idea of considering every note and sound from the perspective of “how is it serving the mood of the piece?” We would often find ourselves removing notes and sounds that served our egos rather than the recording, or were just ear clutter.

But there was one track that was created mostly live that we didn’t put on the album. We liked it, but it was just so “eery” it didn’t fit with the others. I was listening to it recently and I would like to share it with you. We called it “Shelter”. Wayne’s spontaneous EWI performance was pure genius. I think it fits the mood of where we find ourselves now in America. It is 9.5 min long so put it on while you do something else, as you might any ambient music. For maximum effect, put it on while you read the news!!

I’ve been watching old episodes of season 1 of “The Midnight Special" on Youtube lately. Not just for the nostalgia of it, but because the quality of the performances and the diversity of the artists and genres is so impressive. It was a pre-requisite of the show that the artists had to perform live, no lip-synching. In one episode you might see artists as diverse and talented as Ray Charles, Earl Scruggs, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Badfinger, The Bee Gees, Paul Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, Paul Anka, Loretta Lynn, The Hollies, Linda Ronstadt, John Denver, Blood Sweat & Tears, Curtis Mayfield, etc. with a comedy troupe thrown in for good measure. So pop, soul, rock, blues, country, bluegrass, folk, easy listening, comedy and more. This was obviously a time long before record executives and radio station programmers decided that music listeners are idiots that can’t appreciate more than one music genre. What a shame we’ve lost that kind of programming. And what a shame that people are not spontaneously exposed (by others) to more diverse types of music. Sometimes it’s better to order off the secret menu, or tell the chef to surprise you.

In general, everyone sings on pitch (without today's auto pitch correct), the bands groove, there are improvised solos as a matter of course in most tunes, and the arrangements are creative and well rehearsed. I particularly enjoyed Ray Charles' version of Eleanor Rigby. (time location 1:07)

 https://www.google.com/search?q=youtube+ray+charles+eleanor+rigby+midnight+special&oq=youtube+ray+charles+eleanor+rigby+midnight+special&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i64.1401455j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:03bd5ed3,vid:D7p7aBMllbU

The extra time on my hands during this pandemic has provided an opportunity to pull out recordings that were started but for one reason or another, never finished. I found that I had a great many tracks that had promise but just needed some time and attention to finish to my satisfaction. I can foresee eventually completing 3 collections, or albums, 1 of newly released rock tunes, a 2nd of country-inspired tunes and a 3rd of jazz material. When they will all be complete is anybody's guess, but as current listening trends tend towards single songs (or playlists of songs from several sources), I have begun this week uploading tunes as they are complete. In addition I have been planning a new album of guitar instrumentals mostly in a finger-picking style.

Hope every one is holding up under the constraints of the pandemic. You may identify with the sentiment of my recent song post "Cabin Fever". My sincere thanks to all those who take the time to listen to my music.

This is my first post on my new blog page. I hope everyone is staying safe during this coronavirus pandemic. Sincere condolences to those that have lost loved ones.

I recently had the pleasure of helping a former bandmate, Rob Critchley, re-create his tribute to nurses written around 40 years ago entitled "Dear Miss Percy". Four of the members of our quartet "MetroGnome" worked together remotely to create an audio track and video for the project. It was a fantastic experience and because of it I have re-connected with not just my former bandmates but many friends and classmates, workmates, etc.

Here is a link to the video....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHbzsCZ9JtQ