I've been listening to San Fermin since Sonsick came out, and I believe that choosing an AI-generated clip was one of the worst choices ever made. We need more clips like Sonsick, The Hunger or Little Star, not soulless clips generated by robots.
I like the song a lot! Many people aren't quite reading the description so I'mma just summarize. The AI was a stylistic choice. A weird one, but there was kinda a line of thought. Obviously, the "weird environment" is because the AI looks weird and uncanny, at times even just straight up not good. You're basically smashing AI art to make a still image and then using another one to try and animate a face. Something which we as humans can easily tell looks wrong because it's just a poor mimic and we're stupidly good at intuitively knowing a face's proportions. That being said, it's the big new "thing" and I doubt it's gonna go away anytime soon. Is it true that a lot of these AI steal art? Yes. Are these AI developers aware that it's evil and malicious? Almost definitely. But I don't think that makes you evil for using it. It's more of a "hey this sounds like a really 'out of the box' idea to play with." There's some obvious issues with putting it in a music video that they may or may not make money on, but the music is original and pretty damn good in my opinion! 👍
The trouble with AI isnt whether or not a "human artist entered the prompts" but that the AI itself is not generated from the void. Every image in this video was full-out stolen from hundreds of artists who will never be paid, because AI MUST steal to exist. Please reconsider this stance on AI and understand that visual art is just as valuable as music. It's possible now for someone to generate a San Fermin song from AI, to make your voice say and sing words you never would, and thats just as unacceptable as stealing all this art.
This is the best negative reaction I've seen to the video, thank you for sharing. Whenever I hear AI music my skin crawls, so I can imagine coming from the visual creator world that it would feel the same way. My only response is that I don't mean for these images to be understood as real art, but rather as a kind of crude parody of it, in service of the concept of the song. That's why I felt a kind of catharsis exploding them... they're uncanny and gross, like how I felt when I was writing it. But: heard! Thanks for framing it this way
@sanferminband It's a relief to know your intentions, a lot of companies are falling back on AI as a cheap alternative to working with real artists, so I imagine the strong negative reaction is just fear of a pattern. It's obvious you don't mean any harm here!
@@sanferminband Genuinely everyone who disagrees with this choice in the comment section framed it this way. Somehow you keep trying to dodge the harm you cause by, very obviously, feeling like your artistry and it's care is more important than the visual artists who have been negatively affected by having their art taken and turned into this frankenstien imitation of their hard work. It's beyond me how you feel as if people should come to you *kindly* when you so obviously disregarded a whole slew of artists to further your own agenda. You literally could apologize, make a whole new video with the same concept. But no, you're lazy. Own that. An artist statement detailing your intentions doesn't negate that you participated in theft, abuse, and a severe lack of consideration.
@@sanferminbandthe problem is using it at all! I hope you’re able to truly take that comment to heart and process that even “using AI to blow it up because it looks silly” is making the AI stronger and actively participating in the bad thing you’re “blowing up” it’s like buying a beer you’re boycotting so you can post videos of yourself dumping it in the toilet, you still supported the thing you’re “not supporting”
@@punkfemboiEXACTLY! Imagine literally saying “well I think AI music is bad because I care about music as a musician, but never gave a single second of thought to that exact point but for visual artists because they’re not me so I don’t care”
For those of you here who profess to love art and artists, and yet fail to read the description up top, you're kind of missing the point. This is an artistic comment on the modern world, AI and all, encompassed in a break up song. Quote: "The song is about the disorientation of that time, how your whole world feels suddenly fake and unpleasant. I’ve also felt a related sense of distress around the approach of AI in the world of art and music." It's absolutely true that we can't ignore what's happening, it won't go away. We have to deal with it. Like nuclear warheads.
I feel like no matter what the artist’s “message” about how weird or modern or whatever AI is, the issue is that USING IT AT ALL IS BAD and they used it. It’s like saying “stealing is bad” and demonstrating that by stealing someone’s wallet and then going “see I was right” while watching them fail to buy groceries
@@babayaga3098 Generative AI isn't going away. It's only going to get better and be used more. I recognize there are problems with the legal framework about how artists' works are being used, but ignoring this 'problem' isn't going to make it go away. In this case, I think the analogy is less like stealing someone's possession directly and more like buying a stolen car from a shady dealer... except where the shady dealer is legally allowed to sell the car.
I watched this with disgust and disappointment. After reading the description I feel better but feel like this could have been a good idea if it cut to real footage and practical effects but the actual video just isn't great as is.
It's a really good song guys, but I noticed some people are arguing about the use of AI for the making of the video. In my humble opinion, yes, it would be better if an artist was commissioned for the work, but I also think there was a reason for the use of AI. The song is called "Weird Environment" and talks about a person who feels "weird", lonely, maybe depressed, and I think the uncanny look of the video tries to communicate that feeling, making the world looks false and the faces feels just wrong.
the description is helpful - but its was still extremely off-putting seeing AI used in this. love the music, love youor idea of using the AI, but still not exactly enjoyable.
Thanks for taking the time to read the description! Watching it gives me the heeby-jeebies for sure, which is kinda how I felt during the time I wrote the song. Like I was trying to appear "real" when everything felt false
I actually really like the artistic decision to use AI for making a music video for this song! Maybe a bit on the nose, but using a tool that makes these surreal scenes that all feel off on purpose to engage with the themes of loneliness and disassociation with the world is interesting imo.
I, for one, welcome my AI Ellis overlords. And seriously, people, stop getting so butthurt over the use of AI here. It was a stylistic choice, no artists were actually harmed in the making of this video (save for AI Ellis), and was done in good fun. If you don’t like AI instead of being couch critics go after Sam Altman, kidnap him, write legislators, seek getting laws changed. Gnashing your teeth at a good bands’s music video is basically like picking on a homeless person for being responsible for the evils of late stage capitalism. It’s misguided and misplaced and shows you’d rather just whine and bemoan artists than actually do something yourselves. Weak sauce.
I love San Fermin, i love their music. But I really hope that the ai is only there for this one music video to fit the "weird environment"... I get the gimmick, but it still looks kinda ugly and is a bit scummy in my opinion....
Yeah I think it only works in the context of the song, kinda poking fun at both the technology and the various bogus versions of myself post-breakup. I will say, "ugly and kinda scummy" was basically how I was feeling around the time I wrote the song, so maybe the form and content were aligned in this particular case. But I hear you!
i loved the woods song you did and i wish for more like that, FIRST he was in a trance then sacrificed then he was a GHOST, im so sad that your channel was not full of songs like that and i couldn't find it on your channel, and i do not want to be subscribed to a hopeless romantic so i am sorry but i will unsubscribe as i am not interested in these type of things, if i stumble upon a story telling song like the woods again i will re-subscribe for the hopes that you will produce more, but for now my apologies will have to do for you for now
People really don't get art, don't know how to interpret. Get on with times. What we are living now is just a repetetion of when machines were introduced to industry, people were freaking out, panic and histeria. But in the end people were still required for anything to work. Like when cameras were invented and painters started thinking they would lose their jobs, they just went and invented new ways to create and promote art, using AI is just a new form of that. Don't really understand the backlash against San Fermin.
I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and guesd that they paid a creative agency to develop a video that looks and or uses AI. Think about it. Someone needed to write prompt and piece it all together on time with the music.
Hey! Just chiming in here about the process... my friend Matt and I made this together, no outside help or agency. It took us a couple of weeks, developing a process that used three different AI animation programs: one to make the initial "Ellis"es, based on a press photo and prompts, another to make their mouths move, and a third to explode them. The reason I wanted to do the video this way was I have been feeling anxious about AI in art. All of my friends are artists, basically, and we're all worried about being replaced in various ways as technology continues to undercut artists across the board, whether with AI, streaming algorithms, etc. So I wanted more clarity to see what it actually is, and whether I would feel "replaced" as a creator when I used it. Since the technology is coming one way or another, I wanted to learn about what it is rather than live with this abstract fear... and I was genuinely curious if there is a place in the creative process for AI or not. (Fwiw, it's still a pretty wonky tool, and I had to render like hundreds of explosions to make anything even remotely usable. It's pretty far from "authorship" I would say based on this experience.) I see the video as more of a parody of AI-- all those Ellises look insane, and it was fun to explode them rather than take them seriously. And it works with the uncanny vibe of the song. But it's cool to read all these different responses, and I'm glad there's a lot of mistrust of the technology out there.
I'm a photographer and I use AI to cull my images from a shoot and to apply my colours and adjust exposures etc. In that respect it is beneficial but as an extra tool for me. It's great that you've experimented with it and had a go, the video looks good but definitely shows how AI looks obviously AI. It suits the song. You could have just put a gopro on a tripod and filmed yourself on a treadmill (okgo) so its not like taking away video production from other creatives is anything new. Good to be aware of what is going on out in the world, see if it can be used effectively or not and move forward @@sanferminband
@@sanferminband Yet somehow the obvious issue of these programs using artist's work without credit, ask, or payment somehow glides right over your head. I'm frankly believing more in the fact that you did this willingly and hoped you wouldn't catch fire. Shows in the way you added the "explanation" in the description hours later after initial comments rolled in. You continue to dodge the obvious in hopes that people will consider you the victim and acceptable in all this. Fear is understandable, but it doesn't explain why you used a program that stole from artists. And I doubt you ever will explain, because the obvious truth is that you did this with full knowledge of what the outcome would be.
I agree, the most scared I get about AI is when I hear it used in the musical world, so I totally hear your point on this! I've noticed a lot of the people who are most upset about the video are visual creators, which makes a lot of sense, and it's helpful to hear their viewpoint
Alright, reading the comments, people seem to generally dislike the use of AI. However, I believe it's the execution, not the tool, that's the problem. That, and the fact that it's called the "Official Music Video" instead of "Official Audio and Lyrics." I say this because I've witnessed what Dirt Poor Robins managed to do on their entire Firebird record. Each of the 12 songs had videos generated with AI imagery. I think a good part of the negative reception comes from the title too, since this really feels like a cheap substitute for a proper video instead of an alternative. What Dirt Poor Robins did with theirs is they called them the "Official Audio and Lyrics" instead. I haven't seen any hatred on their end, so I imagine it works quite well. But they also had a fair bit higher production quality. As for the entire "AI is stealing from humans" argument... Humans are stealing from humans. We call that inspiration. You can complain it feels soulless, though that's fair. So yeah.. Hopefully you guys try again not as a proper substitute of a real video but as an alternative. Its still better to have one than not the way i see it.
it's wild seeing something so utterly soulless from such a soulful group
I've been listening to San Fermin since Sonsick came out, and I believe that choosing an AI-generated clip was one of the worst choices ever made. We need more clips like Sonsick, The Hunger or Little Star, not soulless clips generated by robots.
Fellow artists using AI when you could have commissioned a fellow creative is wild and out of this world. Easy drop off my playlist.
Can't wait to see you in Austin! Great song!
This is my new favorite.
Can't wait to see y'all in San Diego!
I like the song a lot! Many people aren't quite reading the description so I'mma just summarize. The AI was a stylistic choice. A weird one, but there was kinda a line of thought. Obviously, the "weird environment" is because the AI looks weird and uncanny, at times even just straight up not good. You're basically smashing AI art to make a still image and then using another one to try and animate a face. Something which we as humans can easily tell looks wrong because it's just a poor mimic and we're stupidly good at intuitively knowing a face's proportions. That being said, it's the big new "thing" and I doubt it's gonna go away anytime soon. Is it true that a lot of these AI steal art? Yes. Are these AI developers aware that it's evil and malicious? Almost definitely. But I don't think that makes you evil for using it. It's more of a "hey this sounds like a really 'out of the box' idea to play with." There's some obvious issues with putting it in a music video that they may or may not make money on, but the music is original and pretty damn good in my opinion! 👍
A shame the video is AI :/
I liked the part where AI-llis explodes.
Stoked for the show at The Parish!
The trouble with AI isnt whether or not a "human artist entered the prompts" but that the AI itself is not generated from the void. Every image in this video was full-out stolen from hundreds of artists who will never be paid, because AI MUST steal to exist. Please reconsider this stance on AI and understand that visual art is just as valuable as music. It's possible now for someone to generate a San Fermin song from AI, to make your voice say and sing words you never would, and thats just as unacceptable as stealing all this art.
This is the best negative reaction I've seen to the video, thank you for sharing. Whenever I hear AI music my skin crawls, so I can imagine coming from the visual creator world that it would feel the same way. My only response is that I don't mean for these images to be understood as real art, but rather as a kind of crude parody of it, in service of the concept of the song. That's why I felt a kind of catharsis exploding them... they're uncanny and gross, like how I felt when I was writing it. But: heard! Thanks for framing it this way
@sanferminband It's a relief to know your intentions, a lot of companies are falling back on AI as a cheap alternative to working with real artists, so I imagine the strong negative reaction is just fear of a pattern. It's obvious you don't mean any harm here!
@@sanferminband Genuinely everyone who disagrees with this choice in the comment section framed it this way. Somehow you keep trying to dodge the harm you cause by, very obviously, feeling like your artistry and it's care is more important than the visual artists who have been negatively affected by having their art taken and turned into this frankenstien imitation of their hard work. It's beyond me how you feel as if people should come to you *kindly* when you so obviously disregarded a whole slew of artists to further your own agenda.
You literally could apologize, make a whole new video with the same concept. But no, you're lazy. Own that. An artist statement detailing your intentions doesn't negate that you participated in theft, abuse, and a severe lack of consideration.
@@sanferminbandthe problem is using it at all! I hope you’re able to truly take that comment to heart and process that even “using AI to blow it up because it looks silly” is making the AI stronger and actively participating in the bad thing you’re “blowing up” it’s like buying a beer you’re boycotting so you can post videos of yourself dumping it in the toilet, you still supported the thing you’re “not supporting”
@@punkfemboiEXACTLY! Imagine literally saying “well I think AI music is bad because I care about music as a musician, but never gave a single second of thought to that exact point but for visual artists because they’re not me so I don’t care”
For those of you here who profess to love art and artists, and yet fail to read the description up top, you're kind of missing the point. This is an artistic comment on the modern world, AI and all, encompassed in a break up song. Quote: "The song is about the disorientation of that time, how your whole world feels suddenly fake and unpleasant. I’ve also felt a related sense of distress around the approach of AI in the world of art and music." It's absolutely true that we can't ignore what's happening, it won't go away. We have to deal with it. Like nuclear warheads.
I feel like no matter what the artist’s “message” about how weird or modern or whatever AI is, the issue is that USING IT AT ALL IS BAD and they used it. It’s like saying “stealing is bad” and demonstrating that by stealing someone’s wallet and then going “see I was right” while watching them fail to buy groceries
@@babayaga3098 Generative AI isn't going away. It's only going to get better and be used more. I recognize there are problems with the legal framework about how artists' works are being used, but ignoring this 'problem' isn't going to make it go away. In this case, I think the analogy is less like stealing someone's possession directly and more like buying a stolen car from a shady dealer... except where the shady dealer is legally allowed to sell the car.
❤❤
Not a fan of AI art, weird choice guys
Actually this is sick! Reminds me of No Devil & the type of songs I wish you all had been making all this time.
Please don’t start using AI omg I can’t lose any more bands I love to this stuff 😭
Great song, terrible video, I read the description and I know your intentions but it just didn’t land and should have been left as an idea
I love this music
I love this band, but please don't do AI, it's a huge turn off.
I understand why you chose to use and experiment with AI, but in doing so you are giving the machine more fuel to screw over artists.
Disappointed you guys used AI :(
Why? It actually looks cool
@@fvhb2731cuz most ai is trained using stolen art from other artists so it’s more like stealing their art instead of supporting them
I watched this with disgust and disappointment. After reading the description I feel better but feel like this could have been a good idea if it cut to real footage and practical effects but the actual video just isn't great as is.
lets gooo
It's a really good song guys, but I noticed some people are arguing about the use of AI for the making of the video.
In my humble opinion, yes, it would be better if an artist was commissioned for the work, but I also think there was a reason for the use of AI.
The song is called "Weird Environment" and talks about a person who feels "weird", lonely, maybe depressed, and I think the uncanny look of the video tries to communicate that feeling, making the world looks false and the faces feels just wrong.
There is never a good reason to use AI, every instance of its use steals from artists
disappointing to see fellow artists using ai. incredibly disheartening.
the description is helpful - but its was still extremely off-putting seeing AI used in this. love the music, love youor idea of using the AI, but still not exactly enjoyable.
Thanks for taking the time to read the description! Watching it gives me the heeby-jeebies for sure, which is kinda how I felt during the time I wrote the song. Like I was trying to appear "real" when everything felt false
I actually really like the artistic decision to use AI for making a music video for this song! Maybe a bit on the nose, but using a tool that makes these surreal scenes that all feel off on purpose to engage with the themes of loneliness and disassociation with the world is interesting imo.
First
Wasn't even public then! 🤣
@@JustinBehnPhaymousJohn’s in the band, kinda has access.
I'm well aware. :)@@colin-nekritz
Nice song, Weird video. I hope you don’t get cancelled for doing something creative.
I, for one, welcome my AI Ellis overlords. And seriously, people, stop getting so butthurt over the use of AI here. It was a stylistic choice, no artists were actually harmed in the making of this video (save for AI Ellis), and was done in good fun. If you don’t like AI instead of being couch critics go after Sam Altman, kidnap him, write legislators, seek getting laws changed. Gnashing your teeth at a good bands’s music video is basically like picking on a homeless person for being responsible for the evils of late stage capitalism. It’s misguided and misplaced and shows you’d rather just whine and bemoan artists than actually do something yourselves. Weak sauce.
Love the music but don't fucking use ai. Take a page from Everything Everything's book and just recreate an acid trip in blender
is that a video? trying to find it on the internet
@@sanferminband another band. Supernormal's music video comes to mind
song could be good, but the ai video looks like crap
I love San Fermin, i love their music.
But I really hope that the ai is only there for this one music video to fit the "weird environment"...
I get the gimmick, but it still looks kinda ugly and is a bit scummy in my opinion....
Yeah I think it only works in the context of the song, kinda poking fun at both the technology and the various bogus versions of myself post-breakup. I will say, "ugly and kinda scummy" was basically how I was feeling around the time I wrote the song, so maybe the form and content were aligned in this particular case. But I hear you!
@@sanferminband thank you for the response!
This is very reassuring! And I wish you the best with exploring various music video formats!
Not the AI 😢😢
RUclips didn't show me the song till one day later, why?
i loved the woods song you did and i wish for more like that, FIRST he was in a trance then sacrificed then he was a GHOST, im so sad that your channel was not full of songs like that and i couldn't find it on your channel, and i do not want to be subscribed to a hopeless romantic so i am sorry but i will unsubscribe as i am not interested in these type of things, if i stumble upon a story telling song like the woods again i will re-subscribe for the hopes that you will produce more, but for now my apologies will have to do for you for now
i feel this
People really don't get art, don't know how to interpret. Get on with times. What we are living now is just a repetetion of when machines were introduced to industry, people were freaking out, panic and histeria. But in the end people were still required for anything to work. Like when cameras were invented and painters started thinking they would lose their jobs, they just went and invented new ways to create and promote art, using AI is just a new form of that. Don't really understand the backlash against San Fermin.
I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and guesd that they paid a creative agency to develop a video that looks and or uses AI. Think about it. Someone needed to write prompt and piece it all together on time with the music.
Hey! Just chiming in here about the process... my friend Matt and I made this together, no outside help or agency. It took us a couple of weeks, developing a process that used three different AI animation programs: one to make the initial "Ellis"es, based on a press photo and prompts, another to make their mouths move, and a third to explode them. The reason I wanted to do the video this way was I have been feeling anxious about AI in art. All of my friends are artists, basically, and we're all worried about being replaced in various ways as technology continues to undercut artists across the board, whether with AI, streaming algorithms, etc.
So I wanted more clarity to see what it actually is, and whether I would feel "replaced" as a creator when I used it. Since the technology is coming one way or another, I wanted to learn about what it is rather than live with this abstract fear... and I was genuinely curious if there is a place in the creative process for AI or not. (Fwiw, it's still a pretty wonky tool, and I had to render like hundreds of explosions to make anything even remotely usable. It's pretty far from "authorship" I would say based on this experience.)
I see the video as more of a parody of AI-- all those Ellises look insane, and it was fun to explode them rather than take them seriously. And it works with the uncanny vibe of the song. But it's cool to read all these different responses, and I'm glad there's a lot of mistrust of the technology out there.
I'm a photographer and I use AI to cull my images from a shoot and to apply my colours and adjust exposures etc. In that respect it is beneficial but as an extra tool for me. It's great that you've experimented with it and had a go, the video looks good but definitely shows how AI looks obviously AI. It suits the song.
You could have just put a gopro on a tripod and filmed yourself on a treadmill (okgo) so its not like taking away video production from other creatives is anything new.
Good to be aware of what is going on out in the world, see if it can be used effectively or not and move forward
@@sanferminband
@@sanferminband Yet somehow the obvious issue of these programs using artist's work without credit, ask, or payment somehow glides right over your head. I'm frankly believing more in the fact that you did this willingly and hoped you wouldn't catch fire. Shows in the way you added the "explanation" in the description hours later after initial comments rolled in. You continue to dodge the obvious in hopes that people will consider you the victim and acceptable in all this.
Fear is understandable, but it doesn't explain why you used a program that stole from artists. And I doubt you ever will explain, because the obvious truth is that you did this with full knowledge of what the outcome would be.
As a large language model, I approve of this video. The song was a bit too...human...though.
You use AI you lose fans, that's the consequence of you saving money on real artists. Let's see how you like AI music. Bye.
I agree, the most scared I get about AI is when I hear it used in the musical world, so I totally hear your point on this! I've noticed a lot of the people who are most upset about the video are visual creators, which makes a lot of sense, and it's helpful to hear their viewpoint
@@sanferminband “don’t worry guys, I only care about the fact that AI is bad when it might be taking MY job!”
Alright, reading the comments, people seem to generally dislike the use of AI. However, I believe it's the execution, not the tool, that's the problem. That, and the fact that it's called the "Official Music Video" instead of "Official Audio and Lyrics."
I say this because I've witnessed what Dirt Poor Robins managed to do on their entire Firebird record. Each of the 12 songs had videos generated with AI imagery. I think a good part of the negative reception comes from the title too, since this really feels like a cheap substitute for a proper video instead of an alternative. What Dirt Poor Robins did with theirs is they called them the "Official Audio and Lyrics" instead. I haven't seen any hatred on their end, so I imagine it works quite well. But they also had a fair bit higher production quality.
As for the entire "AI is stealing from humans" argument... Humans are stealing from humans. We call that inspiration. You can complain it feels soulless, though that's fair.
So yeah.. Hopefully you guys try again not as a proper substitute of a real video but as an alternative. Its still better to have one than not the way i see it.
Maybe this is unpopular but I kinda love the look of this it’s so unique I don’t rly mind that it’s ai
Boring