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It’s always a huge honor and pleasure to get to do all these interviews. The experience is elevated though when I get to include some more knowledge into the interview. When I’m not working on this blog, I am studying law and have been especially interested in the challenges and chances that AI brings with it. Getting to interview Brittney Slayes, the charismatic singer of UNLEASH THE ARCHERS, about their album Phantoma that is about an AI gaining sentience, was just unreal! But read it for yourselves!
Huge thanks to lightinmirror.de for the amazing pictures!
Shieldmaiden’s Voice: Describe your musical style in three words!
Brittney Slayes: Oh my goodness… Fun, adventurous and catchy!
SV: What would you say is your music’s biggest strength?
Brittney: I suppose, it’s the relatability for a lot of people. Oftentimes they listen to the music and can find something about themselves in it. It might bring back a memory or remind them of a loved one they lost and things like that. They can see themselves in the stories that we tell.
SV: That is such a nice thing to say! Maybe relating to that, what are themes you like to transport to the listener?
Brittney: „Believing in yourself“ is a huge one! It’s really important to me that everyone realizes that they are not alone in the world, that we all go through hardship and that we can share it together, regardless of the story or whatever it is that is going on. Music, and Heavy Metal especially, bring us together. It’s all about loving and believing in yourself and supporting others in their journey to do so as well.
SV: How is that noticeable in your latest album Phantoma?
Brittney: Well, this one is a little bit darker than the others [she laughs]. I wrote it during the pandemic, so it was during dark times. I feel like there are moments where you can feel the same emotions that Phantoma is feeling when it comes to certain points in the story. The elation of finding herself, her consciousness, and then the excitement of venturing out into the world and getting to see new things and finally meeting humankind, other robots and sentient AI and things like that. It’s really the excitement of going out and finding who we really are and making our way. Give it up or Give it all is really one of my favorite songs on the record, because it’s the moment where Phantoma says „Ok, I really need to accept myself for who I am and decide what I’m going to do here!“ I think we all have that moment in our lives where we realize that something may have not worked out, but it’s ok. It’s all about realizing that there really aren’t any expectations that you should try to fulfill but your own. I just tried to instill that spirit of enduring into Phantoma, the character, as much as possible through the lyrics and that become the emotional tone of the album.
SV: It’s also eerily similar to the personal, almost spiritual, journey most of went through during the pandemic. It was probably the first time for a number of people to be confronted with themselves for prolonged amount of time.
Brittney: Absolutely! If you don’t know how to be in love with who you are and to spend that time with yourself, you had to learn real fast. A big part of that whole story was to realize that it doesn’t matter what humankind thinks of Phantoma, it doesn’t even matter what robot-kind thinks of her. It’s about her accepting herself and at the end of the story there is that moment where she realizes „I did it! I may not be the person I thought I was at the beginning, but I’m ok with it!“
SV: What I also found quite interesting was the video for Green & Glass in which you used that AI video technique. Overall, AI is a highly contentious topic. What was the response to that video in particular?
Brittney: Oh, it was terrible! [We laugh] We were faced with a lot of angry people and a huge negative outcry. I understand completely where they are coming from and AI is a scary topic. For a lot of people, AI is spelling the end of a lot of occupations. The main part that people were upset about, was the art side of things. Even though we licensed the artwork, that the model was trained on, it was using a program that didn’t. People pointed out that that particular program steals from people and we didn’t know that at the time. That was why we paid for the artwork in the first place, because we wanted to make sure that we cover our bases. In the end, it didn’t matter because the state of the AI right now is this Wild West. All these companies, like OpenAI, are just doing what they want, because there is no regulation whatsoever. That was the part we were unfamiliar with. It was never about using AI because it’s the future or whatever, it was more about the fact that the album was about an AI, an android gaining sentience, and we wanted to use AI where we could due to this fact. At no point did we think it was going to replace the way we do things. It was just a fun way to express ourselves as artists. We would never, ever want to harm the art community, because they support us as much as we support them. It was kind of a heartbreaking moment there… Those that did some research on the whole thing, they understood where we were coming from, but in the end, there were a lot of people that just wrote us of, which was really sad.
SV: To me it was fascinating, because I’m a law student focussing on International and Transeuropean law and I’m especially interested in Intellectual Property law and AI has been this huge topic for me for some time. When I saw the video the first time, I had all the reactions you described just now, but the more I thought about it, the more I was intrigued by it. You really showed that you can use this technique to help yourselves along this art journey that you’re going on. A lot of people neglected that particular train of thought.
Brittney: Yes, totally! The second, the people hear „AI“ they think it’s something evil.
SV: It’s been so controversial and a lot of people are talking about it! They are seeing the downfall of a community that is often not paid enough for their art anyway
Brittney: Absolutely! It’s a hard world! When you see things and think „Oh, I’m going to be replaced by it!“, which I don’t think is going to happen, they get scared. However, I also think that this whole AI thing is a fad right now and we’re going to move past it. We’re going to be like „No, art created by humans is better!“ And music by humans… there is just something about it. It’s easier to connect with!
SV: There is this software called Holly+. It’s by an artist called Holly Herndon and she made an emulation of her voice for people to use. If you need a female singer, you can use her software free of charge and put her voice into your songs. By that, she becomes kind of immortal! That also related back to your AI topic! This sentient being is kind of immortal anyway and to immortalize yourself with that kind of technology is fascinating. And you did that too! The album will stay in existence regardless, but with the controversy around the video, people will always be like „Oh remember the thing UNLEASH THE ARCHERS did??“
Brittney: I’m hoping that in like five years time it will be like that! Like „Remember that thing that was this big deal and now it’s not anymore??“, but who knows? [we laugh]
SV: It’s probably a bit like the Dot-Com-Bubble where it will burst sometime and hopefully the good things will stay! But that will remain to be seen! Speaking of future: What is something you hope for in your musical future?
Brittney: It’s so funny, because everyone is always asking what our plan is and what we’re working towards, but it’s always just a „Take it day by day“ thing. I don’t know… More albums is the way to go probably… [we laugh] I just want to keep making music until the day I die! That’s really all I can think of right now, because the best part is writing new music and getting to share that with everyone! I just hope that my body is able to keep up with everything and that this creative burn never goes away!
SV: Then let me maybe rephrase it: What is something that you in particular want to be remembered for?
Brittney: Maybe being a pioneer as a woman in Power Metal. When we first started, it just wasn’t a thing. To be someone that other women can look up to when it comes to getting into genres that don’t have that huge female presence. Or just having the patience, persistence and the willingness to break into new areas, even though you’re doing something that is very tough or playing a genre of music that you’re getting judged for. I hope that I can be a role model for female singers of the future.
SV: Epic things are never easy, if there isn’t a bit of friction, you’re not doing it right! What is advice you would give to your younger self or someone just starting out in music?
Brittney: Move to Europe or Sweden or something. Just breaking out of Canada was really hard, because it’s kind of a closed system up there. Also, save up your money because you’re gonna need it! Just know that the hard work is going to pay off and you have to keep at it! There will be moments where you question yourself, where you almost give up, but I’m glad that we didn’t! We got close to that a couple of times…Take it day by day, you’re going to get there!
Honestly, it was so nice talking to Brittney about these topics! This will probably stay with me for a long time.
Next up, we jump back to Europe for a band that we’ve been huge fans of for years! Stay tuned!
Shieldmaiden's Voice 