Shalamar star Jeffrey Daniel fears AI will stifle creativity in music

Shalamar star Jeffrey Daniel is worried the use of artificial intelligence in music will stifle the creativity of artists.

The ‘I Can Make You Feel Good’ hitmaker insists he is not “anti-technology” but he fears that the use of AI will eliminate spontaneity and the element of chance from songwriting and recording, as you often you get magic in the studio when you are trying to find a way of creating a specific sound or attempting to overcome a problem.

In an interview with BANG Showbiz, he said: “I’m not anti-technology, I’m not anti-progress or anything like that, but we’re human and we’re here and I think the greatest attribute of being a human is being human! Doing what we do, the way we do it, the machines have their place.

“This whole thing about replacing humans, well we might not be as perfect as machines but it’s our imperfections that make us more wonderful.

“When we address our imperfections in the attempt at being perfect we can come up with something new that maybe even better than what we’re trying to achieve, so our imperfections are actually a blessing.

“If we just have perfection across the board then what impetus will we even have to create more or be more if everything is just perfect.

“It’s like it’s got to be more, it’s got to be faster, we’re still evolving as humans, let us evolve naturally.

“I think we need to embrace our imperfections, so that we can grow from them. That’s my perspective and my point of view, I’m not trying to be preachy.”

Jeffrey referenced the recording of the Four Tops’ 1966 Motown hit single ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There’ as an example when an imperfect studio solution created magic, something now that would never happen because a producer would turn to artificial instruments.

He added: “The Four Tops had the song ‘I’ll Be There’ and someone once asked them ‘what drum sound is that?’ This is what they said, they’re tapping on the back of a chair and it worked! Everyone was like ‘this is a great sound and a great record’ and they’re tapping on the back of a chair. It’s the moments like that which are magical because you are being spontaneous.

“I don’t want perfect, I want that bit of off-ness there, I want that bit of in-between, because it creates a new ambience and you feel it in a different way.”

Jeffrey, 68, also doesn’t want to see an array of artists brought back from the dead as holograms to perform for fans.

The singer-and-dancer – who was responsible for teaching the late Michael Jackson how to perform his “backslide” dance move, which the King of Pop turned into his trademark “moonwalk” – would rather people went to watch real life musicians playing concerts.

He said: “Of course it would be great to see Michael Jackson back again doing something, or John Lennon back and doing something but are we going to let this stuff just take over the industry and just replace humans and replace us?”

Jeffrey and Shalamar – also comprised of original lead singer Howard Hewett and Carolyn Griffey, the daughter of the band’s original record company owner Dick Griffey who put the band together – will be performing their greatest hits across the UK this May and June to celebrate almost five decades in music.

Fans will hope to hear classics such as ‘A Night To Remember’, ‘Take That to The Bank’, ‘Second Time Around’, ‘Make That Move’, ‘Dead Giveaway’, ‘Disappearing Act’, ‘Over and Over’, ‘Friends’ and more, but Jeffrey admits it is hard to pick a setlist that pleases everyone.

He said: “We have so many great songs, This is a greatest hits tour, the last tour we did was the 40th anniversary of the ‘Friends’ album so we had to do all of the songs on the ‘Friends’ album. In this show it’s like ‘OK, which ones do we do, which ones don’t we do?’ That’s because we have so many hits. It’s a blessing, but we have to make sure that we have to get the ones in that the people really love, we can’t do everything but we have to do as many as we can.”

Shalamar’s ‘The Greatest Hits UK Tour 2024’ begins on May 31. Go to Shalamar.info/tickets for information and tickets.

Jeffrey Daniel