Conversation about the evolution of artistry and the history of iconic music legends quickly turns into a rabbit hole among deep-diving music fans, and it’s a conversation that local creative Chris McKay is well equipped to indulge. Artificial intelligence (AI) is an inevitable but explosive part of the conversation in the present, and one that McKay has felt personally.
“My only problem that I have with AI is when people try to lie about it, or be manipulative about it, or try to make you think that something is real that isn’t,” says McKay. “‘Real’ being a very, very difficult term in this case, because I know what I do is real, right? I know every word on all those records is my word.”
The records in question are The Other Side of the Question, released under Devine and Devine in December, and the soon-to-be-released The Price of a Wish, under the alter ego Mindfield. Both of these projects were carefully prompted by McKay through the AI music generator Udio, then personally rearranged and mixed in the summer of 2024 during a painful post-surgery haze.
The use of AI isn’t for a lack of skill or experience—McKay, also an accomplished photographer, has been in original and professional cover bands, as well as producing solo work, for decades. Unfortunately, McKay has also long suffered from health issues, with a car accident in 2017 causing vertebral artery dissection and traumatic brain injuries that would later exacerbate symptoms of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Then in 2024 McKay had to have a risky emergency surgery that left him in recovery barely able to stand or speak.
“Some of the ridiculous things I would try to do sometimes, it came down to being bored out of my mind, being in extreme pain, not being allowed to take pain medication because of my issues,” says McKay. “But it came down to just losing it, basically. I’m already trapped enough in my own brain trying to deal with this whole thing.”
So, without the physical ability to create, McKay turned to AI—not as something he planned to share, but as something he needed to survive. Through AI he was able to record vocals for lyrics that he wrote and arrange the instrumentation in very detailed ways that resembled a digital recording space. McKay said he “painted a sound picture,” one that was more aggressive soul for The Other Side of the Question and British psychedelic for The Price of a Wish.
“Ultimately, it’s just the tool that’s taking what’s in my head in a more pure way, because The Other Side of the Question, of all the records I’ve done since 1990, give or take, is the very first time that I’ve gotten exactly what was in my head on the fixed product. That was impossible with me playing the instruments physically with other bands or where I’m prompting live musicians,” says McKay.
To critics of AI, McKay argues that to know him is to know the words on these records belong to him, and that if his health allowed, he could play every note on guitar. Opinions on AI in generating music have been staunchly divided, but AI tools in production and engineering have existed since the 1950s. There are well-respected musicians coming around to the possibility of what AI can do, while others use it in hiding—and that’s the part that triggers McKay, because there’s a lot being produced that people can’t identify unless they’re told, and often their opinions change with that knowledge.
But every detail of The Price of a Wish is connected back to McKay. The album cover art is a representation of his vertebral artery dissection, with the body in the background illustrating the disconnection of his physical body from his mind. McKay says that through trauma and illness, music is the thing that has always healed him. The Mindfield alter-ego emerged as something he needed that he couldn’t find in his discography, a psychedelic funk record steeped in early ‘70s prog—and so he made it.
The Price of a Wish album release show will be part of a larger community-based art party hosted by the newly established Thurtine Collective at Ciné on Thursday, Sept. 11. The Thurtine Collective is self-described as a “group of visual, performance and musical artists whose work comes from a place of trauma, neurodivergence, or both.” This inaugural event will act as an “appetizer” for what the collective hopes to achieve in the future, featuring live sculpting and painting, original works on display, experimental soundscapes, spoken word and video premieres.
The format of the event will be loose and conducive to conversation with an overarching goal of being “a celebration of the creative spirit thriving despite any and all obstacles.” Some of the confirmed artists include Keith Bennett, who created the B-52s’ iconic logo, among other things; Mr. Blank, creator of the community television channel JOKERJOKERtv; Stephanie Astalos-Jones, who will be performing a combination of poetry and stand-up; Lisa Freeman, a mixed-media artist whose works often feature found objects; and Manda McKay, visual artist and wife of Chris.
The Thurtine Collective was born out of McKay and sculptor/painter Lindsay Swan’s mutual admiration of each other’s creativity. After diving into McKay’s online catalog, Swan reached out to say that she’d love to paint during a live performance by McKay. Because he was unable to perform anymore due to his medical conditions, Swan then countered with the idea of making McKay an installation through sound, video, etc.
“So then that started spiraling into, who else can we bring in where we’re meeting those goals of the neurodivergent versus neurotypical understanding. And people that have survived trauma… wherever the trauma is, how do you get through it? What helps you survive it in a way that you were driven and compelled to do? And that’s what artists are to me. Because to me, artists make art. No matter what,” says McKay.
Through all obstacles, that’s exactly what McKay has done with his releases under Mindfield and Devine and Devine. The Price of a Wish will be released digitally on Sept. 13, with pre-orders open now at chrismckay.bandcamp.com for limited and standard edition vinyls. There are also sets that include Devine and Devine’s The Other Side of the Question vinyl and Chris McKay And The Critical Darlings’ double LP Satisfactionista Deluxe.
“I ain’t the person that I was, and I’m never going to be that person again, but I’m the person I am now, and I’m going to do what I can do,” says McKay.
WHO: Thurtine Collective
WHEN: Thursday, Sept. 11, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Ciné
HOW MUCH: FREE!
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