ArkanOwn project · music · 2024–2025
He doesn't exist. He performed for a live audience.
Task: AI music usually sounds like one more generation, with no person or story behind the song → Solution: with Ilya Menzeleev, built an artist entirely with neural networks: look, tracks, videos → Result: four tracks on streaming services and a lecture with Arkan's videos at the Maker Fest education festival
Arkan is made entirely with neural networks: character, music, 22 tarot cards as the plot of his life, four streaming tracks and videos for his first live show.
Came up with him and built him together with Ilya Menzeleev: character, tracks, visuals, videos and a talk at the festival.
A generated track versus an artist
How we told the story at Maker Fest- One prompt, one track
- Random artwork for the track
- No person and no story behind the song
Arkan has a whole world around him: tarot cards as the storyline of his life, a philosophy somewhere between Rick Rubin and George Carlin's sarcasm, a recognizable look. Every track is assembled from hundreds of small generations.
How we built a person who doesn't exist
We built the personality before the music: the childlike sincerity of school essays, Rick Rubin's wisdom and Kanye's nerve. Lyrics, his way of talking and his arc grew from that.
Any AI makes a smooth track in a minute. We wanted our own soul sound, so each track is built from hundreds of small generations, a lab exercise in music production.
Three days before the fest we realized the talk needed a video for every track. One video usually takes a week. Auto-prompting, over a thousand images, a tenth made the cut.
What Arkan has
"Spirit of My City", "Say", "Stand Behind Me", "Farewell" on streaming.
The story is bound by the deck: one card, one step on his path.
Midjourney, Runway, Kling, Luma and Higgsfield in one pipeline.
Headliner of the Maker Fest education festival, with videos inside the talk.
How we built a personality and why musicians fear projects like this.
A black swan runs through the covers, the cards and the logo.
