Former Dead Boys frontman Jake Hout, who left the band at the weekend, has hit out at his former employers, claiming that artificial intelligence has been used to generate new vocals in the style of original frontman Stiv Bators, who died in 1990.
Yesterday Los Angeles-based Cleopatra Records announced that a new Dead Boys album – their first collection of new songs since 1978's We Have Come for Your Children, and the first since the death of Bators in 1990 – would be released next year.
In a press release, the label claimed that the album would "seamlessly blend Stiv’s distinctive voice with new elements" and that guitarist Cheetah Chrome’s vocals would be "artfully 'dusted' with Stiv’s iconic presence."
Writing on Instagram, Hout, who joined the band in 2017, wrote, "They intend to put out a record with a fakeass robot A.I. Stiv Bators voice on it! They wanted my voice to be the template for the fake robo-Stiv voice and I absolutely can not do that. It’s against my religion. It's heartless plagiarism of my own guardian nagel and it can absolutely not happen. Stiv Bators ain’t no fucking robot! And I ain’t no fucking robot neither! I Am Jake Fucking Hout!"
In response, Cheetah Chrome denied that the band intended to use Bators' voice on any recordings. "It has come to my attention that our former singer is disparaging the band and label over something he does not completely understand that has been explained to him repeatedly by myself and Cleopatra Records. Jake has his issues with AI, as do I"
"There are no plans I am aware of to use Stiv’s voice on any recordings at this time. I am looking to have an open mind and not cut my nose off to spite my face over something I don’t really understand, and kill possible artistic advantages or revenue streams for the entire band over my personal feelings. Apparently Jake is. They say ignorance is bliss, well, Jake, you must be happy as a pig in shit today."
The lively to-and-fro continued, with Hout saying, "Cleopatra said it would be an A.I. record but Cheetah assured me it would not. But the opening line of the contract reads…“Artist has agreed that such Performances shall be Vocal performances (the “Performances”) utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for purposes of creating works based on the original voice of Stiv Bators, to be used on Company’s master recordings of the songs."
"So I said No. I told Cheetah immediately I would be forced to quit publicly. And tell everybody why. And that it would probably go off like an H-bomb. This was in August. I reminded him frequently. Daily by the end. To no avail. I know that there are grey areas with line-up changes and artistic tools etc.
"There’s a massive irony here, I actually sympathize with the “no Stiv no Dead Boys” crowd. I get it! I always have! But, for me personally, A.I. is the bridge too far. I always tried to do right by Stiv and bring his music to life with heart and blood and passion and spirit. A.I. ain’t got none of that stuff."
Chrome then posted a second time, detailing how the relationship between Hout and the band had broken down.
"Myself and the band would like to apologize for all the bullshit drama today," he wrote. "We’re just as surprised as anyone about this, mostly. Jake didn’t have the maturity or patience ( or ability) to sit down reasonably sober and discuss this. The entire band wanted him to, we didn’t want Jake to go anywhere, he was one of us. Whatever his motivations are, he wanted to unilaterally make an uninformed decision that would affect the whole band based on his dislike of AI.
"Jake was asked to stay many times while we got more info on AI to make an informed decision on it. He refused and insisted it come to a head Saturday, for whatever reason. I’ve been doing this shit and leading this band a tad longer than Jake’s been in it, have I let you down yet? Other than being an out-of-control rock n roll clown?
The as-yet-untitled album features an all-star cast including Clem Burke (Blondie) on drums and Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) on bass, plus James Williamson (The Stooges) and Michael Monroe (Hanoi Rocks) making guest appearances. The band are currently looking for a new singer.
Earlier this year, Cleopatra made headlines after producing an AI-generated track that attempted to emulate the late Steve Marriott's vocals.
"It didn’t sound anything like Steve," reported Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. "I felt so strongly that I turned down twenty thousand dollars.”
