Holly Herndon lifts the lid on the creative process of her latest album via Birthing PROTO, a 6-minute documentary directed by Theresa Baumgartner and Zoya Bassi, released today.
Filmed in Holly’s home studio and at Volksbühne, where Herndon headlined recently with her vocal ensemble, it offers an insight into the making of third studio record PROTO, ‘Spawn’, a neural network created by herself, partner Mat Dryhurst and developer Jules LaPlace, and translating their extraordinary work to the live stage.
On PROTO, the performer and composer fronts and conducts an electronic pop choir comprised of both human and A.I. voices over a music palette that encompasses everything from synths to Sacred Harp stylings. In addition to assembling a Berlin-based ensemble of vocalists, Holly and Mat “gave birth to an A.I. baby” affectionately named Spawn. Housed in a souped-up gaming PC, Spawn learned on her own from Holly, Mat, Jules and ensemble vocalists during weekly “learning sessions”.
Since her arrival in 2012 with debut Movement, Holly has successfully mined the edges of electronic and Avant-Garde pop and emerged with a dynamic and disruptive canon of her own, all while studying for a doctorate at Stanford University, researching machine learning and music. Her LP Platform closed out 2015 by gracing year-end lists from Pitchfork, The Guardian, NME, and The Wire.
