Fake spokesman for The Velvet Sundown admits they're fake

The Velvet Sundown eating some burgers — The Velvet Sundown celebrating their non-existence with some tasty burgers (Image credit: The Velvet Sundown)

Earlier this week, like everyone else, we clambered aboard the Velvet Sundown bandwagon, telling the story of a band that had apparently come from nowhere to enjoy significant success on Spotify, despite bearing all the hallmarks of AI-generated music.

To no one's surprise, the fakery has now been confirmed. Band members Gabe Farrow, Lennie West, Milo Rains and Orion "Rio" Del Ma don't exist, but spokesman Andrew Frelon (not his real name) does, and, in an interview with Rolling Stone, he's come clean.

"It’s marketing," Frelon says. "It’s trolling. People before, they didn’t care about what we did, and now suddenly, we’re talking to Rolling Stone, so it’s like, ‘Is that wrong?"

"We live in a world now where things that are fake have sometimes even more impact than things that are real," says Frelon. "And that’s messed up, but that’s the reality that we face now. So it’s like, ‘Should we ignore that reality?

"Should we ignore these things that kind of exist on a continuum of real versus fake or kind of a blend between the two? Or should we dive into it and just let it be the emerging native language of the internet?'”

Frelon initially says that AI was only used to generate ideas for the project, and later claims that only some of the band's songs (they've released two albums in two weeks) were generated using Suno, the music creation app that allows users to generate up to 500 songs a month for just $8.

He also says that the band's impressive monthly Spotify listener stats – they're now at 750,000 – are not due to any activity on his part, nefarious or otherwise.

"I respect that people have really strong emotions about this," Frelon adds. "But I think it’s important that we allow artists to experiment with new technologies and new tools, try things out, and not freak out at people just because they’re using a program or not using a program.

"People have this idea that you have to please everybody and you have to follow the rules. And that’s not how music and culture progress. Music and culture progressed by people doing weird experiments and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t."

Recent updates

Update: According to a Rolling Stone update, the person claiming to be the Velvet Sundown spokesman is, themselves, a hoaxer. The headline on this page has been adjusted to reflect this development.

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.

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