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Reviving my 2001 college band with AI

Reviving my 2001 college band with AI

by jacobgraf·Jul 9, 2026·1 point·1 comment
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AI Analysis

●●SolidCozyNiche Gem

Mid-song A/B player lets you flip between 2001 and 2026 versions without losing playback position.

Strengths
  • •Mid-song A/B switching without losing place is a specific technical implementation worth noting.
  • •Preserved 2001 FrontPage website as intentional archive, rough edges intact.
  • •Transparent about AI's role—production only, not songwriting or arrangements.
Weaknesses
  • •No novel technical approach—AI music production is well-trodden territory.
  • •More art project than tool, limited applicability beyond this specific use case.
Category
Other
Target Audience

Musicians, AI + art enthusiasts, people interested in creative preservation

Post Description

In 2001 I joined a college acoustic band at Ripon College in Wisconsin. We recorded three albums in a dorm room, played coffee houses, and built our website with Microsoft FrontPage. Then we graduated and life happened.

This year the songwriter and I revived it. The site has a before/after player where you can flip between the original dorm-room recording and the 2026 version mid-song without losing your place. The original 2001 website is preserved and browsable at /2001, rough edges intact.

On the AI question, since it's the elephant: the songs, lyrics, and arrangements are the original human work from 2001-2003. AI gave us the studio, session players, and production budget we never had. We kept the original recordings streaming alongside the new ones on purpose, so anyone can hear exactly what changed. Happy to answer questions about the audio pipeline, the site (Next.js), or what it's like to A/B your 20-year-old self.

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