Below is the transcript of the above interview, which was originally broadcast over the KALX airwaves on Sunday, July 27 2025.
Velvet Einstein: [00:00:00] And we’re here with Dan the Automator part of Deltron 3030, who are in the middle of a tour promoting the 25th anniversary of Deltron 3030. And by the time you hear this, they’ll have played two shows here in San Francisco, and they’ve got one more coming up on August 1st. So Dan, I thought we should just get started by talking about the 25 years – what does it feel like to be revisiting this album 25 years later?
Dan the Automator: I mean, I guess it’s been really, the biggest thing was how much that, coming back now, how many people still care about the record and want to come out to see us. Um, pleasantly surprised. I mean, Deltron has played over the years and we attract a decent crowd, but like these shows have been, really, I guess it touches, something with some people and, I think all of us collectively are very thankful and very happy that, people still have a thing for the record.
Velvet Einstein: Yeah. Is there a sense of wanting people to be more interested in the newer works that you and [00:01:00] the rest of them have been doing, or are you happy to be going back in time here 25 years?
Dan the Automator: Well, I mean, the record’s 3030, so it’s funny because I think part of these records, this one in particular is like, people are coming back, coming to us, and going like, wow, all the stuff you were talking about is starting to happen or is happening. So I think in a way it’s like, “Ha, we told you,” [laughter].
No, but unfortunately, there’s a lot of things that we told people that, I would say, lemme start here: the concept of working science fiction in the future, in my opinion, is it gives you a broad stroke to comment on the present and the future present without having to name names and do that stuff. So some of the concepts now, they’re coming to fruition.
Unfortunately, Deltron’s also dystopian, so take it from what you will.
Velvet Einstein: Yeah. I have to say particularly the line, “Not a president, but a ruler.” Certainly, seems to resonate these days.
Dan the Automator: Don’t forget “Virus”. Yeah.
Velvet Einstein: And last night at the show [00:02:00] you announced that there will be a third installment of Deltron.
How is that going and what’s the timeline?
Dan the Automator: Well, there’s a business timeline and a creative timeline to get to the right situation, to release it in terms of, lead time and all that stuff is one thing. The record itself is pretty much done. I’m working on implementing all the little last bits and parts, but generally speaking, if I was going to put a number to it, I’d say it’s 75% done, but 100% tracked.
Velvet Einstein: And then in terms of the composition and the way you’re putting together the music, how have things changed from when you did the first release? Like in terms of the technology you have access to and just the musical themes.
Dan the Automator: I mean, actually there has been one major difference is when we did the first record, Pro Tools was more of a, not experimental, but it was a little bit more limited and there was a little less [00:03:00] power. We’re still on Pro Tools, but the first record was Pro Tools in conjunction with tape, digital tape. And as far as the other stuff goes, I mean, we use new keyboards and we use old keyboards or it’s me, yeah, sorry, I do the music [laughter]. So I use new keyboards. I use old keyboards. I like ’em all. I use old drum machines. I use the same drum machines I was doing on the first record that I do now, and I use new ones, but ultimately all that stuff is just a way to get the ideas on paper or on tape or whatever you wanna call it, you know?
Velvet Einstein: And then, what are your thoughts on the newer technology in particular, like artificial intelligence and what other people might be using?
Dan the Automator: I have a lot of opinions about artificial intelligence that, as you see it coming along, it’s a very useful tool. It wasn’t used on this record, but I would say it would be naive of me to not look at it in the future and look what’s going on.
But everything I’ve played around with artificial intelligence is, I think of it as a tool. And the reason I say this is, the way artificial [00:04:00] intelligence tends to operate in a lot of ways is taking the greatest average. And, I think at that point you could argue that it’s , I don’t know, I don’t wanna say muffled because that sounds bad, but like a version without the edges.
And as it gets, more and more, “intelligent”, I’m putting up quote signs [laughter], it will, that gap will be less. But in the end, I still feel there needs to be a human element or a finger on it that has an opinion, like an outlier opinion, I would say.
As an example, I would say, pop music today has basically been AI for the last 10 years. What I mean by that is not technically in terms of how it’s made, but technically, in terms of like, they bring 10 writers in, 10 producers and everything, so they’re basically curving off all the edges till they’re getting an optimized pop. And I think if you look at that, you’re looking at a talented bunch of people in the room doing it. It’s not just an average, it’s something else.
But then at the end, there’s still some guy, [00:05:00] you’re Max Martin or your whatever, who’s making the final decisions to do it. And to use that example again, Max Martin writes pop songs, you know, the Backstreet Boys, the whatever, the NSYNCs of the world and probably all the other big hits as well. But he often would bring in like younger or more “edgy”, quotes again, producers to like, help bring the sound to a thing, but then still you’ll curate the whole thing. And I think for guys like that, AI gives more paint brushes and more paint for what they’re doing.
I think also if you learn anything from like, you can’t, once the rabbits outta the hat or whatever, you can’t put it back in. So you have to learn how to exist with it.
Velvet Einstein: But I think we’re certainly a far away from saying like, “AI, write me the fourth Deltron album.”
Dan the Automator: Oh yeah. That’s not going to happen. Although if you looked at me, whatever, and I was like, do this and it came out with this incredible thing and then I could repurpose it and do it, I wouldn’t be [00:06:00] like, “Oh, that’s so horrible, it’s AI.” I would look at it as like, oh, here’s a tool, you just gave me this incredible fuzz guitar idea that I’m gonna start working on and go, and who knows, maybe I’ll use it, probably rerecord it and do into something else.
But, I would not be the person who was like, oh, never. No, no, no. You can’t do that. And then, I mean, the music business got left behind when they didn’t understand, well first they didn’t understand CDs and they didn’t understand what it meant to copy and put music out, and then they didn’t understand what streaming was and how it got squeezed and tech companies are essentially squeezing the money out of it.
You can’t put that stuff back. You have to like, figure out how to work with it, is what I would say. And I think AI, while not the same thing, there’s similar ways to approach it.
Velvet Einstein: And as you look at the trajectory of music, maybe not going all the way to the year 3030, but you know, maybe 2030, it does seem that we’ve moved away from traditional instruments. You know, we’ve got [00:07:00] electronics and then Pro Tools. Where do you see the future of sound going? Do you see trends there?
Dan the Automator: I don’t see trends, but I will say this, it’s like in, I don’t know, the seventies, eighties, you would have these, girl bedroom guitar records and now you have bedroom girl electronic records, you know what I mean? And then I think that’s an interesting progress or interesting change. And I also think that because everyone can record a song on their phone now it’s more democratic, but because it’s more like that, it’s also, there’s a lot of [bleep] you have to get through to till you hear the good one.
And I think it’s not so much about how records are gonna be recorded in the future or what instruments, whatever they do. By the way, if you wanna know what I think, what I think is people are gonna just hum stuff and then they’ll be like, do it in the horn section, do it in whatever. I think that’s how it’s gonna be by the way, But it’s more like how do we curate the music that’s put in front of us and how do we discover music that we want to hear?
Velvet Einstein: Yeah. That’s certainly gonna be a challenge. And I think pretty much all you do is you turn into [00:08:00] KALX Berkeley radio and that’s how you find where all the good music is.
Dan the Automator: Yeah, yeah, for sure. Okay.
Velvet Einstein: And how about for yourself when you’re producing other artists, how does that come about? What is the process for the selection of who you’re producing?
Dan the Automator: I mean, I work with people I like, that has its pluses and minuses because obviously I don’t know everyone, so I can’t know if I like them or not, you know what I mean? I’m not soliciting work from people. Usually for me it tends to be people who I’m friends with or are familiar with what I do. And then we just go forward from there if I like them.
I mean, obviously talent is very important. The charisma is very important, but there’s a lot of [bleep] with charisma, you know? [laughter] And then you know, I’m not sure that’s my sweet spot, I guess. That’s not my sweet spot, you know, I like having the good, good rapport.
Velvet Einstein: Yeah. And you’ve worked with Del a few times and you did the song, “a LEAp in tIME”. Am I getting the name right? That was on the compilation that 88rising put [00:09:00] out.
Dan the Automator: Oh yeah.
Velvet Einstein: How did that song come out and is that a part of another project?
Dan the Automator: Yeah, that’s part of my solo record actually. It’s gonna come out sometime next year. There’s bits of it, well, most of the record’s done. That one probably came out, maybe, it was a nice, you know, window into something that they were trying to do, and it was maybe a little of an early peek, but like, yeah, overall there’s gonna be a record, I don’t know, sometime next year probably. No, not probably. It will be next year, but sometime probably early first half of the year.
Velvet Einstein: Okay, cool. And other projects you’re excited that you’ve got in the works?
Dan the Automator: Um, I’ve been doing, lemme think what’s going on now. You know, between that record and Deltron and then doing work with a few other artists who I’m not gonna mention right now because the records aren’t out, I’ve been doing some score stuff and doing some stuff in the Star Trek universe that’s pretty cool and some other things. But, you know, just keep it moving.
Velvet Einstein: When you say the Star Trek universe is this a soundtrack work or…
Dan the Automator: Score work, yeah.
Velvet Einstein: Oh, cool. Are you allowed to talk about details of that [00:10:00] or…
Dan the Automator: Well, let’s just talk about it until it’s out, because it’s a new series, so it wouldn’t mean anything to anyone at this exact moment.
Velvet Einstein: Oh, okay.
Dan the Automator: But you put a pin in it and you can figure it out later.
Velvet Einstein: [laughter] Right. Yeah. But I guess we can talk about, when you’re working on something that has such a history, how much are you researching existing score work to try and copy sounds from past series or how much do you want it to just be unique?
Dan the Automator: I think that everything you do comes from somewhere and the somewhere would be influences, like previous stuff, or maybe it’s like Star Wars or maybe it’s like, you know, some Al Pacino movie you love. Or maybe it’s like just the emotions of a certain sound you have. But I would say, yes, there is an amount of going back and seeing what they do to understand it. And not go into it a hundred percent blindly.
Velvet Einstein: Okay. Cool. Well, Dan, thank you so much for spending the time to speak with us and again, the next show for Deltron is gonna be August 1st over at the Regency Ballroom. Anything [00:11:00] else you’d like to add?
Dan the Automator: No. Come through. It’s a good time. Good time is had by all. Thank you.
[ music]
Kid Koala: What’s up? This is Kid Koala on tour here with Deltron 3030. You’re listening to KALX.
Velvet Einstein: Awesome. Well, thank you so much Kid Koala for coming to speak with us. You are in the middle of the Deltron 3030 25th anniversary tour. And, by the time this is heard because Deltron is all about time travel, we’re recording this in the past to be heard in the future, so audiences still have a chance to check out the August 1st show at the Regency Ballroom.
Let’s get started talking about what is it like to go back 25 years later and revisit the music of the first Deltron album?
Kid Koala: It’s always fun for me, a bit nostalgic, but as far as preparation for tour, I have to go and find all the bits that I need to scratch in during the show and some of those records when Deltron wasn’t touring, you know, they go into the Deltron tour [00:12:00] box. And pulling the records out again, and then seeing all my little notes and stickers on them – I had to try to remember all my rotations and my drop cue counts on the vinyl, you know, so there’s a little bit, but it was funny because at first it was like, oh yeah, there’s a lot to remember. But then once it started, it came back.
Velvet Einstein: And in terms of those records, are you playing from the original source records or – I know you’ve got your own press – are you pressing your own records with them?
Kid Koala: I’m pressing my own custom vinyl for the shows. Yeah, basically having it set up in a way where I have a separate set for each song, and then I guess I could reload the turntables for that song.
[ music]
Velvet Einstein: So How about you Del? In terms of revisiting this stuff, what’s it been like for you to go back to 25 years?
Del the Funky Homosapien: Um, interesting, you know what I’m saying? You know what, my mind ain’t really – well, let me say that in a different way- I’m [00:13:00] very political, you know what I’m saying? I’m into politics, so I’m watching that every day trying to keep my eye on it, you know what I’m saying?
But as far as like sci-fi and all that [bleep], I’m not really there like I used to be, you know what I’m saying? Like, I don’t really play video games no more. I mean, I got ’em. I still love them, you know what I’m saying? I don’t watch movies that much. I do sometimes with my girl, but like, you know, I’ll be trying to make music and write and you know what I’m saying, stuff like that.
But revisiting the music and you know what I’m saying? And the lyrics, I was like, oh, okay. Damn, that was kind of cool. You know what I’m saying? [laughter] I kind of like what I’m seeing right there, you know what I’m saying? But at the same time too, I’m just kind of like, I learned a lot since I did that, so I’m just kind of picking it apart like, okay, I like this, but maybe this, okay, I’m glad I learned what to do about that. You know what I’m saying? I’m glad I learned how to fix that, you know what I’m saying? Just trying to, I’m always trying to make something better, you know what I’m saying?
Velvet Einstein: When you say fix it, do you [00:14:00] mean that, when you’re performing live, are you updating the lyrics at all?
Del the Funky Homosapien: Huh?
Velvet Einstein: When you perform live, are you updating the lyrics at all? You mentioned fixing it, so I’m just kind of curious.
Del the Funky Homosapien: Updating the lyrics? Nah, it’s the same lyrics, but like we got a new album that we just worked on, you know what I’m saying? So, you know, I feel like a lot of the things that I felt like could have been better with the first album, I feel like I went over it at this point and fixed it, you know what I’m saying? I’m just better at songwriting, you know what I’m saying?
Velvet Einstein: Gotcha. And then, does it scare you going back to that album, thinking how much you nailed it, knowing like, “Not a president, but a ruler,” that sort of thing?
Del the Funky Homosapien: Does it scare me? Nah. ’cause it don’t change ever, you know what I’m saying? So it’s not like it’s something special to me that I said that, you know what I’m saying? Like, it’s always like that, you know what I’m saying? It just so happened right now it’s just super crazy, you know what I’m saying?
But I’m just watching the show, man, you know what I’m saying? But nah, to answer your question, it just doesn’t scare me. That’s the way [00:15:00] I look at things, you know? But the science fiction angle, it just allows us to be able to talk about these things and it ain’t like I’m beating somebody over the head with it, you know what I’m saying? Because I wouldn’t even like that myself.
Velvet Einstein: In terms of this notion of using music to battle against authoritarian regimes and in the corporate landscape, do you see that there is an effective way for musicians to be doing that? Or is it more up to the listeners to support?
Del the Funky Homosapien: I mean, the listeners are part of it, you know what I’m saying? Like, it’s cultural, you know what I’m saying? It is cultural, really. I mean the fans is part of it. The musicians is part of it. Other types of visual artists, stuff like that. Writers. They always a part of it, you know what I’m saying?
And like authority in general tends to not really like those kind of people ’cause they think too much and they think that it’s just wise, you know what I’m saying? Like, ah, you think you’re clever or something, you might figure it out. You know what I’m saying?
Velvet Einstein: Gotcha. Yeah.
Del the Funky Homosapien: You feel what I’m [00:16:00] saying? I don’t separate myself from history like that. I feel like as humans, we kind of do the same all the time, you know what I’m saying? That might be kind of cynical, you know what I’m saying? But…
Velvet Einstein: I feel like we’re in cynical times.
Del the Funky Homosapien: Yeah.
I mean, it’s cool to me. I mean, I’m having a ball watching it now. I’m like, yeah, I hope you get caught.
