In this day and age, it's difficult to tell how the music we are listening to is made. Much of the music out there has been created either in part - or completely - through AI tools. For that matter, even some of the artists are just AI creations.
With that backdrop, if you've reached this web page, you've probably listened to some of the music of The Fallen Rocks, and I want you to know how that music has been created.
First off, everything you hear in a Fallen Rocks song has been written, played, arranged, and recorded by a real person. (There are slight caveats with regard to the drums and the horns, which I'll elaborate on in a bit). I use standard studio recording techniques - so while there are certainly multiple takes and some punching in here and there, every track is dreamed up and played by an actual human.
All the compositions are original songs that I've written. I play most of the instruments and do all the lead vocals. Some details:
Guitars/bass - I play most of the guitars and bass tracks on the songs, but I have enlisted the help of some talented and like-minded friends to add some lead guitar tracks or bass tracks on occasion. (You can find full credits for all songs here).
Keyboard - I play much of the simple keyboard work, but the really good keyboard work has been done by others. (Again, credits here).
Vocals - All lead vocals are me and all background vocals are Mara Backsen. I use standard vocal processing tools to add a sense of space (reverb, delay), add some effects for "punch" (compression, occasionally saturation), and do a *small* amount of pitch correction here and there - but no "autotune" across the whole track or anything like that.
Drums - I use EZDrummer, which is basically a package of pre-recorded drums parts. I match up these parts to the songs. These parts were played by an actual person - but not specifically to the song I have placed them in.
Horns - A couple of my songs have horns. These horns are a "virtual instrument", which means that they are basically simulated horn sounds. I "played" the horn parts, but on a keyboard.
Although The Fallen Rocks is exclusively a studio project at this time, the whole idea has always been - and always will be - to create real music with, by, and for real people.
Let's all support human artists creating actual art!
- Mick Backsen (Feb. 20 2026)