Cringe Culture Controls Gen Z - Random Strangers Jam Will Save Them

I have tried to write this blog post on numerous occasions and never manage to come up with something I think is good enough.

Pretty typical, honestly.

Whether I am recording a song, improvising on stage, hosting an event, writing a poem, or deciding on this sentence right here.

The question is constantly floating in my mind. 

Is what I am doing good enough?

Dreams and hobbies that fueled my youth steadily stripped of the joy, playfulness and community that made them so magical as views, followers, and like counts became the definition of "success."

It's a feeling I've always had, but that amplified in recent years as social media platforms forced me to constantly compare my productivity and the quality of my output to peers.

Yet still, just as many creators have finally cracked the code and optimized their workflows for this digital-metrics first-era, generative artificial intelligence (AI) is hitting its stride after copying all that hard work into its modeling without paying any royalties.

As the digital space becomes saturated with AI-generated "slop" - increasingly indistinguishable from human-generated digital creations - I anticipate a massive resurgence of human-led in-person events (read my post here). If you are constantly inundated with personalized creations and can't tell what is made by humans and what isn't, the only way to feel connected again will be to show up in-person, face to face. Even Mark Cuban is starting to predict this inevitable shift toward events.

The next logical questions is: How do we make scalable in-person events when all the talk these days by young people is about "cringe culture"?

Inspiration Turned Cringe

Think about how you felt the first time you sat at a drum kit or strummed a guitar or got ready to try to blow air through a saxophone.

The absolute excitement. The thrill. The anticipation. And then....

CRREOOOOWWWWHHHH.

You elicit a sound that makes even the wettest fart sound like Beethoven.

For generations, that moment was heard by no one. It was the moment that brought about a sense of wonder, of opportunity and potential.

It was the moment you decided, "here's something I can work towards and get better at."

Nowadays, your ultimate first moment of vulnerability and excitement and "failure" is probably being recorded by a classmate and passed around to the entire school. 

An inspiring teachable moment has now become a reason for social shaming and embarrassment. 

Algorithms and Control Through Cringe

It is no wonder data shows Gen Z and Gen Alpha have some of the lowest rates of instrumentalists and performers in generations. They also seem uncomfortable letting loose at concerts.

They are so accustomed to having their every action recorded and judged. Playing it safe, asking AI what to do, following the algorithm and avoiding cringe is the way, and that is SUFFOCATING creativity out of an entire generation. Add in the ridiculous hyperfocus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) where the right answer is cut and dry and perfect.

A^2 + B^2 = C^2. Plug the numbers in and you will get it right every time.

As machines become capable of making sense of logical inputs and creating reliable outputs, the value of humanity will increasingly rest on our unique ability to be truly creative and random. We can only be creative when we let go of internal censorship, stop calling what we are trying to do "cringe" and instead actually do it, and do it over and over again until it is done right.

Every great musician, idea, any great anything- started half-baked or fantastical.

If you are too afraid to share or work on a new, seemingly "crazy" idea in the first place because it feels cringe, then innovation is lost. The fear of being cringe prevents us from finding something new. The existing power structures remain in power. Existing ideologies remain unchallenged. Our current system wants you to be like a machine - to operate only in logical equations with perfect outputs. Our system is intentionally depriving young people of skills that unlock CREATIVITY because the system wants to control us and prevent innovation. They want to control the output. The thing is, even Einstein practiced violin and piano and himself said he'd be a musician if not for his skill as a physicist. He understood it held a deeper significance to unlocking the mind.

Art and music are inherently abstract and require practice no matter how naturally talented you are. Your first time playing a song will suck. It just will. You won't know the notes. You won't have the muscle to play the proper technique, nor the muscle memory to play it at full speed, nor the self-trust to put feeling into the notes being performed.

These skills must be cultivated over many repetitive days and months and years until you develop a fluency in the language of music, as well as the muscle to sustain playing for extended periods of time, and the trust in yourself to be able to do it all simultaneously.  You must trust the process of getting incrementally better, and this practice only the creative arts provide develops an internal ability to believe in following new ideas all the way through even when they suck at first.

The thing is, no one wants to spend hours developing these skills alone but no one wants to be "cringe" either.

Random Strangers Jam To the Rescue

What if the entire purpose of a community event is to create something new without any preconceived notions or boundaries? What if the only rule is to listen to the other humans around you - and for doing this, you are guaranteed your turn to add your unique voice to the broader context of what is happening?

That is the philosophy underlying Random Strangers Jam - a fully improvised funk rock jam community founded in New York City in 2022.

Every 5-7 minutes, members of the house band are replaced and a new group of random strangers jam on a fresh chord progression and concept introduced by one of the musicians on stage. No cover songs. No right way or wrong way to play the song. Just an agreement amongst the musicians on stage to respect one another and create something the world has never heard - guaranteeing the audience a one-of-a-kind experience every time they show up. No repeats. No comparison to last time. Just an event all about experiencing the moment.

And it is catching on. What began in private rehearsal rooms with other 20-40 year olds in April 2022 has now grown to be a cross-generational community bringing together 18-70 year olds with jam residencies on stages across Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens through 80+ shows as of writing.

It turns out, the algorithm and control through cringe is hitting everyone from Gen Alpha and Gen Z, to my fellow Millenials, all the way to Gen X and Baby Boomers.

From Williamsburg to Harlem to Sunnyside to the East Village, Random Strangers Jam continues to run events that pack the bars we partner with while building community and (re)launching the music careers of musicians who attend our events.

See for yourself. Join a session or bring Random Strangers Jam to your venue at www.RandomStrangersJam.com.

** No AI training is permitted on this content or any content published by Random Strangers Jam.**