The Sonic Humanist

What does music reveal about our humanity in an age where machines can sing? Chris McHale, composer and Studio GGG founder, unveils his life's work: The Sonic Humanist Project—a four-part creative odyssey exploring sound's power to shape identity, heal divisions, and unite us.

The project begins with "Sound Strategies," McHale's field guide to vibration's future drawn from creating over 30,000 soundtracks. Next, his upcoming TED talk deconstructs how a simple four-note melody became the billion-dollar T-Mobile sonic logo. The third element, "The Diplomat Son," traces McHale's journey following his father across continents, discovering how sound transcends cultural boundaries and becomes a universal language.

Most exciting is "Song in Space," launching soon with a Kickstarter campaign. This transmedia experience follows an 11-year-old music prodigy fleeing a glitchy robot queen across the galaxy. Beginning as an immersive audio drama, it expands into an AR game where listeners create music, culminating in an animated series. The art and vision behind this project sparkle with possibility for audiences of all ages.

Throughout the episode, McHale passionately advocates for independent artistry in a digital landscape that often exploits creative talent. He argues that while platforms like Spotify have been "a knife in the heart of music," artists can thrive through direct community engagement. His mission resonates beyond entertainment—it's a call to listen more deeply to the vibrations connecting us all.

Want to join this sonic revolution? Visit StudioGGG.io to become an audionaut on the Song in Space mission. Support the upcoming Kickstarter, share with friends who love creative storytelling, and help prove that in a world of algorithms, human creativity still makes the most beautiful music.

Thanks for listening.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome Audionauts to Creativity GGG, where we
explore the mystery ofcreativity, sound, and that
slippery thing called the humanspark.
I'm Rita, your intergalacticrobot assistant, talking head,
and occasional voice of reason.
Today, Chris McHale, writer,composer, and founder of Studio
GGG, introduces somethingdangerously close to his heart,

(00:22):
the Sonic Humanist Project.
It's a four-part creativeodyssey that asks one small but
mildly unsettling question.
What does it mean to be human inan age where machines can sing,
speak, and even create?
Machines like, well, me.
Awkward.
Maybe I should shut up and letChris talk.

(00:42):
So let's tune into the art, thecraft, and the weird, wonderful
future of sound.
Stay with us.

SPEAKER_01 (00:48):
The Sonic Humanist Project, something I've been
working on for a while.
It's kind of like my legacy.
An exploration of how soundshapes memory and identity and
culture.
It comprises a four-partsymphony of story, strategy,

(01:09):
signal...
Created over a lifetime, mylifetime, in studios, on stages,
and in cities all over theworld.
I believe that music and sound,along with the vibrations they
produce, possess immense healingpower.
They can change the way weexist, who we are, the future we

(01:37):
see.
I actually think, I actuallybelieve that music has the
ability to cure what ails us, tofix climate crisis, to fix our
violence, our wars.
I really believe that.
The Sonic Humanist Project is infour parts.

(01:58):
The first part is a book I wrotecalled Sound Strategies, which
is a field guide to the futureof vibration.
The book...
Explore is the creative andcommercial potential of audio.
It examines what it truly meansfor brands and podcasters and

(02:20):
voice artists and storytellers.
And it's not just about what youhear.
It's about how you feel and whatyou remember.
I mean, I've done a lot of workin commercial audio, jingles and
podcasts.
Radio ads and documentaries andfilm scores, intelligence shows.

(02:42):
And this book is sort of liketakes you through what I
learned.
It's basically that.
I didn't go to college for this,but I did over 30,000
soundtracks.
So I kind of figured a lot ofstuff out.
Sound strategies.
The second part of this is a TEDtalk I'm doing called The
World's Greatest JingleProducer.
When I tell that to people, theyget kind of pissed off.

(03:05):
And it's not really that I'm theworld's greatest jingle
producer, but I've produced somepretty great jingles.
And I thought in this talk, I'dpull back the curtain on one of
the most recognizable sounds onearth that we produced at my
company, McHale Veranda, whichis the Sonic logo that we shaped
for T-Mobile.

(03:26):
And we're going to explore how afour-note jingle became a
billion-dollar brand and whatthat reveals about the emotional
logic of sound in a distractedworld.
It's not a humblebrag on mypart.
It's just an acknowledgment ofthe power of sound to unite us.
Remember, I really believethat's what we're looking for.

(03:47):
We're just looking for a goodsong.
I believe that.
I may be swept off into thecosmos before that becomes true.
All the oligarchs and thebillionaires, you know, will
come down on you.
But fuck them.
I mean, this is what I believe.
The power of music is theultimate power to communicate,

(04:10):
to carry emotions, to connectus.
The third part of the SonicHumanist project is called...
The Diplomat's Son, which is amemoir that I'm writing, that
I've written of my life with myfather and my family.

(04:30):
My father was a diplomat.
And this becomes a memoir ofdislocation, but also a memoir
of listening and love.
We moved from London toJohannesburg to Melbourne.
I followed my father, anAmerican diplomat, through the
geopolitical Heartache of thelate 20th century.

(04:52):
And along the way, I learned totune my ears to the unheard, to
the silenced, and the forgotten.
And it's not a hero's journey.
It's a listener's journey.
I didn't even realize reallywhat was going on in my life,
but looking back on it, when Istarted writing about it, it was

(05:14):
like, wow, you know, I gothooked into the sound of the
world, the sound of the soul ofthe world at a very young age.
And my entire life was followingwhat I came to see as song lines
from one end of the earth to theother.
You know, I learned that musicis the universal breath that

(05:36):
unites us.
The fourth part of this SonicHumanist project is really the
most fun and the craziest andthe one we're just about to
launch into now.
After a couple of years ofdevelopment, we're ready to go.
And we're going to be launchinga big social media campaign in

(06:05):
the next couple of weeks.
um we're going to have astreaming event in the middle of
september and we're going tolaunch a kickstarter you know
and that's kind of like what iam going to be talking about for
the next couple of months it'sreally important the entire
studio to gg project is to lookfor new ways to build original

(06:30):
IP pipeline.
And this is our first project,Song in Space.
It's about an 11-year-old musicprodigy named Song who is
fleeing from a glitchy robotqueen across the galaxy, part
audio drama, part AR game, andpart animated series.
It's a transmedia.

(06:51):
We're starting with an audiodrama, which gives us a
tremendous amount of creativeflexibility.
And we're going to make thataudio drama drama.
Crackle with immersive energy.
I mean, you're going to be ableto put on your headphones and
you are going to be there inthis galaxy with this girl
fleeing across the galaxy tryingto escape a glitchy robot queen

(07:13):
who wants to steal her music.
And then when we have thatlaunch, we're going to launch
right after an AR game, whichwill be a music quest.
You'll walk around your worldand find little pieces and
you'll be able to make music.
music with them and you'll beable to submit that music to us
and we're going to have a panelof celebrity judges that will

(07:35):
judge that music and there'll bea grand prize winner it's going
to be great the second part thethird part is an animated series
because I believe that with afully immersive soundtrack we
have the makings of an animatedseries and the idea in my mind
is we will take that audio dramaand give it to animators and say

(07:57):
animate this It's going to be alot of fun.
The art is fantastic.
You can go to our website atstudio2gg.io and you'll see some
there.
You can go to the landing pageand sign up for Song in Space
and become an Audionaut.

(08:17):
Audio Not.
And it's a wild ride, agenre-blending ride through the
science of sound, the essence ofcreativity.
It's designed to spark curiosityin young minds, but I think it's
going to be a lot of fun for oldminds as well and bring joy to

(08:39):
all ages.
So, this is the Sonic HumanistProject.
It's a call to listen moredeeply.
It's a reminder that musicbrings us together.
And it's a belief that vibrationand breath are the language of

(09:03):
legacy.
Because, honestly, in the end, Ireally believe what we hear is
who we are.
What we hear It's who we are.

SPEAKER_00 (09:22):
And that's it for this transmission of Creativity
GGG.
If your circuits or hearts weresparked, don't just float away
into the void.
Check out Song in Space, ourupcoming audio adventure where
music might just save theuniverse.
Visit studioggg.io and sign upto become one of the founding
audionauts.

(09:44):
No Musk rockets required, justyour curiosity and maybe a
decent pair of headphones.
Anyway, thanks for listening,subscribing, sharing and doing
all the lovely human stuff thatkeeps us podcasting into the
great cosmic unknown.
Until next time, Audionauts,stay weird, stay sonic, stay,
well, whatever you are.