Back to the Beginning, one year later
One year after Black Sabbath's farewell at Villa Park, Mark Dauner remembers Ozzy, the fans, and a day that showed why live music matters.
Read the riffMusic. Craft. AI. Human creativity.
Rock-filtered.
Whiskey-fueled.
Infusing old-school craftsmanship with new technology, creativity, and the human spirit. Never afraid of AI. All through the lens of rock & roll.
The story behind Rock and Roll Reclaimed
The latest riff · August 12, 2026
Slop is made of people
AI made low-quality content easier to produce, but people built the slop economy. A call to take responsibility and make better work.
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Five years
Five years after leaving corporate life, Mark Dauner reflects on Bowie, reclaimed wood, AI, and building an independent home on the open internet.
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Elvis Presley and the human performance filter
Elvis made other people's songs unmistakably his own. What his performances in EPiC reveal about personal voice, creative influence, and AI.
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Creativity, AI, Brian Eno…and farming?
What do Brian Eno, Nebraska farming, and generative AI have in common? Better creative work grows from context, care, and continued refinement.
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Loving the alien
David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust shows how simple ideas leave room for imagination, and why creators using AI still need to own their stories.
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GNOME, Bowie, and why your creative sausage needs a recipe
GNOME's AI code rules and David Bowie's creative process offer a lesson: know your ingredients, understand your tools, and take ownership of your work.
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The person behind the riffs
Hi, I’m Mark.
I’m a writer, a maker, a rock & roll fan, and a whiskey enthusiast. I’m interested in what happens when time-honored traditions meet new tools, and how we keep the human part in everything we create.
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