Alex Argento

Ok ok… the image was made with AI just to grab your attention.
Mea culpa — my fault 😅
But this actually happened at NAMM 2019, and it was wild.
I went with my great friend (and brother) Andrea Casali Andrea Casali
We had planned everything carefully: flights, schedule, and an Airbnb close to the convention center.
All 5-star reviews. Cheap. What could possibly go wrong?
First day at the trade show, dinner with friends, back to the Airbnb… all normal.
Until 5 a.m..
I woke up to voices outside the room.
Andrea was sleeping next to me.
Suddenly we heard:
“Open the door, police!”
Before I could move, the door was kicked in.
Two massive police officers rushed in, rifles pointed, yelling to raise our hands.
We were handcuffed and taken to the lobby, along with other people, while ten officers searched the building.
They trashed our room and luggage, asked a ton of questions, and kept us handcuffed for two hours.
Honestly, I wasn’t scared at all.
Andrea… less composed 😅 Half-shock mode, which made it even funnier to watch!
Eventually, they said:
“We got a tip about possible drug trafficking in this Airbnb, but obviously you had nothing to do with it.”
Then, half laughing: “Welcome to the USA!”
They removed the handcuffs, let us pack, and advised us to find another place to stay.
Luckily, our brother Marco Sfogli and some other friends hosted us nearby for the rest of NAMM.
After that wild start, everything went smoothly and we made it back to Italy safe and sound. LOL.
So yeah… no, I don’t think I’ll be going to NAMM again anytime soon 😂
And maybe it’s just a coincidence, but Trump was president in 2019… now he’s back.

That said—happy NAMM to everyone! 🤘

Let’s be brutally honest: pressing a few buttons and generating a song does not make you an artist.

You didn’t create.

You outsourced creation to a machine.

Real art comes from time, risk, pain, discipline, and obsession, not from a prompt and a click.

“I’ve always loved music but never had time to learn… now with AI I can finally express myself.”

No. You’re not expressing yourself.
You’re hiding behind an algorithm and calling it "talent".

Everyone wants the result without the journey, the applause without the effort.

AI has become the perfect mask to dress up mediocrity as genius.

The issue isn’t the tool.

The issue is the lie: posting AI-generated content as if it were your own hard-earned craft.

Call yourselves “AI artists” if you want.

Just don’t be shocked when no one can tell the difference anymore between true art and a random file.

The danger isn’t that machines will surpass us.

The real danger is that we’ll stop being human enough to create anything real.

When humans stop creating, when we start believing machines can replace us, it’ll be too late and we’ll already feel useless without them.

AI is a tool.

The soul of art will always belong to humans.

New Corrado Rustici Winter Tour live song "When You Call My Name" feat. Alex Argento (keyboards, mixing & video editing), Andrea Casali (vocals/bass) and Roberto Porta (drums)

Live audio engineer Marco Musco
Enjoy!😎

Corrado Rustici - When you call my name - Live - Nov - 2024 With great joy, I finally had the chance to perform live, for the first time, this piece from the album The Heartist, written and recorded back in the distan...