If you’re looking for something to please the NFT community this week, look no further than VeeFriends Series 2, now featuring a new animation style that looks, well, not quite as sketchy as the original series. The new series adds 15 new characters and re-imagines the original 236 characters. It also features some new original cartoon commercials that I recently had on Benzinga’s Web3 Anarchy show.
Entrepreneur, author, speaker, creator and eminent NFT evangelist, Gary Vaynerchuck, has predicted that his hand-drawn characters, including Brave Bison, Amiable Anchovy, and Loyal Lobster, could become a new Disney-esque universe of intellectual property. The new VeeFriends series seems to be a step-by-step step towards making that possible with artworks that look more polished, such as watching a character go from concept to the first character model between the two series. You can learn more about the drop on the VeeFriends website, and the sale will begin on April 25.
But if you’re looking for art that goes a little harder, at the intersection of original animation and music, I’ll turn your attention to Crystal Method’s new drop.
If you hung out in clubs in the late 1990s, you may have a special place in your heart for Crystal Method, one of the pioneers who brought the American big beat electronic music genre to the world as one of the most successful electronic acts of all time.
Method has lost one of its two founding members, Ken Jordan, who retired in 2017, but Scott Kirkland has adopted the band’s name and continued the tradition of the band’s fusion of techno, rock and classic rap beats in hard drive. danceable musical hymns. Now the band is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a new album, a new video and the first NFT drop on MakersPlace.
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You may remember MakersPlace is the NFT marketplace that brought us “Everydays: First 5,000 Days” by digital artist Beeple, a collection of images the artist created every day for 13 years and presented as one piece. The 1/1 NFT associated with “First 5,000 Days” became the “NFT Sale Heard Around the World” when it sold for approximately $69.3 million at Christie’s in March 2021, drawing the attention of the mainstream media about the around the world and amassed what we’re guessing was way over 5,000 articles.
Billing itself as the home for rare and authentic digital artworks, Marketplace seems to be competing for the niche of highly curated collections of original art of all kinds.
The Crystal Method drop will take place on April 26 at 3:30 p.m. PT and will consist of the official video for the “Watch Me Now” video, followed by an unspecified number of limited edition animations and open edition cels from the music video. The video is from the band’s new album “The Trip Out”, a post-punk album released under Ultra records.
The “Watch Me Now” video was directed by Micah Monkey (Micah Chambers-Goldberg), a director, animator and illustrator who has collaborated with Eric Clapton, Interscope, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Shady Records, Jakks Pacific, Rockmafia and Warner Music and major brands such as Coca-Cola.
The original animation matches the band’s frenetic musical style with a story that, according to the press release, is about “a woman, rags dropped into the barren Mojave desert by two sinister men-in-black figures who pilot a flying saucer. “They torment her until she summons her crystal ship and takes her rightful place as an alien queen. She takes revenge on Area 51 before flying off, along with The Crystal Method’s tour bus to crystal-clear Las Vegas.”
I took the time to talk to Scott Kirkland and get his perspective on his ongoing art and music in a changing world of digital ownership.
Scott Kirkland, Photo Credit: Sam Hodges
Benzinga: You’ve been making electronic music with Crystal Method for 25 years. Do you still love it?
Crystal Method: Yes, I love it. It’s clearly a different world than when we started in the late 90s. It was very active in the world of record sales. People were really buying things… but the joy of recording music and releasing it there is something I’ve always had and I definitely still enjoy doing.
Sometimes it’s a drag when you go into a studio and stare at a screen and try to think of what the average Crystal Method fan would like to hear, but… I can keep taking people on a journey and still sound like the band, but we give something else. So that’s a challenge, but it can also be fun – if you do it right.
Image from “Watch Me Now” Cystal Method video by Micah Monkey
When were you first introduced to NFTs?
I became aware of them about eight months ago. There was a lot of chatter and I had people reaching out to me and sending me information… I find it fascinating. I’m excited. with this my first NFT drop, and having someone like Micah Monkey make this really cool video and collaborate with Makerspace to launch it and get it out there. It’s the best of the best opportunity for me to dive in and share some art and the song I love… I’m excited to finally have one and then see where it goes next.
Do you see it as digital merch?
Yeah, if you grew up with rock shows… you’d buy a show… I had a Van Halen show, an AC/DC show, a Judas Priest show… You know, it’s the idea that someone takes something home or has something in their possession that is from a show or from a band. So yes, this has the same quality, but it lives in a different world where everything is digital.
Everything has changed since my old ass bought Judas Priest shows but there is an incredible market for it and people younger and smarter than me are leading the way in this new community and it’s exciting to have something different that benefits the artist … It’s another way for people to find art they love and for the artist to get paid.
Image from “Watch Me Now” Cystal Method video by Micah Monkey
What do users buy when they buy this NFT drop?
Obviously, having a piece of music belongs to that work of art. I grew up with a desire to see videos so desperate that I would sit in front of my TV for hours waiting for them to play the (Mötley Crüe) Looks that Kill video.
I would take pictures of the other screen and have my mom create and develop them at the local One-Hour Photo, just to take a little bit of that with me because I was such a fan. In a way, it’s like that – you’re enjoying a song or you’re enjoying a video and you want a piece of that, so now you buy the NFT to add to your digital collection. It’s a brave new world.
What allows releasing NFTs to do it differently?
I’m certainly intrigued by other ways to get artists directly compensated for their work. I think that’s a very positive way to move forward, especially now that all these artists, like myself, are putting out music that’s usually played on Spotify and someone else is reaping the rewards of all that hard work as we sit around counting as artists .003 % of a cent a game or some nonsense. I am very intrigued and very happy to have found my way into NFTs with some good people helping me on my way.
How did you come to work with MakersPlace?
Through my manager, Richard (Bishop), who has been with us for 25 years. We started talking about the NFT space and we shared some friends who are connected to this world. David Weier (Strategic Partnerships and Music Development for MakersPlace) was someone we’d worked with when he worked for Fuse TV and VH-1, so we made an appointment. David and everyone on MakersPlace helped me facilitate this and figure out the best way to do it. Then we’ll see where it goes from here.
Image from “Watch Me Now” Cystal Method video by Micah Monkey
Summary
It’s always good to see established artists enter the space, and Crystal Method’s electronic music seems to be a good conceptual fit for this new era of digital ownership. Other recording artists we’ve talked to, like System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, usually seem to start with a fairly simple drop and then expand with projects that have more complex ways of interacting with the audience.
The “Watch Me Now” drop includes perks that auction winners can receive, including VIP tickets with backstage passes to shows during the tour, hotel rooms and a dinner with Crystal Method before the show. Those are all good steps to add interest to the drop, but I’m looking forward to the second drop of artists entering the space, just to see what very creative people come up with in terms of engaging and engaging their audiences. the art itself, further blurring the line between creator and audience in a way that approaches the potential of a Web3 world.
This post EXCLUSIVE: The Big Beat Drops with Crystal Method’s New Album, Video and NFTs was original published at “https://www.benzinga.com/general/entertainment/22/04/26764436/exclusive-interview-the-big-beat-drops-with-crystal-methods-new-album-video-nfts”
