Minted.FM

D4RK and I met through the Minted.FM Discord and quickly became a valuable member of our community. He was minting our melodies every drop, offering his feedback, and helping us foster a real community of our own. Shortly after, D4RK decided to take the leap of faith himself and create his own collection, MetaVase. Inspired by his father's pottery, D4RK chose a vase as his subject matter. Crafting each one by hand on his iPad, he found a true passion in creating each vase that connected him with the work of his father. With new vases dropping each week that always seem more stunning than the last, I can not tell you how excited I am to watch this collection grow and for D4RK to get the recognition he rightfully deserves. Hear his story and his recommendations for new artists entering the NFT space. If you make art, take the leap as D4RK did and dive into NFTs and you will find a community like you never have experienced before.

Fly Frogs is a collection of 10,000 frogs with a hilarious origin story. Molly (Mollcule on Twitter) and Joshcame up with the idea and acted quickly. Hear why they picked frogs as their base character (it's hilarious), how they built and grew their community, and what easter eggs they have hidden in their collection. You'll also learn about the frog breeding, where 2 frogs can be combined to make a tadpole. They drop some special knowledge about some secret combinations that will produce extra special tadpoles. These two are such a fun couple who saw the opportunity that NFTs presented and dove right in. There are so many fun stories along the way that will make you laugh and understand why Fly Frogs will be here for a long time to come.

Jake Gallen, known around Twitter as CatDad, has an entrepreneurial mindset. As a rare Las Vegas native, he is using his experience and expertise in antiques and applying that knowledge to NFTs. He recognized there was going to be historical value in the earliest Ethereum projects like MoonCats. Jake even had some of his MoonCats up for auction at Sotheby's recently. When Jake is not buying NFTs he often finds himself educating others on NFTs in the Las Vegas area. He has big plans for making Las Vegas the NFT capital within the US. Educating, incubating, and moving local government policy are just a few things his Nativ Research brand is doing with their time. Jake also runs his own podcast called The Guest Listwhere he sits down with industry leaders and innovators in the Las Vegas area. Jake is the type of guy that sees so much untapped potential in the NFT space. Hear him share his story, his vision, and how he is attempting to make Las Vegas the place to be for NFTs.

Fang Gang is a collection of 8,888 Fangsters created from the artistic minds of Junshi and Paca. Together with their two other team members, Steamed Bun and Sincos, they created a smart contract and a website for their collection. Over the past few months, we have seen incredible growth in their community and their unique number of holders. Junshi and Paca are both dedicated to the long-term success of Fang Gang and have so much planned it would make anyone excited to have their own Fangster. From PxlFangs to Fang Runner to New Fang City, hear the story of Fang Gang and the future plans in store directly from the two minds that created one of the most unique pfp collections out today.

Dolos (DolosEther on Twitter) is a wise collector, he knows how to scout undervalued projects and patiently wait for their moment in the sun. A perfect tweet of his to encapsulate this idea reads, "Sloth energy is the way to make it in crypto. Buy undervalued projects. Snooze all day. Wait for moon." While this may not be the most exciting strategy for many, however, it is most often a more profitable strategy than flipping. Dolos shares what he believes brings a project value, new or old, and dives into how a strong community can really mean everything in the success of a project. Listen in to this episode if you want to learn about relic NFT projects and an alternative strategy in NFTs outside of flipping that will definitely bring more calm and stability into your daily life.

Gaper shares his incredible story on how creating a physical punk derivative out of spare computer parts lead him to make a super-limited NFT collection called Chiptos. Chiptos may resemble punks but there is so much heart and creativity behind them than other punk spin-offs. First off, there are only 512 of them (a fun reference to computer numerology) and each one was rendered in 3D taking which took months of hard work to render the entire collection and create the smart contract. Gaper also found a way to give back to the community, donating a computer to a local high school student who couldn't afford one on their own. Hear the story of Chiptos and the amazing team that Gaper found to make this project a reality. Also, find out more about the next project Gaper has planned and how Chiptos holders will be rewarded when that drops.

In this episode, I sat down with Matt Sarasota (aka Wildthing) to discuss his NFT collection, Nucklehedz. Nucklehedz are simple 100% unique pieces hand-drawn with a limited palette and a limited toolset that aim to catch the essence of their character’s persona. Paired with hilarious trait combinations that will leave you in stitches, Nucklehedz have a way of making you smile as you browse through each one. Matt shares his story, his inspiration, and overall just how fun it has been to build this collection and a community that enjoys what he is doing. Being a one-man band, Matt goes into detail about what it was like to do this all by himself and how he came to find a group of artists who all helped lift each other up and share each other's work to grow their audiences together. Matt has done collaborations with other artists, collected NFTs himself, and built his own collection and community and he shares all the knowledge and lessons he has learned along the way.

Chris Ridley is a UK-based photographer who has been in the business and shooting for major brands for over 10 years. When he isn't shooting for clients, which often involves very rigid guidelines and limited room for self-expression, he takes to the streets to fulfill his real passion, street photography. He has a passion for photographing people and he shares how he discovered his love for taking to the streets and not knowing what he might capture on any given day. Chris discovered NFTs and realized that he could participate in this budding new space with his photography. Each series he creates tells a different story, from his Street Photography: London series to his Lost At Sea series, he is building collections around strong thematic elements that tie each collection together. Chris shares all about what it's like to be a photographer and the complexities of licensing your work and the considerations you should make when making those decisions. We also touch on the difficulty and conundrum of feeling the need to be on social media to get yourself out there and to see what others are doing, and how it can actually be a hindrance to the creative process. This is an episode you don't want to miss because photography feels like such an overlooked art form in NFTs at the moment when zoo animal profile pictures and 10k collections are all the rage. Click here to view Chris' website and links to his work.

JO7 and I met in our early days of NFTs. We were actually each other's first 1-to-1 trade done entirely on trust. From there, we shared projects and artists with one another that we liked and grew a lasting friendship. Over the past year, JO7 has become a powerful voice in the NFT space. Often highlighting projects and artists that are making powerful statements rather than the next 10k profile picture project. He built his digital gallery, JO7.Gallery, in Cryptovoxels and began holding events where he would feature different artists and works as a way to give them a new platform to share their work with new audiences. Besides highlighting global artists or artists making works that are challenging the status-quo of NFTs, he Co-FoundedBeetsDAO and has his own blog on Curare. JO7 is someone I deeply admire and trust and that is all built upon his character. Hear his thoughts on NFTs, his story, and what he wants to do to help change the NFT space for the better.

If you don't know about Rizzle, you should. He has advised some of the most popular NFT projects and worked alongside legends like j1mmy.eth, NateAlex, and niftytime (aka Matthew) who he hosts his own podcast with calledThe Matthew and Rizzle Show. A true pioneer in the space, Rizzle has a mind that is always thinking about what is next and how to push the boundaries of NFTs and the underlying tech. Hear about all of Rizzle's ventures and how he has gotten involved in so many projects that are now some of the most successful projects in all of NFTs. This episode was an absolute blast to record and there is a lot you can learn from someone like Rizzle who chose to get involved early and dropped everything to go all-in on NFTs.