Alpha Centauri Kid, Part 2 - The Man Behind The Muse
Hello my dear readers —
Two weeks ago I released Part 1 of my interview with the artist known as Alpha Centauri Kid. Part 1 was focused on The Broken Keys, ACK’s new collection of 48 unique one-of-one pieces focused on the central theme of a piano. You can read it here:
The full interview - Parts 1 and 2 - is also available as a podcast for Hound House Members (it will unlock to the general public one week after its release). Members may access the podcast here.
Read on below or listen on for a great conversation about ACK’s art, a glimpse into ACK’s personal life and thoughts, and some alpha about his upcoming projects.
After I released that interview, ACK had an incredibly successful auction. All 48 pieces were sold for a total of 730 ETH ($1.3M). The top winning bid was 31.69 ETH. The lowest winning bid was 9 ETH.
ACK responded to the sale on Twitter:
He also named the group of collectors that holds the pieces “The Piano Collective.”
What will the role of The Piano Collective be? What will they do? What should they expect? According to ACK, only time, and The Muse, will tell:
Now that the hullabaloo of The Broken Keys has subsided a bit, I am releasing Part 2 of our interview both in written form (this article), and also as a podcast, for those of you who prefer to consume via audio. You can find the podcast here (Currently the pod consumed via the Substack app - in the near future I will be uploading all pods to Spotify and other podcast platforms.)
Part 2 is much more expansive than Part 1, and during this part of the conversation, we cover the following topics:
ACK’s background, and how he decided to quit his government job to pursue art full time
The Muse - who is she? How does ACK communicate with her?
Parenting, the finiteness of time, death, and regret
His collab with XCOPY
His relationship to money
Some alpha about his future plans, including his idea for his next big collection, upcoming physicals, collaborations, and more
…and a whole lot more.
Please enjoy this conversation with Alpha Centauri Kid.
In service,
Monty
A Conversation With Alpha Centauri Kid, Part 2: The Man Behind The Muse
Monty: I always like to start by going back in time. I'd love to hear about your childhood. Where did you grow up, and what was your family like?
ACK: I was born and raised in San Antonio, where I currently live. I've spent most of my life here. I have an older brother, and overall, I had a good family and positive experiences. My parents were divorced, so we had our share of issues like any other family, but I always maintained good connections with my mom, dad, and brother.
Prior to going full-time into art, you were working a day job at the Department of Homeland Security, and then you quit in late 2021 to pursue art full-time. Could you please bring me back to that point in your life and tell me where your head was at. How did you make that big decision to take that leap, and how did you know it was the right time?
I've been an artist my whole life, but I started pursuing NFTs, and digital art in March of 2021. Throughout my journey, I gained some momentum and some quote-unquote success.
By December 2021 it was becoming really difficult to do both art and my day job – I would work on art for most of my day, and then I would rush to try and get all of my “real” work done within the last two hours of the day.
I got to the point where I couldn't balance the two because I was just so obsessed with getting my next piece out and taking advantage of the opportunities that were coming my way. The art just consumed me.
Like normally you just work on art at your own pace, and that's ideally what you should do anyway. But when you finally discover that wow, people care enough about my art to pay for it, then you realize that this needs to be taken seriously.
At the end of 2021, I had two huge one-of-one sales: Punk 6529 spent 165 ETH for my SuperRare genesis – ctrl + alt + generate. Then the following day Vincent Van Dough spent 200 ETH on til death do us part.
Those two back to back sales were a total of one-point-something million dollars. And not to talk about money, but I had a decision to make. I realized I had made a lot of money and I needed to be respectful of the situation and go full-time on this. Because to make that kind of money for art and to still do your day job, it just feels like you're not committing. I realized I had no excuses. I couldn't come up with any excuses to continue working.
Let’s put a flag on the topic of money because I do want to come back to that. But to follow up on what you were just saying, I think a lot of newer artists struggle when they hear someone like you say, “oh, I started to find success and the next thing I know Vincent Van Dough is buying my piece for 200 ETH.”
But there's this vague, foggy in-between of how'd you go from zero to that? And I know it's different for every person and there's no roadmap and what worked before may not work in the future and it's not even something you can always explain. But I'm curious if there are pieces from that puzzle and from your journey that you can point to or highlight that helped you build your success and your reputation?
So the first thing that really opened the door for me was hanging out in the XCOPY discord and just having the right idea for a collab with XCOPY at the right time. And fortunately he was available and interested.
This was prime XCOPY time. I mean, obviously it's always prime XCOPY time, but at that moment he was having massive sale after massive sale. And at the time, I was just hanging out in his discord as a fan because he was one of the first artists I learned about when I came over to crypto – him and Beeple were the two that brought me over.
So I would just fanboy in his Discord for months, just chatting and making friends. And I just had an idea to do a collab with him and fortunately it worked out. So that was a really big door opening moment for me. And it was because of that collab that 6529 and VVD both learned about me. But with VVD, it was actually my follow piece when he really jumped on board.
One thing that really helped me on my journey was being daring enough to continue the story that XCOPY and I told as a collab. I thought there was more to the story, and so I took a risk and I furthered that story and that theme with another piece.
And that's the piece that VVD shared. He tweeted about it. I had never talked to him before. And then he wrote a tweet about me being “next up.”
I think the work spoke for itself and people really resonated with it. And then from there, I just kept trying to improve my process and I really started being more thoughtful when it came to releasing new work.
Because prior to the XCOPY collab, I was just a guy making art. My highest sale at the time was 2 ETH. I was just making art, sharing it, getting it on Foundation, and then X copy agreed to collab.
So that created this window, and I tried to be really thoughtful, and I thought to myself I can either go all out or I can squander this opportunity. Because an XCOPY collab doesn't guarantee me any further success after that. The rest, it's up to me to continue my story and my journey.
So I think finding opportunities and really just running with them is really crucial to moving your career forward.
Can you get into more detail about the XCOPY collab. How did that actually go down? Did you DM him?
I was just learning how to work in 3D with Cinema 4d.
I'd made a few pieces on Foundation, some punk-themed pieces. And I just had my all-time-high sale and I was talking about it in XCOPY’s bar - which is just his Discord, but he calls it the bar. And I was talking about the sale and he congratulated me, and I said, “Hey, I have an idea for a scene, a bar scene called XCOPY’S, do you mind if I do that?” And he was just like yeah, go for it.
At that point I was thinking man, he's really cool, this is my chance to shoot my shot. So I DMed him a two-paragraph-long note asking if he would collab on this piece and he agreed. He said “make the bar and we'll do the rest together.”
So I rushed home from work that day and started making the bar scene. Then I sent him stuff that night and we spent about two weeks on it, going back and forth. Those were two of the most fun weeks of my life.
I even titled the Cinema 4D file I was working on “XCOPY holy shit” because it was such a big moment - like, holy shit, XCOPY is collabing with me.
We went back and forth for two weeks. I would work on something and then he'd work on textures, or adding his style and he would send it to me and I would layer it in. The entire bar scene is layered with things he created. And if you explore the scene, you'll see that.
It was his idea to put water in the bar. Once he said that, I was like, man, that's fucking brilliant. And then the process of figuring out how light and shadows play on water was a fascinating learning experience.
It was such a brilliant fortunate experience for me. It was amazing learning from him that early on in my career. I learned so much that has really helped me long-term. He's also one of the people that taught me how important titling your art is.
Editor’s Note: The collaboration between ACK and XCOPY resulted in the low edition piece called Last Orders!.
Now you've been full-time for a while as an artist, and being an artist in this space is more than just art. It is also twitter, marketing, ideation, etc. I'm sure every week is different, but what does a day in your life look like right now, if you were to characterize that?
My wife wakes up and gets the kids up and gets them ready for school. Then, I get up and take them to school. She stays here with our youngest daughter.
And then when I get home, I usually make coffee and just come and sit in the office, which is also a playroom. We're moving soon. Sadly I won't have the kid’s kitchenette in my Zoom background anymore.
Then I'll have coffee and then I'll ignore all of my emails and I'll just start making art. All of my other shit's piling up, but all I want to do in the mornings is just sit and think about art and think about what I'm working on and maybe try a new scene. Lately everything I've been doing has been to get the piano collection ready.
So usually just coffee and art all morning. And then by the afternoon, I pick the kids up, play with them, go outside, hang out, and have fun. And then in the evening I'm back on the computer once everyone's asleep.
How do you take your coffee?
Just black
So, of course, I can’t talk to you without talking about the muse. In June, 2021, you minted a piece called She Doesn't Need You, which was sold for 0.3 ETH to Punk6529. This piece includes some of your iconic imagery, including a piano and flowers, and it's set in Paris.
Much later, in reference to that piece, you tweeted “she's really been here with me all along the muse. I believe this is her first appearance in my art. It's crazy for me to think about, really.”
So who is this muse? Who shows up in this piece? And when did you first meet her?
So I think this scene was a sneak peek into my future. And I obviously didn't realize it at the time, because it wasn't some planned thing to have these elements become a major part of my aesthetics. The recognizability has just happened. Like I never thought to go back and say “let me go find things I can repeat,” it just naturally evolved that way.
When I created it, I was not planning on it being the first piece that the muse appeared in. But I'm assuming that this female figure here is the muse. I think this is when the muse energy was first born or brought into my world. And now, somehow, I have wound up where I'm at now where I can feel and refer to The Muse.
It's cool being able to share the process and the journey with this greater being - The Muse - who really is just the artistic energy floating around the universe. I think if you're willing to let in the whispers, then you're opening yourself up to opportunities that could be great for you as an artist.
And so I try to be available to those whispers as much as I can and tap into them as often as I can.
I think that there is wisdom here both for artists and for people who don't consider themselves artists. The truth is that we all have a muse - whether you want to call it that or something else. There are times in life that if we are quiet and we listen to the whispers, as you call them, it might lead us in an important direction…but only if we have the conviction or the courage to take those steps.
Yeah, I agree. I think the universal law is real. Like with the muse prints, for example, the moment I started on that course, I had no idea.
It seemed impossible to get silk screen prints in the Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art day sale. It was just a thought. But I found a great silk screen printer who was willing to let me work with her to make these and once that door opened, then I'm like, okay, let me just start going down this road and see what happens.
And then fortunately, I got a meeting with Nicole Sales from Christie's - she's great. I had a coffee with her, and she liked the idea. And I had no guarantee from anyone, but I knew that this is what I needed to do somehow.
Just by setting out on that course, I was able to achieve it. Doors just started opening up and every time there was a new obstacle that made me think damn, this isn't gonna happen, somehow magically things kept going towards that place as long as I kept trying.
Besides playing on the piano, are there other settings or places or activities that help you communicate with the muse?
Listening to music. When I'm driving and I am listening to music it's a good place for me to think about art and I'm taking notes all the time.
I'll come up with an idea or I'll have a vision of something and I'll stop what I'm doing, take a note, come back to it later. But yeah, driving, sitting, playing music, and even just sitting and thinking in the quiet usually helps.
This might sound like a silly question, but do you ever find yourself talking out loud to the muse as if they were a person?
No. I don't take it that literally. It’s more like an energy source. I can't communicate with it, but I can show my obedience to it by being available to it, and whatever this energy is that I call the Muse will continue to guide me as long as I continue to be open to it.
That's why I've had to say no to a lot of things over the past year. Things I didn't want to say no to, but it just wasn't what I felt The Muse wanted. It can feel risky to say no to certain people, but you’ve just got to trust your instinct.
And fortunately, when I choose to follow that intuition it seems to work out. It doesn't work out every time, but eventually things pan out.
So moving away from art for a moment. So you're the father of three daughters? My second daughter is arriving this summer, so you're a couple steps ahead of me. What advice do you have for me? How exhausted am I going to be?
I don't think you'll be exhausted.
I think the best advice I can I give is to just spend more time with them. This is advice for myself too - to stop what I'm doing more and just try and be patient and be in every moment with them, because one day I'm going to desperately wish they were here to spend time with.
Being more in the moment and more present is the best advice I could ever give anyone.
Amazing advice, and often very hard to put into practice.
Very hard to practice. I'm a failure at it all the time, but I go to sleep thinking about it.
What is your favorite part about being a parent and what would you say is the hardest part for you?
I think my favorite part is sharing life with people who love you unconditionally.
And I think the hardest is to give them the time they deserve. Even though I do give them a lot of time, they deserve all my time. But, obviously I can't do that. No one really can. But knowing I won't be around for them someday is terrifying. That scares the shit out of me.
Are your daughters pretty tuned into your art career and the digital art world?
Yeah, they are. They went to Christie’s with me and my wife last year for the auction and they were there in the auction room while it's sold, and so was Anonymoux - he was a few chairs down with a paddle and he won it right there live, which was amazing.
But yeah, they [my daughters] know the ins and outs. They know the pieces, and they have their favorites. They used to love laughing about the Pepe art and I used to try and convince them to make Pepe art and they wouldn't.
One of their favorite things to do is making art. They love making art in Cinema 4d. They'll always come up and say ask if they can work on their art pieces. My oldest daughter is working on a scene - a really cool scene pianos and flowers, believe it or not, but it looks like their own little unique styles. It doesn't look like an ACK.
So that's amazing to see. I really want to have make it easy for them to tap into those creative outlets as they grow up.
How do they describe you to their friends? Do they say you are an artist?
Yeah, they'll say that. Sometimes it’s ridiculous. One day they were like “I told my friends that my dad is a VIP.” I had to tell them I am not a VIP. They think I'm some big shot, which is hilarious because I'm just me.
The piece I mentioned earlier that we put up on the screen, She Doesn’t NEED you, you wrote that it symbolizes a future in which your daughters don't need a man or anyone else to accomplish their wildest dreams.
What are some of your wishes for your daughters over the coming years?
To have the means to pursue their passions in life and not have to work too soon if they don’t want to.
Obviously they’re going to have to have their own experiences and struggles and stuff like that. But I had to get my first job working in fast food when I was 16 years old, and I hated it. I hated that I had to do it because we grew up poor and it just really pissed me off. And it was the worst way to get into the work field.
I know that’s a very common experience. That's how most of us have to do it. But I want them to have the choice of how they get introduced into that world and maybe they don't have to get a bad job. Maybe they can intern or work at the gallery that I want to build or whatever. I just want them to have optionality and I don't want them to have to stress or give up their loves in life to make money.
Tell me more about the gallery you want to build.
I want to have a gallery here locally [in San Antonio] and that way I have somewhere to display my muse prints and the physicals I'm working on. I can host exhibitions myself. I can curate. I can get a Cath Simard 1-of-1 on the wall there if she wants to do a physical. I can get any of my friends or artists, and I can showcase their work. I can work with my daughters maybe when they're in high school or whatever, if the high school wants to. I want to have a place where I can curate stuff and I can hold exhibitions for local artists and younger artists.
I think art should be something that people are thinking about as a career, because some people have no choice but to be artists. For lot of us, we're just artists no matter what. And I don't want it to be just some delusional fantasy. I want it to be a real opportunity for some, or at least something realistic to strive towards that if they want.
I want the gallery to be an experience. The last time I was at Disney World you go on those little boat rides and you get to go on these experience tours, and I think that's the best way to experience art.
So that's why I chose to work with OnCyber, because they could take the sculptures I made for the Broken Keys Collection and they can put them in the gallery, so you're getting more of an experience of the collection.
I think we need an “Art Disney World,” and I want to do that for me and my art. I also think it should be done at a large scale. I don't have the means to do that, but I'm going to do the best I can at making a gallery.
I love the vision. A customized Steinway piano [referenced in Part 1]. A gallery. You're an ambitious person.
I have the opportunity. If I squander it away, I would forever regret it.
In your prior response you mentioned that “we don't have a choice about whether or not we're artists.” I think that might make sense to people who feel that way, but for people who don't consider themselves artists or who have never experienced that, that comment might be a little head scratching.
What do you mean you don't have a choice? Can you just expand on that?
For me personally, and I'm certain other artists feel the same, I've tried to quit art before. I've tried to quit music and walk away from my creative side. I've tried to ignore it and hide from it. But you just can't. You’re going to find yourself in a moment where you need to get this creative thought out.
The times when I swore off music and I swore off art, that happened because I felt like I was at rock bottom, and I was like, you know what, fuck this I'm not going ever touch art again or music or anything.
And I think that's the moment that the Muse really entered into my life and just said, okay he's at rock bottom now, now we can show him, now we can bring him back into this world.
I'm pretty sure people who leave the space are still going to go on to create art, because it's just not an option. Even when I was working for DHS, I was always working on something, some piece of art somehow, whether music or a Photoshop or an oil on canvas. It just never stops. I do think that a lot of people ignore those things and don't think of this way, but me personally, I try to not take it for granted.
You mentioned money earlier. I said I would come back to that. You were working a government job before you went full-time into art. I imagine you were making a solid middle class government salary. And now a single piece of yours can sell for what your annual salary was back then.
So I'm curious, as your finances have evolved and you've been able to earn more money, how has that impacted your life, your psyche, and your relationships?
It hasn't impacted my drive to create. If anything, it has heightened my enthusiasm. I've always been passionate about my work, often going above and beyond, even when making a music video that would only be seen by six people.
The newfound freedom from not having to spend ten hours a day at work is truly amazing, and I consider myself very fortunate. This change has greatly influenced my mental mindset. I believe it helps me relax and focus more on my art.
However, in terms of my life, not much has changed. My lifestyle isn't extravagant. Yeah I drive a Tesla, but I have no desire to buy a Ferrari or anything of that sort. I prefer to earn a steady salary and continue pursuing my artistic endeavors.
Actually, there is one thing that has changed. I now have the option to invest in something like a Steinway piano to create a beautiful piece of art out of it [Editor’s note: ACK discussed these plans in detail in Part 1 of this interview]. Normally, one wouldn't spend that kind of money on a Steinway just to transform it. But the idea is there, and it feels like an opportunity where, if I build it, they will come.
I have these options available to me now, but I am no Beeple. I have enough money to fulfill my artistic potential, and beyond that I try not to dwell too much on money. My focus remains on becoming the best artist I can be.
Are most of your friends and family aware of your successful art career at this point?
Yeah, my immediate family is aware of my situation, but I don't have many close friends outside of this space. I used to have a very close friend with whom I engaged in various creative endeavors. Unfortunately, he fell into a difficult situation and got involved with drugs, which he has been unable to overcome. He's still struggling, and I've been there for him, doing my best to support and help him. He was my lifelong best friend and we always had each other and didn't really need anyone else.
However, discussing this topic can be awkward with social acquaintances and casual friends because their first question is often about money. They ask how much my artwork sells for. It feels strange to respond with figures like half a million dollars, $200,000, or even $50,000. Any amount above $10,000 or even $500 for a piece of art is amazing.
So I try not to talk about it too much. When someone asks what I do, I simply say I'm an artist. If they ask about the type of art I create, I mention painting or digital art. Usually, the conversation doesn't go beyond that. It’s also weird to say “I sell NFTs” - I mean NFTs is just the technology to sell digital art, right?
I'm not selling NFTs. I'm selling art. You know what pisses me off a lot is when I see a lot of influencer types saying things like “I'm looking for new NFTs,” or something about NFTs, and they'll have a whole paragraph about NFTs and they never say the word art. That always bothers me when these Punk profile picture people or Bored Ape people just use the word NFT for everything. It doesn't sit well with me when I see long, big articles about NFTs and there's not one mention of the word art.
I feel you on that. I've been more cognizant of only using the term in my writing when it actually makes sense, rather than just as a placeholder for whatever I'm talking about.
That does bring up a thought - yesterday, I was telling my father-in-law about my plans to do some silk screens for the Color Studies.
I don't know if you saw the Pale Blue Death - I did two of those as silk screens. They came out so good. And we already have the screens, so now I can do the other ten colors. So I decided I'm going to do 10 silk screens at 35” x 40” for each color.
I'll have a hundred total and I'm going sell them traditionally - like no NFT attached, because there already is an NFT - The Great Color Study.
But there's a demand for them. So I'm going to give away some. Like the ACK PFP holders will all get one. And if you own the full Color Study set plus the Pale Blue Death, you'll get one for free as well. That's, so that's 30 something people total. And I'll have about 60 left to sell and to give away.
But anyway, my point was he [my father-in-law] was like “don't forget about your digital collectors.”
I'm like, this is for my digital collectors. A lot of people want physical art in their home. I see a piece behind you and that doesn't look like a TV screen, and it looks great.
Yes, having physicals on my wall is one of my ways I onboard people to digital art. They come into my office and they see this piece framed, and they’re like “that's cool. What is that?” And then I explain to them it’s actually a digital art piece, a generative art piece. And then they're like what the heck is that? And I get to educate them a little.
When you are feeling unfocused or overwhelmed, do you have any routines or practices to help you relax or refocus?
I like to go on bike rides through my neighborhood. Or just go outside, spend time with my kids. I exercise when I can. I don't do that enough. But usually if I'm stressing out or struggling, I'll just stop what I'm doing and go on a bike ride with no music, no anything, and just think – or sometimes not even think.
When was the last time you cried?
Shit – last night thinking about…like I said earlier, when you were asking about being a parent….
I wouldn't say I wept, but just sitting there with, watery eyes, thinking about fuck, I'm not going to be able to be here someday for my kids when they're adults. And they're gonna need me and I'm not gonna be there. I hate that.
Besides not being able to be there for your kids, what would you say your relationship to death is like? Death and skull imagery shows up a lot in your work and I'm curious about that.
I'm terrified of it, to be honest. It's something that haunts me.
Especially like being successful, quote unquote makes it even scarier because I'm like, fuck what's gonna be my last piece of art and who's going to own it?
I have so many stories I want to tell. To not be able to tell those stories is terrifying to me.
Every night I go to sleep there's like these three paintings I see – these big, huge grand paintings and I want to paint them. I know I want them to be my life's paintings - oil on canvas. I want to take years to do them. And not being able to do those is just a terrifying thought. So I need to start on them right away.
Thank you for sharing. Let's talk about some future plans. So now that Broken Keys has been unleashed on the world, besides the custom Steinway piano, which is an epic undertaking, I'm curious if there's anything else that the Muse is whispering in your ear right now.
What does the future hold for ACK?.
I have the color study prints I'm working on, I'll be working on those after The Broken Keys drop. I'll think of interesting ways to give a few away and I need to figure out pricing for those and how to sell them and all those things.
In terms of the piano, I know my father-in-law is ready. We move at the end of May. So once we move, I'll have my own studio and place to work to start this grand skull piano. [Editor’s note: The plans for this were discussed in more detail is Part 1 of this interview].
But aside from that, I want to do a really nice low quantity Ackstract edition.
I have a curated drop coming up with Avant Arte in the fall, which I am excited about. I won't say through who yet because it hasn't been announced, but it's a curated drop with some really respected people. It'll be a low quantity and so I am looking forward to that. The art's already done for that.
I think the next bigger collection I want to work on, similar to my piano collection, will be a flower collection, from Her Favorite Flower contract. I want to spend a good year on that, so maybe some time in 2024 I will have curated a collection of flowers like I did for the pianos.
I like the idea of doing collections. Not all the time, but as the inspiration comes. That's how Warhol sold his work. That's how Basquiat sold his work. Or Herring. They all did collections at galleries and people would walk in and they would buy the one they wanted. And that just seems like a fun way to sell art.
One of the, one of the most exclusive collections that you've released is your ACK PFP collection. There are only nine items in that collection. Do you have any plans to expand that collection at any point?
I actually made the 10th one just like a week ago.
It’s so good. I can't wait to share it, but I don't also want a front run piano, so I'm just leaving it, I'm letting him just chill until I debut him to the world shortly after pianos.
I'll give you the alpha, I'll send you the link. Just don't share it.
Oh yeah. That's awesome. I love that.
I don't know what his name is yet though. I'm waiting for that whisper to come around.
How do you think you'll release it?
I've released all the others with no reserve. But the last one sold for 30 something and I'm like, man in this market, I don't know.
But I need to come up with an interesting way to release 'em. But I can see myself doing a no reserve. Whoever wants it can get it if they're willing to fight for it.
Do you have any collabs in the works?
Joe Pease is the guy I'm really trying to work with. We're chatting and the idea is there, but I want to do it properly. I want to fly out to where he's at once we have it storyboarded and I want to film it with him and I want to watch him do his thing.
I want him to direct it and I'll be the producer and we'll combine. I think the story is going to be worth doing, but the only way to do it right is if I'm there with them and we do it properly.
There's no guarantee it's going to happen. We just know we want to try and experiment and then if it happens, great. If not, hey, at least we tried.
Do you have any pieces of work or collections that you're particularly proud of or that you think might be underrated by people or not talked about as much that
Yeah, I think my ACKFTW collection of the Symphony for the Muse. One of those Muses sold not long ago for 30 something ETH. They're essentially 1-of-1s. Then you have your three colors.
I'm really proud of that collection because that's when I started experimenting with color studies and giving optionality to collectors byt letting them pick a favorite of several. That has been an interesting thing to work with.
Let’s wrap up with some rapid fire questions. What do you like about skateboarding?
I used to love it because learning how to do tricks is just fun. Even if you’re not doing tricks, it’s fun to just get on a board and just ride.
I used to be really good, but I was a teenager. Then in my twenties I decided that the risk of getting seriously injured wasn't worth the time I was putting into it. So I just pursued other outlets instead. But I’ll always love it.
What music are you listening to right now?
An album I discovered yesterday called How To Kill A Rockstar by MASN. I'd never heard of them before. I like the music and I like the lyrics and the vibe of it is good.
I like Derek Pope a lot.
I like classical music. I listened to a lot of it while creating the piano collection.
What meme coins are you holding right now?
Only Doge surprisingly. Only because I never sold it. It's just the Doge I bought in the beginning.
This question comes from my Twitter audience. When will you grow your hair long again?
[Laughs] That must be from Iceman. I don't know. I had it long and my wife kept reminding me, you need a haircut! So, when she's finally cool with it, I'll do it.
Can you shout out some artists whose work you think deserve a few more eyeballs?
Whenever I am asked this question I always blank out, so I will follow up with a list.
[Editor’s note: When I get this list, I will share it]
Anything you really want to acquire?
Obviously I would love an XCOPY one-of-one.
I want a Squiggle from Snowfro. I haven't bought a Squiggle yet.
Do you have a favorite squiggle type?
I would take any of 'em to be honest. As long as it moves, I'll take it.
Are there any collectors that you either have an especially close relationship with or who you enjoy communicating with that you wanna shout out?
Probably one of my closest friends is Punk 9272 - @financenewsguy. He has a punk with a yellow background. He's one of my close advisors and friends who I problem solve with sometimes. He always gives me unbiased feedback and he’s not just a yes man.
VVD for sure. He’s a good person that helps me think about things strategically and he's very smart and considerate with his responses and he doesn't just kiss my ass either.
Then there is 6529. I don't hit him up as often because I know he's just god level busy, but I really appreciate anytime I get to chat with him over DMs.
Oh, and obviously Anonymoux. He and I chat a lot. So he's one of my go-to.
Then there is Bharat, and lots of others I DM with.
ACK, this has been super fun. Thank you for dedicating so much of your morning to hang out with me and chat.
Thank you. Yeah, no, I appreciate it. It's been an honor. I appreciate the time and your thoughtful questions.
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