Bitbones is a 1,000 piece hand-made collection by the artist Dustin Johnson. Dustin has a history of working in all sorts of different mediums with his art, and when he discovered NFTs he knew there was a whole new world to explore and share his art with. Over the past year Dustin has made each one of the 1,000 Bitbones by hand and has learned so much about the NFT space which he shares in this episode alongside some valuable advice for anyone just getting started. Bitbones has some exciting news with the new Bitbones Nemesis series that launches on Tokenfy on 2/25/2022 and offers some cool perks for Bitbones holders if they decide to sacrifice their Bitbones Nemesis. All of this and more in this episode of Minted.FM!

Spooky Fresh is not your average NFT project. It has layers of depth that most projects skip over. I am so glad I had the opportunity to speak with Richard and Florcy who are two of the founding members of Spooky Fresh. They both have a long history together and saw NFTs as a way for them to work together again on something new and exciting.  Florcy brings her marketing and strategy expertise from her past experience with companies like Netflix and Dell, and Richard has an extensive history in the art and design world. Together they dreamt up a project that not only satisfies with its visuals and creativity, but also addresses much larger issues like dedicated royalties to funding social impact causes and empowering the community to vote on what causes should be chosen. That is just the just the first layer of the onion. Hear about all of the interesting facets of the Spooky Fresh project that make it so unique in this special episode!

Vidpet started trading crypto in 2017 and never really found a passion with day trading. When he saw the alien Cryptopunk sale in early 2021, he knew he wanted to dive into the world of NFTs. With a childhood in Hungary comprised of collecting basketball cards, he felt NFTs ignite his collector passion again. Vidpet shares his journey in NFTs and how he has come to appreciate historical projects like Mooncats, Lunartoken, Cryptopunks, Realms of Ether, and more. We also talk about crypto gaming and all of the potential for NFTs in the gaming space. There are many categories of NFTs and we talk about how you can begin to see what has long term potential versus what is just the flavor of the week.

MABLAB is an artistic duo comprised of Ainura and Madina, two sisters from Kazakstan. They both have such unique backgrounds, one sister an architect the other a dancer, and how they came into the NFT space with an idea of creating a collection with conceptual substance. We chat all about their careers, inspirations, and concepts behind MABLAB that make it such an interesting project. Their work is spread across KnownOrigin, Async.Art, MakersPlace, and OpenSea. All of their work digitally crafted, including hand drawn elements, and it all stems from years of architectural research that is based on Madina's master thesis in Architecture.

Anthony Ventura, aka 𝐸𝓋𝑜𝓁𝓋𝑒-𝑅 on Twitter, is an award winning Illustrator from Canada whose work has appeared worldwide in various publications, advertising and multi-media. Some clients have included Playboy, Rolling Stone, Doritos, ESPN X-Games, and SPIN magazine to name a few. It is not often that I speak with an artist who has successfully navigated an entire career before entering NFTs and Anthony offers some incredible insight that he has used from his larger career to help him find success in the new world of NFTs. Anthony was actually the first artist I purchased an NFT from on the now defunct Hic et Nunc, a marketplace for Tezos based NFTs. In this episode we talk about Anthony's career, his inspirations, advice for managing your money as an artist, and the connections and relationships he has made since entering into the NFT space. This is an episode you don't want to miss!

OwlThor is not your typical NFT artist. He is a man who has lived many different lives and has found a way to always stay positive and find the best in people. He is a compassionate hard-working father and he shares so many stories of his life experiences that led him to be the person that he is today. From working in construction to being on the set of the a Superman movie, he isn't short on incredible (and hilarious) life experiences. Hearing these stories and his hardships you can tell that OwlThor isn't your typical NFT artist. Sit back, relax, and enjoy an episode that is full of many laughs and life lessons.

THE Goober is such a unique, caring, and thoughtful person in the NFT space. After living a life like he has, some would find it impossible to be so positive and uplifting of others. Hear Dave's story and how his life transformed him as a person and into the artist that he is today. With his collection, 100 Goobers, Dave is focusing creating a community around fun and engagement. He often hosts Twitter Spaces where he simply is there to help other project creators and artists ask questions and get advice on their projects. Beyond his 100 Goobers project, Dave has released projects on Tezos, Foundation, Showtime, and many other platforms. His passion and drive are second to none and we always need more people like Dave to lend a helping hand to people just getting started in the space.

Sarah and I have a long history together in the NFT world. We first met in the early days of the TRI3ES project and it became clear that Sarah was always thinking about how to help the projects she became involved with. Before long, Sarah was promoted within the TRI3ES Discord and is now a main community leader there. Helping with drops, managing the community, and staying active and stimulating the chat. Sarah was someone I began to see all over different Discords and it seemed like she was everywhere I was except she was always moving up the latter and becoming involved with every community. In this episode we talk about Sarah's experience in NFTs, how we met, and how we both came to work together in the Bloot Discord. Sarah is someone who somehow finds the time to do all of this while also holding a full-time job and being a mother. It is truly astounding to hear how involved she is with so many projects and how she still finds time to do anything outside of NFTs. Sarah also lets us in on what it has been like to be a woman involved in so a male-dominated space and some of the obstacles and pitfalls that come with that.

SalvoIn3D, AKA Salvo, is the type of person who turns inspiration into action. After seeing artists like Beeple and their success in the NFT world and specifically the 3D surrealist world, he wanted to dive in head-first. He started learning how to render 3D scenes and how to take ideas from his head and make them a reality. With just his laptop and imagination, he began his journey. It is always difficult to learn new tools and get past the phase of not knowing how to create something that you have in your head. Salvo got over this hump quickly and found himself able to create worlds, art, and scenes that he had no idea where to even start just months prior. He began releasing on Foundation, HEN, and more recently he was accepted on KnownOrigin which is no easy feat. He also has his Daily Renders which he drops on OpenSea. Hear Salvo's story and how driven he is to make an impact in the art world and you will be just as convicted as I am in his future success.

Mister Goldie is someone that I believe we all can be inspired by. He discovered NFTs about 6 months ago and decided to take his shot. Inspired by some of his favorite artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, you can see that Mister Goldie has an innate understanding of color and composition. It is easy to see why in the 6 months he has been doing this that his work is getting featured all around the world. Currently living in Chicago, Mister Goldie is embedding himself into the emerging NFT scene in the city. You can often see his work on display in the local gallery imnotArt. We are only just at the beginning of his career and all signs point to him being a huge name in NFTs for years to come.

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 Josh came 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 List where 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-Founded BeetsDAO 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 called The 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.