Meet the DJ Who Wears a CryptoPunk Helmet While He Spins

With immediately’s launch of his debut single “Angels,” digital musician Danny Maegaard expects some doubters who’re “skeptical of this new child on the block.”

That skepticism solely will increase when you realize this digital native has spent the previous couple years performing as Seedphrase, a DJ who wears a big helmet primarily based on his CryptoPunks NFT #8348—arguably the rarest in the complete assortment.

“On the finish of the day, I need to let the music do the speaking,” he informed Decrypt.

Maegaard has been taking part in within the crypto house for the previous decade, and has used his Seedphrase moniker to carry collectively Web3 tradition with excessive vogue and digital artwork. In July, he signed to expertise company WME—house to Adele, Dua Lipa, and the Foo Fighters—with Friday’s launch of “Angels” marking the beginning of a brand new, formidable chapter.

He initially bought his famed CryptoPunk—the one one within the 10,000-NFT assortment with seven distinctive visible traits—in 2020 for 85 ETH (lower than $18,000 on the time) earlier than the venture surged in worth. After increase a web based presence, Seedphrase held his first public efficiency in 2021 at NFT.NYC.

It was solely imagined to be a one-time gig, with the helmet—created by IronHead Studios, additionally accountable for DJ Marshmello’s helmet and Marvel costumes—partly used as a strategy to give Maegaard the boldness to play the larger-than-life character of Seedphrase.

“I had no concept what the response was going to be,” he admitted. “Additionally, the Punk is so iconic.”

In different phrases, why wouldn’t he use it? As an alternative of indifference, Maegaard claims that folks’s faces lit up once they noticed this strolling, speaking CryptoPunk on the occasion because the NFT house reached new peaks. Together with DJing alongside Steve Aoki, TroyBoi and Blond:Ish, he spent the night posing for selfies because the footage went viral on Twitter.

“It was a very nice feeling. It made me notice what pleasure I might carry to individuals and the way Seedphrase could possibly be larger than one thing confined to a display,” he defined. “That second actually gave me the ambition to develop this venture out.“

Maegaard started creating authentic music final 12 months, however after spending months on the venture, he scrapped the whole lot and began once more.

“It was a bit of bit too business, and it didn’t really feel like Seedphrase,” he admitted. “It simply felt a bit of soulless, and I need the whole lot I launch to make individuals really feel one thing.”

“Angels” is the primary of 5 tracks that Seedphrase will launch over the approaching months. It’s closely impressed by the dance group he’s discovered himself in since that evening at NFT.NYC, whereas the lyrics are about when Maegaard first moved to Los Angeles when NFTs have been first exploding and the excitement across the house was palpable.

Fairly than a really literal and apparent crypto-focused music, although, “Angels” is broadly a few sense of journey and chasing that feeling of euphoria. And it’s accessible by an array of conventional streaming platforms, not simply bought through NFTs or by a blockchain-based streamer.

“I do know I’ve made a reputation for myself in Web3,” he defined, “however I need to get exterior that bubble and make music that may carry each side collectively.”

Together with desirous to get extra concerned in vogue and merchandise, Seedphrase goals to turn into as huge of an digital music presence as Marshmello or Steve Aoki, with Maegaard saying he’s prepared to work for the subsequent 20 years to make {that a} actuality. He didn’t develop up harboring rock star desires, however nonetheless he claims this venture is pushed by ardour.

“Cash isn’t my predominant goal right here. I need to push Seedphrase and develop it right into a legacy that goes past the lifespan of Danny,” he defined, with applied sciences like AI, the metaverse, AR, and VR all potential instruments to facilitate that aim. 

“All the things I do is supposed to be aspirational,” he continued, explaining how he views Seedphrase as a life-style model greater than something: “Rising up, I all the time had folks that I regarded as much as and I beloved listening to tales of success, as a result of I used to be huge on manifestation. Now I’m able the place individuals look as much as me, I need to give them one thing to work in direction of.” 

Greater than something, Maegaard desires individuals to grasp who Seedphrase is—greater than only a “man in a helmet,” as he described. Amid the current doom and gloom throughout the NFT market following the surging highs of 2021-22, he sees a possible knock-on impact that may enhance the native tradition of the scene and increase it extra broadly.

“NFTs are simply not there with the mainstream, and we’re in a bear market proper now,” he stated. “There’s loads of negativity proper now, however I need to carry some enjoyable again to the house. Due to that, I knew my debut single needed to be a banger.”