I’ve been thinking about this question for much of the last year. I was drawn to web3 because it reminded me of the blog era I came up in - independent curation, direct artist-to-listener interactions, and an emphasis on the music itself above story and brand. But as technology increasingly became the leading story in music NFTs I struggled to think of concrete ways I could do my part to refocus things.

In April of 2020 my hands started hurting. It was terrifying. I had built a career making music - my band Marian Hill had grown from an up and comer on the Hype Machine charts to a platinum-selling major label act, all the while making my wildest dreams come true: I was making a living making music I loved. But to keep doing this, to keep living my dream…I needed my hands.