”NFTs are the future,” says Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland
Borland’s first NFTs will be launched on the S!NG platform on 29 November
The voyage from the ‘Three Magical Books of Solomon’ to a tropical location lasts a few seconds. In the background, a riff by Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland is playing.
Borland is about to drop his first set of nine unique NFTs via the S!NG platform on 29 November. Speaking to Currency.com, he also revealed that a range of NFTs from Limp Bizkit will follow next year. The band, who formed in 1994 and helped pioneer the nu-metal genre, have sold over 40 million records worldwide, and recently released their sixth album, Still Sucks.
S!NG said it is currently exploring the idea of a real-world experience for the nine winning bidders, while a further nine NFTs will be dropped each day after the first auction.
The NFTs, which Currency.com was shown a preview of, all have titles drawn from the names of Biblical demons, including Balam, Purson, Paimon, Belial, Asmodeus, Vine, Beleth, Zagan and Bael. Each consists of an image designed by Borland and a 30-second piece of music on loop, while the animation aspect comes from the partnership with the platform S!NG.
“A big challenge”
“That was my challenge, a big challenge for me,” confessed Borland. “I wanted to make a piece of music consistent with my sketch. It was my only rule for this work. I didn’t want to show myself just as a guitar player but as a person. I wanted to show my very soul in this work.”
However, while Borland says he initially found getting involved with the metaverse complicated, the future relationship between the musician and NFTs seems to be interesting.
“At the beginning it was tough entering and fitting the metaverse, to be honest. But now, I do find NFTs interesting. The idea of recording a jam session with other players and recording it on an NFT sounds exciting. However, the most fascinating thing about NFTs is that you really can do whatever with them. There are NFTs of all shapes and sizes.”
That “whatever“ seems to include new work with his band.
“We’re gonna do something next year as our new record is just coming out. We’re gonna play together in 2022. Vinyl is so behind, it takes a long time for them. I think we’re gonna work on NFTs and do something really special for this record.”
While this is Borland's first NFT venture, he is no newcomer to blockchain-based technologies, being something of a cryptocurrency enthusiast himself.
“I own some cryptocurrencies but not NFTs. I haven’t seen any NFT that I liked and was affordable, and the ones that I do like are not affordable,” he said, admitting to a hint of envy for Swiss entrepreneur Ryan Zurrer, who recently secured Beeple’s Human One at a Christie’s auction for a whopping $28.9m.
Art NFTs: a new dawn for artists?
However, when such large sums are involved, there is a danger that NFTs may be seen as a mere speculative asset rather than as works of art, said Borland.
“I can compare NFT artworks to pieces by painters and sculptors who are championed by galleries. Some of them are horrible to me, but people go crazy about them. Is it because that piece is really good or because they want it as an investment? Maybe there is some overlap,” he said.
“Art NFTs are art and not an asset but an opportunity, especially to young musicians. They guarantee royalties on secondary sales for the first time as well, and that is important to me – art and music have been too much devalued in these last few years.”
“People are so used to having music for free. Apps like Spotify don’t work for artists. Think about a middle-level band: they must have another job to support their career or produce their album. With NFTs, they've got the possibility to live just with their music”.
“Finally, you get the possibility to have direct contact with your fans, and that’s great”.
The NFTs
S!NG said that no gas fee is going to be paid for the NFTs minted on the Ethereum blockchain, as the tokens are minted in-house.
The floor price of the nine initial one-of-one NFTs will be $100 per piece. The sale doesn’t cover commercial rights.
The Washington-based company says it aims to make music NFTs affordable to every fan. “I would rather sell 1 million NFTs for just $1 than one NFT for $1m,” said CEO Geoff Osler.
