Antoni is music artist/producer/performer Mirror Me and also music production tutor on his platform Portal Workshop. Being based in Poland, through his music career, Antoni has been invited to perform at many music events/festivals all over the world, and continues to inspire other producers as well. Mirror Me has been an artist on enter since before launch.

Not a super popular question amongst interviewees - I know it very well - but here goes anyway: “what kind of music” are you making?

Currently I am not sure. Definitely something electronic with a psychedelic flavor and hopefully musical since I’m using a bunch of modular gear, so we’re going to see where it takes me. I like experimental music with hints of otherworldly elements…

We’ve been connected for many years. Seeing your activity on social media over the last couple of years, you’ve seemed like a much more crypto-savvy person than myself. When did this become an interest to you?

I got into the space around 4 years ago, so I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself savvy enough. Still, I’m very happy to have discovered it before and not after today. I was watching the 2017 bull run unfold, made some money, lost some money, then over the last few years became increasingly more “all-in”.

Becoming an Enter Artist very early on, alpha phase artist actually, were you set up for selling NFTs right away? Or did you have to educate and prepare yourself to jump on the NFT train?

This is interesting, because in the beginning I did not actually plan to become an NFT artist or musician per se. I was just super lucky to have been invited to the enter platform, and that opened my mind to the possibility of also participating in the space with my own work. Educating myself in the space went hand in hand with the increasing curiosity of it all.

And for those who have interest in either selling or collecting NFTS, but have very little to none experience with cryptocurrencies themselves, can they get involved easily? Would encouragement make sense?

I would think that if someone can understand and appreciate the technology behind NFTs, they would consider it as at least an interesting venture either as an investor, collector, artist, or passive spectator. The space already exists, and the tech is there, so either one knows about it now or they have yet to discover it.

I’ve tried encouraging and introducing a few people, and the response was usually quite positive! A lot of people tend to question the value of NFTs, but these are usually the same people who condemned bitcoin at 20k. It helps if the people in question are already more towards being supportive of cryptocurrencies in general, and if they aren’t, explaining the broader scope of what an NFT can actually be outside of art can really shine some light on the subject.

How did you become aware of NFTs, and at that time, did you realize it as an opportunity for yourself?

Actually, I would say that when I first heard of it I did not consider it as an opportunity for myself, specifically as a musician, because I did not fully grasp the implications of the concept outside of ownership and digital art. At the time, music NFTs were not really a thing, so I remember that it was when an enter team member explained some cool stuff about plans for the enter platform that all became much more clear to me.

Were you more curious to try it out than you were “scared”? Because I can’t say I wasn’t a little scared, with the tiny bit of knowledge I had about the whole ecosystem, before I had contact with Enter. (...which had opened my eyes)

Fortunately for me, I was already neck deep in crypto, so the jump to NFTs didn’t seem so daunting. For artists who were following bitcoin and all things related, making NFTs maybe seemed like an obvious move. It is sort of like asking someone today how their switch was, from selling CDs on the street to uploading music to the internet. Now we are minting music, a similar line perhaps, but more refined with each step.

Music is available everywhere, at every time, whether or not it’s acquired legally or illegally. So in regard to music, is the idea of NFTs a trend against the “devaluation” of music, which has happened in the last decades?

I don’t think our issue was the devaluation of music- in fact, the music business is one of the more lucrative industries in the world. Music itself is considered extremely valuable, and that is why pop stars can become multimillionaires with just one song. Humans in general LOVE music and art. 

The problem was the system under which all of that took place, in which that love was mostly rewarding for the middlemen, who shepherded select artists and musicians to the masses, under a system that mostly rewarded the centralized structure at the top, and at best, a handful of “elite” artists. 

The NFT space allows for the value of art and music to actually exist in a space directly between the artist and their fan-base, on any scale. It is a paradigm shift in the tool set which connects creators and consumers to each other. Whether it’s a movement or not, I cannot say. It can even be an unintentional mutation in the system which will inevitably make the “old” art/music industries obsolete.

Alright, what or who inspires your music?

Space, nature, divine realms, interesting plot twists, and other great works of art and music…

Regarding your life as a producer/artist/performer, what are you looking forward to in the years to come?

I hope to finally release my newest album so that I can close that chapter in my life and start making something completely different. Perhaps the entire thing will be minted on Enter.Audio… Because it would be crazy not to!

I also hope to become increasingly more productive and skilled as a graphic artist/painter.

Also, tell us more about Portal Workshop please and where we can find it?

This is a work in progress platform where I organize music production workshops here and there and in the online space. I’ve also recorded some tutorials and uploaded them to YouTube. You can check them out here - https://www.youtube.com/c/PortalWorkshop

This project will soon expand into new musical territories, but this is still under wraps.

Antoni, thanks ever so much for your time. - Cheers Rob and anyone reading!

Follow Mirror Me / Portal :

https://www.enter.audio/artist/mirrorportal

https://www.enter.art/artist/mirrorportal

https://www.instagram.com/mirror_me_portal

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