Talkin' Tezos: Getting To Know Will And Trinity From The Waiting To Be Signed Podcast

In the increasingly crowded digital world of 2023, content matters. What you’re doing is still important, but today, people are talking about what you’re doing - and what they’re saying about what you’re doing - is just as important. Here in the blockchain arena, where the digital ground seems to shift beneath our feet by the day, content - and the messaging contained within it - has become critical.

With that in mind, when the opportunity to chat with Will and Trinity from the fantastic Waiting To Be Signed podcast presented itself, I jumped at it.

Waiting To Be Signed is a podcast that sprouted up organically within the bustling Tezos art scene, and one that has focused a large part of its energy on Tezos generative art marketplace fx(hash) and the lively community that surrounds it. To hear Will and Trinity, the voices behind Waiting To Be Signed tell it, however, the driving vision for their podcast and what they wanted to document was something much larger that was going on at the time…

“There really seemed to be this need to document everything that was happening in this space, because there were these really large conversations that were just happening on such a short timescale, and it felt really important to document that for the future. I think that was a large part of it. It’s like this minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day conversation about what’s happening in the space, and it felt important not to lose that.” - Trinity

As for what attracted the pair to the Tezos ecosystem in the first place and what piqued their interest in the dynamic art scene emerging within it, like many in the space, the impetus was one part accident and two parts word-of-mouth…

As for what attracted the pair to the Tezos ecosystem in the first place and what piqued their interest in the dynamic art scene emerging within it, like many in the space, the impetus was one part accident and two parts word-of-mouth…

Of course, stumbling onto the Tezos art ecosystem is one thing, and deciding to stake one’s claim while creating content is another. Having dipped their toes into the world of Tezos-powered art, the decision to dive deeper and get involved with the Tezos art community was one driven by a positive onboarding experience, low barriers to entry, and a welcoming community filled with like-minded folks…

“The thing that kept me in the Tezos space was the accessibility of it. It felt seamless. It was like a really solid user experience. There weren’t the gas fees that I’d been hearing nightmare stories about over on Ethereum. The price of collecting was really affordable, where you’re able to build a solid collection and join the community and it isn’t toxic. I think from a friendliness perspective, I was like hook, line, and sinker - let me in. I love this.” - Trinity

Now, well into its second year, and some 140+ episodes deep, Trinity, Will, and the Waiting To Be Signed podcast itself have seen a lot of change in their time in the Tezos art space, and have been evolving right along with it, something the two discussed at length during their recent appearance on TezTalks Live…

“The show’s been running for almost 2 years now. We started it back in January of 2022. In that time, we’ve done 90 canonical weekly episodes and 50ish interview episodes on top of that. Those interviews span artists, builders, and collectors - those are the three main categories. A lot of the artists that we talk about are primarily Tezos artists and are interested in Tezos in general. They make up the majority of our audience, like definitely half or more are people who are making art, which is interesting. I kind of figured that they might not like our show at first because we talk about the market, and that can be kind of crass to a creative, but they’ve really embraced it. A lot of builders in the space have been very supportive too. It’s been pretty great.” - Will

As those who tune in to the Waiting To Be Signed podcast can tell you, Will and Trinity cover generative art and the ongoing movement it’s driving from all angles. Their approach to covering the rich topics and concepts this movement has pushed to the forefront is one driven by genuine curiosity about what all of this means and where it’s taking us…

“We’re primarily looking to talk about the generative art market. We started out with fx(hash) and we’ve since expanded the borders to talk about generative art generally. Originally we set out to talk about, primarily, the market, because that was during the height of the bull market - everything was flipping, everything was about speculation and just the hype, the hype, the hype and the conversation around it. Since then, we’ve really come down to talking more about the art and the art space. We still talk about the money because it’s an important part of art on the blockchain, and we really want to talk about what people are coming out with, all the amazing innovation that we’re seeing. Generative art, if you look at the space 2 years ago, and you look at the biggest drops that are coming out today, artists have really pushed themselves to do crazy, crazy work. The art’s gotten fantastic as people have been doing more practice. We absolutely love to see it. We just want to bring more attention to the space, not just with episodes about the art, but also talking to the artists and other builders.” - Trinity

As the buzz around NFTs and blockchain-based art has shifted away from the hype-driven cycle of yesteryear and toward a more sustainable future driven by high-quality work and a revolutionary approach to creating/collecting, the conversation around blockchain’s place in the wider art ecosystem and the cadence and reception of the works being created have shifted as well. This important point has not been lost on Trinity and Will, who have been part of that conversation through most of that shift themselves…

“Art is about the intrinsic value of art. It’s here to be enjoyed. I think that we’ve seen the overall size of the community maybe become a little bit less over time, but the voices who are here are really strong. People are still really excited and there’s still a lot to rally around. We see fewer releases, but they’re bigger, because they’re getting more complex. They’re getting more attention, more visibility. Even if it’s something that’s happening on another chain, a lot of those generative artists cut their teeth in the fx(hash) world, and we’re here to support them no matter where they go. I think that really speaks to the really tight-knit community of artists and collectors.” - Trinity

And, although consumer sentiment towards NFTs and blockchain-based art may have soured to some degree since the heady days of the NFT bull market, Will and Trinity believe that, with a slight adjustment in messaging, the laudable concepts that drove this movement in the first place are still very real, and still very much worth talking about…

“For us it’s more about trying to focus on the fact that yes, this is tokenized, yes it uses blockchain technology, but it’s doing it in a way that’s very different from what the media might have reported to you, or like your friend who lost money flipping this or that PFP project. The roadmap is done. The art’s done. If you like it, great. You can keep it forever. It’s all about being cost-conscious and disciplined as you’re collecting. If you make money long-term and that’s your goal, great, but if you want to fill your room with prints and collect stuff, then you can just do that, and you can do it in a very chill way.” - Will

Now, with 2024 on the horizon, the Tezos art ecosystem is poised to continue building on [the progress it has made through the “NFT Winter” ](the progress it has made through the “NFT Winter”)and enter the next iteration of the blockchain-powered art movement stronger and ready for the significant changes ahead. And, with people like Will and Trinity covering this movement and the artists driving it forward, the next 12 months will be very interesting indeed.