An Interview with Retrofuturist Retro Manni

$POLE:

Hi Retro! Could we start off by introducing yourself to those who are unfamiliar with you and your work?

Retro Manni:

I always find it quite difficult to introduce myself because I found so many different things over the period of the last few years and I think I'm finally settling on something. So I'm very much all about 80s nostalgia and retrofuturism and computer games, video games of the late 80s and early 90s.

And at the moment, My biggest passion is recreating them using 3D software. So I'm a 3D artist/visual artist. I love making synthwave music as well, so everything I'm doing now is bringing all those skills together to recreate the feeling of that era. I think that's the best way to explain it.

$POLE:

I think anyone who checks out your website or has looked at any of your body of work I think you summed that up perfectly there's that feeling of nostalgia of the 80s. I sense a mad Star Fox inspiration in some of your more recent works and I love that you are this multi hyphenated creative pulling together music and animation and storytelling and nostalgia all into one. Could you tell us a little bit more about the adventures of Retro Man and Tezos Outpost 2049 and the world that you're building around these two projects?

Retro Manni:

Yeah, sure. So I'll start with Tezos Outpost 2049. I've been in Tezos NFTs since April 2022. And for that first year, it was kind of just building and trying to understand my place. and understanding how I can contribute in a sense as an artist. But kind of towards the end of that year in the beginning of 2023 - I am originally a filmmaker and I still am, and storytelling is a really, really important part of what I do.

So with that, that kind of first year over and done with and me just making visual art, I wanted to do something that was telling a story over a prolonged period of time using the blockchain as a way of kind of releasing a series so that you can kind of almost drip feed an idea to people. Towards the end of 22, I started hosting spaces called Tezos Outpost 2049.

And really it was looking at other artists that were doing kind of futuristic-based work around space, space travel, ideas of the future - ideas of kind of how that intersects with spirituality as well.

So I'd run a space and it was, it was quite successful. Actually, a lot of people attended for me to just discuss these different topics and use people's artwork on Tezos as a way to discuss those topics. And I thought it was, it was quite an interesting concept. And it just spurred me on to go “Right now, I want to tell my own story.” So I'm using these other people's art to tell this story and sort of talk about these different topics. I want to do it with my own storytelling ability now.

I just got this inspiration that I'd written a story a while ago, an intro to a book that I wanted to write, and it must have been 2016 or so, 2017 maybe. And I thought that felt like the perfect intro to an audio book and so that was what I did.

I took the writing, I kind of adapted it a little. I got my wife to voice it, so we recorded it. I did the music for it, created some artwork for it, and I dropped it almost like a test. Like so you've been following along with Tezos Outpost 2049, The Spaces. Now, here's the kind of build up or the continuation of that into chapter one of this story and it went down really, really well.

I then started doing it as a kind of a collaborative project for a few of the chapters. I collaborated with Bases who's a well known musician in the space, but he's also a writer. So he collaborated on chapter number two and it helped take the story to the next level. And then I collaborated with an AI artist and another storyteller called Tery, and she did chapter three and chapter four.

So it kind of built from this first chapter into this kind of, a bit more of a beast, really, of different aspects from other people's experiences of what they think the future might be. It's all set around this young girl whose dad has been suddenly killed and murdered on their way to this new city. And it was really interesting to see how these other writers took that story and took it a little bit further. So that's been a really interesting project, and as I've continued building that the idea for Retro Man came about as well.

When I used to go into Twitter spaces, because retro is the first thing that comes up in a Twitter space, People just called me Retro but sometimes I think it would show the first part of Manni, which is my name. It would just show “man”. So there was one guy in particular, a few people used it, but there was one guy in particular who called me “retro man” quite often. And when I changed my PFP to this kind of space astronaut looking guy it just started fitting more. And so it really inspired me to go “okay, there's something in this.” And I started developing the idea for Retro Man which led to the first drop.

It was like a pixel art motorbike racing through the city, this character, and I called it Retro Man. And so that was really the start of Retro Man. Now I've done loads of work since, which I can get into detail on. But as time's gone on and I've started developing the story for Retro Man and the story for Tezos Outpost, they're starting to converge. And I'm starting to realize how these are both part of the same world. And just to finish off your question, when I first came into NFTs, my idea was something called 5D Starseed, and that was going to be an animated series.

So I created a collection around that and I did one drop and that actually got into the Tezos Foundation, Permanent Collection. We got into that, so it felt like there was some traction, but I didn't know where to take it.

But overall this time I've started to realize, oh, this is now 5D Starseed. It's kind of like that was a demo. I didn't know what I wanted to do with it and now I'm kind of getting really knee deep into telling this story, which is where it is right now.

$POLE:

That's super cool to hear about your process and your inspiration and the way that you're collaborating with other people. To just stick with that thread just for a little bit longer, can you share a little bit more about what it's like to take your original story and your world and then open it up so generously to collaborate with other creators? Because I know some people look at the idea of taking something that's “Oh, I built this and this is my world” and then to share it with other people can be frightening, but it seems like you've taken to it quite readily. Could you tell us a little bit more about your thoughts on that?

Retro Manni:

Firstly I would agree it is actually terrifying. You kind of know everything about this world and you really feel like no one else is going to do it justice. Being a filmmaker- I've been a filmmaker for like 20 years now- and I understand that process and I'm always very skeptical of working with other people, but actually coming into Tezos and realizing firstly how easy it is to collaborate with other people [helps that]. The contract set up and Objkt set up; it just becomes so easy to just go, “Oh, let's collaborate, let's work on something.”

I think as I've gotten older I can look back and realize all my failings as an artist and all the times I've got things wrong, even though I was so certain I was right. I've been way more open now to go, “You know what? Other people might bring something that I can't see.”

So that's the first thing. I've done a few collaborations before Tezos Outpost as well and that let me see that there's things I can't see and it's really good to collaborate with others because they bring fresh perspectives. With the fact that this was a story I'd written a while ago as well and I was just kind of testing, I guess I wasn't so precious with it at first.

And so I kind of went and I'd built these friendships up with people as well and said, “What do you think? Is it something that you'd be willing to come on board with?”

So I was just happy that they liked it and wanted to be part of it. So that was a really great experience. It didn't mean that I wasn't kind of not a stickler, but I was still going through the story and I was editing it and making sure it fit in line with the way I like to tell stories.

There was still that input but I found it really therapeutic in a way, but as time's gone on and I've got kind of a bit further into knowing what I want now, I think I have become a little bit more precious with it again, It's kind of a balance backwards and forwards, but it is a really good practice just to let go and go, “Okay.”

I did it with the Retro Man comics as well, I'd created this comic book cover. And then I [went to] my favourite artist, literally some of my favourite artists. “What do you guys think? Would you want to be part of this?”

And they created their own version. And it really required me to go, “I'm not going to be precious about this whatsoever. What they do is what they do.” I set some kind of boundaries so they understand what they need to do and how it works and what's going to get the best result. But just stepping away and not being so precious and realizing that if you let other people bring their game to it and let them feel like they're part of it - it becomes something bigger than what you intended, and I think that's really important.

$POLE:

That's super cool. I love hearing that perspective of letting it be an additive or synergistic process that makes the end product better. Speaking of collaborations, you have a drop coming very soon to $POLE's first curated collection, $POLE Propaganda. Can you tell me a little bit about how you got involved with the $POLE community in the first place?

Retro Manni:

Yeah. So this has been the most interesting part of my Tezos journey, my NFT journey, to be honest, because towards the end of 2023, I'm going to be honest, things were looking bleak for everyone.

I think not just on Tezos, just in NFTs in general. It kind of felt like, what is going to happen to generate any kind of interest in what we're doing? And this whole thing, and it's always the most random things that happen, right? So, this whole Miami debacle happened, and people were really angry about it.

I was actually part of the curation team [for Tezos’ presence in Miami]. TEIA invited me to help curate artwork for these so-called Tez poles well before anyone knew what was going to happen. And that was a really fun process. It was kind of random that I got involved in it because I actually didn't see the message because it came into my junk on Twitter.

But then you know, luckily I found it and then I got involved and I was really excited about being part of it. I was, you know, alongside Santiago Itzcoatl, Kath [O’Donnell], Malicioussheep, Poppel, Stusontier,  along with others as well. And it was really fun to be part of. And looking at how that went on and how it went from us selecting these pieces and being really thorough and taking it really seriously and trying to do justice to the artist, to them seeing [the pole]. I remember Ryan [G Tanaka], who's also part of the TEIA team,was sending us updates when he got to Miami, saying, “Okay, this is where the stuff's going to be exhibited.”

And I remember seeing the first video that he'd sent over, and I thought, that looks a bit cringe, like, what's this about? And so it kind of felt, okay, I'm not going to judge too much, because it is what it is, and [as a filmmaker] I've genuinely exhibited in much worse places, and you just get on with it.

I think musicians have the same vibe. They get it, you know. Sometimes you just gotta roll with it. But I didn't know it was gonna blow up to such a big degree when that tweet went out, and it was, it was pretty crazy how much attention it got. And I was on the fence of how I felt about it.

On one side, I was like, get over it, it doesn't matter, let's just move forwards. But on the other side, when Violet Bond started this, and Mek started this kind of movement of let's create art about it, I was watching it happen. It was like a split second, “Should I get involved and potentially be part of the drama?”

Or should I just forget about it and focus on what I need to do? But it wouldn't leave me alone. It was like, “No, I've got to do something.” And the inspiration just struck.

I'd actually done a Star Fox inspired piece maybe about two or three months prior. And I really released it as a 1/1 and it just came back to me. I just thought, imagine if this tezpole was in this Star Fox world, it'd be hilarious. So I went away and I made a piece in probably about two hours. Honestly, it was really quick, [I] quickly threw [it] together in Blender; this tezpole looking thing. And I had the ship flying around the tezpole and the screens were falling.

It wasn't even- I don't think it's really a very good piece of artwork, if I'm going to be honest. It was just to be part of it. So I did it, and it sold out really quickly. And then I started realizing all of the people that were minting on there was immense. And I just started getting addicted to collecting other people's pieces.

And then I ran out of Tez and I thought, “I'm going to make another one.”

So I made another piece for tezpole. That sold out and then I went and bought loads more. And I just couldn't believe how far this thing went. And I guess that was, it was a really exciting period and it was one of those things that you just can't predict.

You couldn't predict that something would go so horribly wrong and then turn so much, , anger into so much creativity. And off the back of tezpole, as it was kind of, as the year was coming to a close. I felt I could actually create something more than this now. I can build on that. People know what this Retro Man concept is.

They get it. They're not going to go, “What is this? Why is this ship randomly flying around?” I could do something a bit more. So I thought I'm going to create a series of stages that are like a concept for a game. So I released stage one. And again, that did. really well and I think it had a really good reception and then I just continued doing it.

I thought, because I can make this work quite quickly, I kept making the work and it started to get more attention, which I think was really a really positive thing that came out the back of tezpole. And obviously, we can go into detail later, but the Polecoin happened, and I, I was really bullish on that.

I thought that's just brilliant. I love Sutan's attitude towards it, because I've opted out of loads of altcoins and memecoins before, and duh, just not for me. I'm not in alignment with it, for lack of a better word. But, listening to Sutan speak, listening to Crypt King speak, [listening to] Violet speak about it, I felt really in tune with it, and so it just was natural just to get involved and be part of it, and they gifted me with some $POLE as well for being one of the original curators, so that was almost a bonus too, that really pulled me in even more.

That became really exciting. So that's how these stages continued going. And then Sutan reached out to me shortly after Salawaki did a piece, which was brilliant. Salawaki did, I think, the first $POLE Propaganda piece . And I'd had it in my head, I wish I could do something like this, and he actually got in touch with me.

So I thought, right. This is going to be something really good now. So it's going to be within this same Retro Man world of this ship flying around space and doing all sorts of missions. And I thought the pole thing would be brilliant. So yeah, that's how that came about.

$POLE:

That's awesome. I remember the moment the pole dropped and it was kind of that same moment for myself where I was like, “Do I want to get involved with this? Do I not?” And, you know for a variety of reasons, I did not jump on the bandwagon, but I'm glad you did because the pieces that you've been making for this have been- the Star Fox pieces, that's your RMU Gamer series, correct?

Retro Manni:

That's it, yeah.

$POLE:

Yeah, all of those are so fun and I love the simplicity, yet the storytelling that you're building into those is awesome. So could you tell us a little bit more about this drop in particular?

Retro Manni:

When Sutan asked me, I was kind of, like I said, I had some ideas and I thought, this is great that he's asked me that but I was actually in the process of making stage five - so I was five stages into this project.

And I wanted to do something for one of my biggest supporters, Tuna Kuna. I mean, he's been a massive supporter of my work for quite a while now. And I thought he's such a charismatic and interesting person. Wouldn't it be great to get him into one of the episodes? So in the stage five drop, I introduced Tuna Kuna as a character in the game.

And he's like this intergalactic trader who sells weapons or goods or upgrades or whatever. And I sent that to Sutan once it dropped and I said “This is what I'm planning to do for $POLE, what do you think?” And he straight away “I love it.”

And so the plan for this is, without giving too much away, Retro Man is in trouble and he finds himself on a strange planet, but he meets this Starwave trader, Tuna Kuna, who is involved with $POLE, and I thought this could be a currency, not just used on Earth and not just used on Tezos community, but it's an intergalactic coin that had a history many, many years ago on Earth, but it's made it this far.

I thought that would be a really kind of fun and I think also a way to build it into the world as well somehow, but just a fun way of introducing $POLE and Retro Man into this new kind of concept.

$POLE:

That's super cool. Can you share any info about the drop for those who are frothing at the mouth to pick up this piece?

Retro Manni:

After speaking to Sutan, it seems like one of the best things to do for it is to do a “best offers” drop. I've only ever done that once before. I'm going to be honest, it makes me very nervous, those kinds of things. But I think that looking forward, that might be the best way to do it. In terms of timescales, it's definitely going to be before, I believe, the Control Alt Revolt event (Feb 24, 22:00 UTC). So I think it'd be really good timing to have [it drop] around about that time, if not earlier. But again, that's something I want to talk to Sutan about and just confirm and make sure everything is neatly packaged, if you know what I mean.

$POLE:

A hundred percent. And where can people best find you and follow along so they don't miss your drop?

Retro Manni:

So I always think the best place to go is Objkt, the best place to keep up with what I'm doing. So following me on Objkt will be the best thing. I am very regularly on, well, X (Twitter) - very regular on X daily. So I'm always trying to keep up with what's going on and also talk about what I'm doing and just say hello to friends.

I think that's probably the best use of it. It's waking up in the morning and jumping on there before I work and saying hello to people that I know and I'm seeing what other people are doing. So I'm quite often there. So you can keep up with what I'm doing [there].

I am on Instagram, but I don't talk about drops that much on Instagram because I just don't think that community is very receptive towards NFTs. I do sometimes mention it, but not a lot. So I guess Objkt and Twitter are the best places.

$POLE:

Amazing. And before we wrap up, any last thoughts about Tezos, the Tezos community in general? I know that’s sort of where you got your start with NFTs and the community aspect is what brought you in. Where do you as a retrofuturist, which is different from a futurist, but how do you see the future of the Tezos landscape changing, evolving? What would you like to see?

Retro Manni:

I think it's always quite interesting. I've very much led on my gut with this thing. I mean, when I first came into NFTs, Tezos was the only one where the community felt, to me at least, like real people, trustworthy people.

Especially in those days, when I say real people, it felt like a lot of stuff was- I didn't get who was real and who wasn't. Funny now we're in an age of bots everywhere as well. But I think Tezos is something that I'm really drawn to. And so I guess I'm hoping that this is where I can establish what I'm building; the whole Retro Man world can be established here.

I'm excited about it because I really do think it's just a place, it's an easy place to find that more than anything else. It's very straightforward and easy and I don't like to get too much involved in the economics of it or the politics of it. I'm like, well, this is a good place where there's a community, that or a market I guess, and an audience that surrounds this particular thing.

And they're interested in what I've got to say. And there's also a lot of people on there who I'm interested in what they've got to say. And so I think that's the best I can hope for at the moment. And I'm very happy about that. I find that enjoyable and fun. And when it stops being fun, if it starts being more about things that don't, I think, don't make it enjoyable, that's probably when I won't want to have anything to do with it.

But at the moment, it seems like that's the trajectory. It's all about creating. New things pushing forwards and having fun and trying to have the long term outlook for it. And I do feel that Tezos in terms of, at least when listening to people like Arthur [Breitman], they do have a long term outlook for it.

That's how I'm trying to adopt that same mindset and go, okay, I've got a long term outlook for this. This is my brand for lack of a better word. And this is where you can find it. And I'm just having fun with it at the moment. That's probably the best I can say.

$POLE:

Well said. Thanks so much, Retro. This has been a really cool conversation. It's been great getting to know a little bit more about what you're coming up with and the worlds you're building. And good luck on the upcoming $POLE drop.

Retro Manni:

Thank you very much. I look forward to it.