I spent last Saturday night shooting footage for a short film. Nothing special in terms of production value. A loose no-budget interpretation of a scene from a screenplay I wrote titled Discothèque. Itself inspired in part by the 1978 exploitation cinema masterpiece I Spit on Your Grave. I made this short film for inclusion in a post on my Chic Arkansas newsletter. Partly because Grave star Camille Keaton was born and raised in Arkansas. But more so because I wanted to draw comparisons between the rape-and-revenge film subgenre and succeeding in Arkansas despite the vast good ‘ol boy network with its soft fat pink hands in damn near everything. My journalism style becoming increasingly gonzo with each new piece. A far cry from the standard Arkansas pay-for-play ad copy published as glowing editorial features.

My home office/dance studio proved a suitable set. Bathed in red and purple. Light beams of various colors moving across the walls, ceiling, and floor. The fragrance of sandalwood incense contributing an eerie calm before the psychological storm to which I was about to subject myself. Fueled by Thanksgiving leftovers and alcohol, I went for it. Playing both the attacker and his victim. Well, victim to start. Before turning the tables and becoming the victor. Emerging scarred yet stronger and wiser. Taking revenge on this evil with extreme prejudice. Achieving pleasure of her own. A pleasure surely condemned as being dark by those who buckle under immense pressure and toe the line without question. But they are wrong. This pleasure is moral and just. Like embracing an alternative monetary path and escaping the crushing weight of government-issued fiat currencies.

Survival… Vengeance… Freedom.

A Bad Boy Without a Country

This piece assumes you already possess a working knowledge of cryptocurrencies, so no introduction is required. But you don’t have to be a walking encyclopedia on the subject either. I’m not. And we’re not here to debate whether one cryptocurrency is better than the other. While I’m writing this from the perspective of someone who strongly prefers Bitcoin, feel free to insert your coin(s) of choice as you read forth. The important aspect for me on the currency front is to challenge the existence and essence of fiat money. A disgusting and immoral accounting system that has succeeded in robbing people blind and nothing else. Any alternative currency that gets people questioning state-sanctioned funny money has some value at least in that regard. Besides, we all know that Bitcoin is and will always be the king of cryptocurrencies, so I don’t have to say anything.

My introduction makes it clear that I’m not a mainstream artist, entertainer, or journalist. I make music that falls into the shock rock category with themes of sex and violence. My filmmaking aspirations are half arthouse and half grindhouse with themes of sex and violence. And my journalism is rooted in creative nonfiction and the literary school of postmodernism with… wait for it… themes of sex and violence. If that isn’t enough debauchery for you, I’ve also enjoyed a long career as a private party exotic entertainer. Definitely with themes of sex. But not violence. Although I’ve been known to verbally destroy women who felt entitled to disrespect me. Fun fact: I’ll make significantly more money performing at a bachelorette party in Arkansas than what any guy in a Las Vegas male revue will make on any night. And my performances are what I want them to be. I’m no one’s marionette.

That’s the beautiful thing about not being mainstream. It affords me the freedom to express myself as I desire and earn more money for it than I would otherwise. Or, more specifically, I don’t have to let some corporation pocket the bulk of the value I produce. Don’t let the glitz and bling fool you. There are more than a few recording artists with platinum albums still living at home because their cut of the royalties equals slave wages. It’s easy to lament not being accepted by the mainstream powers that be, but then imagine producing millions of dollars in value and not being able to afford an apartment. If you let corporations make you, they’ll own you. And they have the option of breaking you at any time without warning. Not only is fame not all it’s cracked up to be, but its harsh realities may lead you to smoking crack.

I get it. Self-promotion is an uphill battle no matter how shameless you are. I get it as well as anyone. Simply being the only private party male stripper (and as great of one you’ll find anywhere to boot) for several hours in all directions scores me zero bookings on its own. My music and film aspirations face similar challenges. Perhaps to a greater degree with so much competition in my backyard. Much less around the world. All clamoring for attention from the corporate media overlords. It’s in line with the lessons we’ve been taught (read: lies we’ve been fed) our whole lives. That might makes right. That hard work and talent will be rewarded. They absolutely will be rewarded. But only if you reward yourself for them. And those are the best rewards with no strings attached. It gets increasingly difficult to imagine it as our fiat currencies are continuously stripped of purchasing power. Because, remember, “might makes right.” Yeah, right. Experiencing these revelations is what led me to Bitcoin, and Bitcoin in turn showed me just how much value I produce. More than I gave myself credit for in the past. Things are different now.

Making Crypto Work for Artists and Entertainers

There’s a seemingly infinite amount of articles, videos, etc… on cryptocurrencies. Hyping new projects. Sharing investment tips. Promising you the world on a silver platter in NFT form. And so forth. I’ve definitely read my share of pieces authored by Bitcoin maximalists, a loathsome bunch of grifters who hurt mass Bitcoin adoption and from what I’ve seen aren’t all that maximalist. screaming and yelling about what I can do for Bitcoin in weird and cult-like rhetoric. Fuck that. Bitcoin – like any asset, crypto or otherwise – exists for me to make it suit my needs. Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper makes this crystal clear. And besides… What’s the point of all this if it’s not helping me to achieve my dreams? And accumulating a bunch of material items is not a recipe for happiness.

And we’re talking about currencies that don’t have to go through banks or other legacy financial institutions. Peer-to-peer monetary transactions. I can even run a node and approve my own transactions like a one-man Mastercard. Hellz yeah! This allows me to circumvent potential financial censorship lest some pearl-clutching banker faint at the sight of the provocative works I’m producing. That’s why I can’t have PayPal anymore lest it fine me $2500 if it even thinks I’m using the service for booking bachelorette parties. Which I don’t, but that doesn’t matter. We live in a new era of censorship as the internet lets anyone learn all there is about anyone else in an instant. It’s why many people use anonymous identities online. That’s not an option for artists and entertainers working to make names for themselves. And, at some point, individuals need to live life as themselves freely and openly without worrying about retribution because “reasons.”

For my projects, I think value-for-value is an excellent place to start. And it’s the most widespread option for receiving payments in crypto. This allows me to post finished works as well as examples of what I have in progress and get tipped for it. For feature filmmaking projects, I can post promo clips, photos, screenplay excerpts, etc… and use this approach to raise awareness and funding. This is the plan for my Stripslash feature film project. A slasher story about a male stripper left for dead who returns as a serial killer taking out mean girls with deadly lap dances. I’ll definitely need to demonstrate what I have in mind for such an outrageous proposal. It’s easy to set up crypto tipping on a personal website or social media profile. Even if it’s simply pasting an address. My website has a tips page *hint hint if you enjoy reading this* where I accept Bitcoin (on-chain and lightning) and a handful of other coins. I’ve also stacked some sats on Wavlake just by posting a few demos of songs from my upcoming solo album. And part of my reason for writing this is to have Publish0x read it when I apply to become an author and share my thoughts and observations of cultural aspects of the crypto space.

Spreading the Inspiration

Bitcoin adoption was easy for me as an outsider artist and entertainer with great potential. Because Bitcoin is an outsider currency with great potential. The experience and education I’ve received being in this space have allowed me to better recognize my talent and value. It’s true of cryptocurrencies in general. Seeing it with the NFT craze. As artists had an exciting new way to distribute their work and get paid for it with ease compared to traditional methods. Yeah, most of these nonfungible tokens contained nothing more than a link to a jpg. But so what? It wasn’t for me, but I can see where just the idea of this new technology would inspire artists to create new works. It was different and challenged artists in an unfamiliar way. And sometimes that’s all it takes. Individuals sharing ideas, experiences, and results of making cryptocurrencies work for art and entertainment will add immense value to the world of crypto in countless ways. And to the world of arts and entertainment. Breaking the monotony of mainstream corporate output bearing neither edge nor soul. Exciting new currencies deserve an exciting new culture. A dangerous culture.

The editorial piece described at the beginning of this one makes it clear that I need to target an audience far beyond Arkansas. Or any one specific location as I’ve proven to myself (and probably to others long ago) that my work transcends any limited set of geographic parameters. Arkansas does have a lot of problems but makes a serviceable staging area for all my creative works. Contrary to popular tropes, the problem with Arkansas isn’t toothless hillbillies. The problem is elitist snobs who are dead inside combined with apathy among the masses. It’s fiat currency incarnated as a southern US state. No wonder I’m having difficulty getting anything going here. I’ve gone way above almost everyone’s head. On the other hand, I would get far more attention and appreciation if I were achieving success – even on an underground scale – internationally. Might makes right, after all. And that’s true of any specific region. I’m reminded of the time years ago when Nashville Pussy guitarist Ruyter Suys advised me to never trust my hometown or depend on it for anything. She was absolutely correct. And how much can I honestly expect from a place that I compared the experience of living in to the narrative of a rape-and-revenge film? Probably not a whole hell of a lot.

If crypto is challenging artists and entertainers to rise above the deluge of fiat culture – and it is – then it’s time to accept that challenge. The same goes for cryptocurrency enthusiasts seeking to have their minds blown by creative and talented individuals from around the world. It’s time to eliminate the bankers, politicians, and boardroom executives as the arbiters of arts and entertainment. Dictating tastes for all of us based on their collective greed and bottom lines. I refuse to give up because my work doesn’t mesh with fabric softener ads. If anything, I push even harder for that reason and rock it like a codpiece of honor. And I’ll be damned if I let people who approve of children attending drag shows discourage me from telling my lurid stories of sex and violence created for adult audiences. But it doesn’t matter if we can bypass them altogether and fans compensate me in Bitcoin. Or Monero if you’re shy. You get the idea.

This is the way.

Originally published on Medium.

Check out my online portfolio for music, film, and literature.