“I'm the guy who can do it”: Exclusive interview with Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum on NFTs, Web3

Sthorm, a blockchain-based unit advancing and disseminating social and environmental applied sciences, held the ViralCure Festival on September 3, 2022, in Piracicaba, Brazil, to celebrate the launch of ViralCure on Web3. The event featured talks on open-source science and new forms of capitalism, with panels about the use of NFTs in space, entertainment, and communities. 

There was also an exclusive concert at the event featuring legends like Matt Sorum (ex-Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver, The Cult), Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns N' Roses, Slash's Snakepit), Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) and Sebastian Bach (Skid Row).

Mike Ermolaev, Head of PR at ChangeNOW and Benzinga Contributor, spoke with heavy hitter Matt Sorum, Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame inductee & Grammy Award winning drummer for Guns N' Roses, Motörhead, Velvet Revolver and The Cult, minutes after he played drums at the concert. 

Matt Sorum is launching GoodNoise, his own NFT label under the umbrella of Sthorm, which he co-founded, to bridge the gap between creators and fans and deliver impact to good causes.

Fun, good causes, and NFTs go hand in hand 

Being a musician myself and a fan of Matt Sorum's music and drumming skills from childhood, I was delighted to speak with him. Matt's plans to bridge crypto and music excited me even more, since I’m also an avid crypto enthusiast. And of course I had to know which A-list artists he had in mind for his project. 

“GoodNoise is an NFT label so all my releases are gonna be for impact to causes. We’re gonna release different items, audio, content, art, collaboration between a lot of my friends and I’ve got a lot of really great people lined up. I don’t wanna give it away at this press time. We’re finishing a pretty big project that’s gonna come out,” Matt said. 

Matt also mentioned Sthorm's recent collaboration with NASA and Artemis Music to create Ringo Starr's Songs using the sounds and tones of the Galaxy and beam the music to the International Space Station (ISS). It's fantastic – listening to it made me feel as if I was floating high above the stars, in the realm of the unimaginable.

“Ringo is concerned about the carbon footprint, about cryptocurrency and the effects on the environment. The GoodNoise protocol will probably be Polygon, with little less friction when it comes to carbon footprint. And we’re gonna release all kinds of great things to different causes around the world so it’ll help the good musicians to get out of their record company contracts, different publishing deals, to be able to release music and help other people. And my whole idea for the name “good noise” was that we’re gonna make some good noise,”  he said, laughing.

“We're gonna make some music and help some people! So, when you buy that NFT, you know, that piece of an NFT for them to have as an asset, they're gonna be giving it back at the same time – you'd be giving it to a good cause. So that’s the plan for GoodNoise,” Matt added. 

“I just finished my recording in studio in Palm Springs – for the same name, GoodNoise – and we're gonna metaverse that, we've got a lot of friends that, like, we have an NFT, you're gonna win a Metaverse with me, come to my studio, look around, hang out with the musicians that are there: almost like a virtual Meet-and-Greet. You know, it's not like a ZOOM thing, it's more like hanging out in the environment, that's cool.”

Is it even possible to achieve more success than that? 

I was curious as to why Matt chose this completely different field even though he had enjoyed such a roaring success as a musician.

“Because it’s creative, exciting, and new. You know, I’ve done pretty much everything there’s to do in music. I’m at the top of the heap – I got into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, won a Grammy, and I felt like I needed a creative spark. I needed to do something exciting. To me blockchain, NFTs, Metaverse, Web3, all that stuff is exciting. It's creative, it's like what can I do to build something that’s gonna be successful? And have another sort of different part of my creative psyche that’s gotta get out into the world and do something bigger than I ever did, right? Who can top Guns N’ Roses, right? And yeah, it’s possible, right? I think it’s possible,” Matt said.  

“Do something even more powerful and impactful. That was probably the most impactful thing I’ve done in my lifetime, but I wanted to do something that’s impactful to help people too. What I’m talking about is what can I do to help in a situation in the world where people are struggling, people in need, people are concerned about their welfare? I’m a guy who can do that. I can speak out and I'm talking to the press right now, I’m talking to you. Then I’ve had these last years of my career to turn it around and give it back so that’s what i like to do. It makes me feel good and it makes other people happier in their life. That's cool.”

I then asked Matt what he could say to those who claim that the NFT hype is nothing but just a game of the smartest with the richest.

“Hahaha well I’m gonna make my NFTs accessible to everybody. And you know, everyone can be involved. I’m gonna have different levels of people that can afford things. It’s gonna be about giving back too so we’re gonna build it about getting involved and we’re gonna keep track of them, and make them a community, the GoodNoise community. We’re gonna build it, start a token community, within as well, I mean inside the metaverse. So that’s Web3, that’s what the metaverse is, that’s the token community. That’s all coming. That’s in conversation. 

You’ve got to remember that there are these kids in the world that are playing games 6-8 hours per day, on average. Young kids are already living in the metaverse, they’re living in a virtual world. We know the world’s crazy out there right but we can create these beautiful spaces, destinations where you can go and have experiences in a different way," he said.

‘The world’s a big place, and I’m not in competition with anybody’ 

Just like I asked French Montana not so long ago, I couldn't resist asking Matt why his NFT label is different from others.

“Like I said, Mike, all my NFTs are gonna be about causes and impact. I'm familiar with the ones that are on Tezos – they are friends of mine. There are different things, you know, but my label is gonna be my brand, my rolodex, my people. The world’s a big place, and I’m not in competition with anybody. I’m just doing my thing,” he replied. 

Afterward, Matt shared some examples of NFTs that he found inspirational. 

“The first person I saw doing things in the blockchain world, music-wise and art-wise and stuff, was Imogen Heap – she’s been doing it for years. And not long after we got Bjork, then Dapper Labs came out, Сryptokitties and NBA top shots. A lot of different NFT stuff that I've seen. You know, it’s all cool, people are interested in a lot of different things in life. And my little niche will be – what can you do to give back? That's gonna be my niche market,” he proclaimed. 

As Matt prepared to leave for an after-party that he joked would be full of naked girls, my last question was what he would have thought 30 years ago if he heard the word NFT. 

“Oh, my God, I don’t know. I was very busy partying with Slash, right? So I’d have said, “NFT? What is that?” Matt said, dashing off to join a party with other like-minded individuals who strive to make a positive impact on the world while flying that high and having the world at their fingertips.