PUNX - music project from Steve Aoki and 3LAU

Key points: 

• Steve Aoki and Justin "3LAU" Blau have teamed up on a conceptual music and art project called PUNX.
• The project will be "an innovative IRL-meets-Metaverse audiovisual supergroup" that will use the duo's CryptoPunks in their visual imagery.
• The group, which claims to be the first DJ group associated with CryptoPunks, released its intellectual property (IP) to holders in August after being acquired by Yuga Labs.
• 3LAU tweeted that the project is “not an NFT,” but said the project may find a way to integrate blockchain technology in the future.

DJ and NFT enthusiasts Steve Aoki and Justin "3LAU" Blau have teamed up on a conceptual music and art project called PUNX, inspired by their own CryptoPunks non-fungible token (NFT).

According to a press release, the project will be "an innovative IRL-meets-Metaverse audiovisual supergroup" that will use the duo's CryptoPunks in their visual imagery. The group, which claims to be the first DJ group associated with CryptoPunks, released its intellectual property (IP) to holders in August after being acquired by Yuga Labs.

Blue has CryptoPunk #6708, who has white hair and sunglasses, and Aoki has six 8-bit characters, including CryptoPunk #6748, who wears a purple hat and eye patch.

"PUNX is a forward-thinking, conceptual musical art project with a nod to the music we love and the music that shaped who we are today," Aoki said in a statement. "Though we’ve been friends for 10 years, it was our shared passion for Web3 that inspired this collab."

The group tweeted that the PUNX's tone "will be different from any sound we currently have," opting instead for a smoother, choppier technical sound.

3LAU tweeted that the project is “not an NFT,” but said the project may find a way to integrate blockchain technology in the future. The group plans to release music and tour in 2023.

Both Aoki and Blau have influenced the combination of NFT and music through their respective projects. Blue previously released an NFT album series called "Ultraviolet," which grossed a record $11 million, and launched the music licensing platform Royal in May 2021. Aoki has released several successful NFT series, including Dream Catcher, and launched the NFT membership community A0K1VERSE.