Today’s guest is Jack Dillé, a designer, artist, DJ, founder, and, most importantly, member of the secretive cabal of cryptodissidents known as TallDAO. You can read more about how TMI works here.
Stat sheet
💼 Occupation: Cofounder & Designer at Icebreaker
🏠 Neighborhood: Williamsburg
🌎 Origin: Denver, CO
💪 Notable work: Existence & Immortality (daily mint 2022) || Icebreaker || SZNS
🪜 Socials: Catch me on Icebreaker
So how’d you end up here, doing this interview?
Through the kind and incredible Emily Edelman! She saw a presentation I did in 2022 at this one-off salon called Oyster Salon I helped organize. She really liked the presentation and we became friends after that.
Let’s check in with where your head is at right now. What tabs do you currently have open on your phone?
Weaving Spiders Come Not Here logo proposed by a Farcaster member
Install Metamask for iPhone because deep links don’t work
Unlonely app looking at their Privy setup
Testing wallet delegation on Icebreaker proofs
Farcaster Protocol Discussions forum, researching chat specifically
Did Kanye West & Kim Kardashian get into a jet ski accident? No, they didn’t lol
Station3 Generative Passport on Icebreaker - just built a new kiosk experience for this. Anyone can collect this NFT, no gas required.
The Playlist Miner for Spotify, getting DNB
What’s daurade? It was on a menu
Very dope NFT platform made by friends, ZeroOne
Total tabs: :) (so 99+)
How about the Platonic form of Jack—what people, places, or activities make you feel most yourself?
Spending time with my mom in Denver, and with my wife Christi, walking around NYC. Our new apartment we moved into last January makes me feel great and very at home - light is important to me and it gets great light, especially in the morning. Dancing and DJing makes me feel like myself, especially if I just ignore everyone else and play what I really want to hear. My annual ski trip is pretty great, I’m missing skiing more and more (I grew up in Denver and we went all the time – it was pretty special looking back). I love the mountains!
What do you do in your spare time?
If I’m not working then I’m usually hanging out with friends somewhere in the city. My most rare treat is playing video games these days. Generally, I start working on Icebreaker in some fashion or take care of life admin tasks.
What makes you forget about checking your phone?
When I’m in Figma designing with my music on it’s easy to lose track of time or if I’m DJing at my studio.
Wind it back. What’s your favorite memory from the past year?
I had a really amazing breakfast with my Dad in Colorado where we got into some new territory together, and that made me really happy. I’m excited for him.
Now fast forward. What are you most looking forward to in the next month?
Building out the new redesign of Icebreaker. It’s a total rework of the app navigation and I’m pumped to build it.
Time to get weird. What’s the weirdest thing you believe?
America is awesome (we have work to do, of course), and it is the best time ever to be alive.
Back to normie questions. What’s your dream job?
I have it right now: I get a chance to change the internet. The alternate though is pro backcountry snowboarder.
What work of yours are you most proud of?
I’m a broken record: Icebreaker. There is a lot of improvement to be made still, but I’m very proud of the team we are assembling and how our company is functioning.
What are two goals, one personal and one professional, that you have for the next year? For your lifetime?
Next year
Personal: Be present when I’m not working.
Professional: Hit 100k+ users on Icebreaker.
Lifetime
Personal: Design and build our home.
Professional: Leave the world better than I found it.
Last few questions, focused on mapping your socio-creative world. Who are your creative inspirations?
I keep a note with artists who inspire me and add to it as I find them. Here are the five most recent additions exactly as they appear:
Neelon Crawford - visual artist
Amalie Atkins - Agatha’s Almanac (Alaska)
Thierry Mugler - Metamorphosis collection (BK museum 1/14/23)
Dominic Harris - Salon NYC 11/10/23
Olafur Eliasson - mercer labs 1/7/24
All-time favorites:
How about among people you know or are friends with?
What creative scenes or movements are you most excited about right now?
I love the scene on Farcaster. I have made real friends there, and it’s great to meet other deep crypto nerds and builders while participating in a live social experiment around the globe.
If you could have a sleepover with anyone in the world, who would it be?
Skrillex! It would be amazing to make some music with him, I’ve been ride or die since 2010.
Send the last pic in your camera roll, no context.
The Stu! Okay, who should we have on next?
Michael Mills - 2018 Superrare artist
Shivani Mitra - cofounder of Museum of Crypto Art and general legend
0xDesigner - great designer and thoughtful fellow
James Duncan - early ETH Foundation, Collab Land employee 1, jovial crypto digital nomad, and aspiring DJ
Jack’s List
Five recs for right now
🎧 Brick Lane by Funk Cartel has been a staple the last 2 months
📚 I just finished Headlopper vol 1 and 2. So good!
🎨 Mercer Labs - specifically the Sand Art robot. The rest was alright, but that robot is excellent.
🕹️ Baldur’s Gate 3 is a masterpiece. It will take me probably like 5 years to play through it.
🍸 Deux Chats near us in Williamsburg is a treat, especially on these chilly winter nights.
Want more? Go follow Jack at the links above. To collect Jack's trading card, find him IRL and ask to scan.