Maxim of The Prodigy Imagines a Butterfly Revolution
Fine artist MM aka Maxim of The Prodigy discusses his upcoming Crypto.com NFT curated collection “LepidopTerror,” a collaboration with Snowcrash.
Maxim began painting in an attempt to decorate his home, after attending an art fair with the intention of purchasing a few pieces for his wall — leaving empty-handed and unimpressed. “After looking around and seeing what was on display, and looking at the prices, it made me realize that I could create artwork just as good by myself — so that inspired me,” he explained. “Needless to say, I didn’t buy anything at the art fair.”
Previously known for his music with genre-defying electronic band The Prodigy and as a solo act, using the pseudonym MM, he has since established himself as an accomplished fine artist — exhibiting his paintings, sculptures and mixed-media collages at galleries throughout London and earning the respect of the city’s vibrant art scene. His first exhibition, held in 2011, included a series of large-scale works depicting armed butterflies in battle. A play on the word “Lepidoptera,” an order of insects to which the butterfly belongs, MM is returning to his “LepidopTerror” concept for a Crypto.com NFT curated collection on July 27 — which will include 888 images of butterflies belonging to four categories: royals, warriors, workers and citizens.
Maxim originally imagined the butterfly rebellion in 2009, after recalling a childhood memory of an advertisement that depicted a young girl chasing one in a cornfield while waving a net — trying to catch it. Generally regarded as a frail and gentle creature, he wanted to give it the strength to protect itself and thought, “What would it be like if that delicate butterfly had a samurai sword to cut his way out of the net?” Thus, “LepidopTerror” was born — and has since evolved into a whole fantastic world, where the royals lead the workers in the collection of “golden pollen” with healing properties for the benefit of the community. The magical pollen is protected from the LepidopTerrors’ vicious enemies the Clown Wasps by the warriors — while the citizens, who are either too old to work and fight or too young to choose a life path, help take care of the larvae and caterpillars as they become ready to enter their chrysalises to transform into butterflies.
“I’m always on the side of the underdog, and this is what the butterfly was — it was the underdog.”
Using a variety of standard and unconventional materials, from spray paint and resin to bullets and pills, much of MM’s work is characterized by typically positively-associated imagery juxtaposed with symbols of destruction or decay: heart-filled grenades, pistol-toting cats, ski-masked ballerinas brandishing AK-47s and, of course, the skull-faced butterflies wielding various weapons. Most recently, in May 2021, MM collaborated with fellow mixed-media artist Dan Pearce on a poignant pandemic project titled “Hope” — which included the launch of limited edition sculptures, an exclusive four-track MM EP and the release of an accompanying short film featuring Maxim and his new music.
As a founding member of The Prodigy, pioneers of the breakbeat-driven “big beat” movement in electronic music, Maxim is widely associated with the band’s piercing lyrics, punk-infused aesthetic and explosive live performances. In fact, the group is currently on a critically-acclaimed sold-out tour in celebration of the 25th anniversary of their iconic album “The Fat of the Land,” its first run of shows since the tragic passing of fellow vocalist Keith Flint in 2019. Crypto.com NFT caught up with the multitalented artist to discuss the differences between music and art, how his expression varies from medium to medium, the evolution of his “LepidopTerror” project and his own creative metamorphosis.
“There are no mistakes when you’re doing art.”
Read the Q&A with Maxim below and visit the “LepidopTerror” drop page for more information.
How does it feel to be back on the road after all this time?
It’s great being back on the road. This is a great opportunity to celebrate Keith’s life. It’s been three and a half years since we did a live show, so it’s a challenge going back on the road. We know that the fans are really eager for some more Prodigy music so, in that respect, it’s almost something that was needed to be done for the fans — and also to celebrate Keith’s life.
From musician to visual artist, can you please detail your creative evolution?
I got into music, initially, at the age of 14 or 15. My brother was in a sound system in the town I grew up in, so I kind of followed in his footsteps. I started emceeing on sound systems, at that early age — and I just enjoyed writing lyrics and writing songs, and so forth, and just grew up in that music scene.
Where I grew up, there was a vast array of different cultures that all blended together — so I grew up around so many musical styles: reggae, ska, punk, acid jazz, rare groove, hip-hop [and] electro, to name a few. You know, my musical path eventually led me to meet with the other guys from the band and we started The Prodigy.
The transition from music to art came about when I needed some artwork for my house. I live in a barn conversion, and it had these big white walls. We needed to buy some artwork because the walls were a bit too plain, so my wife and I went to an Affordable Art Fair in the U.K. After looking around and seeing what was on display, and looking at the prices, it made me realize that I could create artwork just as good by myself — so that inspired me. Needless to say, I didn’t buy anything at the art fair.
Instead, I went to an art store and I bought some oil paints and some canvases, and I started painting. I soon realized this was not the way forward for me, because the oils took too long to dry. Then I moved on to acrylic paints.
For me, the process of creating things and developing ideas comes very fast. I don’t know if that’s a creative way of thinking, but I like to develop ideas really quickly — and once I’ve got the idea, I can build on that. The building process can take weeks, but I just like to get the initial foundation idea done quickly, so that’s what working with acrylics did for me.
The real turning point after that was when I met up with a good friend of mine in New York. She is an art curator. She took me around to a few artists’ houses and they showed me a few different techniques, which I had never even thought of. I just thought painting was putting acrylic and oils on canvas, and that was it. I didn’t realize you could use stencils. I didn’t realize you could use collage and I didn’t realize you could use different paper, materials, glitter, transfers, pastels, crayons [or] spray paints. All these different materials hadn’t even entered my head. That knowledge inspired me even further, and when I returned home I had so many ideas and images in my head that I wanted to try out and develop. That was my true starting point of really becoming an artist.
When I am painting, it feels like a release — and I am not as strict with myself, as I am when I am writing music. With art, things are more free-flowing — a bit more relaxing. Anything can happen in that zone. It just looks good; it just feels right. There are no mistakes when you’re doing art.
Now I can understand and truly enjoy the freedom it brings. It’s almost like a pressure valve on your creativity; you just release that pressure valve and it takes the edge off your life. Even if you just throw some paint on a canvas, it’s very fulfilling to release so many different emotions.
I totally understand the whole creative process. I just love being in that zone, and that’s why I’m always doing something creative. I don’t just like to paint; I like to make clothes, I like to formulate ideas for jewelry, make music, design wallpaper, design trainers — I design to my heart’s desire, and love to share those ideas with the world.
You initially attempted to keep your art and music personas separate, to a degree, at least by name; can you elaborate on why?
I tried to keep my stage name Maxim separate from the art world, and I used the moniker MM. The reason I did that was because — in 2010, when I started taking art seriously — the attitude in the U.K. was, when you tried to do a few different things, people didn’t seem to respect it or acknowledge it. If you’re known as a musician, you’re just a musician — you can’t be an artist as well.
That was the general consensus in the U.K. I don’t know about other countries. I look at America sometimes and I think [it] is a bit different. I think in the U.S., they celebrate people when they become successful — when they achieve certain things and then move on to other things. For instance, being a musician, they like the fact that you have set up your own publishing company — that you have your own record label and distribution, and so forth. I think, for a while, these things were frowned upon in the U.K.
That’s why I came up with the name MM. I was going to put art underneath MM and keep Maxim purely for music. As time went on, I realized that it’s me — it’s still me — and I just needed to embrace it. So I still use the name MM and I still use Maxim. I can use both names now, and I embrace the fact that I am a musician and an artist — that’s what I like to do.
How do you approach making music vs. making art? Would you say your creative process, inspirations, etc. are similar for both or do you find that you’re able to express different parts of yourself in each?
I believe creating music and art are two very different things for me. I find that I am more neurotic when I’m writing music. It’s more intense and I’m a bit more of a perfectionist. Certain things need to be a bit more perfect in that space.
Now, when I’m doing art, I do have some artwork which is very precise and polished — but then there are pieces of artwork which are very free flowing and relaxed. I’ve done sculptures where I’ve just splashed paint on the sculpture. I just looked at it [like], “Wow, I like that splash and it just looks great.” I realize that I can be relaxed with that and accept it for what it is, and sometimes the most beautiful things for me are mistakes — so-called mistakes. But I suppose they’re not really mistakes, they are just things that happen naturally — and things that happen naturally are usually the most beautiful thing.
I love that those kinds of things will happen in art, when I go into an art room and I have an idea and it develops into something else — not even what [I] intended to start out with. I love the beauty of that unfolding into something you didn’t even have in your head at first. Your creativity and creative juices just flow and it develops into something else.
In your experience, how does working in the world of fine art compare to the music industry?
Working in the music business and working in the art business are two very different industries, but in some respects also kind of similar.
It’s just like any scene, really. There are good points and bad points. There are good people and negative people. It’s all about finding the right people that you click with, and people who understand you — people who want to help you on your journey, and people that you can help along their journey as well. I suppose that’s just life isn’t it, really? I think in both industries you get the same people.
I tend to focus on myself and good people around me, and try to connect with more positive people — and people who uplift you, and people who you can uplift in that scene as well. That’s really my main focus.
You’ve worked in several mediums; do you have a favorite — and why, if so?
I use a lot of mediums in my work. There was a time, actually, [when] I used a lot of resin. I just like that finish, like glass, you put on the top. I used to love using resin. I know I was using resin in around 2010, when you couldn’t easily get resin in the U.K. I imported it from the U.S. I later found out that it wasn’t UV protected, so a lot of the artwork I produced in the first year might be yellow now because it wasn’t UV protected. I tried so many different types of resin. I’ve ruined so many paintings because I covered [them] in resin, and then once [they] dried [they’ve] turned totally frosty for one reason or another.
I’ve used charcoal. I have mixed charcoal with different materials, [like] PVA glue and glitter to give it a little sparkle.
I like to experiment and try to use anything to see what works. I can create to take things a bit further in the art world. Any kind of material I can use — leaves and flowers and stones — anything, even food! I’ve used razor blades and lollipops. Anything that will lend itself as a creative medium, I will use it in a painting.
One of the materials I used around 2011 was pills. I had an idea of using pills and I think that I was probably… Well, I can’t say I was first — because you’re never the first — but I never saw anybody else using pills at that time. Today, I see thousands upon thousands of artworks using pills and capsules.
A lot of your work is characterized by the juxtaposition of traditionally beautiful or otherwise generally upbeat or positive subjects — like kittens, ballerinas, hearts and butterflies — with weapons or other symbols of destruction; what is it about this contrast that speaks to you as a person and artist?
I like to use different imagery in my artwork: ballerinas, hearts, butterflies [and] a lot of weapons. I haven’t used kittens! I definitely like the juxtaposition. I like to use imagery and take them out of their normal context, and mix them with imagery which is totally opposite. Butterflies are incredibly delicate and soft, and I arm them with samurai swords — which are deadly weapons.
One of the key pieces I created, that is along a similar vein, is a grenade called “Heart Attack.” It’s basically a clear grenade with a beautiful warm beating heart inside. As you know, a grenade is usually thrown in the direction of something you want to hurt, kill or destroy. The “Heart Attack” grenade is thrown in the direction of someone or somewhere that you want to spread love to.
That is exactly the type of imagery I like to create in art. I want people to look at artwork and try and make their own idea of what they see in the artwork. You can see what it’s about, but do you understand the concept behind it? Everyone has their own meaning when you look at an art piece. Everybody has their own story, their own interpretation, when they look at art.
I like to create that story, and then it’s down to you to interpret it how you want to interpret it. I’m just providing the tools and giving it to you to build your own story.
Tell us about the inspiration behind “LepidopTerror”; how long had you been thinking about this concept until you decided to realize it?
The story behind “LepidopTerror” stems from around 2012, when I had an idea for a painting — but I wasn’t sure how to go about it.
When I was really young, about eight or nine years old, I saw an advert which showed a girl running through a cornfield — trying to catch butterflies with a butterfly net. Something about that image resonated in my head. I don’t know what it did to me, but I just thought, “What would it be like if that delicate butterfly had a samurai sword to cut his way out of the net?”
I’m always on the side of the underdog, and this is what the butterfly was — it was the underdog. That gave me the idea of creating this artwork.
One of your first exhibitions was based on the “LepidopTerror” concept; how does that initial collection relate to the NFT collection you’re offering now?
One of the first paintings I did was actually a woman with a baseball bat. She’s trying to swat the butterflies, but they all have samurai swords — and they’re going to protect themselves. It looked all right, but I wasn’t too happy with how it turned out. Then I tried to develop the idea a bit further.
The butterfly is defending himself against these insects which are attacking him, and it’s all happening within a storm cloud. The butterfly is flying around in the storm cloud.
It is a metaphor really, for standing up for yourself — conquering something in your life, taking command of something, rising up to look at yourself in the mirror. It’s not literally about killing. It’s about slaying something inside of you and conquering something inside of you. So that’s the whole story.
Was this kind of storytelling or world-building a new process for you, or do you often conceptualize stories for your work?
I create the imagery for people to see, and their own interpretation is however they perceive it.
People look at the paintings from a distance and see beautiful butterflies. Then they come up close and see the butterfly is slaying the insects, and may think, “It’s evil. It’s really bad.” But they don’t understand what the foundation is. If they look a bit deeper, the metaphor is about killing that demon inside you, standing up for something, slaying that part inside of you that you want to conquer and coming out of your shell — empowering yourself.
It could be you making a speech at a wedding or conference, and you’re too shy to do it — but finding [the] confidence to say, “Yeah, I’m gonna come out of my shell and do this!”
I created a world where these various types of butterflies live, along with different insects. I started painting some of them in swirly clouds, some of them with planets and some of them in mists.
What about the concept felt appropriate for an NFT collection? Why did you decide to revisit it?
There are so many different types of butterflies that I have created, and I thought it would be good to create a whole world for these butterflies to exist in. There are four different types of butterflies in this first release, but there are so many other ideas I have for the butterfly collection. I could go even further to the next world!
People can collect the different styles of NFT butterflies. I have developed the butterflies and developed the wings. There are royal butterflies, worker butterflies, warrior butterflies and citizen butterflies — just like their own community, really.
There are so many different collectibles in the NFT space that have their own worlds in a similar way to “LepidopTerror.” However, I’ve had this concept for 10 years — you can see this from my paintings which date back to 2012 — so it’s a perfect route for me to take.
How did you come up with the mythology of “LepidopTerror?”
That story around the “LepidopTerror” butterflies is about a whole community. In this community, there are royals, warriors, workers and also citizens. They live in this community, but there’s pollen which they are protecting from the Clown Wasps — which are trying to get pollen because it has healing properties. It gives strength and power, and butterflies harvest the pollen which they feed to the royals — which create more chrysalises in return, to create more butterflies in the community.
The whole concept is based around a painting, originally. I’ve just taken it further and built a story around it — just [to] make it more interesting in the NFT space.
How did you get into NFTs in general; what attracted you to the space?
It is a perfect time for artists to get involved in the NFT world, as it’s another way of expressing yourself. It’s another avenue — in the same way as you being a musician and releasing an album, and then releasing an MP3 — it’s another way of getting your art out there.
Do you have any other plans for this project?
I could see this as a short animated film, and maybe that’s something I will look into for the future. I have some animated versions of the butterflies which could easily lend themselves to a cartoon or film story book. I could take it even further and write music for the soundtrack to this. I have written music for previous projects, so everything is possible.
Do you have any plans for your music in the space?
There are a few ideas in the pipeline to release some music as an NFT, so that will happen in the future. It’s quite exciting, to give fans direct contact with NFTs — being able to own pieces of music, and being able to try pieces of music as well. It’s a very creative space, and I think the future for music in the NFT space is very bright. Let’s see where it goes!
The NFT space is such a vibrant and creative space, at the moment. There are so many possibilities for things to happen in the space, and I believe that a lot of people are still trying to find those possibilities and ideas — but they can use the space to see music really branch out. Once that’s been tapped into properly, I think it will be a beautiful thing.
Browse the “LepidopTerror” collection by Maxim.
Please note that by accessing or using this content, you agree that Crypto.com is solely responsible for the minting, custody and provision of the Crypto.com NFT Platform. Any additional products or features of the drop (including redeemable items, charity donations, utility and/or giveaways) are provided at the entire responsibility of the Creator(s) featured/interviewed unless otherwise noted on Crypto.com’s official channels. Any views and opinions expressed by Creator(s) belong to the same and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Crypto.com. Although Crypto.com makes best efforts to ensure this article contains accurate information, it cannot be guaranteed that all information provided is up to date. For more details, please refer to the drop page and the Creator(s)’ channels. Some products or features of the drop may not be available in certain jurisdictions. Nothing in this article should be taken as legal or financial advice.
Editor’s Note (Oct. 4, 2022): an earlier version of this article was originally published on July 26, 2022 and has since been edited and/or updated.
