Psychopaths in Babel: The story behind Maren Altman's debut single "Autographs in Hell"
"Autographs in Hell" is about a time an employee questioned Maren's ability to run a tech company.
I'll be signing autographs in hell
Hope you're doing well
You know I'm underneath
Signing autographs in hell
Hope you're doing well without me
And promise me in my next life it won't be like this
But for now I'll be signing autographs in hell
Hope you're doing well without me
Maren Altman released her debut single “Autographs in Hell” on June 14th of last year. She explains her pivot from crypto to music in this video entitled “life update: i moved to LA to put out music”.
The Astrace Scam, for the Unfamiliar
Before we continue, for those who haven’t been following our research reports and regular content across social media platforms (see our Linktree here), we will offer a summary: Maren Altman raised a little over $500k USD for a crypto venture named Astrace in 2022. The website (astrace.io) is still live as of this writing. We have also archived it in case it gets taken down.
This project promised a lot: astrology-based trading vaults, a daily horoscope app, a dating app, and a metaverse, among other things.
Much has happened since then. Between raising funds and completely abandoning the project, Maren was engaged in, among other things:
Weaving a Narrative
Now back to Maren’s vlog. Here are some direct quotes from the video:
[13:15] And, um, like crypto and all that, that was actually the most accidental thing that's ever happened in my life, and I don't regret it. Like, I'm into crypto, like, whatever, it's cool … Like, I was someone who looked at charts and money and coins and stuff and was just like, 'Oh, this is kind of cool, this is kind of fun. Like, learning about investing is cool.' Um, I never really got into advanced investing. Like, I would put money here and there in early projects; I don't know where any of that money went.
[13:58] I definitely got in over my head in terms of like, people expecting me to be a financial advisor … in terms of actual like macro or intelligent thought, bro, I'm gonna leave that to like the old guys … I'm such a girl's girl, and I'm not gonna fight that … What I'm good at is not, you know, business acumen. I get people to help me with that. If I'm honest, I'm better at creative stuff.
[15:06] I don't care if I'm wealthy, as like all these people being so into the money and whatnot. I actually don't care. This is why, if you're accusing me of fraud or like extorting me for money when I don't have that money to give you, it all went into a company, and we're building things.
[17:10] That's why I'm like, 'Netflix, Hulu, someone get this story in here,' because every day it's an insane story here. Every single day, it's insanity. [Comment: Hey Maren, we might actually take you up on that offer ;)]
[24:59] This has literally been like my double life over the past nine months now. Recording vocals, a long period of waiting in between, recording more vocals, a long period of waiting in between. [Comment: What about running a company and having a responsibility to investors in the tune of over half a million dollars?]
Just for fun, we asked ChatGPT its thoughts on the content of the video.
The Inspiration for Autographs in Hell
Regarding this particular article, we feature the most pertinent quote from the vlog.
We did "Autographs in Hell" in like a week. That's our lead single … But that song literally came straight out of my notes. Every single thing in that song was straight out of my notes …
I mean, I feel like that song's meaning is fairly obvious when you hear it. It's like, "I'll be signing autographs in hell, hope you're doing well without me." I actually wrote that when someone I really trusted and valued, a colleague of mine, completely at midnight went on a rampage texting me, being like, 'You're a horrible leader.' Like, just horrible. And like I said, I'm so sensitive, all I could think of in that moment was like, 'I'm gonna write this song.'
Sidenote: The extent to which Maren fully wrote the lyrics remains ambiguous, though this detail is largely peripheral to this article’s core narrative.
The Astrace Insider Speaks
We we able to reach out to the (former) colleague in question. The person Maren herself states inspired the lyrics to “Autographs in Hell”. From this point on we will call this person Insider XX.
In summary, Insider XX was the only developer working on Maren’s Astrace project (as far as we can conclude). They detail struggles with Maren's lack of technical understanding and unrealistic demands that disregarded the mathematical complexity of certain tasks. Maren's poor management led to a complete depletion of funds within the first few months of the project. Most, if not all, employees were unpaid for many months. Amidst this, Maren continued to neglect responsibilities as she pursued a music career. Frustrated by her disregard for the technical and financial aspects of running a tech company, the employee eventually resigned, sending Maren a pointed message about her unsuitability for leadership in tech.
We attach the actual screenshots from the emails below. Some elements have been blurred out to protect various peoples’ privacy.
Furthermore, Insider XX wasn’t even aware that Maren recently released a song and a vlog. It was another member of the project and close associate of Maren Altman’s that notified our insider that the recently released song was most likely aimed at them.
The Midnight Text “Rampage”
We attach below the midnight text “rampage” that Maren admits was the inspiration for the song “Autographs in Hell”. We note that Insider XX was emailing us from a CET timezone so the timestamps in this exchange are in CET time. Therefore the texts correspond to approximately midnight EST time, where Maren Altman was located at the time.
We previously acquired and uploaded a recording of an Astrace company meeting to our Soundcloud which we are convinced pertains to Insider XX as well.
Desecrating Religious Iconography
In our correspondence, the former employee/colleague in question has accused Maren of intentionally desecrating certain religious iconography in the music video as a form of spite towards them.
Insider XX tells us they frequently use the following image of St. Olga as an avatar on various messaging and social media apps. This is apparently the exact image they use as an avatar on the only two messaging apps they used to communicate with Maren Altman—namely, Telegram and Discord.
The "Autographs in Hell" music video unmistakably showcases a Christian church, a detail that could be interpreted simply as an aesthetic decision. However, considering that the song expresses a strong disdain for Insider XX—known for utilizing a Christian saint's image on messaging platforms—this imagery acquires an intriguing layer of significance.
In three segments of the short video—1:17 to 1:21, 1:29 to 1:31, and 1:55-1:57—a picture frame containing an image that looks curiously like St. Olga is prominently featured. Indeed, it is a large photograph hanging over Maren’s bed.
In a subsequent scene of the video, blood dramatically spills from the eyes of the portrait.
The "Autographs in Hell" video is deliberately designed to embody a dark and aesthetic quality, typical of many metal videos. However, the underlying intentions of its imagery may be more complex and twisted than they appear at first glance.
I'll be signing autographs in hell, hope you're doing well without me.
We are actively expanding our investigation into allegations of embezzlement, unpaid employees, and the broader Astrace scam and its connections to a wide network of cryptocurrency fraudsters. If you have inside information about Astrace or were an unpaid employee under Maren Altman, we urge you to contact us at xlilbaph@gmail.com.
For ongoing updates and detailed research reports on the Maren Altman led Astrace project—a project that some have been calling “the crypto version of the Fyre Festival”—be sure to subscribe to our Substack.
