Amiga Music Preservation -

Interview

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`qb ,dP'

TLb. ,dMP' all rite, now you get the chance to read

TML.dMMP some facts about some of the major amiga

,nmm`XXMPX musicians. read about their history in

,#MP'~~XNXYNXTb. the scene and their plans in future.yes,

,d~' dNNP `YNTb. that's meant to be read while listening to

,~ ,NN' `YNb their modules. read 'em over and over and over..

dNP `Yb.

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Handle:

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Group:

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Date of birth:

1-How did your interest for computers start? Which year was that?

Computers were the new thing to have... finally available for home use.. I
mean who could pass on a home video game system right!?! I guess it was right
about 1982, or 1983

2-What machines did you previously have? What did you do with them?

Oh Man... Apple II, Apple II+, Apple //e, Texas Instruments (TI-99), Amiga
(can't remember which one), C64, and then several PCs after that. What did
I do with them? well, uh... sold a few here and there...and the TI-99 made
a great paperweight for a while.

3-For what specific reason did you end up making music rather than gfx, coding?

I just felt more drawn to music than the other areas, always wanted to 'make my
own tunes', and I figured this was possibly the perfect opportunity. I'd like to
think that I was right. Some might disagree, but I think I did a few worthy
tunes here and there (and some not-so-worthy ones, I'll admit)

4-Which composing programs have you been using? Which one in particular?

I've used Mod-Tracker, Scream Tracker, Impulse Tracker, Fast Tracker
(anything with the word 'tracker' pretty much. Tried some of the newer
ones... and I want to make music, not play video games (some of the interfaces
these days... come on!) ... I still rely on Impulse Tracker for the stuff I'm
doing these days (Pulse, You da man!)

5-With which module did you feel you had reached your goal?

Even as of now, I don't feel that I've reached what I really want to do...
There were many that I felt very pleased with (the movie themes I covered,
and some originals like "Through the Stargate", "On the Wings of the Eagle",
and the remix of PM's "Near Dark (Twilight Mix)".

6-Is there a tune you would like not to remember? For what reason?

Yeah, "Club Vanity" - it's one of the more recent songs I've done, and
it was done primarily as a joke..with bad lyrics, bad timing, and using
all loops...making fun of the current club scene...man did I get a lot
of hate mail over that...mostly from the types of chicks who go to those
clubs, as described in the song :)

7-In your opinion, what's the value of a music in a demo, game?

Well, they (music, graphics, everything) all are integral parts. without
any one, it takes away from the experience, sure you could still have the demo
or game...but it's kinda like cutting off an ear, or your nose (but less
painful). I don't place music at a higher level than the others, they're all
equally important.

8-At present, are you still composing? For professional or leisure purposes?

Yes. A little bit of both. Mostly for leisure, but I do a few side projects
for corporate video, training video, video games, or whatever I can get. Hey
I'm not picky...I'll do anything but Porn (Which, people have honestly said my
music would work best in.. hmmm...maybe a future there.... hehe) hey if anyone
has a gig for me, write me!

9-What do you think of today's pieces of music such as mpeg,wave,midi,etc...?

Well, with the exception of midi sequences... it's really comparing apples and
oranges (or Orntches, for a friend out there) as it's a pretty much just an
archiving or compression format... as far as a lot of the music being done
today (on computers that is, using newer programs like fruity loops, Buzz,
Acid, E-Jay, etc)... I feel that a lot of what's being made these days is
missing something. That being that 'back in the day' when tracking was the hot
thing, and the demoscene was actually known... there was innovation, a struggle
to get things accomplished...(I don't mean that in a negative sense..) but
there was a large co-operative effort between all the different groups out there..
sure they competed with one another, but it was all a sharing of knowledge...of
course it all came down to 'whos plasma looked the best'

Today, its almost as though the new formats for doing music were handed to the
'next generation' on a silver platter... there (much like science) is no
discipline involved in what they're doing really, it's all pop the loops in
and go, so a lot of the newer stuff out there today lacks originality...
however there are exceptions, I will grant that... but music has become as
easy to make as typing in a word processor (and there are lot of people who
make a lot of typo's out there)

10-Could you tell us some of your all times favourite tunes?

Oh Man... there are way too many tracked tunes out there over the years
that I loved, learned from, and gained inspiration from... and I don't want
to name anyone specific, because I know I'll leave someone out, and they'll
be hounding me the rest of my life for it.

11-Are you planning to make an audio cd with some of your music remastered?

Yes - "Tau'ri" will be released in the near future (hopefully shortly after
this summer, 2001)...containing both old music and many newer songs as well.

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

Same old stuff... Tubes, Depeche Mode, New Order, Devo, lots of 80s stuff...
but of the newer (last several years) I've really not gotten into too much...
maybe I'm getting old. "Kids today...." (hello mom and dad, I have become you)

13-What does/did the amiga/c64 scene give you?

A beginning, and a foundation to move forward... it served as a huge
springboard for sure for all of us.

14-Are you still active in the scene these days?

A little bit... mostly just writing new tunes...and occasionally releasing
some in the original .IT or whatever I used format. It's getting difficult to
do that these days because so many people are ripping now that it's unbelievable.
And I don't mean samples. Time after time people take a tune, put their name on
it, and send it out to their 'friends' and it gets redistributed... so most
everything gets encoded to mp3 and put somewhere, and a copy of the originals
sent in for copyright as well... I never thought that'd be an issue, but...
things change...Everyone....Do that! (ok, that's my soap box point of the day)

15-Anyone to greet? Anything left to say? Feel free...

Wow! I wonder if anyone remembers me! Let's see, I'll just make a list...

(random ordered)

Starla ;) , Malakai, URRyan, Maelcum, Dilvish, Animix, Basehead, Purple Motion,
Skaven, Psi, Oman, Rimbo, MickRip, Virt, Grubwerm, Phoenix, GD, Phurion, Zapper,
Aahz, Skie, Behemoth, Beek, zsazs, K8to, ShadowH, Majesty, Wave, Jak, c_ray_c,
CD, Ms Saigon (Jackie, where the hell are you these days?), Necros, Psibelius,
Ior, oh man there are so many that I'm leaving out..but the list goes on...
Sorry to everyone I forgot.. man I miss the old days! The scene was the genesis
of a large number of multimedia developments that came along in past and recent
years... and you all were major contributors! We never all saw eye to eye and
often disagreed... But you all were a great group of folks! I still see some
of you some times, and to the newer acquaintences, I look forward to the many
years to come! (Oh..okay see what ya went and did here with this question? ya
got me all sentimental, and nostalgic!)

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please note: this interview is ©opyrighted in 2001 by crown of cryptoburners
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