Amiga Music Preservation -

Interview

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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?

I think my interest started in 1983, with ZX Spectrum. It was not an interest
in music (do you remember the sound generator of ZX Spectrum?), but instead
in all those "new" and exciting stuff related to the first home computers.
They were a sort of mysterious object.

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

I've had ZX Spectrum, Vic 20, C-64, Atari ST, Amiga 500 and finally Amiga 600.
I did music and coding only with Amiga.

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

With Amiga I also did some coding. I never became a "serious" coder mainly
because people appreciated my music much more than my coding!! =)

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

I've been using Soundtracker and Protracker. And maybe also a tracker with
analogue synthesis, but I can't remember the name. Once that Protracker had
been released, it became a standard for me as well as for many musicians
around.

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

You know that every musician wants to express something with his music. So
it's hard to say which module brought me to reach a "goal". I think that the
most commercial module has been "Stormy and Clever", the most famous "Bring me
back" and "Vibrations" (the last one made together with my friend Case), and
the ones I like most are probably "PBCFH", "Bring me back" and "Roberto".

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

There's a lot of shit I've composed with Soundtracker. Things that ain't
really worth being remembered.

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

I think that music is not the main thing neither in demos nor in games.
Many musics heard in demos and games are just a plain "comment" to the
situation which is in there, but there have been some musics which managed
to "break out" anyway. In this last case the composer really reached his goal.

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

As many other Amiga musicians actually do, I compose dance tunes. I am
producing many projects related to commercial-house stuff. The last ones have
been "DOW JONES - Keep on loving" (currently in the "housepacific top 20"),
released in Italy by Melodica/BMG, and "DA LIFE - Lost in time" released in
Spain and Mexico by Vale Music. I'm doing some money with these tunes, but I
can't freely express myself anymore like I did with Amiga. If you want the
record to be out, you have to respect the music market's rules. This means
that you have to stay within a certain range.

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

MIDI is always the same since 20 years. For the rest, I just can say that sound
quality reached the final peak since 4-5 years. Just consider that many young
freaks with their $700 PC can produce music with quality which is not far from
the one I can reach in my studio, with samplers, keyboards, digital mixer,
professional monitors (costed more than $10,000). Luckily, there's still a
difference. You bet that the dynamic result you get by using, for example, an
EMU sampler and a SSL mixing console is MILES ahead from the result you get by
using one of those virtual samplers and the internal mixer of Cubase, Logic and
so on. It's clear that these differences are almost flatted if you listen the
record in MP3-format.

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

I think that the warmth and energy of almost all tunes by Earth Wind and Fire
are unique. I like Steely Dan and Donald Fagen a lot too. Indeed, there are a
lot of tunes of different styles I like. I have listened to a BUNCH of different
styles in my life and I played them too, so it's not hard for me to "understand"
a song and to appreciate it.

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

I'll talk with my friend Case and see if it's the case (!).

12-What bands are you currently listening to?

I think that the funky-dance group named ONLY PARADISE (they're out on V2
Records) is really cool. I listen to a lot of singles but I don't have a
particular favourite band.

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

It has been a happy period. You know, when you're young and you still haven't
touched the hardness of the real life, you live happily. If I could, I would
surely go back in time....!

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

No. Don't even know if there IS actually a sort of scene.

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

Well, I'd like to greet some OLD pals of the OLD school (who knows where they
are....)

Samir/Zenith (don't know if he's still in jail, I hope he isn't), E$G/IBB,
Macno, Teo, ACBS, Android, The Ripper, Terminator/Zero Defects.

And of course, everyone who appreciated my music.

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