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.

,NN' `b. · i n t e r v i e w · ___________

______dP _____________ \ /

\ ,N'\____ _____________. _____ \ \_____. ____\ /

\___P___/ .\--\__ __/__ |--\____)---\ _____/__ |--\_ \ _/

| | | \ | | \__| | _ \ / | \__| | /\ |

| _| | | _l_ | | \ / _l_ | ___|

l___/=l___|====l____/===\______|==l______|\ /l___/===\______l____/

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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?

Around 1984, my best friend at school had a Commodore 64 and we spent many
Wednesday afternoons playing games. In 1985, I bought a second hand C= 64 with
my hardly saved money. Later on, when the Amiga 500 came out, I immediately
bought one - of course !

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

I used the C= 64 for playing games, of course, but I had a passion for those
synthetic sounds. I remember having spent many hours listening to game songs by
Rob Hubbard (UK), Martin Galway (UK) or Jeroen Tel (The Nederland) to name a
few. I also started learning BASIC programming, as it was the default language
provided with the computer.

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

As I was learning music since the age of 7, I was interested in making music on
the computer as well. I also learned Assembler programming on the Amiga, and
wrote music routines together with Julien Clermonte (France).

4-How did you manage to produce musics for the scene?

I started composing or adapting music on the Amiga for my own pleasure. I shared
my music with friends of local groups, and that's how I entered Ackerlight as
musician.

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

I started with Sonics, but I couldn't get satisfied. When the very first
Soundtracker came out, it was a miracle to me and I immediately started
writing my first modules.

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

I had no particular goal in writing music. Every music I composed or adapted
was a fine experience in itself.

7-I heard many people claiming that "mod.dear rob" was one of the best old school

Amiga modules ever made, and one of your best ones. What do you think about this module?

Being a big fan of Rob Hubbard on the C= 64 in that time, I composed this song
as a dedicate to him and as a remembering of the "good old time" on that
incredible C=64.

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

Some tunes I wrote in the beginning were quite cheesy. But it's part of the
game!

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

Hum, a game without music, it's like a movie without sound ! Music is essential
to create the right atmosphere in a game.

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

I did not compose any music during the 90's. I started deejaying house music
in 1994 and played in European countries. Now I'm a little bit fed up with the
night life, so I bought a new equipment to start composing music again. The
purpose is only leisure at the moment.

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

MP3 or WAV is just a way to store music. The standards have evolved, replacing
tapes and vinyl's, which is a good thing !

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

I won't name any song, but the feeling of the C= 64 music scene was the most
exciting to me, more than the Amiga in fact.

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

Not really. My modules will be available on my web site for download (together
with appropriate players, for Mac & PC) :

14-What bands are you currently listening to?

After a period of mainly house & garage style, the music I'm listening to
nowadays is more eclectic. I like to swap in the music styles : pop, R&B,
electro, etc.

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

Great time, and an unique experience in making music with bits and bytes! I'm
glad to have started at the real beginning, experiencing the first computers
used to make electronic music.

16-When you were a member of Ackerlight, did you ever want to get more involved

in the scene or to go to another group?

I was indeed interested in working for commercial companies and learning other
aspects of the multimedia world. But by growing up, I abandoned the Amiga
scene and concentrated my energy on my studies. Later on, I could realise this
dream by working for Philips in Belgium, developing music production tools for
the CD-I (CD-Interactive).

17-How did you consider at that time the role and importance of Ackerlight

in the scene, and your role?

Ackerlight was probably internationally renowned in the Amiga scene in the late
80's. Making music for Ackerlight may have added a little extra, but all members
are responsible for the success of the group.

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

I wonder if the the concept of "scene" still exists today ? As kids in that time,
we liked to swap games and demos, building a network of computer-freaks. Today
with the Internet, the whole world is networked and communication has become
totally anonymous. Copy parties don't exist anymore, for instance.

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

Life is short, make the things you wish to do before you realise it's too late!

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please note: this interview is ©opyrighted in 2002 by crown of cryptoburners
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