Amiga Music Preservation -

Interview

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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..

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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 always enjoyed coin-ups as a kid. A friend of mine owed an Amiga. His big
brother was a member of the early Amiga group, IT, and he was a really
good graphic artist at the time. After being inspired by games and demos I
eventually just HAD to get an Amiga. I got my own Amiga 500 in 1990.

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

I started off with the Amiga 500. At first I mainly just played games and
tried out Deluxe Paint. Since I wanted to make game graphics at some point,
I started to get more into 2D animation and full-screen images. I also
started to look into Noise Tracker, which seemed like a lot of fun. I got
involved with several hobby game projects, where I both did sprites,
backgrounds and music. But either the coders were too lazy or school took up
all my time, so nothing got finished. I also spent a lot of time watching
demos, listening to Amiga music and creating graphics for demos and discmags.
I created a lot of graphics and music that never have been released.

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

Well, in my case I ended up doing BOTH graphics and music. After finishing
my basic education, I got a job offer in Scavenger DK, which was a new game
company with big potential. Some of the best scene members were working for
them. I got a lot of inspiration both in terms of 3D graphics and music.
Eventhough 3D graphics was my profession, I contiunued composing music
with trackers programs in my sparetime. Now I'm also playing the synth
in a progressive metal band "www.drawthecurtains.com".

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

I've just used tracker programs so far (FastTracker2). At the moment I'm
looking into Cakewalk for MIDI composing. I also use Sound Forge to add
atmosphere and effects to samples and tunes.

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

My composing developed further after my scene days, and there are a few
tunes that I think destinguish from my earlier music. One of them is called
Marine City and has a dark underwater theme. Kind of industrial techno with
ambient atmosphere. I try to develop my composing skills further and
further, and I don't think I've really reached any goal before I've released
a CD I will upload my music onto my new site (www.siggyart.com).

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

I've made several modules that never got finnished. I once tried to make a
sad and cute tune, and it ended up being just weird and patethic. I'll
rather forget about that one

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

A lot of the demos in the Amiga days, I watched just for the case of the
music. Some demos just had some really hardcore or nice tunes that I could
listen to over and over and be inspired. It's hard to enjoy a demo if the
music is bad, even if the art and code are impressive. The music has to
fit the graphics and content of a demo or a game. For games, it seems like
they're all going into the direction of film music. It can be a little
boring, but on the other hand better than some of the annoying melodies
that keeps playing! Tekken Tag on the Playstation2 has got some really
badtaste 70's disco tunes that totally don't fit in. When the Japaneese
music teams try to immitate European techno, disco or metal, they usually
fail, in my opinion. Really cheesy stuff. Besides that we're gonna face a
few years with Matrix-music in every action game and every action movie
(simple, repetative guitar riff with noise filtered rythms).

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

I've had a break with the tracking composing for a while, but I'm planning
to get back into it now, if time allows it. As mentioned, I'm also playing
the synth in a band.

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

Well, mp3 and wave are not brands of music, just formats. However, the fact
that all music can be converted to mp3 and spread for free, is probalby
gonna be a damaging for the industry. Atleast for those making a living
out of music. The fact that everyone can buy programs like E-Jay and other
easy to make simple music programs, seems to turn the entire music industry
towards simple digital music. At some point electronic sounds and beats
are going to be worn out, I think. By then, all the real musicians are
broke.

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

For those who remembers:

Kefrens / Desert Dream - music by Laxity. Nice film-like intro, cool rythms
and nice themes.

Anarchy / 3D demo2 - music by Mad Freak. Fast paced hardcore rythms, with
a cool theme.

Jesper Kyd has also released a lot of cool music, especially during his
game music career.

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

I've had a plan like that for a long time. Not only remastered pieces from
the past, but also new music within a certain style. But it requires time,
equipment and some money. At the moment, time is the main factor in that
formula

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

The Kovenant, Dream Theater, Ayreon, Delerium, Jesper Kyd, Front Line Assembly
and a few others.

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

The Amiga scene was in many ways the start of my way as a game graphic
artist and digital music composer. The demos and other creations worked as
inspiration for my art and music. But mostly it gave insight of the
technology (at the time) and the possibilities of the computers. Some of
the most hardcore game companies are spawned from the talented scene
members during the 90s. The company with probably most well-known
ex-scenemembers is Shiny Entertainment. I worked with some of these
talented guys when working for Scavenger and eventually for Shiny (Messiah).

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

No, I'm too occupied with my profession and other hobbies. For me it seems
like the real scene days ended around 1995. I've got the impression people
are just sitting around playing games and there is almost no demonstration
of inovative creativity anymore. Though, I've seen a couple of nice demos
with some nice effects the last years. I've heard the Wild Competitions are
pretty cool. However, making something impressive these days seems to be
too time consuming. But people shouldn't give up trying to create something
for themselves (images, animations, music, code). It can be considered a
way to get some extra skills which you won't be learning at school
(which eventually will give you a job). But first of all it should be fun,
of course

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

I want to greet some of the scene guys I know or am familiar with, that I
think have made it far with their early potential during the scene days
(Amiga/PC):

Christer Sveen (Funcom), Torgeir Hagland (Shiny), Svein Mathisen,
Anders -Laxity- Hanssen, Søren Hannibal (Shiny), Michael Jacobsen (BAM Prod),
Jesper Kyd, Michael -Saxs- Persson (Shiny), Tony Bennet (Shiny),
David -The Spy- Guldbrandsen (IOI), Jacob -J.A.D.E.- (IOI),
Mikael Balle (Nordisk Film), Gustaf -Lizardking- Grekberg (Starbreeze).

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