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?

When my parents bought me an Amiga 500 in 1988. I got tired of only playing
games after a few days and realized that there were more creative things to
do with a computer. Still almost noone owned an Amiga in those days so you
had to learn much yourself and it took a couple of years before I really got
into music making and the demo scene.

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

My and my brother planned to get a C64 for playing games but my father
convinced us to get a more advanced computer (Amiga 500) to do more than
playing with. We upgraded to an Amiga 1200 when it came out. I finally retired
that one in 1999 moving over entirely to PC/Windows.

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

I started taking piano lessons at the age of six. I got my first synth for
Christmas when I was like ten or something. And my brother tought me to listen
to synth music (Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys etc) very early. I have
always been fascinated by music, and electronic music in particular. So the
choice to be a "musician" was pretty easy as you understand.

Somehow I got hold of Soundtracker 1.0 and ST-01 and played around with it
after I got my A500. At the time it sounded like crap, but a couple of years
later I tried it again and got hooked. :)

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

On Amiga:
Soundtracker
Sound FX
Noisetracker
Startrekker
Protracker
OctaMED Soundstudio

On Windows:
Madtracker
Noisetrekker
Renoise

For demos and regarding the scene it was 100% Protracker (the one everyone used).
I used it all the time I was active in the scene, from 1991 to 1996. After I
felt I was through with the scene I switched over to OctaMED Soundstudio with
some synths and other external gear. That was an excellent music program, but
the Amiga was dying... So it took a couple of years before I eventually found
the music tool I was looking for. It's a tracker (still going strong!) called
Renoise which really have revived my music passion!

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

Yet to come, I guess... :) No but seriously there are a few tunes that was more
important to me than others. One moment I remember is from the TCC '93 party,
the first music compo I ever entered. And at the time I thought it was soooo
cool to have my name showing on the big screen and my music playing in front
of several hundred people. It didn't matter it was rated last or second last
or whatever it was, I was very happy it was part of the mods that was selected
to the final. That was the mod "Art of Undulation". The mod I like the most is
"A Shade in Waiting" which was made when I was at my top. That's probably the
most time I've ever put into the making of a tune also. It was rated 12:th at
The Party 4 which I thought was pretty good.

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

No, I don't think so. I have always made music for fun. Some mods of mine are
total crap in many ways. But if only a few seconds of the tune was special in
some way there is a reason why it exists. I also made lot of strange experiments
like the rave remix of Doctor Snuggles before even "happy hardcore" existed. :)
So half of the tunes I've made I wouldn't say I'm proud of, but it was fun
making them! Combining this with more "serious" tunes kept the fun alive in
the making process.

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

It has a huge value, but not in itself I would say. There so many different
aspects of this...

Just comparing a mod to normal song from radio or CD, the mod has several things
of more value. The main issue is that everyone can make a mod at home with just
a computer and nothing more. And the goal is only to fulfill the composers
and/or others music needs, money is never involved (ok maybe for games but at
the Amiga time this was no big deal).

Anyway, this has inspired others in the best way I think! It's the idea that
music is free plus the mod is not only sound, all data is there as the composer
entered it. It could be seen as free software I guess - both be learning and
inspiring to others. And mods exists in all obscure genres, it doesn't have to
fit the mass market to be released. So in contrary to other music you could
find mods not worth beeing called real music, but instead be seen as a piece of
art. Some things could be pure brilliant in otherwise low quality creations.

This could also be seen revived in todays hit musics. There is a reason why the
C64 game music "Lazy Jones" got remixed ("Kernkraft 400" by Zombie Nation) and
reached the top #1 list position, there is/was a club in London that only
played C64 dance remixes and that a Swedish company released the Sid Station
(based on the C64 sound chip) which was used by top artists such as Pet Shop
Boys: There were things in mods (from the C64 & Amiga time) that was really
special. Tracking brought several things that could not be created in other
ways. And also much fun creativity and inspiration was born in those days.
I think the mods had this value in themselves, but it has also more or less
been passed on both to the music today plus to the persons that have grown up
with making mods and been involved into commersial music later on.

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

Yes, but only as a hobby. I have had more or less big plans for my music for
several years but maybe they never will come true. I still try to se it as a
thing I like to do just for the fun of it. Otherwise the creativity would be
lost on the way. A few months ago I found the ultimate music programs following
in the foot steps of Protracker and Fasttracker, namely Renoise. So after a
time of not much composing I hope that I will be able to get into composing
more again. After beeing into MIDI, synths and external gear for a while I
have moved over to computer only but involved VST, VSTi, effects and all those
things that have become so popular today.

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

As for mp3 it's a format for listening to or distributing music, not for
composing. I use wav for final mastering which is also generally accepted I
guess. MIDI is for use with external equipment or synching software together
(general MIDI has never been a serious media I think). The technologies also
worth mentioning in music making today are VST/VSTi and software synths which
are not only hype words but really useful!

Secondly I would again say that the best software out there for us tracker
hardcore fanatics is Renoise. It's good for both sceners and professional
tracker producers and is getting better all the time. Check it out!

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

Wow, there are lot's of them... I don't remember all but to name a few
random favourites...

Follow the Sign by Accord / X-Trade
3D Demo Tune (mf) by Mad Freak / Anarchy
3D Demo II by Mad Freak / Anarchy
Stardust Memories by Jester / Sanity
Crystal Hammer by SLL (to the game Crystal Hammer)
Knulla kuk !!! by Moby (and don't look up this in a Swedish dictionary!)

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

No... I don't think anyone would be interested :) But maybe some day I'll
remix something and spread the MP3s. I've had a couple of projects like
this before but they died out.

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

Lots... to name a few:

Pet Shop Boys
Depeche Mode
Kent
U2
Assemblage 23
DJ Tiesto
Daft Punk
Apoptygma Berzerk
Enigma
Deep Forest
Moby (no, not the Amiga musician!)
Røyksopp
VNV Nation

Basically any good techno/trance/house, synth and pop/rock. But mostly
electronic music I guess.

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

I was always in the Amiga demo scene because I wanted to make music. That was
my big passion. I started making music before I got involved in the scene and
continued after I left the scene. But of course there were many fun moments I
remember as well and many friends I still got from that time. I also enjoyed
making demos and intros though as it was another creative way of expressing
yourself and a fun thing to bring people together.

But I guess I would never have kept on making music if it wasn't for the
demo scene. You made music for a purpose, to use it in a demo or compo. And
other people liked the music you made. I have got a couple of mails several
years after I left the scene from people from anywhere in the world saying they
like my old mods, which is really fun! So it kept me going I guess and I learned
making music better and better in all my scene days.

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

No. In my opinion the scene died with the Amiga about 1995. Or maybe I just got
older and found other things to occupy my time with..? :)

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

Well... I want to greet everyone ever active in the Amiga scene!! And especially
the guys behind the software that made tracking and mods possible:

Karsten Obarski (I think he started up the Soundtracker project?)
Mahoney & Kaktus (for Noisetracker)
Lars Hamre (Protracker)
TakTik + renoise team & Arguru (for Noisetrekker and now Renoise on Windows)

And last but not least Crown / Cryptoburners & Curt Cool / Depth for this
wonderful Amiga Music Preservation site!! :) Great work guys!

That's all for me.
Thanks for letting me be hosted on the AMP site!

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