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?

Ohh, that was probably somewhere around 1982/1983. I was about 11 years old
and it was about that time that my classmates started to get home computers,
like Vic-20, Spectrum and of course the C-64. I distinctly remember one
classmate having a rubber key Spectrum and another having a weird Sharp
computer that had almost NO software. I remember playing Forbidden Forest on
a Vic-20 at a firends house. At the time I thought that it was SO cool. most
children got the C-64 later when it came into the market. Ahh, the days of
trading cassette tapes with about 30-40 games on them. Those were the days.
;)

My parents bought me my first computer at that time. Because they didn't
know anything about computers they just went to the nearest electronic store
and bought "a good computer for our son". I got a Salora Manager computer.
Needless to say - that computer had very little games. A few cartridges,
that was all. I had a pac-man clone called "Crazy Chicky", a "Tank Attack"
cartridge and some missile command clone game. That was it. BUT I also had a
BASIC handbook. The problem: I had no games. The solution: Open the BASIC
handbook and start to lern how to program some fun games for yourself, mate!
That's really how I "got into computers".

Today I thank my parents for giving me that computer. If I had gotten a
Vic-20 with 1000+ games I probably wouldn't have been thrust into
programming. And it was REALLY fun and oh so rewarding to program something
myself. I still have tapes (at 30 years of age) of the lovely crap I
programmed on the Salora Manager at the tender age of 11. I even bought
those special "graphic design paper sheets" that architects and engineers
use (papers with a tight coordinate grid printed on them) to draw on, so
that me and my best friend could plot the coordinates of our game graphics
on the paper and then program the coordinates in basic with PLOT, LINE and
CIRCLE commands. ;)

A few years later I got a C-128 and joined the rest of the world. But the
damage was already done - I had learned to program a computer and had got
hooked on the machines.

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

I started with a Salora Manager (see above). Then I had a Commodore 128 for
a few years. That's when I shifted into music. When the Amiga came I got one
of those. I was perhaps 14 at the time (around 1986). I continued with my
music on the amiga. Then I got a PC around 1996 and since then I have not
done anything or been involved in anything.

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

Mostly because I was pretty good at it. Some friends and I got into making
demos and since they were better at drawing and coding and I was better at
making music that was the "natural" way to divide up the work. Later (amiga
days) I was surpassed by a friend who really had a knack for music though.

When I think about it, taking into consideration the limitations of the 3
channel SID chip in comparison with the 4 channel sample capabilities of the
Amiga, I got worse and worse at making music all those years. My C-64 tunes
were brilliant and complex tunes, considering the hardware. I remember one
of my crew-friends exclamating "Jesus christ, this is pure Hubbard!" when he
heard one song of mine. My Amiga tunes were "of average quality",
considering the hardware. Not so bad, but nothing that got me into any
charts either. My PC tunes consisted mostly of crappy trance things and my
retirement from tracking music at all.

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

On the Commodore I mostly used a tracker coded by a fellow crew-member. It's
been eaten by history now. It was never spread, just used by us. On the
Amiga it was the NoiseTracker and ProTrackerthat was THE standard of course.

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

Well, my tune "Spotlight" was used in the Frantic SF Amiga demo "Cardamon",
so that was nice. Otherwise I don't really see it as "reaching a goal", it's
the journey that's the main reason for travelling - not reaching some final
destination. ;)

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

Haha, there are things that I cringe when I hear - "WFT? How on EARTH did I
think THAT would be good use of a sample? It's fucking EMBARRASSING". I'm
sure you all know exactly what I mean.

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

There's a good point to be made here. Take your favourite game - turn off
the music and sound fx - play the game for 15 minutes - be amazed at how
much you MISS the audio. You don't notice an atmospheric tune when you're
playing the game, but when it's gone the whole experience feels SO much less
attractive. The music for Heroes of Might & Magic III is a good example of
game music that blends perfectly with the gameplaying, in my opinion.

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

Naah. I've more or less come to the conclusion that I'm so horribly
outmatched these days that I'm staying in retirement. Sometime I just play
around with something for an hour when I find something interesting, like
the Buzz tracker for instance.

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

No comment. I don't understand the question. Are you asking me about file
formats or the tunes that get tracked today?

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

Well, I'd say that the C-64 tunes were the best tunes, if we are talking
about computer music still. The works of Hubbard, Galway and Jeroen Tel are
still unsurpassed with that hardware!

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

Yes, I get this idea once a year. But then I don't get around to doing it.
I've played with exacly that same idea several times, but then I'd have to
get off my butt and actually do something. One day I will. One day I will.
One day I will (or so I keep telling myself).

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

I'm an omnivore when it comes to music. I listen to everything. For fans of
godd music I can recommend Alanis Morrisette (the first 2 albums), SPOCK (a
swedish synth band with music based on Star Trek TOS episodes), Iron Maiden,
Pink Floyd, New Order, Members of Mayday (THE makers of rave music!),
Suzanne Vega, 80's music in general, Pink (underestimated music) and perhaps
Beastie Boys (grating if you listen to a whole album, but good party music).

As you can see I'm not consistent in any way here.

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

Memories. Really great ones.

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

Nope. I'm well and truly dead and buried. The winds of history are
sandblasting my bones in the desert of days gone by. ;)

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

I'd like to greet my fellow crewmembers from the MMI days; Mats "Starray"
Knip (who now is a squatting hippie in Amsterdam I believe), Thomas
"Mr.Rozz" Blomberg (who now teaches comuter science at the University of
Helsinki I think). Also "Sawblade" and "Ice" from the old Frantic SF and
anyone else I have met.

Ahh, nostalgia. Isn't it great? It's interesting to look back and see what
has happened to the people you knew in those days. Who would, for example,
have believed that our coder/musician Starray would visit Amsterdam, become
a hasch-smoking hippie in a squat and not return? Haha! Life sure is
strange! (but he's ok and doing fine last I heard of him, 2 years ago).

If anyone wants to get in touch with me for whatever reason - feel free. You
have my email now...

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please note: this interview is ©opyrighted in 2003 by crown of cryptoburners
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