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?

It all started when I received my first Commodore 64 in 1987. It was a
christmas present from my parents, after having it on my wish list for quite
some time. It was a used one, and it even had a disc-drive which made me
extremely happy. The drive was extremely volatile, and broke after a few
months. After that I had to rely on the trusty cassette-deck.

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

a. Commodore 64 - I started off playing games on it, and eventually started
programming in BASIC. I also got to know a good friend of mine named
Zapper of Future Crackers, who introduced me to the demo scene. I was
hooked on demos, and spent most of my time on this.

b. Amiga 500 - The demo fascination continued, and I started swapping and
tracking, using at first Soundtracker, Noisetracker, Protracker, etc.
I still remember the first song I made, which was a remix of 'The Look'
by Roxette. Erhm...

c. Amiga 1200, 600, 3000 - Same thing here, only I started running a BBS named
Raw Fusion. I crossed over to the 'Elite' scene aswell, making it a
successful mono-node system in Norway. I kept it up and running for
two years before I moved out of my parents home eventually.

d. I got my first IBM compatible PC in 1997, and is what I am currently using
today. I was certain that I would never cross over to the 'dark side', but
alas, it was inevitable I guess.

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

I always wanted to do everything regarding computers. I tried programming (but
my math skills and understanding of algorithms prevented me from getting good
at it), I did some graphics using DPaint for a while, but I found that my love
of music (and at the time, what was an emerging form of Techno, to be of
greater interest.

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

I tried almost any tracker that was released for the Amiga, but Protracker 3.11
was probably the one I used the most (from what I can remember right now).
I remember NoiseTracker probably was for me the most impressive incarnation of
the -trackers that came out.

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

Oh, none I think. I never managed to live up to my expectations, although I
had a real good time composing. I remember I made a song for my girlfriend
back when I was about 16, however she broke up with me shortly after. Hehe.
Did it reach my goal ? I don't know ...

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

Read the above answer. :)

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

As I am currently completing a Bachelor of Multimedia I have come to understand
more how music influences games and other multimedia productions. I think it
has a great deal of value, and being a musician myself it is one of the most
important aspects of a demo. On the game side, sound effects and atmospheric
soundscapes are very important to a game, as well as the ability of being
dynamic.

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

I am currently doing some music on my PC, using Cubase SX, Reason and various
soft-synths. The quality of soft-synths have improved greatly over the years,
and due to lack of funding I can not afford to buy 'the real thing'. It is
purely for my own enjoyment, however I have done some work lately that has
been used in small tv-commercials.

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

I am very interested in audio compression, and a frequent visitor on
hydrogenaudio.org, a cross platform audio compression forum. I am a big fan
of the ogg vorbis format, yielding great quality at low bitrates (and being
open source). The question itself is quite eluding, as the compression format
does not really say anything about the music. I am not a big fan of midi
(especially not in polyphonic mobile telephones).

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

Too many to mention really, but here are some I remember on the top of my head.

Tennis, Occ-Sang-Gen, Boesendorfer B.S.S, Cyberride, Desert Dream,
Full Moon Main Theme, most of Dr Awesome's work, Jogeir Liljedahl's classic
tunes [hi!], most of Virgill's stuff, Clawz early techno modules, most of
Mr Man's modules [halloen!], Lizardking's upbeat tunes. Errh... This could go
on forever. I still sit down and listen to modules when I feel the urge coming
on. There has been (and probably still is) some amazing talents in the MOD
scene. Some of the melodies and compositions done on the Amiga and the C64 to
this day is some of the 'best' music I have heard on any format.

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

I don't have any plans for that...

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

I am a huge Jean-Michel Jarre fan, and my main focus has always been electronic
music. Groups I listen to right now are Matmos, Boards of Canada, Autechre,
Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Nightmares on Wax [love the whole WARP label], etc.

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

A lot of good friends, and countless hours of enjoyment watching and making
demos. Also a coke [the soft drink] addiction.

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

No, It would be fun to do some work again though ... I have tried to get Mr
Hyde and Archmage to do some work again, but I think it is too late. The good
days are unfortunately over...

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

I would like to greet Louis Holbrook for getting me interested in the scene in
the first place. Also Mr Hyde and Archmage who went to countless parties and
have been great friends since high school. Also everyone who supported Raw
Fusion [too many to mention]. Everyone who voted for me at the various music
competitions I entered over the years. Everyone who runs amiga scene related
websites these days, keep the spirit alive!

Peace out.

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