ecnew.font,8 ｫｻ ｫacｻｫc1ｻINTERVIEW WITH FREQUENT OF EPHIDRENAｫｻ ｫｻ ｫc3ｻBy Zerox of Godsｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻｫasｻ Real Name: Aasmund T. Johansenｫｻ ｫｻ Handle: Frequentｫｻ ｫｻ Age: 28ｫｻ ｫｻ Current: Musician of Ephidrenaｫｻ ｫc4ｻｫｻ INTRODUCTIONｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ As a short introduction, please tell the readers a few words about yourself, which computer scene you're a part of and what you want to achieve in the scene.ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ Hmmm... what to say? Been a member of Ephidrena since the start, having music and composing as my main function in the group. Have done tracks for several demos and intro during the years. Mostly for Ephidrena on Amiga, but I've appeared on some prods by Contraz, Kewlers, and Ym Rockers as well.. I concentrated on Amiga productions only until 2002 when I did music for an Atari productions as well. This year I also contributed on my first pc release, although I've worked with several softsynts on Windows the last four years.ｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ When did you enter the scene and how did you first get attracted to it?ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ My first introduction to the scene was in 1990. I had just purchased my first computer, an Amiga 500 and were copying some games from a friend. When finished with the X-Copy session, I was introduced to some crackintros, that lasted a lot longer than the ones included on the games. I was amazed when told that they where made by people, not so very much older than myself. They were called demos, and I decided to start collecting them.ｫｻ ｫｻ When it comes to music, I always liked to listen to music from various games I played on the C64, Msx, Sega Master system, etc. So when I was introduced to Soundtracker, my path was clear :) Although I got my first copy of it in 1991, I played a lot of games, and it wasn't until '93 I stopped laming and concentrated on composing for real.ｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ What do you find so fascinating with the scene?ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ Hmmm.... In the beginning I was stunned by the fact that there where guys sitting at home and producing demos that were much more technically advanced than many of the commercial games released at the same time. But in those days, we didn't have such a big gaming industry. Nowadays we have companies with several hundreds of employees working with the same project. But since the demoscene has concentrated on making productions mostly for the scene itself, and not for the man on the street, I would say that the gap between the game industry and the demoscene is much bigger now than ten-fifteen years ago.ｫｻ ｫｻ Nowadays, I'm mostly fascinated by the fact that despite all the "scene is dead" statements slagged around on threads, demoscrollers, diskmags, etc....demoevents are held, demos are released and there are more than a thousand demosceners still around, making productions for their platform(s). Even today there are newcomers joining, and even some retired old-timers are making a comeback or two. The scene is alive, and we are still making wonders!ｫｻ ｫc4ｻｫｻ GROUPSｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ Please tell us a few words about Ephidrena.ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ A lot has happened since the start in 95, and writing about it here and now would take an awful lot of time, so I would recommend everybody interested to check out our homepage at ｫc3ｻwww.ephidrena.net.ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ Anyway, Ephidrena has existed as a group for ten years now, and we celebrated our anniversary by having an internal party this summer. During the years we have been keeping the group active, I'm glad we have been able to keep the contact between everybody in the group, despite the fact that not all of us are active any more. That is perhaps a reason in itself to celebrate?ｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ What's your all-time favourite group? And why?ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ I'm afraid there are to many demogroups who have released a lot of quality production so I cannot manage to select any specific. Luxury problem perhaps? :) The Amiga scene is blessed with it.ｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ What's the next release we'll see from your group?ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ A finished version of Loaderrors Gin & Tronic 4k from KG this year. (If it's not already been released.)ｫｻ ｫc4ｻｫｻ DEMOSｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ Tell us about your favourite production.ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ Again a luxury problem strikes me.... But since this is about Amiga prods, I would like to select Planet Potion. It's as close as you can get when it comes to perfection. At MS2002, the audience went wild when it hit the bigscreen. And only 64k big....Magic!ｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ Do you think it's ok to include animations in demos/intros?ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ Of course it is! Demos have always been about faking your skills :) Honestly, I don't see any problem using it. Combining it with coded effects shines it up more than you will ever imagine. What would Substral, Concrete and J' have been without the small design anims?ｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ What do you think about nowadays demos compared to the demos you saw when you first entered the scene? ｫc2ｻｫｻ When I started to collect demos, Amiga was the state of the art, and the ultimate platform to make demos on. Nowadays it's a slow old dinosaur compared to modern IBM-PC compatible computers. Such a change has influenced the newschool demos heavily. Old Amiga demos displayed world records, while modern Amiga demos try to push lemonade out of a stone. I think each period has its glory, and its goldies.ｫｻ ｫc4ｻｫｻ THE SCENEｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ Do you remember the first demo you saw and mag you read?ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ I do not recall my first demo, but my first mag was Raw#4.ｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ What do you think are the good and bad sides of the scene?ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ The good side of today's demoscene is that people of all platforms respect each other. There are no childish wars that spoil the atmosphere at demoparties, which where a frequent plague at earlier parties.ｫｻ ｫｻ When it comes to the bad side, I think we have a bit too low a recruiting level in regards to newcombers. And I have no magic receipt how to make the demoscene more attractive for yongsters. Maybe because the way today's kids are introduced to the modern PC as a simple user, makes the way into 3d/code/gfx/music more tricky?ｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ Do you have any special scene memory you want to share with the readers?ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ My best scene memory is from TP99, when we won the democompo. I was so sure about TBL winning the compo and was taken completely by surprise when we where announced as winners. When I rose up from the chair, Loaderror sitting next to me grabbed me and we ended up rolling around on the floor while the audience was laughing. The rest of the party was great, and we had a great afterparty at the ferry back to Norway!ｫｻ ｫc4ｻｫｻ MUSICｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ When did you decide to start composing and what was your very first module? By the way has it been released? Which was the first module used in a production?ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ I focused on music making for real in 1993 and wrote only mod music until 1996, when I did my first XM tune. In 1998 I discovered Digibooster and did a lot of DBM music. Four years later I began working with softsynths and most of my work nowadays is done with Reason. I also have done some AHX tunes earlier, and after I bought an Atari Falcon in 2002 I've done some tunes on it as well in various formats.ｫｻ ｫｻ My very first mod file was made in 91. Just some crap I don't have any more, but I still remember how horrible it sounded.ｫｻ ｫｻ The first production from Ephidrena also included a tune made by me. A horrible release, never spread. (And thank God for that!)ｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ What's is your favourite own made module?ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ Of those that are released, I prefer "Feel" which was used in the endpart of our demo Flux from TG99. The tune was originally much shorter and made for a 64k intro which was never released. Some days before going to TG, we started to get closer to the finish of the demo and we needed an endpart tune. I suggested using it, and we agreed to include the tune. So I started to make more parts and extended its length. Today I'm very satisfied with the final result.ｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ What's your favourite module made by others?ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ For some reason I'm still very impressed with the tune "Slow Motion" by Axel/Brainstorm. You can start listening to it again and again without getting tired of it. Perhaps the best diskmag tune ever? I'll vote for it for sure!ｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ How do you start when composing a new tune? Do you start experimenting with any instrument, or do you first get a vague melody in your head which you want to realize? And do you use this main melody to bring other instruments and background themes in afterwards?ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ I write music after what kind of sounds I produce in the softsynths I work with. Actually, having the option of producing your own sounds and write your melodies in the same program are one of the main reasons for making most of my music in softsynths nowadays. When tracking earlier, I was always in need of a sample CD for getting soundclips to use, and too many times I had to rip samples from other sceners to get the most out of my work. A shame really.ｫｻ ｫc1ｻｫｻ You won both the 32k exe music compo with the tune "Vrien" and the high quality music compo with the song "Et stykke h蚣dverk" at the Kindergarden party 2005 held last month. How long did it take to finish those tunes? And how long do you usually spend on making a normal module?ｫｻ ｫc2ｻｫｻ Its hard to say how long I use on a tune. Sometimes it's done within days, other times even more than a month. It depends a bit on what I want to obtain. If I start with a rather complex project, there is always a risk of spending more than a month before I reach my goal. Simpler projects usually take much less time. But it's also a question of how much time I can spend on it if I have a deadline to follow.ｫｻ ｫｻ "Vrien" was developed in MaxYMizer on my Falcon, and I spent about two weeks on i...
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