»CL9:»SML:-------------------------------------- »CL8:Interview with »BIG:Dr.Awesome »CL9:»SML:-------------------------------------- »CL4:Interviewed by Cytron/Depth. »CL1:EC:»CL0: Who are you, and what do you have to do with the Official Eurochart (just to make things straight :-) »CL7:Dr.A:»CL6: I'm the guy who started the »CL7:Official Eurochart» (back then, it was called the Official Crusaders Eurochart) together with my mate »CL7:El Cubo / Crusaders»! »CL1:EC:»CL0: Why did you decide to make the Eurochart back in 1989? What about charts back then? Were there any? »CL7:Dr.A:»CL6: My friend and I were walking to the store one fine day, to buy some more coke (we were finishing a music-disk or something), and while we were walking we were discussing the scene, and how cool it would be to have a »CL7:"voting"» system for best group, best demo, best music-disk and all that. There were »CL7:no charts» in the scene then. So that's how the »CL7:Eurochart» was born; the first issue was released maybe 2 months later. »CL1:EC:»CL0: How was it like releasing the chart in those days? Hard work? Many people in the EC-Staff? Or was it just you? »CL7:Dr.A:»CL6: In the beginning it was just El Cubo and myself, we were the "main and only" editors :-). But after the 3rd and 4th issue, things started to get quite big, so we had to get more help from the other guys in Crusaders as well. Around the 10th, 11th and 12th issue, it started to get really crazy; we were about 5 or 6 guys »CL7:working almost full-time» with the Eurocharts (we had then also incorporated the disk-magazine part, »CL7:EuroNews», and the picture-album part, »CL7:The Gallery»). »CL1:EC:»CL0: Looking back, what do you think of the scene back then? How was your relations to the elite-sceners? »CL7:Dr.A:»CL6: The scene then was »CL7:f***ing great». It was full of life, competition, rumours, bad vibes and good vibes, wars between the cracker groups, ripping between the demo-groups (we were a demo-group, not a cracking group), everybody was "living and breathin" the scene, the new demos always had some groundbreaking new elements in them. In a word, it was really exciting. »CL1:EC:»CL0: How popular did things get with the Eurochart back then? What was the maximum number of voters? And what about feedback? Many letters? »CL7:Dr.A:»CL6: I think we had almost 1000 vote sheets coming in, at the worst. It was totally »CL7:crazy». Myself and El Cubo couldn't get any other stuff done; somebody else had to make the demos and music disks (earlier, El Cubo and myself had done most of that), and we were sitting up all night counting votes and reading and answering mail. »CL1:EC:»CL0: How come you stopped? Did the pressure become too high, or was it just too much work? »CL7:Dr.A:»CL6: It got out of hand, really. We spent all our time with it, the girls we knew didn't even want to see us anymore, we were ignoring real work and school, and the pile of mail just kept growing. In the beginning of 1993, it really topped off. Both myself and El Cubo just had to put a stop to it, otherwise we would have to start a real EuroChart company or something. So the summer of 1993, we were completely burned out, and couldn't take any more. For christs sake, we hadn't even seen a movie for months. One day, in the middle of counting votes, we all looked at eachother, said »CL7:"fuck this"», and threw all the mail in the trash. »CL1:EC:»CL0: When did »CL1:Estrup/Static Bytes» (The next maineditor) enter the arena and the job as the head of the best chart ever (hehe) then? A friend of yours, perhaps? »CL7:Dr.A:»CL6: No, we didn't really know them - we just told people in the scene (through BBS's and word of mouth) that we were giving away the EuroChart to a group who could handle »PIC:Z11» it. And »CL7:Static Bytes» came to us and said they wanted to do it. So they got it. »CL1:EC:»CL0: Well, it's been some time since you stopped. What have you been doing in the real world since then? »CL7:Dr.A:»CL6: I have been moving into music professionally; in 1993 and 1994, I started to get a few more jobs as freelancer for game-music, and in 1995 I started as the only full time in-house musician in »CL7:Team17 Software». So now I have worked for Team17 Software for more than 2 years, and I have also released several CD albums. My first couple of albums were "private" releases, but now I have a record-contract and my albums are available in the record stores as well as the internet. »CL1:EC:»CL0: How about your Amiga then? I just happened to stumble over an old Norwegian magazine from 1993, to which you had written a report from some expo in Norway - still »CL1:Amiga-addict» then! How about now? »CL7:Dr.A:»CL6: I was a total and fanatic Amiga freak for many many years. It will for me always be the ultimate home computer. But now I use PC for my music, simply because there is so much better software for the PC. With a Pentium running Cakewalk Pro Audio, I can record MIDI tracks and audio tracks together in the sequencer, with the audio tracks being recorded directly to harddisk, I can then cut & paste, fade, crossfade, and edit the audio data as well as the MIDI data together on one screen. »CL1:EC:»CL0: Are you into the scene now? I mean, do you keep up to date with what's happening? Are you attending the parties? »CL7:Dr.A:»CL6: I keep up to date only with the most basic stuff, like who won the demo-competitions and music-competitions etc. I still go to »CL7:The Gathering» every year at Easter, up in Norway. It's quite a long way to go, since I live in »CL7:England» now - but The Gathering is a tradition and a really cool event, so every year I go up there. »CL1:EC:»CL0: How about a comeback :-) ? »CL7:Dr.A:»CL6: I do comebacks all the time! The thing is, they are in games, or on CD albums. Let's face it, when you sit in a studio with all this fancy music gear around you, it's not easy to sit down and just write a tracker-module. I have paid lots of money for my synths and guitars, and I'll be damned if I'm not gonna use them! :-) »CL1:EC:»CL0: What are you doing right now in the real world? Still only game-music, or other projects as well? »CL7:Dr.A:»CL6: Right now I am trying to promote and sell my latest album »CL7:"The Void"». I am sending it out to underground magazines all over the world, and I think it's working pretty well. All this is of course in between my "real" job which is creating music and sound effects for Team17 Software. Right now I am working on the sound & music for "Pinball Addiction", a Playstation- and PC game - and I'm soon going to start with the sound & music for "Worms 2". »CL1:EC:»CL0: Thanks for answering the questions. »CL7:Dr.A:»CL6: Hey no problem. Any time dude. Can I just add something? I would like all the old (and new!) Amiga freaks to come and visit my homepage! »CL8:http://www.team17.com/~blynne»