Brainstorm - Up & Rising (Written by Magic of Nah-kolor & Axel of Brainstorm)
Ever since the end of the 80's and the beginning of the 90's the former Amiga
group Brainstorm is most known for the Amiga diskmagazine Zine. Today, in 2005
and 2006 it seems Brainstorm is resurrected to conquer the PC scene. The recruitment
of many sceners to the Brainstorm ranks indicates we should get ready for some nice
Brainstorm releases on the PC! Hugi asked Brainstorm's old daddy and foreman Axel to give us
some inside information on what is actually going on there!
For the people who read this and don't have any clue whatsoever what Brainstorm is about, here is a history lesson in a nutshell. Axel: "Brainstorm was founded in 1989 and was most famous for its diskmag Zine which was started in the same year. We ploughed on until 1991 with a megademo and several smaller productions until the last issue of Zine struck in 1991. After that, mostly the musicdisk Musicland was released and we ceased activity around 1993." As you can see Anno Domini 2006, this is all history bound to be forgotten or isn't it? Hugi learned that Brainstorm as a demoscene PC group is revived. Axel: "Brainstorm was mostly revived because I was motivated again. Plus, I was in touch with many people from the old days via the demoscene radio Nectarine, such as with Prime of Razor 1911 or Mystra who organized the Rendez-Vous party in Norway in 1993. We thought it would be great fun to release some stuff again, so we refounded Brainstorm because it also pretty much described our way of working. We had a lot of unreleased tunes so we thought it would be fun to release them."
I met Axel myself at Breakpoint 2006, which was quite fun. We talked a bit about the old times and so on. As stated earlier in this article, a lot of people teamed up with Brainstorm. Axel tells us which sceners have teamed up in 2005 and in 2006: "It really all snowballed. I was in touch with many people, but it wasn't until we gathered members such as Critikill, Bridgeclaw, Mantraz, Preacher, Xerxes, Jazzcat and others that we gained momentum. Suddenly we thought that we actually have the manpower to release some decent stuff." With these names a new super group could be on the horizon. Their releases have to prove this, of course. But so far everything looks really promising! Also because the old members of Brainstorm - except for Axel - aren't participating. Who needs inactive members, huh? Axel: "I'm the only one of the old members, although I've recently met with Peace who did some of the gfx back in the days (Musicland, Metamorphosis, etc) and he really enjoyed watching some of the newer productions. Maybe he'll contribute to one of our future releases."
So now you probably want to know what is coming from the team in the near future? Axel told me the planned Crystal Symphonies 4 musicdisk might be cancelled after all, and he modestly adds: "You know, one of my weaknesses is that I talk about productions way too early. So I'll try to be a bit reasonable here, because first of all, many of our productions were supposed to be released a LOT earlier, and secondly because
there's always SOMEthing coming in between. But what I can tell you is that we DO have motivation and we DO have things we're working on. A pretty sure bet is that we'll release a bunch of musicdisks, but we're also working on other productions. Some of those will hopefully be released some time in 2006."
With this article Hugi might be setting high expectations for the newly revived Brainstorm, but on the other hand, why not? Axel: "Who said you should have high expectations for our releases? (*laughs*). We're really just here to have some fun. We've seen the days where everyone wants to release as much as possible, but we've become old.... we've lost our teeth, booked our pension homes and only wear grey clothes. So we're just here for the friendship and to have some fun. Nevertheless, I think we've got many old legends and new talents on board, so maybe you'll be surprised of some of the releases? It certainly would make us happy." Axel even goes a step further, commenting: "I am not sure if we can offer anything, but if anyone out there enjoys our stuff, then we're happy. And I also believe that many people out there take the scene way too seriously."
All in all Hugi thinks with such a lineup of sceners shaping the new Brainstorm it's interesting to follow them on their quest. Hugi advises you to download their future releases to make your own mind up! As Axel comments: "You don't HAVE TO watch them, you know. :) I just hope - on behalf of the whole team - that you'll enjoy them in some way, free of all prejudices. Thanks! And boobies to everyone!"
Hugi wishes the whole Brainstorm team a productive and creative future!
For the latest information you can reach Brainstorm at their website: http://brainstorm.untergrund.net/