Brainstorm Update by Magic of Nah-Kolor
Prologue
In issue 32 of Hugi released on the first of august 2006 we wrote about the forthcoming 'comeback' of the old Amiga group Brainstorm on the PC scene. Since then Brainstorm started to release their productions all over the scene. It is also very likely that 2007 will be 'the year' for Brainstorm. Their releases at Breakpoint 2007 show what they can do! In this article we will take a look on what Brainstorm has released so far including their Breakpoint 2007 productions. This article also features a small interview with the main organizer, Axel of Brainstorm, to give us an insight on how Brainstorm is organized and how they work on their productions. But beware some of his answers are just too funny to be taken seriously :-)
The Releases so far...
Any Color, a 64kb intro for Buenzli 2006, Old's Cool, a demo for Buenzli 2006, Boobies'n'stuff, OHP demo for Buenzli 2006, Chillosophy 1, Xerxes' musicdisk, Solaris - Kiss Our Assembler, a demo 100% programmed in assembler for Kindergarden 2006 combined demo competition, Fascination, a demo for The Ultimate Meeting 2006 in cooperation with Traction, the Chillosophy 2 musicdisk, Xerxes' return and goodbye to tracked music.
At Breakpoint 2007 they released a small teaser announing that they (for more updated info see the Scenebits section in this issue of Hugi) are back, which was played very first in the PC demo competition. Moreover, they released Boobie Factor, a demo coded by BoyC of Conspiracy, Rhino Discharge, the 2nd demo by Imbusy who also won the Scene Award for Best Breaktrough Performance with Iterate, and again a demo in cooperation with Traction called Fairytale. This 'ASD like' demo has music by good old Romeo Knight and got a fourth place!
(Advert following now) If you have not seen all of them, check Pouet to see the ones you've missed.
In most of the above productions Critikill is involved with his fabulous graphics. This is in my humble opinion also a minor flaw. With the allstar team they have, which at the time of writing this article consists of 32 members, the releases so far were depending a little too much on him. But on the other hand there are never too many graphics released by Critikill I guess.. What I personally like about Brainstorm is that they have attracted some very oldskool Amiga people back into the scene to create something again, this time on PC. If you have any knowledge of the old Amiga demo scene you should recognize for example Romeo Knight (musician of TRSI fame, see his interview somewhere else in this issue of Hugi) or Fleshbrain (musician of Crusaders fame). It's even rumoured (not communicated through the official channels at the time of writing this) that Facet (graphician of Lemon and TBL fame, see his interview in Hugi#32) is working on a Brainstorm production! (Source: Shifter/Limp Ninja)
Brainstorm vs Organizing
The following written lines is a small interview with Axel of Brainstorm. For the readers who missed the Brainstorm article in Hugi#32 here is a small introduction to him, about Brainstorm organizing and about what kind of organizer he is:
Axel:
"Hi, I'm Axel of Brainstorm and I guess maybe you should ask others from my team what kind of organizer I am because I can't really tell. :) There generally isn't any pressure though within Brainstorm. We all have private lives too, families, problems etc. What I like though is a good (and fast) communication which is absolutely essential when coordinating productions. I prefer any quick reply saying 'sorry, no time, will be in touch in 2 weeks' to hearing absolutely nothing. Otherwise initiatives will sooner or later die when there's no momentum. I have to admit that I have a bit of a tendency to be impatient because I don't want to loose such momentum."
Magic:
"What languages are used to communicate in the group?"
Axel:
"We usually talk in south-maltesan slang of lithuanian French, although it happens that if we're drunk we switch to straightforward Bulgarian (greetings to Dreamdealers!:)."
Magic:
"What tools are being used for creating the several Brainstorm productions ?"
Axel:
"Tools? (*looks the word up in the dictionary*). Screwdrivers in liquid form for example. And Renoise, Milkytracker, Photoshop, etc.. the usual suspects. We're too lame for own demo tools. Oh, and we also use our brains. Not too often, but it happens."
Magic:
"How many members does your group have and over how many countries are they spread?"
Axel:
"As all women keep saying: Size doesn't matter. (The hell it does! -Magic) We just want to have some fun. We're spreading our wings over the US, Norway, Japan, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Slovenia, Finland, France, Sweden, Canada and Denmark at the moment and count 32 members. We see ourselves as a creative collective which likes to do stuff without pressure. To find out who our members are, check our website http://brainstorm.untergrund.net or keep an eye on the upcoming productions. It's easier than listing everybody."
Magic:
"How do you guys work together on a production? How is the creating process going? Are there 'groups within Brainstorm' working on a demoscene production at the same time ?"
Axel:
"We always have several projects going at the same time. This happens less planned than it sounds like. People who have time, start with something. Graphics and music gets assigned from whoever fits into the prod and from whoever has time at the moment. We mostly work via our mailing list, where we discuss our plans, ideas and projects. Whoever has spare time available, chimes in and contributes. Like that it's fairly easy-going. The biggest coordination efforts are necessary with long-term projects, for example a demo that will be worked on over several months."
Magic:
"Who decides when a member is kicked or removed from the members list? Who decides if a scener is allowed to join Brainstorm and for what reasons?"
Axel:
"It's a joint decision. Meaning we smoke a joint and then make a decision. Someone makes a suggestion and the others either agree or disagree. Based on that we come to a decision."
Magic:
"Do group members meet outside scene parties to work on a demo project or is everything going through the internet like email, irc, skype?"
Axel:
"We try to meet up at parties whenever possible. But the majority is coordinated via email and IRC."
Magic:
"In my opinion the organizer of a group motivates members to do something and who is in touch with most members. How is this in your case?"
Axel:
"I agree that there needs to be someone who pushes. Without that, most stuff usually ends in eternal brainstormings and nothing happens afterwards. Again, this would probably be something that someone else would have to answer, but I agree that it's my goal to motivate others, and to bring people on board of projects. But of course coders approach also graphicians on their own if they need anything. I think my task only is to see that projects keep going and don't fall asleep because it's important to overcome the moment when the first euphory is dying away and when you're in the need of some energy to wrap up a production."
Magic:
"Is organizing still an important job in a demogroup?"
Axel:
"In my opinion it is. There may be group where it's not necessary, where the teams are either very small or where everyone has a bit of a driving element."
Magic:
"Have there been any organizing problems so far in Brainstorm? If yes give us some examples.."
Axel:
"Like I said earlier, there's always the first euphory for a project which calms down after a while. And then it's important to keep going. So I regularly ask people about a status, just to know whether someone is still motivated. But so far we didn't encounter any real problems to be honest."
Magic:
"When The organizer is not being needed anymore because all members work together automatically and create without the need of you motivating them - is this a dream or a horrible nightmare?"
Axel:
"Well it would be the perfect way, wouldn't it? It just isn't like that in our group. Maybe one day it will be. Motivation isn't really the problem in our group, by the way. What takes the most time is to stay in touch with people and make sure they deliver. :)"
Magic:
"When is a group well organized?"
Axel:
"When the communication is transparent, when there's a good flow of information and when everyone in the group is happy, in my opinion."
Epilogue
The last production released by Brainstorm was in 1993 on Amiga. But now approximately 13 years later, Brainstorm has made it's comeback on the windows platform. After I met Axel myself at Breakpoint 2006 I never could have known that thanks to his effords in organizing he would bring together a bunch of sceners in a mixture of oldskool and newskool which has formed a group that has already given the demoscene some nice releases and has potential for a lot of releases to come! Whether these be demos, intros, slideshows or musicdisks there are enough members on board to release them. I want to conclude this article with a phrase from the Brainstorm website: "Chillosophy 2 marks the beginning of the storm (or maybe it'll just turn out to be a fart)." Hugi bets on a huge Storm! After all their releases at Breakpoint 2007 haven proven this. All the best to the whole Brainstorm crew! Cheers!