Gnilk/Noice interviewed
Gnilk/Noice wanted to have interviews with more interesting people in Hugi. I thought: "He means himself." And so I interviewed him.
Ok, that's not the whole truth. The truth is that this is an additional interview to the Noice-history article which can be found in this very issue.
Gnilk (also known as Punch on the C64) is 24 years old and lives in Sweden. His real name is Fredrik Kling and he is working with security research. He's also one of the founding members of Noice, one of Sweden's top-groups at the moment, and has been in the scene for over a decade.
Makke: You've been in the scene for a very long time. Which was your first encounter with the scene, and what compelled you to become part of it? And what has made you stay all these years?
Gnilk: Through cracking intros on the good old c-64. Still remembering one great intro by Sicence 451. I was very amazed by the rasterbars. I stay because I like to see a pixel appear on the screen according to my rules, and I still think it is as funny as the first time.
Makke: What has changed during your time? I'm referring to attitudes, production-quality etc. Not just the fact that the hardware has changed.
Gnilk: *Wow*, quite a question. The demands for "userfriendlier" demos. On the Amiga and C-64 the average scener was pretty much interested in computers and how they worked. Today very many sceners get scared off when they see some hex-bytes. Specially musicians and graphicians (although no offence against their "profession").
Makke: How has Noice "changed" during the years?
Gnilk: Not a bit and still very much. The core of the group is still the same. But we have transformed in many ways during the years, and we will over and over again.
Makke: Is Noice - C64 still alive? I know you plan a C64-demo for your 10th anniversary.
Gnilk: Yes they are alive. No comment on the demo-side, but it's still called Goatology, as it was in 1993 when the work begun.
Makke: What more is going on inside the Noice-machine besides a C64 demo? When will your next really big production be released?
Gnilk: Oupps... Nothing and everything. We have plans for the future, in the means we want to create demos. But no more specific. There will hopefully be something more released this year. But we are very busy in finishing our graphics-system, for some clients (and of course future demos =)). An intro will be released at Dreamhack this year (win32 only of course).
Makke: Some people claim that Noice lacks design (I remember the accusations and comments some Byterapers Inc. member made a year ago). What are your thoughts on this?
Gnilk: They are right. Hopefully this has changed. The lack of design comes from the fact that Noice has always been a kind of "coders group", and we simply can't design.
Makke: Should demos revolve around design or true optimized perfectionism?
Gnilk: The result counts no matter what it is. And more important, the creator should be happy when he/she is finished.
Makke: 10 years ago computers were more of a mystery to the common citizen, and the ones who knew how to use computers were looked upon as odd. Even dangerous. Was it more fun to be a computer nut back then?
Gnilk: Yes and no. Then I didn't have to answer questions like how Windows should be installed or why the printer doesn't work. On the other hand I am more socially accepted these days. :)
Makke: I must ask this. Do you consider the scene as dying, or is it just a gang of "old sceners" seeing "their" scene change? Like all the old guys leaving and new ones taking over, and the new ones aren't as good as the old ones.
Gnilk: Same shit other year. They told me the same in 1990, no I don't think so. A thought that has struck me many times. It takes time to become good, and when that happens you might be able to release on or two demos before you go commercial. That might explain the feeling "good guys leave the scene".
Makke: Some people find it disturbing when people booze on demo-parties. What do you think? Letting loose or just program the whole party?
Gnilk: Depends, going to a party only for the booze must be an error. But meeting up with your friends to share some moments with the computer whatching some demos, and then grab a beer or 20 is quite ok with me. But I always try to respect those who don't booze.
Makke: Are parties more about making money (for both demo-groups and party-organizers) nowadays than before? And if so, is it a good or a bad thing?
Gnilk: Bad... I really don't care about the money. I'd rather got a T-Shirt saying "Winner of The Demo-Compo at xxxx 1999" or whatever. For Goatage we were 8 people heavliy involved with the demo. 800 sek (approx: $90) was given as 1st price. That's around 100 sek each...
Makke: Do you think big parties such as The Party, Assembly and The Gathering have lost status during the years due to their obviously commercial attitudes? Should there be more small, local parties and less big, international ones instead?
Gnilk: I don't mind if they are big. But if they skipped the internet access I think it would not get that much attention from the "surfers". It is a big difference from TP92 and TP98 but not that big.
Makke: Diskmags. What's good with them, what's bad?
Gnilk: Keep the spirit alive and are fun to read.
Makke: What do you absolutely NOT want to read about in a diskmag?
Gnilk: Don't know, I just skip the part I'm not interested in.