A Friendly Chat with Mice of Brainstorm
Please introduce yourself to the scener who is reading this interview (and yes, that means you behind the other side of the screen :)).
Hi my name is Mice, wannabe-musician & lame graphician from Finland. Born in late 70's, in scene since the early 90's. Oh, and I'm a member of Brainstorm.
Hi Mice, nice to meet you... You are from Finland? Tell me whats it like to live in Finland and what is the state of the finnish demoscene anno domini 2007?
I live in northern Finland so life here is dark and cold. I don't really know what to say about the finnish demoscene at the moment. I'm not the right person to tell you about the finnish demoscene. I can tell you that in Finland there's still some people doing demos and partying, even some Brainstorm-members. Jumalauta rules the pc-side, on amiga-side there's just me & BriteLite (if there are others, please do something and prove me).
It could be that the reader of this interview is now listening to the Day After Eternity. Please tell us about the making of this mp3.
It's a co-operation with Buzzer so I had fun making it, no pain and tears like when I'm trying to compose my "solo"-projects.
Don't really remember how long it took to finish it, but it was specially made for Breakpoint-musiccompo and finished in time before the deadline (it ended up 6th if I remember correctly)...
You also composed Ballad.mp3 with Buzzer exclusively for Hugi#33. Now Hugi#33 is released what do you think of this release and the other music in Hugi#33?
I remember that it was nice, can't really remember much of it, except the fact that there were some Brainstormers involved. Wait a minute and I'll refresh my memory.
Ok.
...A few minutes later...
Yes, just like I remembered. Nice gfx by Bridgeclaw and I love the other tunes by Siatek & Chromag. Seems that there's plenty of articles too, I guess I'll have to read it again some day :)
Since you are a musician: Who are your 5 most favourite demoscene musicians and why?
In no specific order: Dizzy, Heatbeat, Groo, Strobo and Reed, because they're all from Finland. Just kidding :) It's probably because I've always loved melodic tunes with nice groove. Nowadays there's plenty of techno-drum'n'base-whatever and I guess people can't reach the level those guys were and they used trackers!
And from the 'MP3 musicians' we have today? Who do you like most and why?
That's a tough one. There's plenty of talented people making mp3's these days, but I just haven't got any real favourite. I'll mention Radix just because I didn't mention him in my top5. (checks harddrive) I seem to have tunes from Little Bitchard, Crankshaft, Bliss, TCG, etc. saved so I guess they're good :)
Have you ever considered making an own CD?
No. Well not from my scene-tunes anyway. I made one CD with my band long time ago, but that doesn't have anything to do with the scene.
You play in a band? What kind of band? Tell us about your band...
Well we played progressive instrumental music with a hint of humor. We're officially still alive, but I consider us dead since we haven't played in couple of years. So, nothing to tell about the band this time.
Ah right.. Next questions then.. What do you do in real life? Ever considered making music for games or movies?
At the moment I'm working in a storage. Making music for games or movies would be great, but honestly I don't have the talent for that.
What are your current and future music projects next to the new mp3 you and Buzzer are making for Hugi#34? Maybe a musicdisk soon?
I've been trying to compose some crap just for fun, no special projects for me at the moment. Haven't really got anything finished, but maybe someday. There has been talk about Buzzer's musicdisk and that even I might make a musicdisk, we have also laughed that we could make a co-op musicdisk, but no serious plans for me.
Could you give some hints (not too much) about the mp3 you and Buzzer are composing for Hugi#34?
Hmm... Well at the moment it's unfinished, calm and since it's a Mice&Buzzer-tune there will be synths and guitars.
When did you become part of the demo scene and what's your biggest success in the demoscene?
Can't remember the exact year, but it was early 90's, probably 1992. I really haven't had any big success in demoscene, but participating in this year's Breakpoint-musiccompo was nice. We knew that we couldn't compete against those techno-tunes, but making it through the preselection and to the final was great.
And when you started making music what were your first experiences?
I did test some weird music-programs with my C64 when I was just a little kid, but I really started making music when I got my A500 and some tracker (+ st-xx samples :)).
Describe your cooperation with Buzzer. Could it be compared with mantronix and tip who also worked together? What's the secret of making music together?
I wouldn't mention my name in the same sentence with Mantronix and Tip. :) I have no idea what's our secret if there is any. Composing together is just so much fun and sometimes it's much more easier than composing alone since the other one usually comes up with new ideas if you get a "writers-block".
How do you see your future on the demoscene and on a personal basis?
I'll continue composing music for both Amiga and PC, hopefully some coders will like my tunes and use them in somewhere. I might even draw some pixels, but you'll never see those since I'll lock 'em up in my lair after I'm done.
Any last words and greetings? Take this opportunity!
Hello world. :) Thanks for reading - greetings to everyone who knows me.
No way :) You can do better than this :) Let's try again: Any last words and greetings? Take this opportunity!
Thinking.. If you really read this whole thing, thank you, you're officially a freak now. Greetings to everyone who's still active in the demoscene, to everyone who knows me, to everyone I met at the Breakpoint (specially the ones I can't remember meeting), nothing beats meatlovers god damn!
Thank you very much for this interview!
Thank you.