musicians interrogation room...
kee-jee/tbk
when and why did you start to make spectrum music?
i got involved in music making in 1997. it was the fisrt time i heard the sound of ay, and then together with poisoned cyberjack, after seeing the big amount of demos that appeared at that time, we decided to create or own zx team. though i knew nothing about music, i decided to devote myself to it the team without a musician can't exist for long.
i suppose, the first technical experience you gained exploring someone's tunes for samples, ornaments and other tricks. who was that spectrum musician who influenced your music and whom you can call your teacher?
yes, of course. at the beginning i tried to comprehend the peculiarities of the composing process by exploring tracks from phantom lord, dj cont and some other authors, whose music was available in perm on the disks with editors at that time (xpeh and some other local guys). later their place took andy fer, mast and mm the first editor i've ever seen was either soundtracker, or soundtracker pro, though there are some doubts that it could be pro sound maker, which had no more or less working version...
i chose pro tracker 2.101. this was the first editor where i began my composing.
what was the first music editor that you used?
looking back on my past, i can note, that till 1999 i just stored and accumulated the experience for the further breakthru... i built up the progress until the moment when i got the call-up papers from military registration office. so now i just try to recover and to return on a level that i reached two years ago. i reckon 1999 as the most important year, when my tracks appeared on a different parties and in various progs...
how do you think, do you have any fans, and what do you think they particularly like in your music? would you like to say some words for them?
fans? of course they are... maybe were... what they like in my music i can't even imagine. maybe they just like the tranquility that presents in the majority of my tracks. moreover, i think my technique is not so bad...
what musical instruments do you use (if you ever used) during composing prosess? do you have any experience of musicmaking on other platforms? what do you think about it?
i've never used one. i don't even play them, anyway, i think that it is more easy to build up a melody with computer.
sometimes i start flstudio on pc... sometimes i try to make music in trackers. but i'm not fond of pc music making, cos it more easy and interesting for me to work with ay. you see, to put the beautiful composition in 3 channels is much more interesting than in 64...
what musical instruments do you use (if you ever used) during composing prosess? do you have any experience of musicmaking on other platforms? what do you think about it?
i guess so... i try to criticize myself to make me hold on a level which doesn't let me to feel myself ashamed. for this sake i can even erase a module that i don't like...
my weakest spot is that i work with the sound not very well... and that i make pop music.
what kind of music do you listen, what bands/projects affect you, what moods and feelings you try to put in your own compositions? remixes: what do you think of this?
i listen different music, ay music i listen often enough in particular, because i deal with it almost every day. however, i prefer foreign music and without vocals (i.e. i don't like to listen songs).
i often listen delerium, jean michelle jarre, crystal method, bt, hybrid, junki xl. sometimes trance, drum'n'bass, jungle and other electronic music.
my approach to music in different periods of time was affected by banco de gaia, delerium and jean michelle jarre, but it is almost unnoticeable... in my music i do not try to deliver any feelings, only some certain emotions that i have while making a melody - i prefer to improvise. but some compositions have the pre-defined mood and idea...
i'm not a fan of remixes. i guess it's because people who make them often have hands attached wrong or much worse ear than i. but if it was made by nik-o or andy fer it's worth listening. and i don't like that most of remixes are covers of the well-known compositions...
what music compos did you participate in, what was the highest rate and what do you think about your achievements?
i took part in almost every party since 1999. exceptions - the parties which i didn't know about or i didn't believe they are worth of participation. and i took various places: from the last on forever'2003, to the first on ascii'2002. the only thing i think about it is that virtual compos usually have more exact results than real... and i can be proud only of the 3rd place on phat1 and two 2nd places on nuo and cafe'2002...
what do you feel when your track is playing on a party? are you concerned with sound equipment, people that vote or it doesn't bother you much?
when i listen to my track playing on a party curiosity appears. i'm very interested in what sound is gonna be with organizer's audio stuff and will audience shout 'sucks!!! ' or not...
although it's not so important. i understand that everybody's got used to the sound he has at home with his own sound system. often they don't even know how does the real ay sound. even i for some time had very bad reproductor and a mono signal from my speccy :))
so, the most important is the opinion of a man, who have listened to my track at home, with his sound adjustments that he prefer and in proper mood. and it's great if he like my music...
do you have any interesting ideas about the future of spectrum music? maybe there are some hardware or software innovations that you would like to have?
i have such ideas. many. but i think it will take a lot of time to discuss them all. the main, as i reckon, is to abandon all gs and dma, cos these technologies can't amaze anybody, moreover, spectrum has not enough of memory for digital sound. while ay is something unique and unexacting.
and there's a need in a new music format, that can afford to work with sound more convinient and make it more flexible. and of course a new editor.
what is the most interesting aspect in spectrum music composing for you - to perfect your skills within the bounds of one 'style' or 'genre', or to continue the thorny path of experiments with sound and techniques?
of course, the most interesting are the experiments. though, often it makes me arrange such tracks in more comprehensible way and they turn similar to their predecessors.
can you tell us some your original ideas that you want to realize in your music, maybe you want to make a demo or a game soundtrack, maybe just to try what you have never tried yet, the new field of applying your talent?
i only have to release an album, but i don't think it's a good idea... i don't want...
what do you think about cooperative composing, is it interesting for you, whom would you like to make music with? please name 3 authors among the contemporary spectrum musicians that you like most.
co-operative composing is an interesting thing. you can learn a lot, but my experience isn't too big.
the most interesting authors are nik-o and c-jeff. although, i constantly behold for the others, and i hope there will be more of such professional musicians soon, cos there are enough of new authors.
can you say some words of advise for those musicians who are just starting out?
i can only wish them luck and be more persistant. bacause you have to spend a lot of time to make real quality music...