Inteview with Clawz
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Diskmagazine interviews | Ram Jam ACBS - Barman - Blackwulf - ... | t2/95 added 12/97 |
CLAWZ OF BOMB Our brave french reporters, Jibe & Mogul, managed to have a very long chat with the man behind the tunes from 'ORIGIN', 'REAL' and the latest wonderful MOTION... Well, my real name is Mathieu Berthaud, I'm 19 and studying economics in college. I have a simple A1200 with 2 external drives... and a sampler (wow!). No hd (argh!) no fastmem (gnii) but powerful soundsystem. I also have a mouse! I've been doing music on Amiga for about 4 years, now... I spent more than a year moving between small french groups before joining TSB. Then I joined Digital in the first days of 1993, then Complex together with Gengis and several friends. Since the end of August 94 I'm in BOMB as Gengis and me left Complex to found this crew. What does "Clawz" mean? Why did you choose this handle? Well, just check out the word "Claw" in a dictionary. I've chosen this handle at the time I used to do skateboard, because of a brand of skateboard gloves which name was Clawz. What happened in Complex? Why did you leave? Nothing special happened in Complex, at least nothing Complex's members are responsible for. Gengis wanted to form his own group for more than a year, even before we joined Complex. So it's been done recently, it's a new challenge that brings motivation... Why did you choose the name "Bomb" for your group? It's been chosen because of Hof's influence. Moreover, it's short and smashing... Why did you become musician? Is it hard to start protracking? I think by chance. I was interested with graphics, too but I chose music... I don't think it's harder than starting doing graphics or coding. It needs motivation and time. Do you play any "real" instrument? I used to play piano 8 years ago, but I stopped. I currently don't play any instrument... Try to describe your style of music. It's not so easy for me to describe my style of music. Anyway I think it's basically soft-music (except for Origin's tune) or happy-music (like Help tha fool or Mixed up!). In fact I try to include a melodic interest in every module I do. I also like to do strange tunes which have nothing to do with music (I think about my tune in Origin) but that are fun to compose. How long does it take to make a module? It really depends on situations... I often compose in 1 or 2 days, then I arrange in 1,2 days or more. Sometimes I compose and arrange in the same time, and it can be longer. I also sometimes feel not inspired or bored, and it takes me several weeks to do a module. For me, it depends on inspiration and motivation... Where do you take your inspiration? I don't really know. I think everything I listen to influences me and gives me ideas. Which music groups are you listening to? I listen to a lot of things, from Rage against the machine to Prodigy or F.F.F, Whale, Bjork,Smashing Pumpkins... In fact nearly everything. How much time do you spend on your Amiga per day? Around 2 hours... It depends on days, often more, sometimes less. What is your favourite food and drink? I enjoy eating pizzas or pastas. Milk is my favourite drink. What is there after death? Life? What's the aim of your life? Erm, become immortal... or maybe just enjoying life. Do you believe in God? Definitely not. Have you got an idol in the scene? I don't have any idol in the scene, but I really admire Heatbeat's work, like Dizzy's work... I also have deep respect for Hof concerning graphics. Are swappers important in a group? For sure, but I also think a group doesn't need bunch of swappers, one or two are enough. What do you think about techno in demos? Well, I think techno is a good way of giving power to a demo, 'cause you can essential work on synchronism, and give a rythm to the demo. Is there too many chiptunes packs? I've not seen any of them for ages, so there must not be so many. What do you think about playing or swapping games? I enjoy playing games sometimes, but I don't see the point of owning a computer to play and swap games only... What is the best country in the scene? If I forget France, I think it's Finland. If I don't forget France... What's about the French scene? There aren't so many active groups, but France has really talented people, especially graphicians (Hof,Ra...). Like in every scene, there are dorks and arrogant people (names? no,no :-), you just have to forget them. I think the french scene , together with the finnish scene, brings originality and good productions to the scene in general. Is there too many groups? Maybe, however I think there aren't so many good groups. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT: -MOBY- He has done legendary modules (Knulla Kuk...) based on strong basslines and melodies. He has his own style, and that's not so usual. -JESTER- I'm not a freak of his music, but he did good demo tunes (for example his soundtrack in Extension). -SPACEMAN- One of my favourites, essentially because his modules have strong themes (like Groovy's tune, WonderDog ingame) -HEATBEAT- I consider him as the best musician on Amiga because of all the things he brought to Amiga music. His melodies are very strong, his themes are original and he has a great technique. -XTD- I did not hear a lot of his music, but his chiptunes sound nice. -STROBO- He is talented and very productive, but maybe irregular. He composes great tunes (What's in a man's mind) but also quite banal ones... Ofcourse it's a matter of taste. -LIZARDKING- To speak frankly, I think what he's doing is too much similar to Mantronix'music. Moreover his tunes and his melodies sound the same from a module to another (except for Varanen) -AUDIOMONSTER- One of the most original musician ever. He really does great melodies (like in Florence,Melonmania,The War) and he seems to be capable of composing in any style. Name the most underrated musicians please? In my opinion, Dizzy/Cncd is the most underrated musician. Delorean and Jugi of Complex are also really underrated. What can we expect from Bomb in the future? Can we expect a "Seduction 2"? There won't be "Seduction 2" but I'm working on a project together with Chromag/Polka Brothers, it should be released in early '95. We didn't find a name for it yet. Graphics will be done by Antony/DRD and Suny, luckily, and the code by Gengis as usual. Did you ever make a music for a commercial project? Once, I made a tune for a Commodore production, but that wasn't so well payed. I currently do the music for a game project with Gengis. What is your goal in the scene? Create, create and meet friends. Have you got some real friends in the scene? Of course, like Gengis, Schmoovy, Chromag and several other mates... If I had no friends in the scene, it would become totally boring. Please Comment this: -What do you think about the two guys Atwill and Clawz from Interface? - "When you are young you are looking to prove that you can be very good and you can't see that many friends can be the samein your same field . So stop to put wrong rumours and look around you guys!!" (Baby/ex-Majic 12, interviewed in Freedom Crack 11 by Zenith) Friends, he said? I've never been his friend. Anyway, now I see his face and his role in the scene, I'm convinced the nature avenged me. Here is some free space for you! I'll use it to send hellos to several friends of mine: Gengis, Trajan, Suny, Roscoe, Pib, Schmoovy Schmoov, Monty, Chromag, Stargazer, Groo, Antony, Ra, Moby, Reflex, Hitbit, Alex, Hof, Jogeir (Hej! I didn't receive anything from you for a while, dude!), Gandbox, Posdnuos (-ed Hey thanks mate!) and many others I forgot here... Thank you for answering about 40 questions of ours, continue your great work and see you soon..}