Inteview with Clawz

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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..}