Interview
      w i t h
 Virgill of SANITY



MD: Hello,    VIRGILL!!    DISNEY   OF
    ALCATRAZ  is here to talk a little
    bit.   Hope  you  don't  mind if I
    keep   my   Pocket-Memo   running?
    Let's  stick  to  the  tradition -
    please  tell  us  your  real name,
    your     age,     your    looks...
    Characterize yourself!

 VI: Well,   my  real  name  is  Jochen
    Feldkoetter.   I  live  in Germany
    near  Muenster  in  a  little town
    called Ibbenbueren.  I'm nearly 18
    years  old.  I'm a friendly, tall,
    young boy with blond hair and blue
    eyes.      My    character?     My
    girlfriend  sais,  I am the nicest
    guy  in the universe.  But can you
    believe it?


MD: I  guess  most of the readers know
    your     music     from    ex-COMA
    productions.   Why  did  you leave
    that  group?  Did you think Sanity
    to  be  a  better  group,  or were
    there any personal reasons?

VI: I  left  COMA,  because  the group
    wasn't  liked much by the swappers
    in  the whole scene.  I don't know
    why!   I  was fed up!  COMA became
    really  productive  and  McDisk is
    great,  too...  And then, three of
    COMA's  best coders joined SANITY.
    And  they  are  three  of  my best
    friends in the scene.  That is the
    reason, why I left COMA.


MD: Before joining Sanity, you were in
    TRSI  for  a very short time.  Why
    did you join them, and why did you
    leave that soon?

VI: The  TRSI/Surprise  Prod.  leaders
    are living in my town.  They asked
    me  to join TRSI.  But after a few
    days,  I  recognized,  that  there
    were  no  productive coders around
    in  TRSI.   The only good coder is
    DREAMER.   But  he  wanted to have
    Oktalyzer   tunes,   and   I  hate
    Oktalyzer!!!   That is the reason,
    why I left TRSI.


MD: Have  you  been  in  other  groups
    before  COMA?   Which time did you
    like   best?   Tell  us  all  your
    groups and tell us what you liked/
    disliked!

VI: PANIC  was  my  last  group before
    COMA.    I  think,  this  was  the
    coolest  group,  I've ever joined.
    Only  megacool  members with black
    hair,  black  coats,  black shoes,
    black  trousers...   It was really
    hard  for  me to leave this group.
    But  they where too lazy!  After I
    left  PANIC,  they  released their
    "1000  WASTED  DREAMS"  Demo  with
    music  from CONS and me!  But they
    have  not  given  any  credits  to
    me...   Shame  on  you!!!  I was a
    PANIC member for over one year and
    it was my first real group.


MD: I'd  like  to know how you entered
    the  scene.   When did you realize
    for  the first time that there was
    a  thing  called "computer scene"?
    How  did  you join your very first
    group?  Were you asked, or did you
    desire to become a member?

VI: Well,  I  founded  a  group on the
    good   old  C64  in  1988.   We've
    'tried' to crack some games with a
    few guys in my neighbourhood.  And
    I  coded the 'intros' and made the
    Music.  In 1989 I started to build
    up  an AMIGA crew.  But we weren't
    very successful.  So I asked PANIC
    to join.


MD: Without any doubt, we can say that
    you're  a  very talented musician.
    When and how did you discover your
    big  talent?   Have you learned to
    play an instrument when you were a
    kid?


VI: I  live  in a very musical family.
    8  years ago, my parents forced me
    to  learn  playing  an instrument.
    So I started to play keyboards and
    accordeon.    My   synthies   are:
    Roland-Jupiter-6,  Yamaha  psr-xxx
    and  some  Korg  Wavestation shit!
    (Analog  rulez!)  I  play e-guitar
    for  two years and bass-guitar for
    about  one  year.   and I can play
    the  drums too...  (But I've never
    learned it.)
    And you won't believe it:  I'm the
    background   singer   in   my  new
    band...    We   play   oldies   on
    internal     celebrations     like
    marriages  ect.   One  year ago, I
    was  in a studio with my old band.
    We've  recorded  a  record  of own
    compositions,  but  it  never came
    out.
    My  first  steps on the AMIGA were
    recovered songs like "Smoke On The
    Water".    But  then  I  began  to
    recover   my   own   compositions.
    Later,  I  composed  all my tracks
    whith the AMIGA!!!  But there's no
    real talent at all.  It's just for
    fun.


MD: Have  you always been working as a
    musician  on  the  computer?  Have
    you ever tried to code or to draw?
    How were the results?

VI: Some  month  ago,  I thought, that
    coding  is  more  fun  then making
    music.   So  I  started  to  code.
    Finally  I  coded  two  intros for
    PANIC.   And I painted the GFX for
    them...   The first one was really
    BAD.   But the second one was only
    standard.  So I gave up coding and
    returned to AMIGA music again!


MD: Your  songs  are  known for always
    having  a big deal of atmosphere -
    I'm thinking of McDisk's NEGADANCE
    or  the  tune  you  did for BURGER
    HILL.  Do you have the melodies of
    your  songs  in  your  mind before
    making  the  module,  or  are  you
    working on the melody when sitting
    in front of the Protracker-screen?

VI: First  I  want  to  say,  that  my
    tracks  haven't got any atmosphere
    at  all.  (That's my opinion!) And
    the  BURGER  HILL sound was really
    crap!   (Maybe  my  NEGADANCE  has
    some Athmosphere.  But this should
    be the only one of my songs!) If I
    find  some inspiration, I sit down
    in front of my synthi and begin to
    compose the basic structures of my
    new  tune.  (The chords, bassline,
    ect.)  Then  I  try  to sample all
    needed chords and instruments into
    my  AMIGA as well as I am able to.
    Then    I    recover   the   basic
    structures into Protracker.
    My   biggest   problems  are  good
    melodies.   If  I  can't  find any
    melodies,  I  improvise  some nice
    solo-parts   into   the   pattern.
    After    finishing   roughly   all
    patterns,   the   song   gets  his
    improvement:  echo, slide, attack,
    delay,  sustian  release, vibrato,
    ect...  I like good technique!


MD: Jester once told me that he really
    admired  your  style,  he  thought
    that  you were even better than he
    was.   Do  you  agree?  What about
    Bit  Arts?  Do you like his music?
    It  would  be  cool  if  you could
    describe    the   style   of   the
    following  Sanity composers from a
    musician's point of view...

    JESTER:
    A  very good musician!  And a very
    good  friend  of mine.  I like his
    Pop  tracks.   He  has  got a very
    good  feeling  for melodies you'll
    never  forget.   His  samples  are
    very  well  chosen.  (I like brass
    sounds!) His arrangement is not as
    good as most other musicians.  but
    he   still  has  new  ideas!   His
    improvising   is   a   little  bit
    'cosmic'  but who cares?  I think,
    JESTER    is   better   in   doing
    melodies.   But  I  have  a better
    arrangement.   But  I  can't judge
    it.  Judge for yourself!!!

    BIT ARTS:
    He  isn't  as  good  as JESTER is.
    But   he  makes  very  atmospheric
    tracks!   Very  good samples but a
    bad   technique!   (Have  ya  ever
    ripped  one  of  his  songs?   No?
    Then   do   it  and  look  at  the
    commands!   The  only  command  he
    knows  is the Volume-cmd.) Nothing
    more to say!

    VIRGILL:
    No comment!!


MD: But  there  are  good musicians in
    other  groups  as well.  I'll give
    you  some  names  - please tell me
    what you think about them.

    MANTRONIX:
    He (and TIP) has nice compositions
    and it's not always the same!  But
    eveybody says, that success causes
    arrogance...

    JESPER KYD:
    HUALP!   I  think my little sister
    can   do   such  a  Tune  like  in
    HARDWIRED.    Samle   a  bassline,
    sample   a   Drumtrack,  a  crappy
    flute,  mix  all  together  and we
    have  a HARDWIRED song.  (Look out
    for  JESTER's musicdisk and listen
    to  the track called 'NAZGUL') But
    his old songs are nice.

    MOBY:
    I  like  MOBY's yazzy-funky style!
    One  of  the  top musicians in the
    scene!  Good melodies, arrangment,
    technique,     improvising     and
    composing!

    AXEL:
    Well, AXEL can do sounds with very
    good  atmosphere in it.  Ideal for
    diskmags  or other things.  But he
    never   should   try   to  make  a
    popsound again...

    ROMEO KNIGHT:
    His  'FURZOUGE'  is  the very best
    hiphop  sound I've ever heard.  In
    1989  he was really the best.  But
    he   had   kept  his  style.   And
    nowadays this style is out!

    HEATBEAT:
    He's my big master!  He's the best
    musician in the whole scene!  I've
    never  heard  such a style before!
    The  technique in his compositions
    is   perfect!    With  the  lamest
    samples,  he  can  do  the coolest
    drumtracks!

    NUKE:
    My  second  favourite  musician on
    AMIGA!   ANARCHY  has luck to have
    this composer in their crew!


MD: I  guess quite a lot of guys would
    like  to be in touch with you.  Do
    you  have many contacts?  Are they
    all    musicians?    After   which
    production  of  yours  did you get
    the most letters?

VI: You  guessed  right!   I have some
    real  nice  contacts!  The most of
    them  are musicians.  But I know a
    hell of a lot other people around!
    (Look    into    my    greetings.)
    Everybody  tries to contact me and
    I  have  not the time to swap with
    everybody!   I'm  really  lazy and
    I'm  swapping  only for friendship
    and   not   to   get   the  latest
    stuff!!!
    After  the  release  of  McDisk #2
    there was the biggest boom of post
    in  my  letterbox!   The most guys
    wanted   music   for   their   own
    productions,  but I hadn't got the
    time to make so much music...


MD: Before  your A500, did you own any
    others computers or consoles?  Did
    you  do  music on another computer
    as  well?  What do you think about
    ATARI ST, C64 and PC?

VI: I  had a C64!  (As I told before.)
    And  I  did  music  on it just for
    fun!   Like  on  the AMIGA too!  I
    have  an  386  SX  PC, but I'm not
    interrested   in   the  PC  scene!
    ATARI  ST  is  lame or what do you
    think?


MD: Sanity is a legal group, just like
    many others in the scene.  What do
    you think of the "other side", the
    cracking groups?  Are you in touch
    with  illegal groups?  What do you
    think about cracking?

VI: In  my  good old C64 days, I liked
    playing   good  games.   And  I've
    tried  to  crack  some  originals,
    too!   When  the crack was working
    I've  had much fun!!!  But after I
    was  visited  by the police, (They
    took  my  C64.) I bought an AMIGA.
    And  I  have not much games today!
    I  know  some guys from the 'other
    side'  (TRSI) They are really good
    friends  of  mine!!!   And  I  can
    understand  them.   But my illegal
    times are over!


MD: Could you tell us some facts about
    "VIRGILL REALITY"?

VI: Yeah!   It's the new Musicdemodisk
    by  SANITY!!!  Coming up onto your
    screen this Summer..  (I hope so!)
    Code  by  MICROFORCE  and  COSMOS.
    Gfx  by  CTHULHU.   (Or  something
    similar) Music by VIRGILL.


MD: Okay, enough talk about the scene.
    Let's go over to some things which
    have  nothing to do with computers
    or the scene!  Is that OK for you?

VI: Well, er, if ya think so?  I don't
    mind!


MD: Which real music do you listen to?
    Are  you  going  to  live-concerts
    very often?  Is music in real life
    as important as on the Amiga?

VI: In  my  live, 'real' music is more
    important  to me than AMIGA music.
    It's  more  fun  playing in a band
    and  making  music  together  with
    friends  than  sitting in front of
    the  AMIGA and making music alone!
    (That's  the reason why I often do
    co-op   tracks   together  with  a
    friend!)
    My   favourite   music  is  reggae
    music.   (Like  Bob  Marley.)  The
    other  styles  I  like are:  Heavy
    Metal,  Yazz,  Classic, Pop, Rock,
    Hiphop,  Funk,  Churchmusic...   I
    don't   like   Techno,   Rap   and
    Trash!!!    And   I   go  to  live
    concerts  as  much, as I can!  (If
    it's near Ibbenbueren.)


MD: You   have   a   girlfriend  who's
    addicted  to SEX??  How come?  Are
    you the drug?

VI: My    girlfriend   is   really   a
    sex-lover!  She can't get enough!

    [Mad    Butcher:     Jochen    das
    Sex-Monster!     Ich   lach   mich
    kaputt!    "Mach  mir  den  Hengst
    Suesser!!!"]

    But  she's  interrested  in  doing
    AMIGA  music,  too!   She  can  do
    really   great   chipsounds!   Her
    pseudo is AMAZON and she's looking
    for   a   cool  group  to  join!!!
    (Write     me,    if    you    are
    interrested!)


MD: Back to music...  I'm a Heavy fan,
    but  I  hate  extreme  bands  like
    Slayer  and  the like.  Now do you
    like  Heavy  stuff,  too?  What do
    you  know about these bands...  Do
    you like some of them?

VI: I  like  heavy  music, too!  If ya
    want to hear an AMIGA heavy sound,
    then  try  to  get  my  sooncoming
    sounddisk!

    SKID ROW:
    I  hate  this  band!  The music is
    cruel!    Too   much  studio-like!
    SKID  ROW is the favourite band of
    Sabine.  (My girlfriend!)

    NIRVANA:
    Really   good   music!    not   so
    pop-skid-row      like!      Great
    disharmonies and guitar-riffs.

    IRON MAIDEN:
    I can't remember this group now.

    ANTHRAX:
    Equal to IRON MAIDEN.

    AC/DC:
    Thunder,   Thunder,   Thunder,  na
    nanana nanana na!  Great group and
    great songs!!!


MD: A   friend   of   mine   has   two
    wonderful,    brigthly    coloured
    tattoos.   No  stupid  skulls, but
    beautiful Chinese dragons.  Do you
    like  tattoos?   Would you like to
    have  one, too?  What do you think
    about  all the prejudice according
    tattoos?

VI: I  never  had  any  tattoos, and I
    never  will  have any tatoos!  The
    most girls don't like them!!!  And
    I  like the girls!  But if I would
    have  a tattoo, the girls wouldn't
    like  me  anymore!  And that would
    be terrible for me!  (Schluchtz!)


MD: Tell  us  some  things  about your
    hometown!   Is  the  nightlife  in
    Ibbenbueren  okay?   Just  tell us
    about the best places to go there!

VI: Since  end  1991 the biggest local
    disco  had  closed in Ibbenbueren!
    That's a shame!  But you can drive
    to    the    next   bigger   city:
    Osnabrueck!   There  are much pubs
    and  big  discos:   SUBWAY, CRAZY,
    ect...     The    best    pub   in
    Ibbenbueren is the "KITTKEN BUMM"!
    I  am  there  nearly  every Friday
    evening!


MD: The comming two questions are of a
    "philosophical" kind.  What do you
    love?

VI: I love cigarettes, I love alcohol,
    I love girls!  I love good dope, I
    love boozing, I love music!


MD: What do you hate?

VI: I  hate  our philosophical subject
    at  school!!!   I  hate  all other
    subjects, too!!!  I hate the whole
    school!!!  I hate tis question!!!


MD: Okay,  thanks!   Of course you are
    now  free  to say some last words.
    Bye  and  stay  as friendly as you
    are!  All the best from me!


VI: Well,  VIRGILL's bloody handshakes
            are going over to:

    Jester, Bit arts, Chaos, Mr.  Pet,
    Cougar,  Zap,  Cosmos,  Microforce
    and the rest of SANITY!
    Cons, Foxx, Lynxx, Flagg, Piranha,
    Skytech,  Jugger,  Sniper  and the
    rest of PANIC and AF!
    Head,  Disney,  Mission,  Control,
    Tom   Copper   and   the  rest  of
    ALCATRAZ!
    Warhead    (na,    Arsch!),   Tsm,
    Dreamer,   Peachy,  Romeo  Knight,
    Flynn and the rest of TRSI!
    Benni,   Masi   (keine  samples!),
    Sabine,  Blackend  (Na bube, haste
    'ne  kleine  Schwester  bekommen?)
    Josche,   Outrage  (neue  Games?),
    Schmazalowski      (ekelgesicht!),
    16-Beat,  WOTW/Supplex,  Laurence,
    Mel o'dee/Shining...
    and all others I know!!!