In The Shadow Of Heatbeat 
By Magic of Nah Kolor


For two long years, KONSTA MIKKONEN (14) has been constantly composing Protracker music... but how long was it going to take him to get recognised by the critical mass? No one seemed to have the right answer for him.

But if we come to it, who is this... Mikkonen? That name is not new at all... wasn't a certain Mikkonen, active in the scene, years ago, under the alias of Heatbeat?

Well, wonder no more, our Mikkonen calls himself Muffler, and is no one else that Heatbeat's younger brother; 
"Heatbeat is NOT in the scene any more, but I am. I want people to call me Muffler, and not Heatbeat's brother"
, he interrupts us, making his position very clear.

Prologue


Brothers in the scene is a phenomenon mostly known amongst swappers, like the Swedish twins, Candyman and Crusader or the German Exumer and Thor. But when one enters the scene and has to withstand the constant pressure of being always looked at, as someone's little brother, then motivation cannot get stronger.

This is the case of Muffler, the brother of Heatbeat - the Finish musician everyone surely has heard of. Heatbeat, a past member of Rebels and CNCD, amongst the many groups, has already had the opportunity to prove his own validity in the past. But now, when Muffler is heading right on his brother's footsteps, he has to sourly pay the price. Does he?

Rom met a newborn scener, that could well be the new VIS star of tomorrow's scene.

It has been almost 7 years ago that Heatbeat acquired an Amiga, and like it usually happens, Muffler eradiated his brother's Commodore 64. 
"I have to tell you, that this was the very first time that I had heard about the scene"
, he says. When Muffler was ten years old, his parents bought him an Amiga 500, on which he just played some games like all sceners do in the very beginning. 
"But a few months later I saw how my brother was using his computer with Protracker. It looked very interesting, so I decided to give it a try by myself"


In his first year of Protracking, Muffler just made up some noisy screeches, but later on, Heatbeat showed him the right way to tackle the inside functions of the tracker... and Muffler started to get better by the day.


"I learned how to do something which was not just noise", he says. In his third year of scening, he teamed up with his first Amiga group - Energy. 
"I think that it was at this moment that my scene life started for real, so I can say that I am part of the scene for two years now. In February this year, I decided to join Nah Kolor. It's the kind of group that I have always wanted to be in", reveals a commotioned Muffler. In fact, the Finish musician thinks that he will never leave his current group.

When asked about his goals in the scene, Muffler wastes no time to reveal that, "Some day I will be the best" - a typical answer of every scene teen, with ambition and ardour in his blood.

THE FAME OF HIS BROTHER



"He is surely more talented than me", tells us Muffler. Being the brother of Heatbeat, it's quite obvious that the scene will compare him with the VIS that is nowadays considered as a kind of legend for the Finish scene. But is Muffler the new Heatbeat - A typical thought that could arise in the mind of every scener? Can the young Mikkonen, reach the quality and quantity of his older brother?

Personally he thinks that this is not the case. Is he being just modest or simply honest? 
"In my opinion his best modules are Aquarium People, Sainahi Circles, Uudenkuun Siontumaa and Dawn Mosaic", he says. However, only the future can tell if his musical skills are as flexible as those of his brother. At the moment, Muffler is quite active. His music styles are varied, and range from underground dance music to very relaxed tunes.

When asked about his brother Heatbeat, Muffler does not want to hide the whereabouts of the strange Finish musician, who's patriotic ideals we already got to know of! 
"He is quite a weirdo. No one ever knows what he is doing", smiles Muffler. Graphician Destop, who has been watching in the background all the time, nods in agreement!

2 GENERAL QUESTIONS;


Why didn't you start coding or tried your hand at painting?


"Well, in the start, I made some simple basic programs and something with Amos, but I never even tried to use assembler. In the beginning, it was fun but then my interest in programming dropped down. I have always been very bad at painting, so I think that's why I am not doing graphics today"


Which musicians, both in real life and in the scene do you admire?


"In real life I like jazz artists like Miles Davis, Pekka Pohjola, Stanley Jordan, Jukka Linkola, and some jungle and techno musicians like 4 Hero, C-Tank and Dj Krust. On Amiga, I prefer the music of Dizzy, Groo, Dreamer, Heatbeat, Ukulele, Andy, Strobo and Yolk because their work sounds really good"

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING HIM



"I hope that the scene will call me Muffler", he says, when we ask him something about his brother! But what does Heatbeat think of all this? Does he like the idea that his little brother is so active in the demo scene? 
"Sure, why not. Although when it comes to myself, I don't know whether I'm any more in the scene - I guess not, since I haven't had any computer for some 3 years now"
, says Heatbeat, as if the scene meant nothing for him in these days. Then he continues; 
"I guess that Muffler is a little bit too serious about scene matters at the moment. I think that he should go out and play football and ice hockey. But he is a cool boy anyway. He's got his own brilliant arguments as to why school sucks and why it feels stupid to meet old family people and answer their modal questions. And the best thing is that he shouts it right away!"


When asked about the scene work of his brother, Heatbeat tells us that he's, 
"listened to some of his work, every now and then, but he's getting better all the time. He's above average in sample editing and has made some good sounding underground dance. Some of his real-instrument-emulations sound a little bit plain, but he's no worse than any other I've heard in that field. Modules should concentrate on the overall sound of change and feel rather than on a single funk guitar lick"


Being brothers who get involved deeply in the scene, has it's own tendencies over everyday life, and Heatbeat, being the son of a youth psychiatrist, seems like knowing what he's talking about. 
"I would say that to grow big, the little boy does what the big boy does. It wasn't too long after I got my first bass guitar, that my brother had bought one too. But I don't mind at all", he smiles.

Muffler has some very clear ideas, when it comes to the scene and his own future as Amiga musician. 
"What do I think about myself in these days? I have learned a lot, and I am gathering experience all the time, but it's really hard to say at which level I stand in today's scene. If I would say that Jester is less good than me, that would just be my opinion, and it seems like there are a lot of people who think in another way. So I would say that I think, that I am not the worst, but I am not the best either. Every time I make one more module, I have learned something. Listening to some of my modules which were made way back in 1994 and then comparing them to my latest ones, the more recent ones would surely sound much better. So there will always be improvements in my newer modules"


Here we leave the two brothers to their everyday music life; Heatbeat with his CD projects with CNCD and the younger Muffler with his Amiga and it's scene. ROM wishes good luck to both Finns.