Interview with ECHO/LSD


ST: Hello please introduce yourself to our readers ! Where to you come from ? How old are you ? Are you working in a job or are you going  to school ?

EC: Hi! I'm Echo from that group in the UK called LSD. I come from a small (crap) town in England called Grantham. Grantham is said to one of the most boring towns in the UK! I'm 

18 years old (Will be 19 in November) and I sit about at home all day, take drugs and write music. No job, just sap every penny I can from the British Government!

ST: Did you started on the amiga or did you own another computer before ?

EC: Alas no. I put up with an ST for a loooong time. I wrote music on it in a proggy called 'Quartet' which was a more score-orientated interface. I  then found a cheap Amiga and 

played with sound-tracker for a bit. I got used to it, and here I am!

ST: How did you got into the so called 'THE SCENE' ? Did you had any friends who where in ?

EC: I was in a few lame groups before I joined LSD. They were the kind of groups that had no coders, just swappers. Pretty shit really. Then I got the Saddam virus on one of my 

disks. LSD had just produced a new util (NUKE) which sorted out my new module disk, so I wrote to Pazza/LSD to thank him & sent a few of my modz along too... I got a phone-call a 

day later with him asking me to join LSD. I didn't take much persuading!

ST: Did you started with making MUSIC or did you also tryed other things like swapping or coding ?

EC: Did a small bit of swapping for a while. Didn't get into it - too much hassle, and my heart wasn't in it. When I got my sample collection upgraded (A sampler!) my music really 

seemed to get better, so I concentrated on that instead. Coding? Me and maths don't go, so I left that out. I can't draw for toffee, and D-Paint is a rubix puzzle, so no luck 

there either.

ST: What equipment do you use ? Are you thinking of buying a A1200 or A4000  'coz of the fine AGA chip ?

EC: I currently use the following hardware: Amiga 500+ (2Mb Chip/2Mb Fast/80Mb HD), Amiga 2000 (1Mb Chip/8Mb Fast/105Mb HD), Amiga 1200 (2Mb Chip/4Mb Fast/ 80Mb HD), Atari 1040ST, 

Mac Quadra 950 (40Mb RAM/650Mb HD/88Mb Syquest PLI) I will soon be aquiring a A4000 '030, but Commodore seem to be out of stock at the moment. As soon as they get they're arse in 

gear I'm gonna be the first in the queue!

ST: Do you have a lot of contact to other musician or other guys in the scene ?

EC: I don't really know what to call a lot. I know all the LSD musicians well, and I know quite a few others from other groups. My address list for guys I know on the scene is 

huge and every Friday night I'm usually found at Pazza's house (Along with many other members of LSD!)

ST: How's you day looking like ? How much of it are you making music ?

EC: Well, I guess it's time I told someone. My dayz are VERY busy. Constantly sorting out various bit of hardware for the local computer place and trying to find a big enough 

hard-drive for my ever-growing sample collection (80 Megs & rising!). I haven't been in the mood for music recently. Due to me moving from place to place and stuff like that. But 

it is getting better. I'm working on 3 tunes at this time of writing and they are all shit-hot!

ST: Can you remember in what groups you where through all the years ?

EC: No. Yes. Khaos, Optical Illusions and LSD.

ST: Are you also trading with your modem or just leeching ?

EC: Just leeching. I trade to other boards, but I leech from LSD boards most of the time. I'm a musician, not a trader and I think I do enough for LSD to deserve the right to 

leech a bit!

ST: Did you ever got problems with the telecom or the police ?

EC: Not yet...

ST: How much time do you sit before your amiga every day ? Do you have other interests than 'THE SCENE' ? Do you have a girlfriend in the moment if so whats her name ?

EC: When I'm awake we're taking about 70-80% of the time. I like to watch demo's and I collect music disks whatever the quality (I play the bad ones to make me feel good!). The 

Silents and Kefrens demo's are really something. I can't wait until some really neat demos come out for the AGA chip-set. As for girl-friends, well, I have a 

'Gid-Forsaken-Evil-Wench-From-Hell' if that's what you mean. I go to her house, shag her, and she gives me money. Not a bad deal really!

ST: When did you start to make music ? What kind of 'real' music do you like !

EC: I started to make music from as long back as I can remember. I've always had a musical instrument or keyboard close to hand. As for my musical tastes? I like Jarre, War Of The 

Worlds, Mike Oldfield, Tschaikowsky, The Orb, Pink Floyd, System 7 (Orb project), N-Joi, Prodigy, ALL Hardcore Acid House/Rave  (None of this wimpy shit nowadays) and the Shamen. 

Can't think of anymore  right now...

ST: Where and how do you get you samples from ?

EC: Anywhere and anyhow. I sample from sample-cd's. Don't bother with any tapes. I don't own any synths yet, but as soon as the cash comes in I'll get some new gear. I also get 

samples from other peoples modules. Some are really good, others aren't. I port them over to the Mac and play with them on that. The software on that machine is far more superior 

to any Amiga package I have seen. But don't get me wrong. I don't just rip samples. I like to watch the modules in ProTracker too. It's interesting to see how other musicians lay 

out they're modules and do effects and stuff like that. It's a good way to learn new tricks!

ST: How long did you for example worked on the music for 'JESUS ON E's' ?

EC: Jesus On E's was nice, but my sampler & sound sources when I wrote it where limited. It took me about 8-10 weeks from start to end (All 14 modules!) and I was quite pleased at 

the time... Looking back tho.. hmmm.. I think the music was crap.

ST: Where do you get your inspiration from ? Do you get any inspiration from reall musicians ?

EC: I get my rave inspiration mostly from people like Prodigy, N-Joi and groups like that. Before the partys were legalised in the UK the music was much more pumpy (Oo-er), but 

lately it just seems to have gone limp (Fwak!). As for non-rave stuff... er.. I like to think that I do my own style and not take any inspiration from anybody... Just do my own 

thing...

ST: What music program do you prever and why ?

EC: I use ProTracker V2.3b. It's the best. I've played with ProTracker V3.01, but it's just ugly. It's a nice idea and there's plenty of room for expansion, but it seems to me 

that they more they bolt on to a tracker, the more sluggish the response from the keyboard... This is a real downer for real-time editing. I like ProTracker V2.3b 'coz it does 

everything I want it too (Well, almost!) and it hasn't really been altered drastically since the early days of Sound  Tracker V2.1! More has been added, but the keyboard 

short-cuts are so well layed out, with that nice bug editing window.. It's great!

ST: Now your personal charts

EC: MOST LIKED FOOD - Lasagne!
MOST LIKED DRINK - Coke/Any beer above 8% vol.
MOST LIKED KIND OF GIRLS - Any gorgeous leggy blonde with big tits.
MOST LIKED REAL MUSIC - Pink Floyd.
BEST GRAPHICAN - R.W.O/Kefrens
BEST CODER - The Spy/Silents
BEST MUSICIAN - S.L.L/Kefrens and/or Moby/(Alcatraz???)
BEST DEMO - Desert Dreams/Guardian Dragon/Hardwired/State Of The Art
BEST GROUP - TSL/Kefrens

ST: Is there something I should ask aswell ?

EC: Err.. Well. Anyone wishing to send me cash can do so via Pazza/LSD's address. This goes for gorgeous leggy blondes with big tits too.

ST: We are near the end so do you want to send any greetings or messages to your friends ?

EC: Sure.. I'd like to greet a few mates of mine... Wonko The Sane, Zeon, Matt, Maximan/LSD, Pazza/LSD, Bernard Sumner/LSD, Spirit/LSD, Shagratt/LSD, mUb/LSD, FisH/LSD, Jay, Bim, 

Dave (The Cardboard Box) Charles, Colin, Felix, Watchman/LSD, Assassin/DMX, Cylon/DMX, Jolyon Ralph, The Q, That nice guy at 17-Bit Software in the UK for sending me 75 pounds, 

all of the Grapevine team, all LSD members, Jon, Draxx, and all other guys that will probably complain because I didn't mention them.

Axe/Submission