A guy called Archmage


 _by_Diesel


In my everlasting search for vital individuals,
I took my spaceship and left the Milky Way
to visit Andromeda, a galaxy not very far
away. Inhabited only by the flower of the
scene, it has become a guiding light for
all mistrusting sceners that are longing
for colourful experiences on which to rest
their eyes.



In the earthly lives of these Andromedarians,
they take shape in Norwegian youth. And though
they are very hard to distinguish
from the mediocre crowds, judging from the
surface, they immediately stand out as soon
as they express theirselves, whether they do
it in form of demos or simple words.



Ad Astra Ad Infinitum, they say. But their
motto is not a description of their own aims,
but a piece of advice to all fans searching
for the eternal truth. The Andromedarians
need no legend - all their legends are already
fulfiled.



The leader of the Andromedarians is Archmage,
or Hakon Repstad as he calls himself in his
earthly life. He has been lightning up this planet with
his pure existance for 19 years, and his handsome dark
hair bear witness of his wisedom and spiritual equanimity.



You're now going to meet this Archmage, and I cannot
say how proud I am to present this essential young
Andromedarian in my very own magazine!



After an article in a certain, known magazine, the
`Stalin of the scene` decided to stand one step back
and leave the organization of the infinite force over
to a new guy, namely you.



Tell me Archmage, is there
something wrong with this opening question?



- Yes, there is. Calling Hydra `Stalin of the scene`
is in my opinion an alteration, if not pervertation,
of  the  plain  and
simple truth. Hydra was the best organizer
any group could ever wish for. He always
did his job properly and heard everybody
out! Without Hydra there could never have
been an Andromeda, but that does not mean
that he wielded supreme power. In Andromeda everybody
has a say, and our rules
about not making packdisks, not having
foreign members and so on are the results
of democratic treatment of these subjects.



Thus, the lies stated in our beloved
diskmag, RAW, enjoy no support in reality
whatsoever! The titulation he received
there is nothing but a product of Lord
Helmet's immature imagination. It is true,
though, that Hydra has passed the job of
organizing on to me. When it comes to the
reasons for this, he must speak for
himself. He has now decided to put more
efforts into his coding, and he is still an
appreciated member of the group.



As the new leader of Andromeda, you are in
charge of one of the most powerful groups
around. Tell me, what will Archmage do,
that Hydra didn't? Will we be able to read
more about your coming productions and your
internal problems, or will the galactic
silence be continued?



- As an organizer I will probably try to
pursue much the same line of administration
as that of my predecessor, Hydra. I will
try to keep a good look into all our
activities, and furthermore try to
encourage our members into working as hard
as ever. Apart from this my job will consist
in making an internal update on the things
happening in the group, the scene and beyond
just to keep everybody informed. In time
I'll also try to grab hold of some new coders
in order to release more. As for our
public relations, we see no point in making
our internal affairs a matter of enjoyment
for the public. The galactic silence will
indeed continue.



Hardwired, 9 Fingers and Love are all
examples of demos with new, stunning
effects, that have shocked the scene.
Andromeda has released a lot of nicely
designed demos, but except for Nexus 7, they
have never contained those revolutionizing
routines. Yet, Andromeda has released more
highquality demos than any other still
existing group, and managed to stay alive
for a very long time. Is there any main
reason, or secret, behind this undeniable
fact?



- Andromeda is a group which puts an
emphasis on quality productions, and we try
to do our best when it comes to the much
(ab)used term design. Making hardhitting
new effects may not be our strongest side,
but we would rather make a beautiful, yet
old effect than an ugly new one. Andromeda
have a lot of members that favour the old
school Phenomena-style instead of the new
hardcore-style. This do not mean, however,
that we dislike the demos by groups such as
Virtual Dreams and Complex. We just have
another style, that`s all. There is no
particular secret behind the fact that we
have been around for a long time, other
than that we enjoy each other's company and
that we still have a lot to show the scene.



While Razor 1911 and other seemingly strong
groups tend to fall apart now and then, we
have never had the opportunity to read any
scandalistic gossip about Andromeda. Is it
because you have managed to keep the
problems inside the group, or is it just
because there are no problems what so ever?



- My impression is that the members of
Andromeda get along far better than members
of most other groups in the scene. This may
be because our members have known each
other for several years, and that we
actually have grown from being a small
group into becoming a well-known one
together. We have not permitted people to
use the group as a fast train to fame and
glory on which they may jump on and off as
they please.



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There is a relaxed atmosphere
(almost too relaxed at times), and truth
is, there is virtually no trouble in the
group whatsoever. If this was not the
case, however, we would probably not have
gone about bragging about our internal
problems to the diskmags, as they have a
sad tendency of twisting the facts about
just to get a scoop. The practice of such
`Helmetjournalism` is getting more and more
common even as we speak, and it scares me
silly.



The closest I can get to an Andromeda
crisis, is when a couple of talented
members decided to leave and join Lemon.
in the middle of 1993. Did this departure
shake  the  group, or was it just a drop in
the ocean?



- The departure of these members came
unexpected, but I cannot say that it harmed
the group much. It rather served as a
healthy awakener and an encouragement to
continue to work even harder to maintain
our position. When Lemon. Norway was formed,
the Norwegian scene got much more interesting
(for a short while, that is). The only
member that we truly miss is Blazer, as
he's one of the very best coders in Norway
ever. He has now gone off to work for the
curse of the Norwegian scene, Funcom, and I
doubt that he had continued to make demos
even if he had continued as an Andromeda
member. He is still a good friend of the
group, though, and he is always welcome
back.



What is your all time, favourite Andromeda
demo (question asked before Nexus 7)?



- I must say that `Mind Riot` is my
favourite demo of all times. I know that
others think that it is a bore and lack new
effects, but to me it means something very
special. The thing is that the demo
displays all the effects on which the
Amiga-scene was based in a perfect manner.
I think that the demo sums up the creative
era of the A500 in just a few wellpolished
minutes of demonstration. Look and learn,
freshmen!



I have recently felt a stagnation in the
scene, not only concerning the productions,
but the friendship and the lively discussions.
Nobody seems to bother about
anything anymore. There are three or four
groups releasing good demos, but where have
all other people gone? Do you understand
what I mean, or is it only I that have
become paranoid?



- I know what you mean, and I agree that
the scene is not what it used to be. I
have been active in the scene for about
five years, and in that time I have
experienced a lot of ups and downs when it
comes to the things you mention. There is
a tendency of not blessing the scene with
one's releases in between parties, and this
is indeed sad. At the present there is a
lack of good, productive groups. There are
only three real elite groups in the scene
that bother to do anything, and those are
Stellar, Virtual Dreams/FLT and Complex.
This stagnation is boring, but things can
on the other hand only get better. I am
fairly optimistic about the future of the
scene. True design is not dead after all,
and the most recent proof of this is the
40k-intro by Stellar called `Darkroom`.
This is the most beautiful production I've
seen in ages! A new breed of talented and
nice people and groups are at hand. Just
take a look to the east, and you'll see...



The scene has undeniably affected the lives
of people that have been a part of it for a
long time. It has not only enlarged their
views of the world, but given them friends
and experiences that would've been impossible
without it. The scenefriendship is
not always what I would like to call friendship,
though, as it mostly concerns
computerlife and not life in general. Not
everybody is willing to agree with me in
this matter.



Do you think that any of your
current 'scenefriends' outside Norway still
will be your friends in ten, or even five
years? Or that even your Norwegian
groupmates still will be there, when we write
a '2' instead of '1' in front of the year?



- I have very few scenefriends outside
Norway, and I don't know whether my contact
with them will continue for ages. They
will always be my friends in spirit, though.
As for my groupmates I can tell you that I
will stay in touch with most of them for a
long time to come. Some of the Andromeda members
are my very best friends in `real`
life as well, and such friendship does not
wither at all.



Is there anything special that keeps you
active? Like seeing your names on different
charts or in diskmagazines? Or is it just
your artistic ambition and urge to create
that keeps you putting those pixels on
their right spot?



- I draw to get girls and loads of easy
money... Nah... The thing that keeps me going is
the nice feeling of actually accomplishing
something along with my friends in
Andromeda. There is no better rush than
hearing your work being applauded when
displayed on the bigscreen. That certainly
chills my spine and leaves me hungry for
more! The charts do not interest me much
anymore, as I realized that I can never be
numero uno a long time ago. I simply do
not make enough graphics to achieve a
decent placement.



It's always nice to get
attention, such as this, in diskmags.
Diskmags tell you much more about people
than charts do, and to achieve compliments
in diskmags feels much better than being
made into a number in a pointless chart. I
certainly wish that my artistic ambitions and
urge to create was bigger, as I recently
have had problems with motivating myself
into making good graphics. This will surely
change, though, as we all have our ups an
downs. I most certainly will win another
Gathering!



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The Amiga 1200 has obviously taken over the
scene. Nowadays even the magazines demand
AGA. Are you happy about this evolution,
or do you think that Commodore should have
included something more in their new
computer?



- Musicians tell me that the Amiga 1200
ought to have more than four soundchannels,
but I am not very much into hardware and I
simply do not know what more they could
have included! I am happy about the
AGA-mode as it provides much more challenge
when drawing. More colours means more
beautiful graphics, and the 68020 enables
the coders to enter unexplored country when
it comes to effects. I think the scene
simply needed the 1200 to maintain it`s
creative existance.



People have stated that 'the scene will
probably die next year' for ages. What do
you think, will it carry on until it finds a
more proper scenecomputer, or will it fade
away?



- I honestly do not know. The doom
prophecies of the scene have been around in
diskmags for as long as I can remember, and
I really don't read them any more. I
believe that most scene-members have still
got a lot to prove on the Amiga 1200 - at
least we do! However, this does not imply
that I am active twelve months a year.
After every party there is a period of some
months in which I do not bear to turn on my
computer at all. I have these past few
months after the party gone through such a
period, but somehow there always comes a
time when I feel like doing something
again. I am certain that I will continue
for as long as there is a scene, even
though the scene of today tends to be a
drag.



Writing articles about the death of
the scene won't help a bit. Why moan and
complain in a destructive manner when you
can do something about it? More parties,
less prizemoney - demos just for the fun of
it! I get inspired when I see great
graphics by such talents as Ra and Facet.
Although I know I will never be as good as
them, there  is nothing wrong in dreaming.
I also feel a wicked sensation when I see
cool stuff such as the intro for RAW 7.
The RAW intros are usually great! As for
the stuff attached? Hmm. Heatbeat, I
honestly hope that you will make it through
your puberty complexes. Thou suckest.

Why not join the PC-scene to get some real
speed?



- No. How talented you are only depends
on the amount of money you spend on hardware.
Besides, I have better things to do
than killing people with chainsaws or
standing in front of the Future Crew table
trembling in a sweaty state of August.



Are you interested in real art as well?



- Yes I am, but I'm no expert. I enjoy
the work of H.R.Giger, and I am really
fascinated by some Norwegian and Danish
painters. I simply love cartoons and I am
quite astonished by some of the pieces you
can see on your average suburbian streetcorner.
I have quite a few artbooks in my bookshelf,
but they are not very helpful when it comes
to drawing on this wretched computer. I draw
a lot by hand myself, though, but whether
you can call that 'art' is another matter.



What is most fun drawing - logos or pictures?



- I find good logos very hard to draw,
and I've not managed to come up with one
that I'm totally satisfied as yet. They
are the funniest to draw, though, because
they are such a challenge. Pictures take a
heck of a lot of time, and they require a
lot more boring work like preparation of
colours, perspective, motive etc. I find
the colour part extremely difficult, as I
am colourblind (I gather you all had that
one figured out already ;) (I am impressed! TRX).



Now for the obligatory question. As a
graphician, what is your opinion in the
'copy' discussion? Is it right to copy
pictures and say that they're ones own, or
should everybody draw their own pictures?
Does a picture change originator, just
because it changes medium? How does the
current situation look like in Archmage's
case?



- I was forced to write an extensive article
on this rather worn out subject in Upstream
9, so instead of repeating myself to death
twice, I will recommend you to read that
one. If you against all odds are
interested, that is. It ought to be said,
though, that I do not have any strong
opinions when it comes to this. People may
draw whatever the like as long as they add
their own touch to the work. I do not
think, however, that there are many sceners
that have accomplished anything when it
comes to the so called 'no copy' pictures.
Ra, Facet, Fairfax and Devilstar are the
only ones that have really bought my eye so
far.



Is there any special scene artist that you
really look up to, and could you please
tell us about your dreamteam?



- Ra of Sanity is certainly worth looking
up to. His birdie is the best, but even more
I admire his ability of making great speeches!
I also enjoy the work of Uno, because he was the pioneer.



The last question, then. Will Archmage still be active in a
year?



- Yes! The realm will be ever expanding...



Ad Astra - Ad Infinitum!