Interview with Moby/Dreamdealers
Done by: Jester/Sanity

The following  interview  with  Moby of
Dreamdealers  was  done  by  Jester  of
(rebuild) Sanity!

?: Please tell us a  bit about yourself
   (age, profession,  name, group, hob-
   bies etc.).
!: Well... I'm named Fred, like the fa-
   mous  French composer. I'm  21 and I
   study computer  science.  I'm a real
   music  lover! I  collect tapes,  LPs
   and  CDs,  I  love  reading  Stephen
   King's books,  and I  love (overall)
   BEER! My favourite ones are Pelforth
   (a French one), Chimay (Belgian), De
   Verboden  Vrucht (Belgian, too), and
   some others... Belgian beers rules!

?: When and  on which  machine  did you
   start with computer music?
!: I  started music  on ORIC-1 in 1983!
   Actually, it was not music, just bip
   bip, like the Atari ST. I also began
   to code  in machine code on Oric, it
   was  so funny! Then  I bought a C64,
   on which I coded a few things, thanx
   to my training on Oric (same machine
   code) and I of course did some tries
   with  music  programs, but  I didn't
   manage  to  find  any  user-friendly
   editor! So I really started computer
   music on  AMIGA, 4 years ago.  First
   with Sonix, then with  Soundtracker.
   Now  I  also  work on  PC with Adlib
   card and soon on Apple IIgs. 

?: Did  you have a  training on certain
   instruments? What instruments do you
   play?
!: I've  been  playing   keyboards  for
   about 7 years, but I stopped 3 years
   ago  because I  was fed up with syn-
   thetic sounds! I started to play the
   drums, and  I now  play in  a Blues-
   Rock Band named Dear Popol... sounds
   great! We  mostly  play  old  ZZ-Top

   stuff,  Johnny Winter,  SrV,  AC/DC,
   and  old  Blues  standards.  We also
   compose some tunes of course.

?: Could you give  us some info on your
   computer history (earlier groups)?
!: My  first  team  was  IMPACT  INC. I
   stayed with  them 1 year and a half.
   We released some  simple demos and a
   music disk. Then I joined Apology, a
   french  team  which  released a demo
   disk  and   died.  Then   I   joined
   Dragons. We released 2 demos and one
   Megademo (on which most of the tunes
   were unfinished! grrr). Alcatraz as-
   ked me to  join them. I did it. Some
   of my tunes were released in the Me-
   gademo IV, and  in two  music disks.
   (Try to find the Alcatraz Music Disk
   #1, because  it  has  not been  very
   well spread and my best tune lies in
   it! It's  called 'Pelforth  Blues'!)
   And  now, I am a member of DreamDea-
   lers, the coolest team in France!

?: How do you like your current crew?
!: As I  said, they're  very cool, very
   funny (one of our musician is called
   'the Clown'.  Cool  name Djam! hehe)
   and  very powerful. Before  I joined
   them, they  have released 2
   Megademos  and a game music compi-
   lation. And the Juke  Box 2 is now
   released (36 ripped  game musics).
   We  really plan to do great things
   together!
   ˆHere's our memberlist:ˆ
   - Kougar   : Musician
   - Sun      : Musician (the clown!)
   - Redlight : Coder
   - Tony     : Gfx
   - Tik      : Gfx
   - Croquik  : Coder
   - Moby     : Musician
  Our  new  demo,  called  "Tales  of a
  Dream", is now out! Check it out!

?: What computer equipment do you own?
!: A500 + 512 Ko, home made  sound sam-
   pler, Philips monitor, Nordic Power,
   A590 + 2Mo, +  soon  a 150Mo HD.  Of
   course, my  Amiga  is  linked  to my
   stereo amplifier 2x45 watts! Yep...

?: Do you use synths as well  to create
   your music ?
!: As far as Amiga music  is concerned,
   I   mostly  use   synths  to  sample
   sounds. But sometimes I use my  Midi
   Keyboard  to  compose  (not often!).
   But now that I bought my Korg M3R, I
   am also composing on synths,  and it
   is more funny than the Amiga!

?: How many percent of your samples are
   self-made, how many ripped?
!: I'd  say  50-50... Used  samples  of
   course,  because I've  got  loads of
   ripped samples that I never use.

?: Do you consider sample ripping to be
   a poor thing?
!: Of  course  not! When  somebody  has
   sampled a sound you need, why should
   you sample it by  yourself? You  can
   take  it!  That's what I  think. I'm
   never angry when I hear my sounds in
   some tunes! Moreover, I'm very proud
   that  Walkman uses  my  Piano  (nice
   sound hee?).

?: What's your favourite real music?
!: Well, it depends... Sometimes I  got
   da blues. Yeah... And then I like to
   listen  to  J.  Winter,  Stevie  Ray
   Vaughan, Albatross, Jimi Hendrix and
   so  on...  But  sometimes, I  really
   love to destroy my hears with Metal-
   lica, one of the best band on Earth.
   Or  Annihilator,   Watchtower,  Holy
   Terror... I also love Steve Vai, Joe
   Satrani,  Randy   Coven,  Stu  Hamm,
   Steve Morse and so on...  You didn't

   ask what I don't like but I'll  tell
   it!  I  HATE  rap,  house,  newbeat,
   techno, Jarre,  Depeche Mode,  Bros,
   PSB,U2, Simple Minds, Cocteau Twins,
   and all kinds of dance music. That's
   pure crap!

?: And on the Amiga?
   My  favourite  musicians  (should  I
   say my Gods?) are:
   - Bruno who has a  very funky  style
     and  who  sounds like nobody else.
     His musics sound "real".
   - Walkman who always brings  wonder-
     ful melodies, and  who can also do
     some very powerful things  (Thrash
     Collector was so fun!!!).
   - Heatbeat who smashes my  ears  and
     my  brain  with  his  unbelievable
     solos! "Scrambled Mind" is  one of
     the best tune I've  ever heard  on
     Amiga!
   - Uncle Tom  who should drop gfx and
     get back to music coz' I love  his
     crazy style! He's so original!
   I  also  like   Kougar/DreamDealers,
   Chrylian/Proton,   Delorean/Vertigo,
   Jester/Sanity (Ja, ja!),  Mantronix/
   Pha, Nuke/Anarchy, Axel/BRS,  Audio-
   monster/Silents,    Tebirod/Concept,
   and some more...

?: What kind  of (Amiga)  music  do you
   hate  and why? What  elements in the
   tunes makes you scorn them?
!: I hate all that house-hip  hop rappy
   tunes. It isn't music. There  are no
   melodies  in  those  shits.  Just  a
   beat.  I also hate  musicians(?) who
   sample  a  complete  drumtrack  cos'
   they are too lazy to do one by them-
   selves (or not able?). I  hate wrong
   notes, and samples with bad loops.

?: According to  your opinion,  what is
   more  important  about  a  song: the

   composition or the arrangement?
!: When I compose a tune, it's in order
   to express something that I  have in
   my mind or in my heart.  Arrangement
   requires  mostly technic. And a  bad
   tune  with a good  arrangement  will
   remain  a bad tune. Listen  to Walk-
   man's tunes... There  are  nearly no
   effects, but his composition  is  so
   powerful!  So, we  have  to  compose
   more  instead of trying to hide  the
   poor composition  with arrange ment.
   (Hi Tip!)

?: How do you  like parties in  general
   and soundcompetitions in particular?
!: Well, I only attended to 3  parties:
   the Alcatraz party in Switzerland in
   June  90,   the  Cyclone  party,  in
   France in August 90, and the Cyclone
   II, in August 91. They were all very
   cool. I really LOVE  party, but  big
   parties are always in  nordic count-
   ries, and  it's  quite far  from  my
   hometown. I  wanted  to  go  to  the
   Silents party in Denmark this summer
   but it has been cancelled. I've par-
   ticipated to  only one  sound compe-
   tition. It was  this summer  at  the
   Cyclone meeting. Well, there were 35
   tunes to be played. It was more than
   boring. We listened to the songs for
   about 4-5 hours.. And the 6 guys got
   bored very fast... I hope that's why
   I ended only 17th (or something like
   that)!!!
  
?: Do you know a lot of other musicians
   and how  important is  the  rest  of
   scene to you?
!: I only "swap" with  a few  guys  (hi
   DeLorean,  Chrylian,   Axel,  Jester
   (yo!), Sir  Monkey, Ostein Eide...).
   I am quite lazy, that's  why  I only
   have  a  few  contacts. The crack'n'
   swap-scene  doesn't  interest me  at

   all, but I am  fond of  demos! I own
   about 250 disks full of demos. But I
   am not very involved in the scene...
   
?: Do you  need success  or a  positive
   feedback  in  your work  (e.g.  from
   charts, pals, contacts)?
!: Well, I guess I  would  have stopped
   Amiga-music since a long if I needed
   success... Because  I've been  doing
   music  for  4 years,  and  I'm  only
   starting  to  be  known.  Anyway,  I
   compose  music  first  for   my  own
   pleasure. But I must admit that it's
   really motivating to  see your  name
   the charts!

?: That was it already. Any famous last
   words that you want to spread to the
   world?
!: I'd like to  say to all  my contacts
   who didn't receive anything from  me
   since  about 6 months  that  I  will
   answer  soon!  Be   patient! I'm  so
   lazy.  Watch   out for  DreamDealers
   productions! Beers Rules!

?: Moby, thanks for your  patience. All
   the best for your future work.


Notes from the editors:
Thanx must go to Moby for answering all
the cool  questions  and to Jester  for
making this GOOD interview possible!