AN INTERVIEW WITH

THEKNIGHT/OBSESSION


 D  is  Darkhawk and  K  is TheKnight..
 Alright,  let's   begin   this  fairly
 serious interview..

 D: At  first,  please  introduce  your
 group, Obsession to our readers.

 K: Hmm,  OBSESSION.... Well, we aren't
 so  popular  and  famous as IRIS,  you
 know, he, he. OBSESSION has 10 members
 and  all  of us are  from Poland.  But
 maybe  in  the  near  future we'll get
 some  foreign  divisions  but  I don't
 want to talk about it now.  Our leader
 would  be  very  angry if I'd show our
 secrets. We specialize rather in packs
 and  mags than in demos,  but  still I
 think that we're quite productive.  We
 make pack called CHIPPO in association
 with  SUSPIRIA   (5  issues  so  far),
 magazine called NEWSWEEK  (7 issues so
 far),  magazine  about the Amiga scene
 called  GEDAN  (1 issue  so far),  and
 there  will  be  a  music  disk   with
 modules by our two musicians BETHO and
 SLAINE  very soon.   There  were  some
 changes  in  OBSESSION  lately,   some
 people joined, some were kicked. In my
 opinion it was rather  healthy for our
 group  because  now  I  can  see  that
 something  starts to happen.  I mean -
 we started to work harder.



 D: And   what's   your   function   in
 Obsession?

 K: My function? I have to admit that I
 joined OBSESSION lately.  Before  it I
 was independent for about a year and I
 was an editor of polish  disk magazine
 called   SILESIA.   I  tried  to  join
 OBSESSION as a swapper  but they found
 a  completly  different  job  for me -
 they   were  planning  to  run  a  new
 magazine  and  they  were  looking for
 somebody who would take care of it. So
 they  found  me  and  made me the Main
 Editor of GEDAN. I remember that I had
 lots of work to run the first issue of
 it. Writing articles, looking for text
 writers....  I  even wanted  you to be
 our   co-editor   but   you   refused,
 remember? He, he.... So let's say that
 I'm en editor in OBSESSION.  Besides I
 like friendly swapping.

 D: So,  are you  content in Obsession?

 K: Yeah, quite so. Anyway - personally
 I know only 4 members of OBSESSION.  I
 just  live  far from them and the only
 possibility   to   meet  the  rest  of
 members is on CParties. There was only
 one  CParty  in  Warsaw  and except me
 only one member of my group came - our
 leader DERK.  But  I'm  going  to meet
 them all. But I like my group, and I'm
 not going to change it.

 D: OK, enough about your group Knight,
 let's have some questions that involve
 you.. 
 Tell  us a  bit  about  yourself,  you
 know,  hobbies,  favorite dishes,  age
 and so on..
 K: So  my  handle  is  The Knight (not
 only KNIGHT!!)  and I'm from Poland. I
 have  A1200  with  60HD,  extra  drive
 3.5",  Star LC-200 and  color monitor.
 My real name is Christopher (Krzysztof
 in Polish) and I'm 21 years old. I'm a
 student  of  second  year of School of
 Businnes  and Management.  My hobbies?
 Well,  quite usual ones....  Of course
 everything  connected  with  the Amiga
 scene.   Moreover   reading....   Yes,
 reading  -  especially reading authors
 like   Tolkien,    Howard,    Piekara,
 Masterton, Herbert, McLean, Higgins...
 Besides  eating  but  don't  think I'm
 fat! Eating chinese food, italian food
 and our good,  old polish food. If you
 want to have my sympathy  then give me
 some chocolate. I just love everything
 connected with chocolade! From time to
 time  I  like  to  watch a good movie,
 especially in a cinema. I can't forget
 that  I  like  meeting  my  girlfriend
 Mariola.   She's   really  pretty  and
 what's  important  she's interested in
 the Amiga scene!

 D: When  did  you  first  get  to know
 about the scene, and how did you enter
 it?

 K: Well, I knew about something called
 the  scene  since  I  bought  my first
 Amiga  (A500 with Kickstart 1.2  -  an
 old,  good machine...). It was about 4
 years ago.  I bought this Amiga from a
 guy who gave me some disks extra. On 2
 of  them  there  was famous RED SECTOR
 MEGADEMO.  I liked  to watch it and in
 fact from this point of time I learned
 that there are people who do something 
 except killing  thousands of aliens on
 their  computers.  But  at that time I
 wasn't interested in joining the scene
 I wanted to play games.  And  I played
 for  the  next  3  years.  Meantime  I
 started to collect various  demos  and
 learn more and more what the scene is.
 I have  to add that there was no scene
 life in my town.  But  in  autumn'93 I
 decided  to visit my first CParty.  It
 was Polish Autumn'93  in Poznan. There
 I  got   the  first  issue  of  a  new
 magazine SILESIA. Somebody asked me if
 I was  interested  in writing articles
 for it.  When I came back home I asked
 myself:  "Why not?"  and  I  became an
 editor   of   SILESIA.   I  was  still
 independent    and    finally    after
 Primavera Party'94 in  spring I joined
 OBSESSION.


 D: What's  so  good  about  the scene,
 that  you  want to spend  many hours a
 day doing some work for it?

 K: Many people  who aren't involved in
 the  scene  asked  me many times about
 this. Yes, good question... I think it
 is  just  satisfaction,  that  you use
 your  computer  not  only  for playing
 games.  But this is not all.  When you
 are a member of the  scene  you belong
 to a big family.  This  is  a  special
 sort of family  -  Amiga maniacs.  You
 know that you can talk with them about
 everything  connected  with  Amiga and
 they won't tell you:  "Stop  talking -
 it's boring".  No they just understand
 you. That's  what is so fascinating in
 the scene.


 D: And    what's,   in  your  opinion,
 negative about the scene?

 K: There  are some  people who want to
 divide the scene  between "Elite"  and
 the rest.  It's sad  that these people
 usually  aren't  elite  at  all.  They
 think  that they're elite only because
 they are on the scene  some time.  Why
 do they want to divide  the  scene? Do
 they feel that they're better than the
 rest?  I  just  hate  when  I  look at
 advert  with  a  note "only elite"  or
 "elite swapping".  Do they forget that
 they  were  beginners  too? And I hate
 when  somebody  prefers hot stuff than
 a long,  cool letter.   Short  letters
 kill friendship and friendship is this
 thing that runs the Amiga scene.


 D: What is your opinion about your own
 scene country, the polish scene?

 K: It  is   becoming    stronger   and
 stronger.     You     know,     polish
 productions start to be well-known all
 over the world.  It happens  thanks to
 our swappers.  There in Poland is lots
 of really  good  swappers who know how
 to promote our stuff. When I say "good
 swapper"   I   mean   he's   fast  and
 friendly.  Best example - I know  that
 your  best  scene  friend is also from
 Poland.  We have also some really good
 coders and musicians.  Hmm,  it's said
 that we still have no good graphicians
 but I think  it isn't true.  Maybe  we
 don't have so many good graphicians as
 musicians  but there are some skillful
 gfx-men on the polish scene!

 D: What  do  you  like about swapping?

 K: Swapping  is fun only when you wait
 for a letter.  Stuff on disks  is only
 added extra.  Very  often  I just wait
 for a letter  from  one  of my friends
 just  to learn if  there  is something
 new in his life. That's what I like in
 swapping - long letters not only about
 the scene.  I just feel happy when one
 of my friends  writes me about his new
 girlfriend,  what his trip to Slovakia
 was like, about last party at his home
 and so on.

 D: Don't  you  sometime  feel like you
 have no motivation for swapping?

 K: Yes...  Sometimes  I'm looking at a
 pile of letters  and I think: "It's so
 boring... Why do I do it?".  If I feel
 like  this  I  never  start  to answer
 letters. I wait for this mood to pass.
 And  it  passes usually after one, two
 or three days.  But  I  know that I'll
 never   have  more  than  30  contacts
 because I won't  be able to write nice
 letters to all my friends.

 D: How many contacts do you have?

 K: Actually about 30.  But all of them
 are my real friends.  I don't look for
 more   contacts   anymore.   Only   if
 somebody is ready  to  support GEDAN I
 can  start  to  swap with  him.  Don't
 suppose that I don't want to swap with
 people  -  I just have no time for it.
 GEDAN  takes  me a lot  of  time but I
 look  for  every  possibility  to make
 this magazine better.  That's  why  my
 mailbox  is  always open for those who
 want  to  help  us  in creating GEDAN.

 D: Is that too few or too many?

 K: Let's say - it's enough for me. But
 of course  -  if  you  want  to  be  a
 proffesional  swapper  you  can't have
 only  30  contacts.   But  I'm  not  a
 swapper   and  this  number  fits  me.
 Thanks  to  it  I  know exactly what's
 going on on the scene and  -  what  is
 more important  -  I have  friends all
 over the universe!

 D: You    are    also    editor    and
 articlewriter...  So  let's  take some
 questions    regarding     diskmags...
 Are there too many?



 K: Yes,  in  fact.  I know  that  many
 groups  want to have own disk magazine
 and this is normal. But when there are
 too  many  mags  textwriters  have  to
 write  more  articles and many of them
 aren't too good in quality.  I'll give
 you an example. Imagine that there are
 5 magazines  on  the  scene.  I'm sure
 that  there  would  be a lot of people
 who  would  like to write articles for
 them.  And  editors  could  chose  the
 articles which would be the best - the
 highest  quality.  Thanks  to it these
 mags  would  be really superb.  But we
 have  completly  different situation -
 lots of magazines, some of them aren't
 enough supported and they have to look
 for every kind of articles (even those
 under average  quality)  just  because
 they  can't  release  a  magazine only
 with 10 texts.  So it isn't  too good.
 And all magazines are similiar  -  the
 same  subjects.   From  time  to  time
 editors   try   to   create  completly
 different  magazine  for  example only
 about graphics,  only  about cyberpunk
 or only about the Amiga scene (look at
 GEDAN, he,he).

 D: And have they too much power?

 K: Oh yes, they have power but I don't
 think   they  have  too  much  of  it.
 Magazines  are  necessary not only for
 us - sceners  but also for quite usual
 Amiga users. Mags have to posses power
 - and I can't see  nothing  unusual in
 it.  Look at newspapers  and TV - they
 have quite strong power.  And so what?



 D: Name  your  favorite  diskmag (Disc
 ofcourse!)  and  tell  us why you like
 it..

 K: Well,   I   don't   read    foreign
 magazines regularly.  When I get one I
 read it. I can say that I like RAW and
 PROPAGANDA.   DISC   isn't   bad  too.
 Talking  about   polish  mags  I  like
 THING,    SILESIA,    FAT AGNUS.   But
 generally  I  like  SILESIA  the best.
 Maybe  because   I'm  one  of  editors
 (he,he)?

 D: I  know  that  there  are  a  20-25
 diskmags  in  Poland, isn't that *too*
 many?

 K: Yes, we have more than 20 magazines
 but only a few of them managed to have
 more than 5 issues.  You know - people
 often say that if a group isn't a very
 productive one they start to run their
 own disk magazine. That's true.... But
 in fact - running a mag  isn't an easy
 task.  Many groups  which  started own
 mags find it too  difficult to release
 issue after issue and  they  just stop
 releasing  the mag.  As I said - there
 are only several disk magazines  which
 are   being   released   quite   long.
 Unfortunately  all  mags  are similar.
 They have  always  some articles about
 the  scene,  about  various  subjects,
 stories,   jokes,   humour,   adverts,
 messages and news. That's why my group
 wanted to release GEDAN -  a  magazine
 only  about  the  Amiga  scene.   Just
 because we didn't want to copy others.
 All  magazines in Poland  except THING
 and GEDAN are  in Polish.  It's a pity
 because  people  abroad can't read it.
 Pity - some of them are really superb.

 D: What  would  you  prefer,  being  a
 swapper  with  many  contacts, getting
 much hot stuff, but  writing short and
 standard  letters,  or being a swapper
 with fewer  contacts,  that write long
 and friendly letters?

 K: A  friend   who   writes  long  and
 interesting letters,  and  sends  even
 not the hottest stuff is better than 5
 contacts  who  send  the hottest stuff
 but   their   letters  consist  of 4-5
 sentences.

 D: Why?

 K: Why?  Because I don't  swap because
 of stuff.  I just want to have friends
 all over the world,  I  want  to  meet
 them on  CParties  and talk with them.
 What  can I talk  about with a guy who
 writes me letters like:  "It's XXXX of
 YYYY here. I'm sendin' ya the  hottest
 stuff and I suppose  ya  do  the same!
 Write fast and stamps back... See ya."
 When  I  meet  him  on  CParty we have
 nothing  to  say each other.  Is  this
 friendship? I doubt it....


 D: Tell     us      your      favorite
 sceneproduction   ever,  and  why  you
 think it's good..

 K: I haven't  any  special one. I like
 lots     of      productions      like
 P.R.O.S.I.A.K. by Flying Cows Inc, BIG
 TIME SENSUALITY   by  AXIS,   REAL  by
 COMPLEX,  TECHNOLOGICAL DEATH  by  MAD
 ELKS,  ARTE by SANITY,  TERMINATOR  by
 STATUS OK, LOVE by FAIRLIGHT and many,
 many more...
 I really like lots of productions. Why
 do I like them...   Because  of  their
 design, music, idea and effects.  Look
 for example at TERMINATOR  -  there is
 hardly code. But idea is great, I like
 music  in  it  and  I have lots of fun
 when I watch  it.  Many  people  won't
 agree with me but I don't  care.  It's
 just my own  opinion  and I cannot say
 that  there  is  only  one  production
 which I like the most.

 D: Do you  think it's OK for a swapper
 to use the term "elite", like in "Only
 Elite"?

 K: It's funny!  How  dare they to call
 themselves as "Elite"? They don't want
 to swap  with  begginers  or  swappers
 from unknown  groups.   It's  a  shame
 because  they  just forgot about those
 times when they  were  beginners  too.
 Besides  only  when other people think
 about  you as Elite  you can feel that
 you really ARE Elite.  For me an Elite
 swapper   should  have  more  than  60
 contacts,  be fast, send hot stuff and
 (what  is the  most  important)  write
 long and interesting letters.  Only if
 you do it all you're Elite in my eyes.

 D: Well,I guess that was all there was
 to my questions this time...  Let's be
 traditional  in  the  end and say that
 you  can  write  what  you  want  now, 
 greet somebody,  or something else....

 K: Sure,  I  want to greet all my real
 friends from the Amiga scene. Moreover
 I  want   to   thank   you   for  this
 interview. I have one more sentence to
 say: People, support GEDAN!!

 D: OK,  I'll get  the last  word, heh!
 Thanks  for  the interview Christopher
 and have a happy scenelife!

 BY DARKHAWK/IRIS