disc.font,8
ac
c1*** INTERVIEW WITH MAGIC OF NAH-KOLOR ***
ac
c3BY LORD HELMET/SPACEBALLS AND ZEROX/GODS
ac
c2"Are you using my own words against me now are you?"

asc61. MAGIC'S HISTORY
==================

c5In the editorial of Devotion is stated: "I have been around so long and
still I am on TOP". How long have you been on the top, and how long have
you been around ?

c2"Hehe.. Are you using my own words against me now are you? :) I started on
 Amiga back in 1988, after my glancy c-64 period.. It wasn't untill 1999
 untill I joined my first Amiga group Exotic. While I started writing
 articles in 1992. So I have been actively writing since 1992 for magazines..
 I have to add that in 1992 I wrote for a dutch diskmag only called Jong
 Snel & Wild..;) in 1993 (January to be exact) my first english article was
 published in magbox issue 5. (Yes Upstream pre-succesor diskmag main-edited
 by good old Wolfman..) With my editorial in Devotion issue 1 I tried to
 express a feeling.. But you just typed one sentence of the whole editorial
 so I advice you as reader to read the whole editorial to find our what I
 ment :) All in all I am actively writing since 1992 and I am around on Amiga
 since 1988.."


c5Which mags have you worked for. If possible state the year and which mags you
have worked for that period. (like 1988 - Cracker Journal, 1989 - Zine etc.)

c2"Thank god I started to log my work around the mid 90's.. To bad that from
 1993 untill 1995 I didn't :) I have much memory of ALL mags I supported..
 But there will be mags missing on this list you requested in the period
 1993-1995 !! I will try to make an accurate overview for you.. By the way,
 I main-edited all THING issues, Chit Chat issue 14 and 15, Showtime issue 4,
 Retro issue 4 and Devotion issue 1 ofcourse.. :) I co-edited Raw issue 9
 and 10 (Online), Lazur even painted Raw issue 10 title pic on my request :)
 I also was co-editor for alot of Eurochart issues.. ANd ofcoz my infamous
 Magical Moments corner.. Ever read one? :) Fasten your seatbelts, here we
 go... (Hello Lord Helmet, do you remember the RAW issue 8 intro? :)"

c5To main-edit is a word which can be misused. ChitChat 14 for instance had
3 main-editors which together managed to present 17 files!

c4           Diskmag:              Year:

c1   Devotion issue 1               2000
Eurocharts issue 41               2000
Eurocharts issue 39               1999
Eurocharts issue 38               1999
Eurocharts issue 37               1999
Eurocharts issue 36               1999
c1      Retro issue 4               1999
c1   Insomnia issue 3               1998
Eurocharts issue 35               1998
Generation issue 26               1998
Eurocharts issue 33               1998
c1      Retro issue 3               1998
c1  Seenpoint issue 8               1998
c1      Retro issue 2               1997
Eurocharts issue 32               1997
c1  Seenpoint issue 7               1997
c1      Retro issue 1               1997
Generation issue 25               1997
c1   Showtime issue 6               1997
c1        ROM issue 9               1997
c1  Seenpoint issue 5               1997
c1        ROM issue 7               1996                                  
c1  Seenpoint issue 3               1996
c1        ROM issue 6               1996
Generation issue 22               1996
c1   Showtime issue 4               1996
c1   Showtime issue 3               1996
c1       RAW issue 10 (Online)      1996
c1   No Sense issue 2               1996
c1   Showtime issue 1               1996
c1 The Jungle issue 8               1995
c1       Buzz issue 8               1995
c1        RAW issue 9               1995
c1 Chit Chat issue 14               1995
c1 Chit Chat issue 15               1995
c1   Thing issue 15.5               1994
c1      Thing issue 7               1994
c1      Thing issue 3               1994
c1   Upstream issue 7               1993
c1     Magbox issue 5               1993
Several JS&W issues               1992
c1    (Dutch Diskmag)

c5Which Magazine you've been working for do you appreciate the most?
And why?

c2"Ehm.. Let me see here.. I think Generation issue 22 because I wrote
 an Abnominio and signed it with Macno's name and RokDaZone published
 it not knowing I wrote the darn thing :P Raw 10, because I was almost
 the only active writer for it, which wasn't such a surprise since RAW
 issue 9 was put together of the best articles supposed to be for Upstream
 11, but Upstream died and Mount gave all articles to Astro.. :)
 Thing was a crazy period in my life.. I was young, eager and furious
 on articles I read.. That was something.. That was 100% true scening..
 Chit Chat was a nice period aswell. As issue 15 was the first AGA diskmag
 ever released on the Amiga Scene.. While the EC was the first AGA chart
 ever released on the Amiga Scene.. Do you all remember the great AGA
 layout by Danny? :)"

c5You've written quite many articles. Which article of yours are the best yet
written?

c2The first article which comes to my mind after reading your question
is 'The Circle Of Life' published in Showtime issue 1. But it's a difficult
question. I feel like saying that 1996 and 1997 I wrote my best
articles.. (I think..) Just go download all diskmags from the list above
and read my work! :-)"


c5Why do you think your best articles were written in this period? Do you
feel you were more "into" the scene then compared to now?

c2"No I don't feel I was more in the scene than now. I think it's because
 I had more time than as I have now to write.. And you have to recognize
 when you are actively writing as long as I am, you come to a certain point
 where the articles you write are 'more of the same'.. If you know what I
 mean here.."


c62. D.I.S.C.
===========

c5What do think of the slogan "DISC - Dead and loving it?"

c2"I truely hope you release a new issue of Disc this year (2000)
 otherwise I will get paranoid again, stating it's again a conspicary
 like those last 5 years were which stated the same thing, disc will
 be released soon :P"

c5Too bad... we guess you've also become paranoid now then.


c5We in DISC are gonna beat your mag real hard. Do you think DISC is gonna
kick Devotion down the charts?

c2"DISC has only one advantage looking at Devotion and that is it's name..
 All the rest depends on the quality of the contents. And the layout and
 music and code.. I am also curious if the staff of DISC writes the 'core'
 part of the magazine contents, or if it's based on support from other
 sceners.. (this mostly says something about the future of a magzine,
 if you know what I mean.. :) Ofcourse DISC is going to kick Devotion down
 the charts.. Disc is the best diskmag ever!!!!!!! (Honoustly:)"


c63. DEVOTION
===========

c5Would you consider Devotion to be your new way of life?
Can you describe the Devotion staff? What's the future of Devotion?
Will it be online? Move to PC?

c2"It's my new way of life, in the sentence that it's a nice hobby to have
 next to real life existence. Everybody needs a nice hobby now ain't we? :)
 The staff is Darkus and Me (Main-ed) Teis,Makke,Alvin (co-ed) and Mr.tickle
 coder and supporter.. NO, not online and NO also not PC. Amiga forever! :)"

c5Looking at the staff of Devotion and the words you wrote about the future of
a diskmag depends on how much the staff write; how would you say the future
of Devotion look like now?

c2"The near future look quite good.. I can't predict the continuation
 on the long run no one can.. Afterall Lord Helmet 'did' Raw only for
 a couple of years also :)"

c5Lord Helmet did RAW issue 1 to 7, lasting from 1991 to 1995, and with
support for issue 9 and 10 as well. That's not a "few" years.

Darkus is your co-main editor. What is he doing and what are you doing?
Is Devotion the project of Darkus or are you two equal partners? Who has the
last word?

c2"Infact I am Darkus his co-main editor.. Atleast this was the case with issue
 1. Now with issue 2 I have more the initiative at the moment. Darkus
 just became a 20 year old father and moved to a new home. By the way, I
 am more involved with writing and collecting articles, arranging the
 titlepic while Darkus does all the editing (!) and stuff like that.. We are
 2 equal partners.. I won't release an issue without Darkus, and I hope
 he won't without me :P"

c5Every mag has its groupies. Who are your 10 biggest fans ?

c2"Ehm Ehm.. 10 ? I only can recall Wade, Darkhawk I dunno..
I forever keep asking for ego-stimulation at magic_mi@dds.nl
after issue 1 got released I got none.. :("

c5Darkhawk and Wade you're biggest fans? Well... not according to them.


c64. AMIGA FUTURE
===============

c5DESCRIBE the future of the amiga:

c4DREAM: c2"I am to adult to start dreaming now.. However... Amiga forever! :P"

c4REALISTIC: c2"Getting smaller and smaller, afterall nothing lasts forever
even the Sun in the sky will vanish eventually. Think about
it!"

c4PESIMISTIC: c2"It died a few years ago ?"

c5What do you consider the chances for AmigaOne to succeed?

c2"What the hell is AmigaOne ? (Honoustly :)"

c5Hey... we're asking the questions here! Anyway, if you want to know more
about AmigaOne which is the first hardware from Amiga the last 6 years, then
check out: www.amiga.com. AmigaOne might be the future of the Amiga. It's
possible to upgrade current A1200s and A4000s.
c5What kind of computer equipment do you think a scener should need to run
todays diskmags?

c2"A normal amiga 1200 computer, maybe a little more memory than the
standart a1200 has.. But that's fine.. Afterall it's the contents
that counts, not the mag engine with the latest TBL demo running
in it :P"

c5What kind of computer equipment do you use nowadays?

c2"Sadly a PC.. Not that I am sad or anything though :) Internet and E-mail
keep me updated on the Amiga scene, Nah-kolor and my writing activity's..
By the way  it has been like this since November 1996 :)) (Truth!)"

c5Are you kidding? Have you been 4 YEARS without Amiga??? How do you manage to
stay updated concerning the DEMO scene? Have you been able to watch your own
mag? Are you using emulators?

c2"I am not kidding :) But I see demos on my friends amiga down the street;
On party's.. It's no problem.. And internet and irc helps alot to
stay informed also.. UAE on c4PC rulez :)"

c5Well, The DISC Team think it got to be sad NOT even seeing your own mag! And
besides, hearing about the routine in a demo is not the same as seeing one.
It's like reading the review of a movie. And going to ONE party in 5 years
can't really compensate much. But as you say: Amiga rules!

c65. DISKMAGS/EDITORS
===================

c5Do you think the mags are focusing too much on other mags and editors and
NOT on the demo scene?

c2"Maybe.. Maybe not.. Haven't paying much attention in that direction
actually.. A good mag should have various and equal amount of articles
and topics.. And not 99 articles about the magscene and 1 about the
demo scene.. But I think that's obvious :P I do think that diskmags
nowdays rely to much on support and not on the work of the staff and
more over the main eds..!!"

c5How would you say the "balance" in Devotion 1 was?

c2"Darkus could have written more :) But for issue one he spended alot
of time orginizing layout, cliparts, getting the code finished, editing
for issue 2 he promised to write more.. The balance is ok, maybe some
more support is at it's place."

c5How would you say the quality of todays mags are compared to the ones five
years ago?

c2"On the graphics and music side they have become better.. Because of internet
it's alot easier to arrange this.. However these days alot of magazines
that get released depends on the support of sceners than on the staff itself.
In earlier times you had Wolfman/Mount for Upstream, Mop for Rom or Fishwave
for Seenpoint if you like who wrote alot articles themselfs; Therefor you had
an overall quality in every issue.. That is something that has changed I
suppose in the mags of today.. The beginning of 1995 was a highlight when
Rom, Raw and Upstream were all alive and kicking! :P And ofcoz the end
of the 80's and beginning of the 90's when dozens of diskmags got released.."

c5What do you think about the following mags that are more or less alive:

c4EuroChart; c2The chartsmag which get released 3-4 times a year. Which helps
alot for there popularity.. Sometimes they get alot of support for an issue
sometimes they got less. I was co-editor for the magazine for 2 years or
so.. It's my favourite..

c4ShowTime; c2Issue 4 was the best; (Guess why :P It's ok.. Issue 14 got alot
of critics becoz they used alot of articles already released on PC. (HUGI)

c4Oepir Risti; c2I Don't think Oepir Risti is still alive:) It was a nice
magazine. I sometimes missed to less articles about the scene. But
it was a nie magazine overall..

c5(Last issue got released in March 2000)

c4TrashCan; c2I never saw or read Trashcan I am afraid.. Silly me :P

c4Jurassic pack; c2Ghandy & Co.. Maybe www.scenet.de is better :) Always
rocked. But than again when will there be a new issue released ? ..

c5(It has merged with D.I.S.C.)

c5Which editors do you consider to be the most active & the best ones last
year?

c2"Good Question.. Darkhawk released alot of articles; But they seem to be
hasty written in my oppinion. None the less a very active writer in 2000.
(Same counts for me though :P The other way around is Wade. he wrote some
very good and quality articles but he didn't write many articles overall
in 2000. But he is good enough to mention. Than there is Alvin. He released
quite much articles in EC#40 and Devotion issue 1. Ghandy deserves a small
notice for his scenet.de That's about it I reckon.. (Anyone I forgot? :)"

c5Name 5 all-time best editors which have been present on the Amiga scene.
(you can name yourself if you want)

c2"Ofcourse I can't name myself. Other people should judge that :P

here we go: Orlando/Zine, Wolfman&Mount/Upstream, Mop/Rom, RokDaZone/Various
and Macno/Abnormalia in non specific order.."

c5Of course you can name yourself if you think you deserve it... like you
already did when commenting ShowTime!
c2"I commented Showtime that correct.. It rather says something about all the
other issues of Showtime than about me I am afraid :)"

c5Do you think there are other MAGS than DISC and DEVOTION that will
survive through 2001?

c2"Who says that DISC and DEVOTION will survive 2001 ? Your being to
optimistic here. You can't possibly know what the future will bring.
I think the EC will survive atleast since Iris will continue if Depth
falls away :P Besides 1 disc per 5 years is really enough!!! :))"

c5Are there enough editors to support 5 active scene-mags?

c2"Sure, but it depends on the staff of every magazine they must do the most
articlewriting and the friends have to support it a little to finish
the magazine .. (Silly you;P"

c5But isn't it a fact that most editors are writing for all mags nowadays?

c2"Supporting alot of mags yes. But in my oppinion an editor should have
one 'core' magazine to release his work. And in between issues he could
support other magazines.."

c5Do you prefer the aggressive scene-journalism of past mags like RAW or
the more research-journalism of Upstream?

c2"Hehe Depends on the subject and what your goal is with the article..
Non the less an article could be agressive as long it's written objective
otherwise it's another mud-trowing article no one seems to care about.
The trick is to make people believe it at the same time so the article
has a certain impact.. Therfor I prefer a mixture in an article :P"

c66. POLAND
=========

c5And then, what do you think about all the Polish mags? Do they deserve
their high positions at the charts?

c2"Yes and No.. Read my article called 'The Poland Debate' in EC#41.. I
written 5100 bytes about this subject in this article..:) The charts is
based on english magazines. Western sceners judges magazines on this.
Which doesn't mean polish mags are bad but since we can't obviously
read Polish we never gonna find out. What I hear Polish mags have great
gfx and msx but that's logical looking at the Polish scene.."

c5Would you like to discriminate polish voters to equal the number of
international and polish voters at the various charts?

c2"I don't think discriminate is the right word. Again I would point at
my article in EC#41. If you have an equal amount of voters from every
scene country you get a better view on what's hot and not in the EC or
any other chart."

c5But to remove Polish votes to make an equal amount of international and
polish voters, isn't that to discriminate the polish sceners as their vote
is less worth?

c2"What a bull question :) The point is to make for example the Official
Eurochart a good view of what is hot and not in today's Amiga Scene..
To achieve that goal a certain strategy is needed. You didn't read my
article in EC#41 yet did you? :) You need a good balance.. Do you
discriminate when Disc has more articles about diskmags than about
other topic's ? :)"

c5No, we didn't read your article... we seldom do. You can discriminate SCENERS as
they are persons which should have the same value. 1 vote from Poland
should be counted equal to 1 vote from the western sceners!
To choose what topics we want to include in mag is of course completely
different.


c67. HATE
=======

c5There have been hate-articles written against you in lots of mags in the
past; like ROM, Generation and JP. Even your old group member Retep in 
Mirage hate you? Lord Helmet thinks that hate grows with popularity.
Do you agree? Or do you hate Lord Helmet?

c2"Hate grows with popularity ? Well I think what Lord ment is that the popular
you become the more attention you get and thus the more there is looked at
you, positive but also negative. Critism it's called.. Retep of Mirage..
now that has been a while. Did you know he had to marry his girlfriend
becoz of her father? She was from foreign country were it's a custom
that you have to marry her when the father say so.. poor Retep :)
Yeay well in the past there have been articles about me in diskmags..
(Lord Helmet should know this situation himself..:) But that has been
few years ago.. Now everything is fine.. I am doing a nice diskmag called
Devotion, have been co-ed of the Eurocharts.. All is fine.."

c5Is it? The Scoopex (is dead) incident didn't happen many years ago...

c2"What incident? I just interviewed Karpow about the current status
at the end of 1999 of Scoopex. Karpow stated on #amigscne Scoopex was
dead because Antibyte left etc. Ofcourse after the article/interview
to uphold the name Scoopex they brought out other news like we are asleep
and so on.. :)"

c5Which scener(s) are you most disappointed of?

c2"RokDaZone for dissapearing like that without saying goodbye to the
scene.. Astro for letting RAW die after only 2 issues done by him.
Hmm maybe only 1 becoz issue 9 was put together with a lot of support
and Upstream 11 articles :P
Metal Designer for leaving Nah-kolor infavour of Scoopex and not releasing
anything in this group. Evan for leaving Nah-kolor after all those years..
I am also dissapointed at Dr.jeckell and Mr.Hyde; They could have written
more bad shit in Nexus 7 about Lord Helmet than they did.. And finally
Antibyte of Scoopex: he knows why :)"

c5Do you understand some of the critism? Why do you think you're such
a controversial scener?

c2"What critism? Be more specific.. I am not a controversial scener.
I am whatever they say I am.. I rest my case.."

c5To be more specific... we were refering to you getting critics after
writing articles which certain sceners think are untrue
(like Scoopex is dead).
c2"To get critics is always good if it's objective and well said. Haha
my Scoopex is dead article in EC #38 was true at that point of time..
Again, all I did was interview Karpow of Scoopex about it who announced the
dead of Scoopex at #amigascne.. By the way, have you seen any Scoopex
demo since TP'98 ? ;-) I rest my case.."


c68. SCENE
========

c5What's the first amiga demo you've ever seen? What's the first party you
visited?

c2"My first Amiga demo.. Geezz I don't remember :P My first party I ever visited
was Prime'90 hold by Mirage.. Now those were the day's! The first demo I
saw was in 1988.. Phew the hardest question of this entire interview..
One of the first games I played was Zak Mc Cracken on Amiga.. :)
Hmm maybe one of the first demos I saw was a Northstar demo ?"

c5How many sceners would you estimate are still active?

c2"Two maybe three thousand ?"

c5How does the future of the scene look like ? Do you think the present scene
is what most sceners thought about the C64 scene 5 years ago ?

c2"The future is where we are going.. The Amiga Scene will get smaller and
smaller ofcourse.. Untill the day the last Amiga Scener decites to quit.
and untill that day I can't leave.. :) You could compare the c64 and
amiga scene to eachother.. I don't know what most sceners think though :)"
c5What do you think about the standard of the best demos the latest 12 months; 
like Rain, Concrete and Cybercinematastic for instance?

c2"Can't comment on that.. Haven't seen those demos ;-) But my feelings tell
me because I have lived trough earlier times I know back than the standart
of the demos were higher for those times; Than the demos we have now for
the times we live in now.. (Do you know what I mean here :P I think this
is the case for alot of 'older' sceners..

c5Do you think you're in the scene in TWO years from now for instance?

c2"I will still look at the scene and write articles.. Unless something goes
terribly wrong and we all die becoz of the Ozonlair or a nuclair disaster
or global heating or big huge tornado's.. :)"

c5What's the current status of the dutch scene and do you have the knowledge
to write a dutch scene-report?

c2The current status of the dutch scene is that there isn't a dutch scene :)
Just a hand full of sceners doeing something. (Idl'ng on IRC :-)
So there isn't much to write.. I could write about the active days
of the Dutch scene :P (e.g. Mirage, Jetset, Royal Amiga Force, Vision, 
Desire etc.)

c5What do you think about inactive sceners that are now only on PC hanging out
at #amigascne?

c2"It's nice that they still show some interest. You can't be active forever
 and it's nice you meet oldies on the irc. They inspire the active sceners
 with oldskool stories and we writers have some nice interviews we can make.
 What a negative vibe is hanging around your question :)"


c69. FAVOURITES
=============

c5Please state your favourite (past/present);

c4Group: c2Potion, Loonies, Iris and TBL (PRESENT ONLY)
c4Demo:  c2Relic, Desert Dream
c4Intro: c2RAW#8 intro! Tetris Intro/Melon Shining TP2 intro (nice msx!)
c4Party: c2The Party 1994, Intel Outside Party 1994 , Satellite1999 !! (Notice: TP'95 was the wurst party ever!!!! I never visited
any party after it untill Sat'99..)
c4Slideshow: c2WILD, Forgotten
c4Musicdisk: c2Extravaganja , Moments

c5Hmm... we might think it's a bit weird having groups like Loonies, TBL and
Potion as your favourites when you haven't had an amiga after they started
releasing demos.

At the end, ask yourself a question and answer it!

c1Magic: c2"Magic, you stupid ass sign the guest book at www.nahkolor.cjb.net
will you?"

c1Magic: c2"Ok Magic, right away.. no problem!! :))"

c5Thanks for giving DISC this exclusive interview! Now you can write whatever
you want.. (greet people etc.)



c1Magic:

c2"Greetings to the Nah family, to #amigascne to Dreamer and Xtd..
also greetings to Case,Md,Alvin,Darkus,Klod,Madbart,CurtCool,Teis,
Makke,Adok,Adonis,Legend,Jazz,Voicer,Punisher..

E-mail me for whatever you want at:  magic_mi@dds.nl

Fuckings to everyone, who because of selfish reasons, do things
to make their group better over the back of other sceners and groups..
(You know who you are..)"



e

