Interview with Jester

Published in:	Top Secret #14
Interviewed by:	TFG
Date:	15. June 1993

Interview

Another issue, another interview... Well, normally you can say that about every issue of every diskmag. But interviews can be interesting. If it's actual, and the questions and answers are honest. A new interview style, perhaps. Read this exciting interview with one of the best musicians in the scene. Read what Jester of Sanity thinks about Virgill, about the fact that he was disqualified at the Gathering '93, about his new tape and a lot more.


	
		TFG:
		We will skip the introduction, since we assume that everybody knows you. What are you doing at the moment for a living?
	
	
		Jester:
		I'm in the social service which is somewhat like the peaceful variant of the tour of duty. The payment is a lot better than in the army, actually. Poor fellas, there (Hi Boomi!). Moreover, I do a gametrack now and then which at times is quite a convenient way of increasing my income.
	
	
		TFG:
		You have a band. How serious do you take it? Hoping to get a contract? What instrument do you play?
	
	
		Jester:
		It's more of a hobby, really. Still, I find it really interesting to have a break from doing Amiga music only sometimes and become creative in other fields, as well. For the band I have to write lyrics along with the tune and also do far more complex arrangements than for the computer. At the moment we're not actively hoping for a contract simply because we're a bit of a pessimistic bunch, you know. Yet, we might send in a demotape to a record company once in a while. Time will tell. I have to shamefully admit that I'm not capable of playing any instrument at all. Each song is programmed into the computer and then played by synthes via a midi interface so playing manually is superflous, anyway. I fuzzily recall some flute lessons in the very remote past but I guess that is not relevant in any way. 
	
	
		TFG:
		Have you ever played live at some kind of parties?
	
	
		Jester:
		No, not yet. But we've been playing with the thought of arranging a live concert if we manage to make all of our ideas work. We wouldn't like to hold an ordinary rock show because that's not in line with our overall style. If we ever do a concert it's supposed to be some kind of a theatrical experience with mainly midi sequenced music, live vocals and a lot of strange actions taking place on the stage. Unfortunately, arranging an event like that is extremely expensive and time-demanding. Perhaps someone out there would like to sponsor us?!
	
	
		TFG:
		Try to describe the style of music that the band plays. Are you inspired by any musicians/bands in particular?
	
	
		Jester:
		Rather melancholic synth pop, I would say. A lot of people have drawn comparisons to the Pet Shop Boys which is a big compliment to us for they're our biggest idols (definitely!). Other influences might originate from New Order, The Smiths, Erasure and bits of modern dance music. You'd best find out yourself.
	
	
		TFG:
		Please introduce the songs on the tape (Who has composed it, where, how long time ago, etc).
	
	
		Jester:
		The tape contains 7 tracks which have all been written and arranged by me. The other guy in the band has done some very small touches to some of the arrangements, too, but all lyrics, melodies and chords are pure "Jester" stuff. Most of the songs have been written some time ago, even my first ever song for vocals is featured on this production. In spite of the age of the songs, they were all arranged with our latest (and greatest) synthesizer and recording equipment, which guarantees a massive and professional sound. The styles and moods vary quite a lot, from very emotional ballads to extremely fast rap/rave songs (yeah, I actually did rap on one track!).
	
	
		TFG:
		Have you got a lot of orders on the tape?
	
	
		Jester:
		Oh yes, up 'til now we're very satisfied. Orders still keep coming in and I must say that we were quite surprised by the overwhelmingly positive reactions this tape has gotten already. I will definitely do my best to produce a worthy sequel.
	
	
		TFG:
		Let's talk about computer-music. Which musicians do you admire most and why?
	
	
		Jester:
		I've said this so often. My faves include Moby because of his ability to combine catchy melodies with incredible solos. His strong funk basses and percussion make his tunes very pleasant to listen to, so he's definitely among my all-time-greatest.
Mantronix/Tip/Firefox have provided a number of harmonically astounding pieces that still have to be beaten and finally Bruno whom we all have to thank for the humorous and extremely varied stuff that he's put down on the Amiga over the years.
Some new interesting names are for sure Julius and Lizardking. I just love the energy that goes into their tunes.
	
	
		TFG:
		Is there any old musicians that you are missing on todays scene (whom, why)?
	
	
		Jester:
		Oh, well, there were some "legends" that ave now more or less disappeared. I used to love Titan/Uncle Tom's stuff a lot and even if I listen to it today it still amazes me completely. The same about Nightlight, "Chant" was a real killer, I think. Finally, there's Romeo Knight who surprised us all with his return to the demo-scene but I somehow feel that his new compositions are quite crappy. His old stuff, though, like "Cream Of The Earth" etc. will probably stay on my mind forever. Another sad thing certainly is the fact that the god of computer music "Rob Hubbard" has never really "made it" on the Amiga but I'm still a worshipper of his revolutionary C64 work.
	
	
		TFG:
		Optium Fuckup and Terminal Fuckup are two of the latest productions from Sanity. Why the Fuckup?
	
	
		Jester:
		"Optimum FuckUp" is now almost one year old so I wouldn't say it's one of our latest productions. You're right about "TF", though. Both of the titles were taken from the book/roleplaying-game Illuminati, describing various states of confusion amongst secret services. That's the reason why it's called the "confusion trilogy". The third part is going to be entitled "SNAFU - Situation Normal, All Fucked Up", thus closing down the series.
	
	
		TFG:
		Sanity has been critizied for not having a "good-enough" design. What do you think about this critic?
	
	
		Jester:
		People are probably right. Mostly it's just due to a lazy and designwise not too ambitious coder (well, who could that be?!). Still, I believe, we were always able to balance the crap design with really good routines, graphics and (as I hope) music.
	
	
		TFG:
		Do you think the design has been better in the latest production?
	
	
		Jester:
		Definitely. In the future our projects will be far more design-orientated than they have been up to this point in time. "Terminal FuckUp" was only the beginning, that's for sure. There will soon be some more dentros/intros by the trio behind "TF" and what I've seen so far is very smart in terms of design (nice work, Steve). Chaos has finally agreed to let graphics artists do the design, too, and so I suppose his demos are going to become slightly more viewer-friendly in the future, as well.
	
	
		TFG:
		At the gathering '93 you competed with a module called 'Molecule's Revenge'. How did you come up with a name like that?
	
	
		Jester:
		Just in the same way that I usually come up with names. After I'd finished the module I listened to it over and over again and simply waited for a suitable title to pop up in my head. I dismissed some ideas and finally got hooked on "The Molecule's Revenge" because to my mind it ideally reflected the scientific and electronic atmosphere in the tune.
	
	
		TFG:
		The tune was disqualified, because it had been used in another music-competition. Is that true? Did you try to cheat or what happened?
	
	
		Jester:
		Good of you to ask! That was probably the most unfair and sad decision a jury has ever made. It wasn't played in any other bloody music-comp! It is in fact true that I gave the mod for the comp in Aars but it was not chosen to be good enough by the "jury" in DK! Thus it wasn't fucking played and thus it has not taken part in the actual competition when people could bloody vote for the music. So, I have to assume that some envious dickhead was deliberately trying to keep me out of the comp, probably because he was afraid of being defeated! Suck on that.
	
	
		TFG:
		The musicdisk "Jesterday" was a big success. Will we soon see a follow up?
	
	
		Jester:
		Maybe.
	
	
		TFG:
		Do you think you are a better musician now than when Jesterday's tunes were made? If so, in which fields have you improved?
	
	
		Jester:
		To my mind, I have improved largely, especially in the areas of arrangement techniques, sample-quality, variety of samples, harmonies, and variety of styles.
	
	
		TFG:
		Do you think you can be any better than you already are? Where can you improve?
	
	
		Jester:
		Yop, the process of developing never stops. Changes will come along quite naturally.
	
	
		TFG:
		Try to describe the ultimate musician and the ultimate musicdisk.
	
	
		Jester:
		Oh, come on, be serious.
	
	
		TFG:
		Who is in your opinion the most underrated musician in the scene?
	
	
		Jester:
		There are so many people on the scene who do tremendously good music, so if I only named one I would be injust towards the others. I personally find guys like Delorean, Lizardking, Bruno and Julius shamelessly underrated by the major part of the Amiga scene.
	
	
		TFG:
		What can we expect from Sanity in the future?
	
	
		Jester:
		Some dentros, some intros, perhaps a musicdisk and definitely a big, big, big trackmo.
	
	
		TFG:
		Ask yourself a question you would like to have been asked and answer it.
	
	
		Jester:
		Why do the personality and the musics of Virgill/Masque suck so fucking hard? Simple. Because he's a two-faced lying kid who's utterly greedy for fame in order to balance out his complexes of inferiority, even if he's merely able to produce sadly chucked-up cliche-musics with no melodies but bleeding imrpovisations all through the tune. He also wears his mum's dresses and make-up in front of his mirror.
	
	
		TFG:
		Anything to add?
	
	
		Jester:
		Yes, buy my tape!
	
	
		TFG:
		Thanx to Jester of Sanity for answering all these questions. We hope you like the interview.

TFG:	We will skip the introduction, since we assume that everybody knows you. What are you doing at the moment for a living?
Jester:	I'm in the social service which is somewhat like the peaceful variant of the tour of duty. The payment is a lot better than in the army, actually. Poor fellas, there (Hi Boomi!). Moreover, I do a gametrack now and then which at times is quite a convenient way of increasing my income.
TFG:	You have a band. How serious do you take it? Hoping to get a contract? What instrument do you play?
Jester:	It's more of a hobby, really. Still, I find it really interesting to have a break from doing Amiga music only sometimes and become creative in other fields, as well. For the band I have to write lyrics along with the tune and also do far more complex arrangements than for the computer. At the moment we're not actively hoping for a contract simply because we're a bit of a pessimistic bunch, you know. Yet, we might send in a demotape to a record company once in a while. Time will tell. I have to shamefully admit that I'm not capable of playing any instrument at all. Each song is programmed into the computer and then played by synthes via a midi interface so playing manually is superflous, anyway. I fuzzily recall some flute lessons in the very remote past but I guess that is not relevant in any way.
TFG:	Have you ever played live at some kind of parties?
Jester:	No, not yet. But we've been playing with the thought of arranging a live concert if we manage to make all of our ideas work. We wouldn't like to hold an ordinary rock show because that's not in line with our overall style. If we ever do a concert it's supposed to be some kind of a theatrical experience with mainly midi sequenced music, live vocals and a lot of strange actions taking place on the stage. Unfortunately, arranging an event like that is extremely expensive and time-demanding. Perhaps someone out there would like to sponsor us?!
TFG:	Try to describe the style of music that the band plays. Are you inspired by any musicians/bands in particular?
Jester:	Rather melancholic synth pop, I would say. A lot of people have drawn comparisons to the Pet Shop Boys which is a big compliment to us for they're our biggest idols (definitely!). Other influences might originate from New Order, The Smiths, Erasure and bits of modern dance music. You'd best find out yourself.
TFG:	Please introduce the songs on the tape (Who has composed it, where, how long time ago, etc).
Jester:	The tape contains 7 tracks which have all been written and arranged by me. The other guy in the band has done some very small touches to some of the arrangements, too, but all lyrics, melodies and chords are pure "Jester" stuff. Most of the songs have been written some time ago, even my first ever song for vocals is featured on this production. In spite of the age of the songs, they were all arranged with our latest (and greatest) synthesizer and recording equipment, which guarantees a massive and professional sound. The styles and moods vary quite a lot, from very emotional ballads to extremely fast rap/rave songs (yeah, I actually did rap on one track!).
TFG:	Have you got a lot of orders on the tape?
Jester:	Oh yes, up 'til now we're very satisfied. Orders still keep coming in and I must say that we were quite surprised by the overwhelmingly positive reactions this tape has gotten already. I will definitely do my best to produce a worthy sequel.
TFG:	Let's talk about computer-music. Which musicians do you admire most and why?
Jester:	I've said this so often. My faves include Moby because of his ability to combine catchy melodies with incredible solos. His strong funk basses and percussion make his tunes very pleasant to listen to, so he's definitely among my all-time-greatest. Mantronix/Tip/Firefox have provided a number of harmonically astounding pieces that still have to be beaten and finally Bruno whom we all have to thank for the humorous and extremely varied stuff that he's put down on the Amiga over the years. Some new interesting names are for sure Julius and Lizardking. I just love the energy that goes into their tunes.
TFG:	Is there any old musicians that you are missing on todays scene (whom, why)?
Jester:	Oh, well, there were some "legends" that ave now more or less disappeared. I used to love Titan/Uncle Tom's stuff a lot and even if I listen to it today it still amazes me completely. The same about Nightlight, "Chant" was a real killer, I think. Finally, there's Romeo Knight who surprised us all with his return to the demo-scene but I somehow feel that his new compositions are quite crappy. His old stuff, though, like "Cream Of The Earth" etc. will probably stay on my mind forever. Another sad thing certainly is the fact that the god of computer music "Rob Hubbard" has never really "made it" on the Amiga but I'm still a worshipper of his revolutionary C64 work.
TFG:	Optium Fuckup and Terminal Fuckup are two of the latest productions from Sanity. Why the Fuckup?
Jester:	"Optimum FuckUp" is now almost one year old so I wouldn't say it's one of our latest productions. You're right about "TF", though. Both of the titles were taken from the book/roleplaying-game Illuminati, describing various states of confusion amongst secret services. That's the reason why it's called the "confusion trilogy". The third part is going to be entitled "SNAFU - Situation Normal, All Fucked Up", thus closing down the series.
TFG:	Sanity has been critizied for not having a "good-enough" design. What do you think about this critic?
Jester:	People are probably right. Mostly it's just due to a lazy and designwise not too ambitious coder (well, who could that be?!). Still, I believe, we were always able to balance the crap design with really good routines, graphics and (as I hope) music.
TFG:	Do you think the design has been better in the latest production?
Jester:	Definitely. In the future our projects will be far more design-orientated than they have been up to this point in time. "Terminal FuckUp" was only the beginning, that's for sure. There will soon be some more dentros/intros by the trio behind "TF" and what I've seen so far is very smart in terms of design (nice work, Steve). Chaos has finally agreed to let graphics artists do the design, too, and so I suppose his demos are going to become slightly more viewer-friendly in the future, as well.
TFG:	At the gathering '93 you competed with a module called 'Molecule's Revenge'. How did you come up with a name like that?
Jester:	Just in the same way that I usually come up with names. After I'd finished the module I listened to it over and over again and simply waited for a suitable title to pop up in my head. I dismissed some ideas and finally got hooked on "The Molecule's Revenge" because to my mind it ideally reflected the scientific and electronic atmosphere in the tune.
TFG:	The tune was disqualified, because it had been used in another music-competition. Is that true? Did you try to cheat or what happened?
Jester:	Good of you to ask! That was probably the most unfair and sad decision a jury has ever made. It wasn't played in any other bloody music-comp! It is in fact true that I gave the mod for the comp in Aars but it was not chosen to be good enough by the "jury" in DK! Thus it wasn't fucking played and thus it has not taken part in the actual competition when people could bloody vote for the music. So, I have to assume that some envious dickhead was deliberately trying to keep me out of the comp, probably because he was afraid of being defeated! Suck on that.
TFG:	The musicdisk "Jesterday" was a big success. Will we soon see a follow up?
Jester:	Maybe.
TFG:	Do you think you are a better musician now than when Jesterday's tunes were made? If so, in which fields have you improved?
Jester:	To my mind, I have improved largely, especially in the areas of arrangement techniques, sample-quality, variety of samples, harmonies, and variety of styles.
TFG:	Do you think you can be any better than you already are? Where can you improve?
Jester:	Yop, the process of developing never stops. Changes will come along quite naturally.
TFG:	Try to describe the ultimate musician and the ultimate musicdisk.
Jester:	Oh, come on, be serious.
TFG:	Who is in your opinion the most underrated musician in the scene?
Jester:	There are so many people on the scene who do tremendously good music, so if I only named one I would be injust towards the others. I personally find guys like Delorean, Lizardking, Bruno and Julius shamelessly underrated by the major part of the Amiga scene.
TFG:	What can we expect from Sanity in the future?
Jester:	Some dentros, some intros, perhaps a musicdisk and definitely a big, big, big trackmo.
TFG:	Ask yourself a question you would like to have been asked and answer it.
Jester:	Why do the personality and the musics of Virgill/Masque suck so fucking hard? Simple. Because he's a two-faced lying kid who's utterly greedy for fame in order to balance out his complexes of inferiority, even if he's merely able to produce sadly chucked-up cliche-musics with no melodies but bleeding imrpovisations all through the tune. He also wears his mum's dresses and make-up in front of his mirror.
TFG:	Anything to add?
Jester:	Yes, buy my tape!
TFG:	Thanx to Jester of Sanity for answering all these questions. We hope you like the interview.