| MagBox: |
Hello Estrup, let's get right down to it shall we? Please introduce yourself as a reallife person for the readers? That is: Real name, age, height, weight, eye-color etc. etc. |
| Estrup: |
How original... :-) -oo-8 (That's the Masturbating Smilie, in case you didn't know...) OK, here we go:
Name: Christian Estrup
Age: 20
Height: Around 175 cms
Weight: Dunno :-(
Eye-color: Blue (Interesting...?)
Etc: Misc. |
| MagBox: |
What kind of education are you taking? |
| Estrup: |
I'm studying economics and business science at the Copenhagen Business School (BOY, did that sound strange... Well, it is!) Danes might know this as HA-datalogi. |
| MagBox: |
What does that involve when it comes to the time and job opportunities afterwards? |
| Estrup: |
The basic education takes 3 years, and the 'extended version' takes another 2 years. That is, if i choose to take that one as well! |
| MagBox: |
What kind of interests do you have besides computer? |
| Estrup: |
Answering interviews... Kicking swappers. Writing to Daryl that I don't want to swap with him (no offence, guy), you know, the usual stuff. No, seriously, computers is (are?) pretty much my main interest, but I also like watching movies and visiting parties once in a while. That is, when I can get out of my house! The door is always blocked with fan-mail from girls like Sherilynn Fenn... She simply doesn't take no for an answer. Girls! |
| MagBox: |
When did you get interest for computers and what was the first computer you ever got? |
| Estrup: |
My first computer was a Commodore 64, which my father bought in the early 80's, around 1983, I guess ('early'...). That pretty much got me started with computers. I actually programmed a Pac-Man game in BASIC, but when I was going to save it to the 'datasette', the computer crashed. And as I'd totally forgotten how the game was programmed, my career as a professional game-programmer was postponed a couple of years. |
| MagBox: |
Okay, let's get to the stuff people want (No Estrup, not a picture of you!-ed.), the scene-stuff!! First of all tell us when you first started in the scene and what made you get interested in the scene! |
| Estrup: |
I started in 1989 (sluk for det Niels Hausgaard, William, eller jeg tager hjem! -Estrup) when I got to know TMB Designs/Spaceballs and Vention/Kefrens through an advertisement in a Danish computer magazine. We then decided to form a little group, but at the time (like now) TMB Designs was the most active one, so the number of releases from that group equals the number of brain cells in the new Danish Prime Minister... Nykup. |
| MagBox: |
In which groups have you been before you joined STB, and under which handles? |
| Estrup: |
Well, the before-mentioned 'starting-group', then a little group called Cycron, then Prologic, then a short visit as a Danish division (together with some others) of a Finnish group called Extreme, and now finally... Static Bytes. |
| MagBox: |
What do you think about the scene nowadays? Has it changed to the better? To the worse, or what?! |
| Estrup: |
The need to create something alternative has resulted in both groups, single persons and productions being a lot more different (or is it 'differenter' ???) than before. I really like the design of many of today's productions, design seems to be the most important thing.
When it comes to friendship, it's a bit harder (NO perverted comments here...), but in general, I think friendship is ruling most of the scene.
Unfortunately, some people are destroying the scene, namely the CRACKERS. A Danish expression talks about people 'cutting the branch on which you're sitting', and that's a perfect description of what crackers are doing. They don't care whether or not their actions will destroy the Amiga market, 'cause then they'll just move on and start cracking PC- or console-games (which will, in the latter case, result in articles in Stolen Data where Anarchy-members write something like 'cracking console-games is lame', but FORGET to add 'because a lot of our members would like to make money on making console-games'! Double standards rule!). My point is: Stop supporting crackers and their actions (how about a boycot of the 'cracking-groups'-chart in the chart-mags that have such a chart?) |
| MagBox: |
I guess one of the things that have made you most known is The Official Eurochart which you (STB) took over from CRUSADERS. Could you maybe give us some unknown history of how it all came up to what it did with you finally making it? |
| Estrup: |
Well, it started some months after Crusaders stopped producing the Eurochart. We wrote to them and asked if we could take over; I THINK it was Playboy's idea, but I honestly don't remember. Anyway, they didn't reply, so we had to travel all the way to Norway to ask them. Fortunately, it just so happened that they held a party together with Deadline at exactly the same time! How nice... (I'm talking about 'The Gathering 1992') Well, after I'd been there for about 36 hours without any sleep, I decided to go to sleep right under our tables (which should tell you that we're not in Aars...) After around 4 hours of sleep, I woke up, finding myself staring into the ducky face of Quackbuster. Quote: 'We just talked to the Crusaders. We're going to make the Eurochart. We must make an intro'! In the latter case, I seriously doubted that he actually ment 'we'. Guess who got to code it??? (Guess how ugly it was...) Well, Hawkeye of Kefrens spent 40 DKR on calling some other Keffers in Denmark and ask them if they were interested. They said yes, so we (and the intro) told people, that the Eurochart would be a cooperation between the forces of the triangles, sorry pyramids, and the forces of the Static Byte. As you all know, Kefrens backed out later, so it turned out to be a STB-only production. |
| MagBox: |
Did have any idea of taking over the chart when it died in the first place? |
| Estrup: |
Personally, I didn't, but I don't know whether or not Quackbuster or Playboy thought about it THAT fast. |
| MagBox: |
How do you feel about it now? |
| Estrup: |
Feel about what? |
| MagBox: |
You, taking over the Eurochart. |
| Estrup: |
What Eurochart? |
| MagBox: |
Think... |
| Estrup: |
Well, I, or actually our whole group, have got to know a lot of nice people because we're producing the Eurochart. Also, of course, we've been able to acknowledge (YEP, William kan ikke stave til anerkende...) the immense amount of work the Crusaders put into producing the chart, as I think our amount of work is almost the same.
Of course, in a lot of situations, like the last couple of days before the release of an issue, I curse most voters who can't use a readable handwriting (yes, William, Gart/Bronx WOULD be a good example of that!), don't know that 'best demo' means 'best demo' and not 'groups', or in general, anyone that seems to have stocks in World Anti-Stress-Pills Inc... BUT, in general, I think it's nice, because I get a good idea of what's going on in the scene and how people feel about this and that (mouth-shit forever...) |
| MagBox: |
Just how much time do you spend each day with the chart in the two months between release? |
| Estrup: |
The first month after a release, around no time at all. The last week or so before a release, practically all my spare time. |
| MagBox: |
In each issue there is a lot of stuff about vote-cheating, just how much cheating have you experienced? |
| Estrup: |
There was the 'Mike and El Diablo'-case, which we consider ended now. Apart from that, I don't think there has been any serious attempt of cheating. |
| MagBox: |
Do you think that there's any cheating that you do NOT discover? |
| Estrup: |
Of course, if you hide it well enough (i.e. don't use the same handwriting on all sheets, send the sheets from different towns), we haven't got a chance of discovering that it's cheating. Anyway, I don't think many people would go to THAT extend in order to enter the Eurochart. |
| MagBox: |
Could you give us some juicy stories of different attemps of cheating? |
| Estrup: |
Not of cheating itself (read about it in the Eurochart issues 16, 17 and 18!), but in the last issue, I actually thought there was a very obvious attempt of cheating. A guy had sent us 8 sheets, and he claimed that he'd collected the votes by phone. Anyway, he didn't mention, exactly who he was, so if he really existed, he could be just about any of the 8 whose names were mentioned on the sheets (he mentioned 7 phone-calls, so number 8 had to be himself...) The problem was, on all 8 sheets, people had voted for the same best coder, the same best graphic artist and the best musician. Also the votes for best one-part-demo, multi-load-demo, music-disk and group were exactly identical (when it came to the guy/group/production voted for as number 1, that is). I honestly thought it sounded QUITE suspicious that ALL members of a group agreed THAT much as to who and what was the best. Anyway, in Aars, when I was just about to copy the Eurochart issue 18 to floppy-disk, the guy who sent us the votes came to our tables and claimed that the votes weren't faked. He showed me a pack that he'd made, and I told him that he'd convinced me. But then he got VERY angry. First of all, he seemed to want me to watch everything his group had made, even though I had admitted that I was wrong, and even though I HAD removed the part about his group in the 'Cheating'-article. Secondly, he wanted me to count their votes for issue 18, even though I told him that the cheating, which turned out not to be cheating after all, was not the only problem: The votes had simply arrived too late, namely 2 days after the deadline, which was specifically stated in issue 17. He said something like 'I'm a swapper, and I know when to send stuff for it to reach you in time', and I told him about the post strike in Copenhagen, and I said, that I couldn't be responsible for that. I mean, he might want me to include some more votes, others wanted me to include more ads etc., but there simply has to be a deadline. Anyway, I of course told him, that the votes would be counted in the next issue, issue 19, but he didn't seem satisfied. It's a strange world. |
| MagBox: |
How well do you think the chart reflects the opinion of the scene? |
| Estrup: |
It SHOULD reflect the opinion of the voters... :=) Anyway, I think it DOES reflect the opinion of the scene rather well. And if anyone thinks anything else, it's probably because they don't vote! |
| MagBox: |
When will you ever quit doing the Eurochart? When do you think you'll get tired of it? |
| Estrup: |
Do you want me to write 'We'll quit after issue 41, released November 1st 1995 (that's right, it will!)??? We will continue producing the Eurochart, as long as people keep voting in it, or in general, supporting it. |
| MagBox: |
How much money do you think you are making from the advertisements? |
| Estrup: |
From the first 3 issues, we made a total profit of DKR 1000 (to share between 5 people!). Not too much, I guess, but money isn't all there is to life (but a major part of it :-) |
| MagBox: |
How about short little story of how the process of making the Eurochart is, I mean from the first vote-sheets come in and till you are all done. |
| Estrup: |
Oh no, not again. VERY short: The first 6 weeks after the release of an issue, the votes are just piled in a corner of my room, I don't remember which corner... (hmmm...) Then, during the last weeks, the pictures for the Gallery are scanned and converted, the votes are counted, and Quackbusters spelling-mistakes are corrected. Some days before the release, we decide the winner of the competition, and around the 1st in the month, the finished version is sent out for testing. The day after that, well... You can get the newest issue. |
| MagBox: |
There've been some negative voices about the huge amount of Danish comments in the news-section. What do you think of that? |
| Estrup: |
I know that there were a lot of Danish comments in the News-section of issue 18, but these were mainly comments I wrote with the news when I sent them to Quackbuster (here we're talking about the huge amount of news that are sent to the wrong address), and which he 'forgot' to remove. Anyway, we'll 'translate' most of these comments in the next issue, promise. |
| MagBox: |
How much mail do you average get a week? Mail concerning the Eurochart that is! |
| Estrup: |
Oh, I thought you meant the fan-letters from Sherilynn Fenn! Well, personally I get an average of 15-20 letters a week, I guess. |
| MagBox: |
What do you think of your rival, the Equinox Top 20? |
| Estrup: |
They seem to put a lot of work into it. I really like their music, and I actually agree with all the people who say that the Equinox chart is more innovative than ours when it comes to design and chart-categories. Anyway, I think it's nice having a chart like that AND a more 'traditional chart', like ours.
Anyway, I think the Equinox Newsfile-user-interface SUCKS. The mouse-pointer moves so slowly, that I have to lift my mouse from my mat if I want to move the pointer from one corner of the screen to the other. Also, the speed (or lack of it!) of the text-plotter is a pain in the ass. |
| MagBox: |
What do you think about charts in general? |
| Estrup: |
They are definitely keeping the scene alive, by 'awarding' people who do a great job for it. |
| MagBox: |
Okay, let's go back to the reallife part of this interview... I remember having read in an earlier interview with you, that you were interested in politics, is that true? |
| Estrup: |
Yep. |
| MagBox: |
In what kind of way? Are you a member of any political group or what? |
| Estrup: |
No, I don't think so! (I was, but I stopped paying money to them, and now I just hear from them occassionally!) |
| MagBox: |
What do you think about all the mess with the goverment, the Tamilcase and all that? |
| Estrup: |
Ninn-Hansen rules... No, seriously, that case is the best example of the problems that arise when the law and common sense doesn't match! There's no doubt that something illegal has been going on, but even though it's illegal, it's my impression that a lot of Danes think, that what Ninn-Hansen did was right (On the other hand, Danes are becoming a minority in Denmark, so he probably doesn't have a majority behind him!) (Do I feel a little hint of racism?!?! Uuuh Estrup, din slemme dreng...-ed) |
| MagBox: |
What is the first thing you would do if anyone gave you a million dollars? |
| Estrup: |
Buy an A4000! Or actually, buy a lot of A4000's, and give them to the other Eurochart-editors (except Sauron, the bastard, who already bought one. Gotcha Sigurd, now I won't give you one!) |
| MagBox: |
Okay, on the edge do you have a few persons on the scene who you would like to greet? (hoho) |
| Estrup: |
INCLUDE "DH5:Includes/greets.S". No, seriously, the people who(m?) I'd greet knows it already.
move.w coder(PC),d0
cmp.w #lazy,d0
beq.b (hmmm...)
clr.l $4 (even more HMMM...) |
| MagBox: |
And any last words? |
| Estrup: |
Oui, thanks for the interview. Of course, remember to vote in THE OFFICIAL EUROCHART at:
The Official Eurochart
Skolegade 3
8850 Bjerringbro
- more than just a Top 20 |
| MagBox: |
Estrup's "Blue book": |
| Estrup: |
|