| MagBox: |
Hi! please introduce yourself a little. Age, real name and that kind of stuff... |
| ADT: |
OK, my name is Thomas Lenhardt and I'm 21. 185 cm, brown hair and eyes, I'm looking nice (girls said! -hehe). I'm looking like Boba Fett in StarWars... hehe. |
| MagBox: |
Are you taking some kind of education these days... (if yes then state it and go to next question!) |
| ADT: |
No, I'm not. I finished highschool and won't be listening to more bullshit in any Computer Universities, so I started to work... writing software (mostly databasefuckers -phew!) for Hungarian firms. Ugly work, but wellpayed. Soon I got famous, coz my software were really userfriendly/'easy-to-use', so I got lots of orders for such proggys from big firms. A year ago I got sick of databasefucking, and stopped working on that. I planned to code a game with graphics by Rack. I asked Rack about that, and he said OK. But unfortunately he started his militaryservice... Now he finished it, and we'll soon start... |
| MagBox: |
You are both a coder/graphician and a musician in ABSOLUTE!... How can you handle all these 3 things so well that you do? |
| ADT: |
Who said that I'm a graphician and musician too? I'm not really a graphician nor musician. My gfx should look nice and perfect designed (?!?!), but really not the best ones. I think they are mostly neat, but a real graphician can do better and more 'complex' ones. I started making tunes in Soc.Brigade, because we have only one musician, ERN0. His tunes were really high quality, with ERN0's special style and atmosphere, but his tunes not really for demos/intros. My tunes are very simple and mostly based on beat and bass (most of them really have no or just very simple melody). For my tunes I can say same as for my gfx. |
| MagBox: |
Just when did you enter the scene? |
| ADT: |
The Amiga scene? 1987. |
| MagBox: |
Which was the first serious group you joined and under which handle at that time? |
| ADT: |
I started computing in '85, there wasn't a real scene but I started to call myself ADT. It's a shortage of Axon Digital Technics, hehe... really funny, not? But it was 1985! Now I never use my pseudonym in full form, I still just ADT. Sometimes I tried to change my handle to a more rememberable one like: Cuds, Nitee19, pARtyZaNe, Pioneer, etc. but everybody still call me ADT, so I still the one and only ADT. In '87 I formed Soc. Brigade with my friend Asti. |
| MagBox: |
Did you start as both a coder graphician etc. in the first group? |
| ADT: |
In SB till one year we just two members... we've released some intros and demos with my gfx and ripped tunes. Later as us fame has raised we got more members, but no graphicians, so I still drawed all gfx for our productions, and I got a big experience on it. (I've seen more awful gfx from other guys (who are the grapicians of their groups!) than mine pixel-piles) |
| MagBox: |
Isn't it a little handicap for you not to be able to concentrate on only one thing such as code when you have 3 things to do? |
| ADT: |
Why? It must be? (What?!-d.) |
| MagBox: |
What do you spend most time on of these 3 things? (code/gfx/sfx) |
| ADT: |
In Absolute! we have good graphicans and musicians, so I can concetrate to coding, and I will try to do my best on it, because I'm most talented on it. I won't give up making tunes... I do it just for myself, I really like to play with ProTracker, (If a coder starts to play with Pinball F. then instead of PF. I load my PT.) and no one must to listen my tunes if he don't like my style... someday I will release a musicdisk with my most awfull tunes... hehe! |
| MagBox: |
What kind of music do you like to compose most? |
| ADT: |
Simple ones! hehe! In brutal mood techno (but not that simple kind what most of people think about techno), in normal mood chiptunes or other short ones, and so on. In early 1992 I've won the 1st place of Hungariian BASH2 party with a tune called: Teknosbika cc100. Jury counted the public votes, so I can say that this tune was a really popular one. |
| MagBox: |
Then what kind of music do you listen to in reallife (that is, non- computerised music)? |
| ADT: |
It's also very changing by my mood, I like most of styles. My favourites are: KLF, 808 States, Prodigy, Art of Noise, M. Oldfield, Vangelis, J-M. Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Yello, Nirvana, T. Waits, Iron Butterfly, Pink Floyd, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys... etc. (quite mixed, right?) |
| MagBox: |
When it comes to graphics, what reallife (strange expression) graphics artists do you admire most and why? |
| ADT: |
Salvador Dali. I can't answer why in some words. I'm fascinated by the ideas and the atmosphere of his pictures. (Well as long as you do not have the same state of mind as the dear Salvador Dali...(He was kinda, well, nuts you know)...-ed.) |
| MagBox: |
After your picture had won the 4th position on the Hurricane party, many people claimed that you had actually scanned the picture from a book, what have you got to say to that? |
| ADT: |
That picture is really from a book, orignal drawn by Olivio Berni, but not scanned! When I pixeled it I used Adobe Photoshop on a Macintosh (I worked 2 month with a Mac IIci), and it took 2 weeks to finish (only cheat was that I used Photoshop with a drawpad and this is more comfortable as DPaint with mouse, and Photoshop gives more tools to make all the shade and light/shadow effects!). After I finished it in 16.7M colors, I spent again two weeks to fix it on Amiga with 16 colors. On the competition wasn't any rules about using Amiga/Dpaint/mouse instead of Mac/Photoshop/pad, so I thought that I really had lots of work to realize that pic, so I'm able to be presented on competition. But lots of my enemies don't think so... Just take a look at the original pic and at mine and you'll find all the 'bugs' that I can't realize, caused by my low talent... but I really tried to do my best. Anyway I got so many attacks by that 4th place... I regret that I sent it to the competition. I'll not draw/release any pictures anymore! Just some logos, or additional gfx in our productions. By the way, Facet (I really love his style and amazed by his talent) also have drawn some pictures from books/albums... eg. Hardcore Dragon's original is by Boris Valejo, Marylin Monroe and Metalwearing woman's original by Hajime Sorayama, or Mack's Medusa (Boris V.) and most pictures in Museum/ATZ were inspired by Boris V. and so on... These all high quality repros and I never thought attack these graphicians for they had reproduced their favourites on Amiga... I'll never spend time with drawing pics just to get fucked for that... I won't explain/excuse myself anymore! That's all about this! |
| MagBox: |
How do you feel about the scene? Do you think it's any good or what? |
| ADT: |
I think, the scene is big amount of computer-maniacs, who want to show eachother what they can do with same hardware... |
| MagBox: |
How comes your former group SOC. BRIGADE was given up and you formed ABSOLUTE! with some other guys? |
| ADT: |
Soc.Brigade was a really friendly and a quite good group, but we had several problems with the name. I thought that our name started mean not that what we want, and cast a shadow on us. So we changed our name first... But it's not so simple... we had reformed all our work process, we have 'kicked' out all 'inactivejustgoodfriend' members and later got more and more other talented members. And we are now a really powerful team... I (and others) think so... Now I can concentrate on my fav. 'job': code, because we have very good graphicians and musicians... That was the main problem in SB, all the released stuff was 80%-100% my work, coz if I got an idea for an intro then I can't ask anybody to make such gfx/sfx that will fit with my design concept. Now Absolute! is that what everybody can call a real GROUP! And I really like this! |
| MagBox: |
Tell us a little about the future poductions from ABSOLUTE! |
| ADT: |
I won't say "we'll release a cool xxx or a very high quality yyy..." I think just talking about big projects isn't enought! If we release any good productions in the future it will surely reach you, and I think it's much more important than talking about... |
| MagBox: |
Do you have any intentions to make a game one day? I mean one that will be actually be sold thrue a real game company... |
| ADT: |
Yes! Now we (actually Rack & I) want to start a game project. But there is a big problem to get a good and fair offer or contract here in 'east Europe'. All companies I asked for that, thinks that they can swindle us, beacause we are so 'undeveloped'. Everybody welcome who think that he can help us with their suggestions! My addy is: Thomas Lenhardt, PoBox 5, 9010 Gyor, Hungary. |
| MagBox: |
Talking about games, what do you think about the cracking nowadays? Do you think that piracy can actually ruin the scene? |
| ADT: |
Cracking isn't good for Software Companies, threfore isn't good for game coders/graphicians/musicians. There is no way to stop cracking, crackers will always be doing their job... When I got Lemmings/Pinball D&F I surelly bought be the original, but it's unable here in Hungary. There is no Software dealers from west(*) europe!!! I don't know why?... (* - I think we are not really the 'east'... like peoples think that Hungary is an eastern country like Albania or Asia.) |
| MagBox: |
Which country do you think have the best scene these days? |
| ADT: |
I can't aswer beacuse it's changing very often by the released demos... Why must be there always a marked country? I think that quite normal if we talk just about 'THE SCENE'. |
| MagBox: |
What do you think about the Hungarian scene? |
| ADT: |
It's soon will be a real part of 'THE SCENE'... By seeing the success of Absolute! lots of talented ones started releasing productions, instead of just talking about that they are 'the fucking best'. I think we (Absolute!) gave a big 'kick' for other Hungarian groups... We showed that is not a bad omen that we are Hungarians, as they thought. (other faces thought that they are famous because a guy from the next town heard about him.) They now understod that if someone got a talent on code/gfx/sfx then he can blow out just by showing their best... |
| MagBox: |
What does friendship in the scene mean to you? |
| ADT: |
For me? For me it's means that my contact/friend isn't agreed if I reply regulary with a month delay... Just joking! Friendship? Hard question! The thing what others calling friendhip is that what I think must be the usual attitude from us to eachothers, and not a special simpathy to a cool guy. |
| MagBox: |
Would you still stay in touch with friends from your group if you ever quit the scene? |
| ADT: |
Yes, surely. |
| MagBox: |
Just WHEN do you think you will leave the scene? |
| ADT: |
Leave the scene? Why? I must? I'll stay at while it still fun for me! (Bad tendency that scene getting more and more agressive!) |
| MagBox: |
Hmmm, I guess this interview must be reaching the end by now, do you have any friends/contacts on the scene which you want to say hello to? |
| ADT: |
Can I insert my list? You surely won't! So... I want to send my best regards to all my friends! Yo reader! You surelly know that you're one or not... but if you want to be (I want) then you can disturb me at: ... (yes?-ed) |
| MagBox: |
And some last words maybe...? |
| ADT: |
Here it IS (Where?-ed.) |
| MagBox: |
ADT's "Blue book": |
| ADT: |
| Demo: |
Lots of high quality demos... |
| Group: |
Silents & Crionics, Melon, Anarchy/Lemon, Andromeda, (Absolute!) |
| Coder: |
Spy, Dan, Lone Starr, Performer & Bannasoft, Dr.Jekyll & Mr.Hyde... |
| Graphician: |
Facet, Uno, Mikael Balle, Chevron, Alex and ABS! graphicians. |
| Musician: |
Bruno, Heatbeat, Walkman, Moby, Audiomoster, Jesper Kyd, Nuke and ABS! musicians. |
| Book: |
Most of Science Fiction. |
| Movie: |
Die Hard I/II (and other Bruce Willis films), Starwars, Highlander, Eddie Murphy films, Monty Python films. |
| I hate: |
Simetry! But my hifi speakers must be facing to me from same distance and same angle! (WHAT?!-ed.) |
| Game: |
ProTracker (Jesus christ, you're weird!-ed.) |
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