Interview with Posdnuos

With "The Charts" Ram Jam brought the Italian scene from a anonymous state to a respected part of the southern scene. The man behind The Chart-success speaks out in Upstream. We focus on: Posdnuos/Ram Jam


	

		
Name:
		
Cristiano
	
	

		
Handle:
		
Posdnuos
	
	

		
Group:
		
Ram Jam
	
	

		
Former groups:
		
Backstage
	
	

		
Function:
		
Swapper, Editor
	
	

		
Age:
		
23
	
	

		
In the scene since:
		
1991
	
	

		
Occupation:
		
Looking for a job
	
	

		
Resident:
		
Chieti, Italy
	


He bought his Amiga in 1988, but didn't enter the scene officially before 1991 when he joined his first real group Backstage which after some time became part of Ram Jam which is the group he is a member of now.

Possssdd-WHAT?
His handle, which can easily tie knots on ones tounge, is according to himself taken from a member of the famous rap-band "De La Soul" (A band which have among many other places been played on Seen/Melon's answering machine).
"Soundsop" from behind makes Podsnuos and that's how you get a handle which is both "for and against" as Podsnuos claims.
- With this I want to say that if some persons would probably have some problems in remembering such a weird handle, on the other hand some others would remember this handle for the same reason that it's so excessively incomprehensible compared to the others.

Ram Jam and the Italian scene
For a relatively dead scene like the Italian, Posdnuos and Ram Jam have meant a lot.
- Ram Jam has existed for quite many years now, and I believe it has always been an important part of the Italian scene, especially when we talk about productivity.

But despite their advancing into the higher ranks of the scene, Ram Jam have been nagged at by other parts of the Italian scene. A rather strange thing Posdnuos thinks.
- We were often accused of low quality by people doing absolutely NOTHING else than speaking, he says.
But with a demo like "It Can't Be Done" and of course The Charts, Ram Jam has spoken its own clear language to the hypocrites and have become a wellknown and respected group.
- While the others still prefer to speak instead to do something, Posdnuos adds.

The Charts which has become an important part of the scene today is the one thing which have pulled Ram Jam from averageness and has certainly meant a lot for Podsnuos himself.
- Surely without The Charts my scene-life would be different, he states.

But despite his heavy dedication to The Charts he also manages to find time (all though not much) to his other scene-activities. As a musician for example. Posdnuos doesn't like to define himself as a musician, but is composing for real sometimes.
- Sometimes I really enjoy to compose some little tunes, and two of them were included in a intro for "The Charts" and in the intro-part of our music disk "New Age".

Posdnuos baby - The Charts
According to himself making a chart was the most unoriginal idea he (and other Ram Jam members) ever came up with. The idea of making The Charts was born back when Crusaders decided to quit The Official Eurochart and the scene was practically chartless.
- We thought that the scene needed someone who continued (or restarted) such a production, Posdnuos says. Therefore it was decided that Ram Jam should make a follow-up to The Eurochart.
But the project was delayed and it wasn't before the beginning of 1993, that the first two issues were released.
- After those two forgettable issues, we decided to change and make something innovative. You should know the rest of the tale, he states.

Posdnuos and Ram Jam aims to release The Charts on a monthly basis, but this can sometimes be a hell for the editors.
- The monthly release makes the work we have to do grow even more than it really is, especially the vote counting is a thing that everyone should experience to realize how boring it can be. Also Scene-Diary turned out to be quite a hard job if you consider the fact that we have to carefully refresh it in every issue, Posdnuos explains.

For a longer period The Charts hit the scene every month without any particular delays. Posdnuos explains the working-process for The Charts:
- To better explain it, I'll start from the moment we finish an issue. For the next 15 days, we sleep, happy and proud of having come to the end of yet another nightmare.
At the end of this period, we start the vote counting that generally takes about no more than 3 days, depending on how much time we have.
Then the brave M.A.S.E. ventures in the jungle of Scene-Diary, from which he comes out after two days in which he hasn't slept nor eaten at all.
At last me and Rocketeer start writing the articles for the mag part, and that takes about a couple of days to complete. Some little retouches to the code and gfx, and a new nightmare is over.

The fact that Posdnuos and M.A.S.E are brothers and the fact that Flender and Rocketeer lives nearby mean a lot for The Charts and the editors work with it, Posdnuos believes.
- Probably The Charts wouldn't be that production that now everyone admire if they weren't distant only few kilometers from my home, he says.
- The fact that we can constantly gather together to define the various aspects of TC is surely an important thing, he adds.

Brothers in arms...
M.A.S.E is not only another part of The Charts, but also Posdnuos' little brother...
- Yes, sadly it is correct ;) M.A.S.E. or Mental And Spiritual Effort is my little brother and also an editor for The Charts.
Besides from Posdnuos' normal anti-brother-attitude, the brotherhood of the two makes The Charts a stronger production.
- I think to be one of the few lucky main-editors that can have the mag ready to be spreaded, just after few minutes that the last words have been written, he says.

Posdnuos DOES find it very nice that his brother too is involved in the scene.
To fact that they're sharing a common hobby brings a lot of positive things, especially the fact that they do have a better relationship as brothers.
- The scene is such a particular world that not all the brothers would understand the reasons of that hobby, if they don't know what exactly the scene is, Posdnuos believes.
Also the fact that a brother can take over some contacts for a while is a great advantage.
- When I was doing the military service M.A.S.E. kept on swapping with my contacts and then he gave me them back, and now that M.A.S.E. is at university and have less time for swapping I'm doing the same for him, he says.
The only negative aspect is sharing the same computer, but Posdnuos sees this as a very small problem in relation to the advantages.

But even though the two brothers share the scene together, they seperate their scene-life from their family-life.
- The family for me is one of the most important things and it can't be surely mixed with any hobbies like the scene is, Posdnuos concludes.

The two brothers have always been in the scene together, the entered the scene together and according to Posdnuos they will probably leave it together too.

Italy = Football = Posdnuos
Most Italians can be considered football fanatics. Posdnuos is no exception.
- It's simply one of the most important things in the life. I love football, talking about football, playing football and everything about this sport, he says.
Together with other Italian characters like The Ripper, Macno and most of the Ram Jam members, he is a great supporter of Juventus.

Italy drew the short straw against Brazil in the World Cup final, but Posdnuos has no hard feelings about this.
- Brazil is the team who has probably played the best football.
However, Posdnuos does point out that he found that is was sad that the final result was settled with a penalty-contest.

Power and control
The discussion of the amount of power editors may have, keeps coming back. Posdnuos hasn't directly experienced it, but he definitely believes that some kind of power is present.
- Being the producer of mags or charts surely gives some kind of control in the scene. If you compare our scene to the real world, I think it wouldn't be such a big surprise to discover how also diskmags manage to influence the sceners' opinion, in the same way like normal magazines influence public opinion in real life.
Still it seems to be a limited phenomenon and a mag/chart has to be respected and appreciated in order to make a difference.

Even though Posdnuos is the maineditor of a chart and a certain mentallity lies in the blood of Italians, attempts of bribery has never occurred.
- Except Macno, that has publically admitted that he has tried to bribe us to win a Pippero, he laughs.


CONTRAST

Estrup / Static Bytes:
- I must say I haven't got much knowledge about Posdnuos, but I do however admire his (and the rest of the editors) great effort he has put in The Charts, without considering the problems there might be with a module-chart for instance.