Epinicion

The group psibelius founded so that newcomers would not be hazed (source: s-tw003-beginning-the-tracking-experience); the IT manual thanks him as "the nice friendly Epinicion founder" (source: s-it-manual). Most of traxweekly's early interviewers signed as Epinicion / TraxWeekly — populus (#1, #2, #3, #4, #8), Epeius (#3), Flood (#14), Cyberdmon (#27) (sources: s-tw001-interview-basehead, s-tw002-interview-leinad, s-tw003-interview-chuck-biscuits, s-tw004-interview-nemesis, s-tw008-interview-blaze-runner, s-tw014-interview-pinion, s-tw027-interview-basehead-lotus-position) — and maelcum counted himself a member in May 1995 (source: s-tw009-interview-maelcum). Maelcum also coined the "Epinicion syndrome", a group growing far beyond its talent; Basehead called the help-the-newcomer idea unrealistic: "you don't need to be in a 90 member group" (source: s-tw018-interview-basehead).

Members and reputation in the interviews (1995–97)#

• Members seen in 1995. island-of-reil (Jesse Rothenberg, 16), who stayed with Epeius before NAID 1995 and credits the group for showing "just because you start small, doesn't mean that you aren't good" — "epinicion philosophy", says Psibelius (source: s-tw006-naid-opinion-interviews); perisoft ("in epinicion for some reason"), whose graphics group VeXT had merged into "the ubiquitous Epinicion" in 1994 — he stayed until 1995, then founded defiance (sources: s-tw011-interview-perisoft, s-tw087-interview-perisoft); beaner (ACiD / Epinicion) (source: s-tw011-interview-beaner); Populus (Nicolas Roberge, also in Defiance), who admits some of the "dumb techno" he complains about "pass[es] through epinicion" (source: s-tw016-interview-populus); quarex (Drew Hunt, 16) in July 1995 (source: s-tw019-interview-quarex); clef, who interviewed jase for #22 as "Clef [EPiNiCioN]" and wrote all the menu chips for the Epinicion disks, encouraged by Psibelius and Ior (sources: s-tw022-interview-jase, s-tw055-interview-clef); paganus (single "Winter" in Epinicion's directory on peace.wit.com; joined because Epinicion and Aim Higher "were the only ones who'd take me without a resume") and blackwolf (ex-Defiance, ex-UNiON) in late 1995 (sources: s-tw030-interview-paganus, s-tw040-interview-blackwolf); daedalus listed "Neophyte, epinicion, and a new one" in March 1996 (source: s-tw052-interview-daedalus). Imagix of Epinicion gave master-of-darkness the Sound Blaster 16 he started on (source: s-tw027-faces-in-the-crowd-master-of-darkness).
• Size. Basehead's "90 member group" (July 1995) and Maelcum's "just one of the 96 in epinicion" (same month) agree in order of magnitude; both are said in jest (sources: s-tw018-interview-basehead, s-tw019-interview-quarex). Daedalus named his fantasy group "A Million and One" as a pun on Epinicion's size (source: s-tw052-interview-daedalus).
• Releases. The "Timeline" musicdisk "got ** from DemoNews" in March 1995 — Psibelius's "15 minutes"; Blackwolf had a track on it (source: s-tw040-interview-blackwolf).
• The newcomer-group model. Aim Higher was founded as a group "like Epinicion" for newcomers (source: s-tw027-faces-in-the-crowd-master-of-darkness); luv-kohli: the scene "seems to allow more 'new faces' these days, with the invention of groups like Epinicion and AIM Higher" (source: s-tw031-interview-luv-kohli); Master of Darkness: Epinicion and Aim Higher run no deadlines, so "schoolwork" is a valid excuse there but not in deadline-driven groups (source: s-tw032-fitc-complaints); pariah's advice to newcomers without money for lessons: join a group "like AIM HIGHER or EPI" (source: s-tw043-interview-pariah).
• The end. Clef (April 1996): "I used to be in Epinicion until it ended" — which dates the group's end to before April 1996 (source: s-tw055-interview-clef); by May–June 1996 outsiders spoke of "the late Epinicion" (fisherman) and vegas joked that Mystique and Epinicion "both have more members than fans" (sources: s-tw060-interview-fisherman, s-tw062-interview-vegas).

Related#

psibelius · traxweekly · kosmic · aim-higher · defiance · populus · clef · island-of-reil · paganus · blackwolf

Sources#

s-tw003-beginning-the-tracking-experience · s-tw018-interview-basehead · s-tw001-interview-basehead · s-tw003-interview-chuck-biscuits · s-tw014-interview-pinion · s-tw027-interview-basehead-lotus-position · s-tw009-interview-maelcum · s-it-manual · s-tw006-naid-opinion-interviews · s-tw011-interview-perisoft · s-tw011-interview-beaner · s-tw002-interview-leinad · s-tw004-interview-nemesis · s-tw008-interview-blaze-runner · s-tw016-interview-populus · s-tw019-interview-quarex · s-tw022-interview-jase · s-tw027-faces-in-the-crowd-master-of-darkness · s-tw030-interview-paganus · s-tw040-interview-blackwolf · s-tw031-interview-luv-kohli · s-tw032-fitc-complaints · s-tw052-interview-daedalus · s-tw055-interview-clef · s-tw043-interview-pariah · s-tw087-interview-perisoft · s-tw060-interview-fisherman · s-tw062-interview-vegas