TW #18 — Interview With Basehead (again) (Psibelius)
psibelius gives basehead a second interview "because he was bored"; it covers "vastly different ground" from #1 — mostly scene politics and ethics.
Key claims#
- "mah name be dan grandpre, i'm 19 on toozday" (July 1995); refers to an earlier interview in Scenial and to his own 52 KB editorial.
- Shareware CDs: against companies putting scene songs on CD-ROMs for profit unless the price only covers costs — "on moral/ethical AND financial reasons"; he has found his music on "every random cd" and never received a cent; a legal fight is not worth it, so every kosmic release now carries "a huge disclaimer".
- Plagiarism: parts of his songs have been ripped; whole songs re-released with changed sample text and back-dated file dates ("this mod by sonic" was his Imajica). Imajica is 189 orders — "actually just 94 patterns repeated with an ending thrown on".
- Kosmic is non-profit except Area 51, "sorta like the commercial division … in spirit", where IQ and maelcum sell their CD and tapes; other members want to follow. Kosmic releases by TheHacker and Maelcum are "desperately experimental" — techno without typical structure.
- On drinking and tracking: "you end up writing rambling crap and missing all your mistakes"; the exception was Tripping to Neptune (nept!klf), written "post-drunkenness".
- The "Epinicion syndrome" (coined by Maelcum): a group expanding far beyond its musical talent; Basehead calls Psibelius's help-the-newcomer group idea unrealistic — "just hanging around #trax will get you help, you don't need to be in a 90 member group".
- Predicts the scene will die of over-exposure the way the underground rave and warez scenes did ("#trax is getting to be one of the bigger channels on IRC").
- five-musicians had three musicdisks coming: Kaktoos II, Progression and Modernize.
Practical takeaways#
- Put a distribution disclaimer in your releases (Kosmic's practice from 1995).
- Do not track drunk; if you must, know the tracker inside out.
Notable quotes#
- "it's all well and good to 'help the little guy out' and get started.. but why do they need to be in a group?" — Basehead on Epinicion.
Relevance#
The 1995 view of module rights and shareware-CD exploitation, Kosmic's Area 51 arrangement, and the planned FM musicdisks (Progression and Modernize → Lotus Position in #27).
Pages touched#
basehead, psibelius, kosmic, maelcum, five-musicians, epinicion.