Interview
Handle: Boogaloo/HZ. My real name is Linus Nielsen.
How did you come up with your alias ?
I think I got it from "Breakdance The Movie", where one of the characters called himself Boogaloo Shrimp. Back then I thought it sounded cool, but now I realise it really sucks...
As a matter of fact, I first called myself Mr Boogaloo, but I dropped the "Mr", because it sounded far too lame.
City / Country:
Stockholm, Sweden.
Born year:
February 8, 1969.
What was your first computer, and when did you get it?
I think I purchased my C64 in 1984.
How did you get into the scene and what groups have you been a member of ?
I stumbled into it more or less by chance. I heard a sampled tune that someone in The Silents had sampled. I called him up to ask how he was able to achieve such a high quality. I was developing a sampler myself, so I was really curious.
He didn't know what he did to make it sound so good, but he asked me if I wanted to come to their next Alvesta party. I had heard of copy parties in demo scroll texts, so I just HAD to go. That was in 1987.
I went there with Rush and we called ourselves MDT, Microsystems Digital Technologies. At the party I showed everybody my sampling system and people were really impressed! Everybody thought it was the best C64 sampler on earth! Before I went to the party, I didn't think that I was anything special, but I guess I was wrong. Many people from the "big" groups asked me to make music and samples for them, especially Super Swap Sweden. That is how I got to know Natas, Bagder and Zagor.
Later in 1988 I met Exilon, who showed me some of his stuff. I was so impressed that I couldn't find words for it, all I could say was: JOIN MDT!!!
I and Exilon finished our first demo which we competed with in Alvesta the same year. We did this incredible thing that I will always be proud of; we won the first demo competition we participated in!!!
After that, I, Rush and Exilon joined Horizon in 1988, and have been HZ members since then.
What was the proudest moment in your career ?
It is hard to say. I am very proud of winning my first demo competition ever in Alvesta 1988 with Bonanza, when we (Exilon, Rush and I) still called us MDT.
But I am also _very_ proud of winning our LAST competition at the Hurricane/Brutal party in Samso, Denmark. Nobody thought that Horizon would ever win any more competitions. But we proved them wrong. That was maybe one of the happiest moments in my career. The demo was called The Last Traktor III, by the way.
Some other moments I remember are writing autographs for Horizon fans. It actually happened to me several times. It feels so great to meet strangers that turn out to be Horizon (or even Boogaloo) fans.
For what specific reason(s) do you think that you are remembered ?
For being one of the coders/musicians in Horizon. Maybe for taking part of making Bonanza (Exilon did most of the work), and for The Last Traktor III.
What would you like to be remembered for ?
I guess that would be the same things as in the previous question, plus for being a nice and funny guy. Maybe also for my music, but I doubt anyone liked it anyway... :-)
What made you stop the scene activity ? (and do you remember when?)
The Amiga, I guess. I and Exilon made one demo for it, called Virtual Intelligence, but it wasn't as fun as coding the C64.
When we finished The Last Traktor III, I felt that I had nothing more to give. Actually, I and Exilon have a project going on, a game, but only God knows when that will be finished. Exilon and I might be great coders, but we are also incredibly lazy. As a matter of fact, all Horizon guys are lazy in a way. If something isn't fun to do, then we don't do it. Every single demo from us has been fun to make. That's the Horizon spirit I guess, do what's fun and skip the rest.
Thinking back on the good old days, is there anything you regret?
Not making an FLI editor when Exilon discovered FLI. We would have been almost a year ahead of all the other FLI applications. Not making money on my programming skills on the C64, i.e making games. I might also regret that we (I and Exilon) didn't put more work into our first and only Amiga demo. It only came on fourth place in the compo at the Party I, and was called Virtual Intelligence.
What was your favorite
GAME(S)
On C64: Delta, Giana Sisters and Fort Apocalypse. And Archon, too.
On Amiga: Pinball Fantasies and Battle Squadron.
DEMO(S)
The Think Twice series, The Last Traktor III. Plus a dozen I can't remember the names of, from groups like Oxyron and Beyond Force.
PROGRAMMER(S) (OR PROGRAMMING TEAM(S))
Exilon/HZ, Jabba/Light, and Pernod/HZ.
CRACKER(S) (OR CRACKING GROUP(S))
Computerbrains and Mr Z.
COMPOSER(S)
Well, I don't know... maybe Bappalander or Danko.
BEST COMPOSED TRACK(S)
Don't know. There are so many. My own tracks of course :-)
EVENT(S) (E.G. COPYPARTY)
Slagelse 1989 and Eskilstuna 1989.
MEMORY(S)
At the Slagelse party in 1989, when Kjer helped a guy to code some stuff. They sat there for quite a while, and then the guy asked Kjer:
- By the way, who are you?
- I'm Kjer of Horizon.
The guy just gasped, and a few seconds later, all he could say was:
- Congratulations!
Another nice memory was at the Alvesta party in 1988, when I and Exilon overheard Horizon discussing their chances in the competition. They though that Xakk was their only competitor for the first prize.
Later on, I and Exilon showed them Bonanza. Kjer and Mastermind just stood there with their mouths wide opened and looked. After a while Mastermind asked with a trembling voice: "are you going to participate in the demo competition...?"
We won the competition and joined Horizon later that year.
DRINK ?
Coke and beer, preferably dark ale.
What are you doing nowadays ?
I am a technical consultant at Frontec AB in Stockholm. Mostly software engineering.
What are you doing on your spare time?
Hacking on my C64 and my Amiga. Spending time with my girlfriend. Playing volleyball.
Is there anything you'd like to say to the public (read: admires)
Thank you all other sceners for making my time on the C64 scene the best time of my life. Thank you all Horizon fans for encouraging us. Thank you, Commodore for making the best computer ever.
Nothing like this will ever happen again...
What is the meaning of life?
Enjoying it.