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The Beast / Stage 4,
The Car,
Madness,
Wiseguy Industries 2015 Inc.
Added on December 16th, 2007 (1910 views)
www.c64.com?type=3&id=211
Give us some information about yourself.
Name: Edwin van Deurzen. Born: 19-03-1970 in Hoogvliet, The Netherlands. Resides in: Spijkenisse, The Netherlands. Job: Service Technician. Interests: Music and computers – and all sorts of combinations of the two. Marital status: Married and pretty much in love.
What handle(s) did you have and how did you come up with it/them?
I do not remember a lot about those days, but as far as I recall in about ’85 I had the handle The Ant (don’t remember why or how a got it). Soon after, I changed it to The Beast, both handles were used next to each other for different groups, but after some time The Ant died. When you look at me, The Beast makes more sense anyway.
What group(s) were you in?
In 1985, A0D and I made one demo under the name Stage 4. We were then in the CAR (1985-). the Car later joined forces with Madness (containing some south-netherland groups) and some German folks in The Artworx. I then co-found Wiseguy Industries 2015 (1987-) which never officially dissolved. The name Subversive Elements – which can be seen in the hobbit mix we released at X2006 – has very little to do with the C64 actually. It is the name of the music group consisting of A0D, Tron (who made the original Hobbit mix) and me. See the interview on Remix 64.com for more information.
What tasks did you have?
In those days everyone did everything. You had no regular coder or graphician or musician. I was very unpopular for being very very lazy. When I did something, it was quit good, so they kind of kept using my stuff for the demos.
Between what years were you active?
It all started around 1985 and it lasted about 10 years. I lost contact with most of the WGI gang (except A0D), but we got back in touch again in 2001. WGI did a rather spectacular comeback on the X2006 party in Holland, and we are planning something for the next X in 2008. It's safe to say we're active again. Well, sort of.
Tell us about those years and how you got into the scene in the first place.
It all started with the CAR and we got quite popular as WGI. We joined The Artworx, went to Venlo and a copy-party in Denmark (in Aarhus or something like that). We did a lot of things, but most of it is one big blur these days.
How could a typical day in front of the computer look like?
In the past, I spent lots of time in front the computer coding and drawing graphics, but most of the time bugging the rest with my impossible design ideas. I just said the magic words to Mr. Mad: "dat lukt jou niet" (you can’t do it), and one week later, he was done. These days I'm more busy with making music.
Did you invent any special techniques or tools to make things easier for you?
I got some special things designed. I almost got famous when discovering how to border-press a hires swing when programming my first sideborder. I though it was a bug and did everthing possible to get it out of the demo. Stupid me.
If you take a look at what you did back then, what are you most proud of?
Being a part of the demos we made. In those days, we thought it was the best possible on the C64. Boy, were we wrong! I'm still proud of those demos though and I'm proud of being an oldschool C64 guy.
Who were your scene heroes and why?
Dynamic Duo for their flawless cracks, ABC for their cracks and the ABC Turbo, Mr. Zero Page also for there perfect cracks, and lots more...
What was the coolest thing someone invented on the C64?
Sideborder, FLI, ESCOS, and many other three letter thingies.
Did you go to copy-parties, meetings or tradeshows?
As far as I remember, mostly Venlo and Denmark, and X2006 of course.
What was the scene all about in your opinion?
Having a good time and participating in competitions with other groups at copy-parties.
What were the highlights?
Finishing something. Starting a demo or a crack was easy, but actually getting to the point where the packer had finished writing to disk and it worked OK was always a highlight for me.
Any cool stories to share with us?
I don't remember that much, but the name WHTDAAOL for one of our demos is a good story which I will not tell. It’s a secret... The other guys from WGI will tell lots of stories about my lazzenesssssshhhhh. Writing the scrolltexts with Tron was also very amusing. Read them for some childish entertainment.
Are you in contact with old C64 people today?
Yeah, I see most of the guys from WGI on a regular basis.
When did you get your C64 and do you still have it lying around somewhere?
I had to share my first C64 with my brother and that one is not around anymore. Nowadays, I have about four C64's and lots of spare parts. One is still connected and ready to be played with. Most of the stuff is stored in boxes in the attic.
Was the C64 really that special that we like to think it was?
It was my first computer, and thanks to the scene, it was a lot of fun to play around with. It was the best computer around in those days.
When can we expect to see a new C64 production from you? :)
The unexpected succes of X2006 triggered us to do a new production for X2008...
Do you have a message to your old contacts and everyone else reading this?
I'm glad to be a part of this. I never though it would stretch into the 21st century.
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