Interview No. 24

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is another musician here on Newgrounds that you probably don't know about. A wonderful singer his gift of music puts poetry to shame, as can be seen in his songs Coffee Can Surprise ~ZLH~ and Meet You On The Road ~ZLH~. He has many songs through the Newgrounds Audio Portal and it truly is a shame that he hasn't gained more notice. He is Zachary Louis also known as @zholoch.

NOTE: SADLY ALL OF ZACHARY LOUIS' MUSIC HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE SITE. I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO TRACK IT DOWN. IF YOU CAN THEN PLEASE LET ME KNOW THANK YOU.

Q: How did you find Newgrounds and why did you join?

A: Originally, I came to Newgrounds for the flash animations and the games. If I remember right, I think I saw a friend playing games on the site in a school lab computer, and I decided to try it for myself. Fancypants is definitely a favorite, and I loved perusing the different movies. There's really quite a bit of creative talent on Newgrounds, from a variety of genres. I decided to join when I visited the audio section. I wasn't sure of what my contribution would do for the site, but then again, I have to level with the fact that it's about variety in the end.

Forty years ago, it took such a massive amount of resources to produce entertainment. The masses were basically stuck with whatever the industry managed to whip up. As we edge into the 2nd decade of this century, entertainment has become so much more decentralized. In my opinion, it's a good thing. Even though the days of blockbuster fame and fortune for artists are fading into the past, we have so many choices in entertainment now. It's given us the luxury of being choosy about what we watch.

Q: How and when did you get into music?

A: I've been in music all my life. I could sing shortly after I could walk. I started with piano at age 7. I picked up instrument after instrument, because I just wanted to absorb everything I possibly could. There really wasn't a set date or time; it was just something that was always there. If I had to pick a date, though, I would say I was about sixteen. That was when I quit piano lessons and started composing music. I started bass guitar, which quickly led to electric guitar and acoustic, and my whole world blew wide open.

The real question, I've always felt, is not when you start, but whether you stop. I was asked one time what I would do if I lost my voice. I didn't really have an answer. It wasn't because I was at a loss for words and fear-stricken by the prospect of ending the way I make music right now. Rather, I didn't think that losing my voice would really stop me.

Q: What is Slagel Road?

A: Slagel Road... that's a long story. Basically, I was out to Walmart one night while in college, looking for ramen and snacks, and I got the sudden urge to play piano. So, I headed over to this keyboard place. When I was there, the sales clerk asked me if I sang, too. I thought it was an odd question to ask a guy who's playing a piano, but I told him I did. He asked if I could sing a song for him. Again, a little strange, but I picked up a guitar and sang a couple tunes. That was when he told me he wanted me to audition for his band. My first thought was "Audition? Really? I thought I just did." Nevertheless, I went anyways. So, I went to their practice spot, sang another couple songs, and they decided to make me the singer.

We practiced at the rhythm guitarist's girlfriend's stepfather's house, who happened to be a 56 year old wheelchair bound psychologist named Tom. He and I became good friends, and a whole slew of events ensued from there. The band was a tense mix of six strong musical personalities all yearning for the spotlight. Musicianship of the group was top notch, but the egos were unmanageable. We played out a bit in the area, picking up gigs wherever we could, and tried to stick together amidst a slurry of inner-band conflicts that ultimately destroyed the group in the end.

However, getting wrapped up into Tom's house set other parts of my life in motion. I got involved in a whole slew of strange relationships with people who came there. Everything at the house moved in fast forward; three years happened in three months. I had started my search for self-actualization a few years before when I left college the first time, and being at the house catalyzed it in a way that I couldn't predict. The complexity of the music created by Slagel Road made me yearn for a simpler style, and it drove me to start recording my own material, which is the stuff that is now posted to Newgrounds.

Q: Your first submission to the Audio Portal is a delightful song called Coffee Can Surprise ~ZLH~. The instruments are what makes the song interesting combined with the lyrics. What is the meaning of this song and what was the process in writing it?

A: Every song I write captures the way that I look at the world in some way. My views are highly connective, and I tend to see everything in the world as a series of Russian dolls. That is, the big picture and the little picture are mirrors of one-another on a different scale. Microcosms exists within macrocosms. So I always write with several meanings, and sing from the emotions I feel on every level. The lyrics to coffee can surprise are about a girl - many of my songs are. *laughs* It's a combination of the mischievous base animalism I feel related to the greater theoretical caring I have for people I'm close to. It's the song that ties sexuality in with unconditional love, something that isn't done often enough.

"I've seen your little secret. I've touched you deeper than you know. That's why you'll never go."

It speaks first to the connecting power of sex. Seeing someone completely naked, vulnerable, actually making the jump with them, all of them make a bond that hurts worse to sever than almost anything else. That's because the physical is only a metaphor for the emotional. The truth is, that I've seen her naked emotionally as well, and embraced that just as readily. I loved her for who she was in that exact moment, and asked nothing more. I loved her in a way she couldn't even understand. That's why, even though she *is* gone, she still can't forget about me. And it's not because I took her virginity. It's because I took *her.*

I speak in the song about lips, which are sensual, not sexual, because you can't truly win over a woman's body until you win over her mind. It starts to blur the lines between the sexual and the sensual, and transitions to the next lines:

"This cruel anticipation of that sensation that I miss. No better time than this. I tower over you love, our bodies moving in the dark, it's time to let it go. Your soul is all I want to know."

This is the pre-emptive explanation of the chorus. I continue to blur the lines between sexuality and sensuality. Anticipation - sensual. Acting on impulse - sexual. Moving bodies - sexual. Then I redefine all of those as something I want to do with her soul, not her body - purely sensual.

Then, the chorus comes. The true meaning of the chorus is between me and a woman I haven't found yet. It's a dominant mindset. It's the memory of a time when two people were perfectly connected. It's the thought that maybe, just maybe, in that one moment, when she gives in totally and completely, when she gives herself, I hold some piece of her that is larger than what I deserve. In that moment, I can't feel more on top of the world.

But even in that climactic moment, I haven't expressed it all. There's a whole other realm of expression that is part of this all, and I hit it in verse two. I tend to use religion as a tool in songs when I actually mean spirituality. Heavy religious references in the second verse place a very archaic feel to the connection, as though it almost ritualistic, in a spiritual way. I use the references to draw points I have a hard time expressing lyrically in plain English.

"You read my bible with your hands" - The bible represents truth. When you feel someone, whether they shake, how they move, what their hip actually feels like, you develop a concrete truth about them that you can't get through looking. Sex is the tangible truth. Through it, you can see exactly who a person is.

"And I preached my demands."- Preaching reaches towards the dominant/submissive roles of sex. Not necessarily to define them, but to recognize their existence.

"As all things had to do love, this moment found its bitter end in wounds that have no mend." - Right in the midst of the confusion between spirituality, sensuality, sexuality, religion, dominance, submissiveness, and the admission that the relationship had ended in a bitter mess, I call her "love."

The ramifications of that one word alone placed inside that slew of concepts is huge. So many people view love as a separate entity from all these things, but love isn't separate from anything. That's why we have such a hard time defining it. Love is spiritual. It's sex. It's giving. It's taking. It's perfect connection, and it's hating the person who broke your heart. It's losing everything, and gaining everything. Love is both pain and joy.

In the third verse, I pop in another religious reference with the word "confession," and wrap up the song with a look back on everything that happened in that relationship. I admit that I still feel for her, that I still have very vivid memories of the connection. But the kicker is that I don't express remorse or regret for the situation.

I'm glad I connected with her to such an extent. I'm glad I went all in. But what's more, I'm glad I lost everything. I'm glad the relationship's over. I'm glad that all I have left is a ghost of what used to be. The worse fate would be to have never experienced all of it in the first place, because as the last line states, "you can go, but you can't go away." I think secretly, somewhere in my head, I'm glad that neither she nor I will ever be the same again. Maybe it's because I had an effect - changed something in a way that can't be undone. Then again, maybe it's just love.

Q: Carribean Cruise ~ZLH~ is a very fun song. Is there a cruise story behind it or is this song nothing more than wishful thinking or creative genius?

A: The song is definitely a lot of fun. It's even more fun to play at a concert. The song wasn't patterned after a real cruise. I wrote it in the dead of winter in South Dakota when it was 10 below zero. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't sitting there thinking of a better place to be. *laughs*

The topic, though, is living without consequence. It's a song about doing exactly what you want to do. It's about letting go of all the crap we have to deal with on a daily basis, which is exactly why I like it so much.

I want to spend money without worrying about whether I'll make rent, love without worrying about heartache, and live without worrying about purpose. It seems we've made life a lot tougher than it is. Staying alive is keeping yourself fed with a roof over your head. Living is not worrying about how you're going to stay alive

Q: My personal favorite by you is the song Meet You On The Road ~ZLH~. The lyrics, singing, and guitar work are all wonderful. How on Earth did you write this piece of gold?

A: This is probably one of the simplest pieces I've ever written, and that's why it's beautiful. I was drawing on some heavy Dylan influence that day, and feeling lighthearted. I sat down and wrote the lyrics beginning to end without erasing or revising. It was completely natural, because the song only has one real purpose.

I'm having a conversation that I've had with almost every woman I've ever dated. Will you make the jump? Will you leave it all behind, throw your inhibitions to the wind, and just go all in? Would you follow me, penniless or not? Have faith me despite all odds?

Then, something spectacular happens. In the song, she gives me the answer I've wanted to hear all along. I keep thinking that this is bound to happen eventually.

Q: Your first song to not have you singing would be Piano and Strings ~ZLH~. A beautiful song in itself, but the question is why no lyrics to this and do you plan on making lyrics for this in the future?

A: Some of my songs are lyric driven, and some are music-driven. I actually have a whole bottom drawer full of composed piano music like this, I just haven't recorded it. Sometimes, I feel like words would detract from the meaning of a song like this. It has too many moods. Sometimes wistful, perhaps a bit sad, but at the same time somewhat strong and resilient, almost determined. I don't even think this description is really capturing the song accurately.

I don't think in English. I always joke that English is my second language. I think purely in concepts, and I feel in ways I can't really describe. If there's something I want to say, the message comes first, and the music follows, but on pieces like this, there's no message. This is just something I started playing one day because I felt it. I don't think I ever could place lyrics on it, or wouldn't want to. It's background music for my life.

Q: One song of yours that inspires me whenever I'm writing is the song I'll Be Around ~ZLH~. Like "Meet You On The Road" you have to be credited for the songwriting. Where did the idea for this song come from and what was the process in making it?

A: This is one of those songs that started with my personality instead of an idea. For years, I didn't use the word "goodbye." I didn't end my letters with "sincerely." And I didn't end my conversations with "see you later." I simply said "I'll be around." One day, someone asked me what I meant when I said that. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I had a song to write. So this song is simply how I explained what I mean when I say "I'll be around." Sometimes, I guess, the simplest things can become the best song ideas. The human struggle is pretty universal. You never have to look further than yourself to find the messages we all someone to say to us.

Q: Created ~ZLH~ is a short song, but it is also a good one. Very fast paced, but not in your face is the way I would describe this song, how would you describe it?

A: I would definitely agree with that assessment. It doesn't quite slap you across the cheek, but it keeps its energy. It's hard for me to describe it, because my songs are snapshots of me in a given time. That song is especially important to me, because in conjunction with "I am machine," it marks a huge transition period in my life. It is the start of what will be the largest style shift since I transitioned from classical Italian arias to rock in high school.

Q: What is Backfeed?

A: Backfeed was an experiment in combining progressive rock with classic rock. I put together a band in December of 2007 with two other guys. We had a solid power trio, put on a decent show, and toured around Pennsylvania for quite a while playing all the usual venues. We cut a music video, and just had a ton of fun. It was definitely one of my favorite bands. The bassist ended up off and doing his own thing. He's wrapped in the local indie scene now, and the drummer is still around the area, I believe. The band didn't end badly, it just faded out as we started to drift in different directions.

Q: What can we expect from Zachary Louis in the future?

A: The truth is, my latest two contributions were written and recorded in August of 2009. I haven't done anything musical since then. This happens to me every once in a while. I take a huge hiatus from writing and recording. However, I haven't had one this big for a very long time. I'm essentially getting ready to make a huge style shift. Since I always write from what I am, making shifts isn't about just changing styles. It's about personal growth. I've been completely reorganizing my life.

In August of '09, I had a fiancé. I was headed to my second semester of school, which I was finally finishing, against all odds. I had a life plan, goals, hopes, and a rational way of approaching them. I almost succeeded in becoming a normal person. In September of '09, my ex-fiancé was living with my best friend, and I had to start again... yet again.

As I write these words today, I'm an island. I live by myself. I have eliminated almost every social circle from my life except for a select couple of important friends. I have completely come to terms with being alone. I've accepted my own limitations and flaws, and I've finally gotten over the need to change myself to make others happy. In a lot of ways, I've realized that everything up to this point was truly for the best. To be honest, I have big plans for the future, and I'm kind of glad that I didn't end up settling down. I'm getting rid of the car that took me 200,000+ miles across the U.S., and getting a new one to have a whole new set of journeys. Knowing me, that statement means way more than a simple observation about the status of my transportation.

So what will come of the future of Zachary Louis? I couldn't tell you. I know, though, that when I start recording again, it will be different. I also know that Newgrounds will be there to see it.

A struggling artist, a creative mind with nowhere to go, maybe just the traveling man with a guitar. Whatever he is, his music and his presence is nothing more than a gift to us. Something to be cherished, a gift he has decided to share with us... for free, but even he charged we would most certainly still pay wouldn't we. This young man should certainly be one to keep an eye on in the future.

Interview No. 23

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is getting to be a known person through the Internet. You may have known him here on Newgrounds for his works on Slowloft, the True MapleStory, Another Maple Story, and The Last Maple Story. He is now getting praise for his latest flash The Only Thing I Know. He is none other than Brian Schmoyer also known as @CirrusEpix.

Q: How did you find Newgrounds and why did you join?

A: In 2003 I was working for a small studio as an animator on a small sketch series for VH1, and though being an animator was my dream job the show sketch topics were not. (The first thing I had to animate was Gary Busey sniffing crack...) So! I found ways to distract myself like playing Unreal 2004 and wasting time watching stuff on Newgrounds as much as possible (for some reason, I never got fired). Sometime around then I decided being part of NG was a good idea, but up till that point all of my films were .avi, so it wasn't until 2004 that I finally got to upload one of my own.

Q: Your first flash submission is entitled Hiro Shitaku. What was the process in creating this flash, what is the best way to describe what this flash is, and are you still proud of it to this day?

A: Hiro Shitaku pretty much sums up my work ethic. It was originally a 1 week school assignment were we had to write and present a report on a fake animator using real historical facts. So rather than take an hour to type up some junk, I spent all week making a film. The version on NG is not the original, but a recreated version made 2 years later. Its a funny film, and its 1/2 animated, 1/2 still image documentary style has continued to echo in my more recent Questings series on Youtube, and again in "The Only Thing I Know."

Q: Slowloft would be your flash to win an award, the Daily Feature. You state it's a satire, perhaps you could go into this a little bit deeper and tell us what tied in with the flash in other words from your mind what is it that is shown in the flash that we may have missed?

A: For those who don't know the history, Slowloft (a powerful mind altering drug) was originally advertised with a series of overly cute cartoon commercials. Historically, it was also one of the first prescription-only drugs to be mass-marketed this way. I guess the intention was to help ease depression, but it just seemed to me like "if your life sucks (and it does!) take our PILL!" I've always been amazed at the power of advertising in US culture, and I made Slowloft to comment on something that I saw as just plain crazy.

Q: Slowloft: Overdose would be the sequel to Slowloft. What is the difference between Slowloft and it's sequel, and what does the sequel tell us that the first one did not?

A: While most people saw that Slowloft was poking fun at drug companies advertisements, few saw that Slowloft: Overdose was originally intended to parody Newground's Madness series and it's clones. I've always loved NG and the internet in general, but I endlessly wonder why when given such powerful tools to connect with people all over the world and share our opinions and creative endeavors, we always end up with porn and overly violent cartoons? Now don't get me wrong, I love the occasional Madness toon, but Overdose was my attempt to question internet violence with cute cartoon blobs =)

Q: You received a Daily 2nd Award for your flash the True MapleStory. an interesting little parody, one that a lot of people enjoy. What is the story behind the creation of this parody and what were the steps you took in creating it?

A: This series will haunt me till I die... Basically, I've always wanted to make a huge epic film like Brackenwood, but I'm such an artistic pessimist that it has never really happened. Rather than doing something deep and creative with my skills, the Maple Story series was quick and easy. Contrary to popular believe, I only really played the game for a week or two before realizing how BAD it was. Even after testing out other MMOs, 99% of their gameplay is 1. Go here, 2. Kill so many of these (for no reason.) This first film was really just a cute commentary on online games in general and at the beginning just a simple joke that I didn't intend to do anything more with.

Q: Another Maple Story and The Last Maple Story would become your next parody masterpieces in the world of Maple Story. Tell me when it comes to why you would do these is it the same reason as the first Maple Story or is it just for the fans? Also how did you come about creating these flash movies as well?

A: To be honest, I never intended to make these two films just like I never intended a sequel to Slowloft. But something about The True Maple Story clicked not only with my audience here at NG, but also deep inside my head. For one, I really liked the characters. If I have an avatar, its Michea - a Woody Allen-like clueless but good-hearted fool. The other half of my psyche however feels more like Kaolyne, a sarcastic game-hater who still plays for some odd reason.

After the release of "The Only Thing I Know" I had a lot of people email me confused as to how the animator of "that Maple Story series" could do a complete 180 and now rail on games. But for those who really watched my Maple Story series, you'll see that the theme through the three films was, "Why do we play these boring repetitive games?!" Even in the "Questing" review series I did for Youtube afterwords, I constantly tried to find the right MMO to "dedicate my precious time to."

In the end, "The Last Maple Story" was really less about videogames, and more about the people who play them. Each character reacts differently to the change in the world, either with sarcasm, joy, or whatever. It also gave me a chance to try out several different styles of animation that I had always wanted to do but not devote a whole film too. Some Machinma, some sprite, all experimental! Of course, it could have just been that I had the characters already drawn, and it was easier than making new ones =)

Q: The Only Thing I Know is an interesting flash movie. Talking about video games. You stated it won the 2010 Gamer's Resolution Competition. It has also been referenced by ScrewAttack's The Game OverThinker in his episode entitled Building A Better Gamer. There is a lot here to say and I want to know everything. What is this flash about? How do you feel about winning this award? How does it feel to be referenced? And how did you come about with the idea of this flash and it's creation?

A: First off, the award has been the biggest surprise and I am glad to have been given the opportunity to donate it completely to a worthy charity on behalf of the students that I teach. Yet, to me all that has been completely overshadowed in my mind by all the heartfelt stories and messages I have received in the last few weeks since.

To be honest, I knew "The Only Thing I Know" would upset, confuse, and dumbfound my viewers, but the history of why I made this film goes way back nearly 25 years ago when a small boy made a simple decision: he picked videogames over ___________. While the blank would later by filled in with things like sports, other hobbies, friends, romance, & school - last year I was finally forced into a crossroads where I had to ask myself what did I earn from giving unwavering loyalty to gaming? The answer was hard for me to hear. But was true.

The irony behind the film is that I always considered myself a "moderate" gamer. In fact, for the last few years I only really gamed a few hours a week, and contrary to popular belief, I never really played much Warcraft (only getting to level 30.) The problem was, the damage of years of doing nothing but gaming had taken its toll, and as an adult and teacher, I saw hordes of children running down the same path I took, but to make things even worse: were spend more time playing and were more addicted than I could ever dream of.

I wrestled with the idea of making this film and ended up recording nearly 5 versions of it. Each version approached the topic differently, and in one version, I never even mentioned my own personal story. Ultimately, I felt the film worked best with a "this is what happened to me and why..." tone, and thus the film came together rather quickly. Although it took me nearly 4 months to write, the animation took about 2 weeks. It's funny that the Overthinker mentioned me, because the film's intelligent tone was in-part inspired by his work =)

As the film uploaded to NG and Youtube, I prepared myself for the uproar that I thought was coming. It is in a gamer's nature to be defensive, against the nagging mothers, friends and Jack Thompson's of the world. Yet, what surprised me the most was how many people have come forward with praise and kind words. Yes... I have people cursing my name, telling me it is my problem - but I have had so many people share their own pain and stories with me in the last few weeks that I am certain that it was a problem of choice, but it is a problem that effects a lot of us from all over the world.

"The Only Thing I Know." is probably the only film I will make on this subject, but I am glad that I did. In the end, the film was really to help me - but I am more than happy if I can inspire and touch just a few.

Q: When it comes to comedic writing, every comedian does their's differently. What are the steps you take in writing a parody? What is your recipe for comedy?

A: It's hard to say that I'm a humor animator. While my Maple Story series is meant to be funny, I feel my timing is way way off and I could definitely improve. To me, timing is everything, and it is also what sets apart skills and amateur animators here on NG. I sometimes like to watch films with scores of 2.0 and under to see why some films do well while others don't. What I normally find is that low scoring films often drag on with long pauses or awkward pacing, or zip past without giving time for reflection. I think that is why Cyanide and Happiness's "Barbershop Quartet" kept me laughing more than any other film recently. It is just timed so well.

Q: As an animator, what advice can you give other animators out there?

A: Have a purpose in your animation. If you are going to spend days, weeks or months animating a film, have it be more than person A battles person B. In all my films, I try to tie in a moral or lesson that I hope to pass along. It doesn't need to be "There She Is" or "The Only Thing I Know" deep, but enough to leave a viewer with something to think about after the film is done.

Q: "One Wish" is a flash project you have been working on for quite some time now. What can you tell us about it? What is going on with it at the moment?

A: As I said in an earlier question, since college I've always struggled with making creative and meaningful films - instead often focusing on easier and less complex projects. One Wish is meant to be an original, well-animated project that unfortunately lost traction after my wife and I separated. It's been languishing in animatic form on my hard drive for months, and I am finally feeling the urge to pull it up and get working again. I want to thank the wonderful voice actors who I worked with last year, and it is with a little bit of guilt that I apologize for not getting to it sooner =(

Q: What can we expect from CirrusEpix in the future?

A: Hearing back from people about "The Only Thing I Know" has been the most meaningful thing I've ever done. While it would seem easy to continue to ride that topic, I'm moving on. Currently I am hoping to get back into "One Wish" and make it that "worthy film" that I've been searching all these years for. I've also wanted to make a film based on my Adeshra characters. I've been working on the story for well over a decade now, but beyond the game, I've released very little. I have a short based-on that world written, and I hope to be able to make it soon.

If you've gotten this far, I really want to thank everyone here at Newgrounds for your past support, your kind words, and your future clicks =) Thanks!

Brian is a wonderful artist, animator, and just an overall great person. He has stated the he hopes to get paid to do what he does someday. Well, we all hope to get paid to do what we do, although I've interviewed others in the past who have, I can tell you this... Brian is not far off from doing so.

Interview No. 22

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest has been here previously. He was my first guest, but looking back at that interview I wasn't completely happy with it. So I decided to interview him a second time. Again most answers to these questions can be found in the Literature section, which is now the Newgrounds Wiki. He is the founder, creator, and chairman of Newgrounds. He is once again @TomFulp.

Q: Newgrounds has become place for many animators, musicians, writers, and voice actors to share their works with the world and garner criticism through a review system. What other expansions are expected to be launched in the future and could you tell us about them?

A: Once we finish our wide layout update, the Audio Portal is expected to get a long overdue revamp. It will be built from the same framework as the Art Portal but with some unique tweaks and features. Both Portals will gain multi-author capabilities. When THAT is done we'll tackle the Writing Portal, at which point NG will have finally arrived at a goal that has somehow taken almost a decade. Meanwhile other expansions and changes to existing areas will be happening simultaneously. Those will remain a surprise though!

Q: Your first flash on record through your flash submissions page is entitled Crazy Belmont. What was the process in creating this flash game and are you still proud of it to this day?

A: Crazy Belmont isn't actually anywhere near my first Flash game, it's just the first one I submitted to the automated Portal. Before then, all my games were in hard-coded pages and I gradually moved them into the automated system over the years. I regret not launching with them all in place and properly dated. My first Flash game was Sink Leonardo, which doesn't even exist outside of Dumping Grounds anymore. Most of my original games got "misplaced" when we launched the 2007 redesign and I don't even think I have all the files anymore.

Q: Newgrounds has had some flash submissions through here talking about a website that a lot of people don't like and that's Ebaums World.com. Could you tell us your experiences as well as your opinions on said website?

A: EbaumsWorld.com was just one of a number of sites that regularly stole content from NG, but they got an extra nasty reputation because they would also steal pictures and video from sites and add their watermark. I guess Eric got the last laugh though because him and his dad sold Ebaumsworld for $17.5 million. The site stopped being relevant at that point; it should just die.

Q: When it comes to the Audio Portal, I as well as a few other people believe it hasn't gotten enough attention. When it comes to redesigns or facelifts what can we expect the Audio Portal to turn into?

A: There is a massive laundry list of Audio Portal ideas and I won't even touch on some of the higher level ones until we address the more immediate issues. Current priorities include a much better moderator system so stolen music is dealt with quickly and easily, a better review process where the community is more involved with bringing new artists through (a more private version of the Art Portal scouting), audio tagging, expanded sorting and search and hopefully we'll get to "play all" and playlist features this time around.

Q: I have interviewed Krinkels in the past and asked him about Madness Day. He did not really know how this holiday was created, but perhaps you can tell us how this holiday came about and how you come up with other holidays.

A: Ya know, I don't remember exactly how it came about either but I did pick out the date based on an empty slot in the calendar between events like Pico Day, Clock Day and Halloween. I think users were asking for it, and Madness was generating way more tribute-Flash than any other series on NG, so we thought it would make a fun event day. I also like trying to make a Madness game every year now.

Q: You've stated time and time again that you hate February. Why?

A: It has to be seasonal affective disorder. Or it could be a pattern of expectations. In December I'm excited about what we intend to wrap up by the end of the year. In January I'm excited about the leftover stuff we're yet to launch and the plans for a new year ahead. By February the reality sets in that some things are just taking a lot longer than expected, and now we're in the dead of winter, slogging through one day at a time. I can't completely blame NG though because I've been depressed every February for my whole life.

Q: When it comes to the Newgrounds Trophies. How do these awards work? How are the nominees, judges, and winners chosen?

A: The nominees for movies and games are chosen from monthly winners, contest winners and a handful of staff selections. The musician of the year is guided by recommendations from the Audio mods but we haven't ever had a formal vote. The user of the year has also been a gut move and I think we picked the right people for the past two years, but this year is especially hard because I'd like to avoid repeats and there are a lot of people who have been great this year, but I'm not sure if one of them stands above the rest yet. We need to decide that really soon.

Q: YouTube is the biggest video site out there, where people can upload their videos, short films, or comedy shows. However some of those are shunned by copyrighted material and other stupid nonsense. Does Newgrounds plan on opening a Video Portal in the near future so those interested in film may upload thier works?

A: We will support video, but it will be on an invite-only basis as I would like to keep the focus on animation and maintain a high quality standard. I'm also open to non-animated works by popular artists, although I would prefer if some sort of animation is still involved... For example live action mixed with CG. Don't think of it as a video portal, though... Think of it as MOVIES and GAMES not sharing a room anymore.

Q: A lot of people have been wanting the Newgrounds Chat. The Newgrounds Chat used to be a reality back in 2002 am I right? Where did it go and why hasn't it come back?

A: The old NG chat didn't actually integrate with our user system, so people could fake popular artists all the time and when the real guys walked in, people assumed they were fake. The moderation also felt particularly cliquy and downright hostile towards NG at times, so the whole thing got canned. The new chat is based on a multi-user server platform PsychoGoldfish has been developing, but other projects have had priority. Some day it will magically return and the new chat app is pretty damn neat... Although it will have to be visually redesigned by then.

Q: When it comes to the media, whether or not they say good or bad things about Newgrounds. How do you feel about it and what is your responses to it?

A: I don't appreciate the righteous indignation of the media. Namely, why is it ok for a news site to front page The Torture Game but not ok for me? Aren't we both just shoving it in peoples' faces? Sure, I could choose not to host it, but the game was made, it exists and will always exist somewhere on the web. The news will find it and encourage people to check it out. Their editorial stance is just a cover; the news craves attention like everyone else.

Q: You and April got married. You and April had a baby boy. To my knowledge you have not announced the child's name, is it out of privacy or do you just not want to tell anyone here? Also what do you think of all the movies and games made about your child?

A: A lot of site regulars know his name, I just haven't tossed it around in the open too much. To satisfy any curiosity, his name is Liam! I probably haven't seen all the movies and games made about him and maybe it's better that way.

Q: Alien Hominid was the first, Castle Crashers took it a step further. Tell me what is your opinion on the independent gaming movement and how do you think it will affect Newgrounds?

A: The whole independent gaming movement is such a big topic to tackle... You got web games, PC downloads, XNA, XBLA, PSN, it goes on and on across multiple communities and social circles. I felt like in the past, Flash devs weren't taken seriously by what was known as the indie gaming scene, or people who considered themselves "real" game developers, but all that is changing, everything is converging and mixing together. It means the games will keep getting better but there will also be more commercialization. Major publishers are scooping up indie titles for consoles and investors are dropping millions on companies that want a piece of the Flash game market. NG needs to stay competitive to avoid getting steamrolled over, but we also can't lose ourselves and kill the joy.

Q: What can we expect from Tom Fulp in the near future?

A: I don't even know sometimes because every game I work on keeps getting further and further from being done. Right now I'm juggling three games that I realistically intend to finish and I need to pull together a fourth for Madness Day. Beyond that I want to host more events at the office in our almost-newly-renovated first floor. I'm thinking stuff like an animation festival and a 48 hour game jam.

You know, there really isn't much left to be said about Tom. He's a goof ball who made a website. And from there it has grown into nothing short than a website where many creative minds can get together and show off their works. I wouldn't be surprised if the next thing on Tom's list would be to open a school.

Interview No. 21

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guests are members of The Newgrounds Police Department. I could not interview the entire thread so I've chosen the following four people and they are, Police Captain and Commissioner @TailsPrower, Police Captain and Unit Ops Officer @SpiffyMasta, Police Captain @EmmDubya and Police Lieutenant @Lizzardis. The Newgrounds Police Department.

ANSWERS WILL BE POSTED BENEATH THE _A:_ DUE TO TWO PEOPLE BEING INTERVIEWED PERSON ANSWERING WILL BE NOTED AS SO.

Q: How did you find Newgrounds and why did you join?

A:

Lizzardis: I don't actually remember finding Newgrounds. I remember being pulled onto the site a few times by various games and flash movies that I enjoyed, but that was only from other sites such as AddictingGames and such. I must have joined because I wanted to add some favourites so I could find all the games and movies I liked, again.

TailsPrower: My cousin introduced me to Newgrounds when I was in elementary school so I was brainwashed earlier than most others. Quickly thereafter, I came to appreciate the hilarity of fan made parodies of the shows and games that I knew such as Mario, Pokemon, DBZ, and Powerpuff Girls. I decided to join several years later so I could get the full NG experience and show my support for Newgrounds.

SpiffyMasta: I was probably about 12 or 13 years old when I first stumbled onto Newgrounds. One of my friends showed me the telebubby games and assassin games. I loved killing Britney Spears and then playing her dress-up games. The quality of NG games has changed so much over the years. Basically I kept playing the hentai games for a few years (like most horny 13 year olds do) and then I decided to make an account a few years later. I didn't really go on the forums until 2005. This month marks the 8th year of my account and the rest is history.

EmmDubya: When I originally found the site I must have been only about eight or nine, so from that I assume that it was back in mid 2005 - perhaps not. When I first came to the site it was, to me and the friends that showed me it, simply a 'games site'. None of us had any idea of all the creative genius that goes on behinds the scene, the thriving community or any of the other things that makes it stand out from all of the other Flash websites and portals across the internet. I don't have much recollection of my signup, but I believe it was related to one of my brother's friends recommending a Flash trial to us.

Q: The Newgrounds Police Department was first founded on November 30th, 2005 by Newgrounds Member MrCrawford. Did you have any activity in that thread and if so how did you come about it?

A:

Lizzardis: Unfortunately no. I did not have any activity in that thread seen as I still had not signed up then.

TailsPrower: Oh yes, I was indeed active in the original thread. I stumbled upon it one day while browsing through the C&C section and I thought it was a rather peculiar theme for a crew so I decided to check it out. After discovering that I was qualified, I requested joined on page 5 and was recruited.

SpiffyMasta: I never came into contact with the old NGPD thread. 2005 is when I first started posting, and I was mainly doing so in the Politics forum and a club that was called the Quebec Club where a bunch of fellow French-Canadians and I would just speak french in all the time. It eventually got deleted by Wade when he decided there would be no foreign languages on the website. I lost probably about 500 posts that day. After that club died, my activity on Newgrounds dwindled down until early 2009.

EmmDubya: During the majority of the two and a half year long lifespan of our original thread I hadn't even contemplated joining the site, let alone even heard of the force before. I'm not too well rehearsed on the history of the early NGPD, although back when I was new I heard what others told me and when the rest of the BBS is running slowly I occasionally have a read through it. I love checking up on all of the past members, events and situations that lead to the the NGPD being what it is today.

Q: The new Newgrounds Police Department thread was created on March 22nd, 2008. What changed with the creation of the new thread and what was your rank by this time?

A:

Lizzardis: With the creation of the new thread, everything was much more organized and the blueprints for this new thread were... How should I say it... Much more detailed and more organized than those of the previous thread. Again though, I had not signed up by the time this thread had opened up, so I had no activity in it.

TailsPrower: By that time I was a Lieutenant, I think. The old NGPD was growing stagnant and all of us knew something needed to change. The old thread's OP didn't quite specify our crew's purpose, recruitment procedures, rules, etc., which often led to some confusion. Finally, we agreed that a new thread OP would be our course of action which included all of the above details. So far it's been quite successful and we've been striving to perfect our system ever since.

SpiffyMasta: I think Tails would be most likely the best one to answer that. I think I was a Police Lieutenant at the time.

EmmDubya: Again, I only joined a few months down the line into the new thread but from what I've seen the main difference it had was simply displaying a more up-to-date version of our guidelines in the original post. A problem that seemed to arise again and again in the old thread is that the original post said very little about what we aim to do, our joining criteria or much else - for that matter.

Q: What is the purpose of the Newgrounds Police Department?

A:

Lizzardis: Users all have their own opinions about the purpose of the Police Dept. I can understand why. However, the purpose of the NGPD is to protect the portal from any incoming flashes, may they be Malicious / Stolen / Abusive. We report the flashes to other members for them to flag and / or an admin. Usually being WadeFulp. We are also used as a base for the EGB. When newer members come in, this thread teaches them about how they should behave and moulds them to members acceptable for the EGB by helping with their whistles, posting quality and overall attitude.

TailsPrower: I personally believe that the NGPD's purpose is two fold:

- To serve the portal by protecting it from abusive submissions and spam. We emphasize more on abusive flashes, since those actually breach portal rules.

- Teaching and inspiring members to serve the portal honorably and being the best NG'ers they can be, within a close-knit and supportive community.

SpiffyMasta: To Blam and Protect! That's our motto at least. Mainly we try to keep abusive things off the Portal, we try to catch things that are worthy of a whistle. We also discuss blamming and protecting and we try to teach our members how to be contributing users of Newgrounds both on the forums and voting on flashes. We kind of also serve as a funnel for the EGB, since our members that rank out often end up in the Barracks thread.

EmmDubya: There are many purposes of the force, amongst them are the improvement of all three portals - Flash being the one we spend the most time working in - the BBS and Newgrounds as a whole. As Conor (Insanimation) said, we stand for a perfect Newgrounds and we're taking steps towards that, even if those are baby steps. If during our whole time on the site we helped catch out just a few stolen or otherwise abusive Flashes, our existence would be worth it. In reality, we do catch out a lot of Flashes.

Q: A common complaint in the Audio Portal are the zero-bombers. People who constantly zero-bomb other's works so that their own may rise or just to be complete jerks. Does the Newgrounds Police Department help out with this? If yes what do you do to help? If no then could you please tell us why?

A:

Lizzardis: I would go as far as to say no to this. No the NGPD does not help in situation like this. Why? 2 reasons. 1) We don't have the tools available to actually stop the users from 0 Bombings other users work. Sure we can PM them to stop if asked... But we can't actually do anything to change the offending users mind. 2) We are just regular users who bunch together to do that little bit more to make NG a nicer place, if a user is annoying you... An Admin is the best person to go to because as said before... We don't have the tools to help. Which is a shame really...

TailsPrower:

I don't think it's really possible for anyone, even the admins, to effectively combat this kind of abuse in the system. However we don't ignore the problem either. The NGPD is completely against mass voting and we try to show people that such actions are unjust no matter what and may invoke the Wrath of Wade.

SpiffyMasta: No, our main focus is the Flash Portal. While there are a few of us that may be interested in the Audio Portal, there really isn't much we can contribute to there. You can't whistle anything and you can't blam or protect things. The Audio moderators are pretty much the only ones that have any control there. While zero bombing is something awful for someone to have done to them, it's not something we can really control. There's zero-bombing in the Flash Portal as well I'm sure, but since there's so much more users voting on things, the effects just aren't felt.

We can often see the effects of mass voting though when crappy spam flashes pass through the portal, and the situation is the same, there isn't much we can do about it as regular users.

EmmDubya: I only recently returned to the force after a good five or six months of absence, although at this stage I do not believe that there's a way for us to fight back against the many zero-bombers out there. Just a while ago I was trying to think of a way to combat it, although seeing as without an application to allow people to know for who voted what on each Flash, something that for the sake of privacy should never be implemented, there's no way to tell who's to blame for all of the vote abuse. All we can do on that situation is to encourage people to vote fairly and without any bias, and we're relatively successful at doing that - bearing in mind that we can't fuck with freewill.

Q: If you could change anything on Newgrounds, what would it be and why?

A:

Lizzardis: To be honest, I don't really think I would want anything changed. It's nice the way it is. Sure, whatever you do... At least SOMEONE is going to moan, but I think that the way NG is changing at the moment as in, it's user base and with the "hopefully" incoming Lit portal and such, that's good enough for me. So no, I don't think I'd change anything.

TailsPrower: I wish they would bring the animated sigs back. Some of them were just plain awesome, including mine ;)

SpiffyMasta: If I could change anything on Newgrounds it would have to be adding Flash Portal Moderators. There's audio mods and art mods that regulate the content, I don't see why there shouldn't be any in the flash portal. I think it would make it much easier and faster to delete abusive flashes and it would probably take a load off Wade. I think he's entertained the idea before but never acted on it.

EmmDubya: The one group of people that really get to me are Flash thieves. It may seem that saving a SWF file to your HDD and putting it up as your own work but it completely undermines what makes Newgrounds stand out from any other site on the internet. The portal is a place not just for people to view high-rated Flashes, but for Flash authors - no matter how experienced, old or anything they are - to submit their animations and games and see that others have enjoyed them. Seeing these independent Flash artists who are proud of their creations having them ripped from their accounts and put up - allowing people who have done nothing but pressing CTRL+S gather in all the credit is disheartening. Luckily, over the years - together with our senior group, the Elite Guard Barracks - we've literally caught out hundreds of stolen Flashes.

Q: SpiffyMasta - When it comes to games it is no secret that you love them. By the date of this interview you are the second member with the most Medal Points on Newgrounds according to this thread. Why do you like getting the medals in flash games and how much time do you usually spend doing so?

A:

SpiffyMasta: Yea, I think flash game son here are a great waste of time. When you have lots of free time like me (I'm a college student) you can do whatever you like. Plus, I'm good at games in general, so it was aesy for me to garner medals. People see my totals though and think how did he get that time to get all those. I've been gathering medals since they first came out, so it's been spread out over a long period of time (almost a year now).

It's funny that you mention this though, because I just decided to take myself off the list, I am making it with Hybrid-Of-Souls now and have decided that I do not want to seem like I am favoring myself in decisions that I make about the list. Also, I want to stop wasting so much time on games. I feel like it's become more of a chore than fun, I think I need to focus on the fun part again.

Q: TailsPrower - You have submitted art to the Art Portal in your spare time. Two pieces by you that are my favorites are TaG, YOU'Re iT... and Assault Gear artwork. Tell me where does your inspiration come from and are you planning more serious future works?

A:

TailsPrower: The idea of our own NGPD armor is actually pretty old and I had already made a (less impressive) combat fatigue from years past. However, after seeing "Jin-Roh" I felt compelled to design an armor based on their prototype. It was a tedious process though, I've gone through a good handful of sketches and eraser shreds to get to this point.

I do plan to pursue the armor in the future at least, God knows when that'll be haha!

Q: What can we expect from The Newgrounds Police Department in the future?

A:

Lizzardis: Well, hopefully there will be no run ins with the moderators again as we saw last year... But the average user, actually wont see anything. We will continue to work hard at spotting flashes which are not supposed to be and reporting them, while still being friendly and helping out in any way we can.

TailsPrower: I'm not gonna sugar coat it, the past year have been our most difficult by far. Ever since we got unlocked, we've slowly been recovering. However, you can count on one thing; me and my boys will be right here guiding new members on how to catch those nasty abuse submissions, and making a difference on Newgrounds - one person at a time.

SpiffyMasta: Hopefully we can get enough active members so that we can hold a collective weight when it comes to being able to catch illegal activities on the portal and being able to flag succesfully. A lot of times, things catch our eye but still get through even if we find them to be stolen or inappropriate content. We hope to be around for a long time, promoting good habits for the forums and the portal!

EmmDubya: I really have no idea, although I just hope that we'll keep on expanding our horizons and adapting to the constantly changing face of Newgrounds. Just in the past week two new recruits have started the apprenticeship stage of joining the club and they both seem like in the future they'll both be able to contribute massively to the club and enjoy their time as members. I'd urge anyone else who want to help Newgrounds out and fits the joining criteria to consider enlisting.

After interviewing four basic members from the Police Department, they just seem like your everyday ordinary Newgrounds members, but a bit more mature than other Newgrounds members. They like to help out others and are possibly the one group of people that could make this site better for everybody. That still remains to be seen though. All I know is if you're a new member to Newgrounds and you don't know where to turn to or what to do in a situation, chances are these guys can help you.

Interview No. 20

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is one who has given Newgrounds a variety of many different flash movies. He is known for his creations of Vending Machines, Bullying, and Fisherman?. He is Jack Bromhead a.k.a. @Neo-uk.

Q: How did you find Newgrounds and why did you join?

A: Back in 2002, when I was about 13 / 14, one of my friends told me about this awesome flash animation called 'Xiao Xiao' on a place called 'Newgrounds'. When I got home, I loaded NG up and had a look and my imagination was just blown away. So I joined just to look at some cool animations. Around the same sort of time, my brother came home with a copy of Flash that he got to help him make a website or something, not too sure. But he gave it to me and told me to have a go. I did, and it just opened all kinds of doors in my imagination, and when I saw that you could upload your own "attempts" on NG, I did it!

Q: Your first flash submission is entitled Animal Antics. What was the process in creating this flash movie and are you still proud of it to this day?

A: Well, Animal Antics was the first of my submissions that didn't get blammed ;). I mostly animated stick movies in the beginning, but terrible, terrible atrocities that shouldn't be viewed by anyone. I saw Adam Phillip's HitchHiker films and the start of his Brackenwood series and that inspired me to try harder and not just settle for bad stick films.

So I thought "why not attempt a Creature Comforts style animation?", so I grabbed a microphone and recorded whatever was on the tv at the time, and challenged myself to animate to it.

I'm not one whose too precious over his work, and I'm really not a fan of Animal Antics, but it was an important lesson, which has helped me improve my work, so I guess I can't have too many hard feelings towards it.

Q: Your next few flash movies would address certain problems some people may be faced with they are Stupid Exams, Annoying Kid, and Vending Machines. I have interviewed SardonicSamurai in the past and he stated that some of his flash is based through venting his anger or opinion. Would you say the same about these three flash movies? Whatever your answer please tell us why.

A: Haha! Good question. I would love to say that I was displaying my opinions or venting my anger through flash, but it's really not as deep as that for me. Unfortunately. For example, vending machines, I found that classical bit of music and then the idea popped into my head! With Annoying Kid, I decided to draw a background only using orange and blue... then a ginger kid. But I suppose Stupid Exams is the exception in this lot! I was currently retaking my GCSE in maths (because I'm clever like that..............) And it was annoying me more than anything, because my maths lessons were always put straight after a good lesson like Graphics, or Resistant Materials (woodwork).

Q: Bullying would be the flash to garner your first award, a Daily 5th Place. Where did the idea for this flash come from and what is your feeling of winning an award for it?

A: Bullying was an animation I did for my Graphic Design AS-Level in College. Being a graphic design course, we had to produce something that had some sort of message or meaning or something like that, and we were allowed to animate something. So then Bullying was made. The angle of the bully looking down on the little kid was also one of the reasons I managed to get on to a degree course at uni. So it was a pretty useful animation!

To be honest, I was over the moon that I got an award for it. It meant a lot, not only because it was an NG award, but also because it was showing me that people liked my stuff, and that I was definitely getting better. Good times!

Q: Swiss Goat is certainly a funny flash. My question is how did you come about this idea and what was the process in creating this flash?

A: Swiss Goat was an interesting animation! For my media coursework at college, I had made a live action film, but about a week from hand-in, I had to scrap it because the original film was way too dark and wank and none of the 'actors' were free again for a re-shoot and I couldn't book out the film equipment again, so I quickly whipped out this animation in time, hoping it would be better than 3 minutes of darkness. It got quick a good reception and saved my arse, for sure, which is why I have good memories of this one!

The idea for it though, really just came about because I loved that bit of music. I listened to it and then this idea sort of just developed outwards. Was a bit contrasting to have like a Swiss mountain range and stuff, set to Greek music, but it managed to do its job. Thankfully.

Q: The last two flash movies I want to know about are the Pelican flash movies. Pelican!? - Kitchen and Pelican!? - Space Walk. These two are hilarious flash movies. Where did this idea come from and will we be seing more Pelican in the future?

A: Well, summer last year, I graduated from university, and to this day, I just cannot for the life of me get a job in Animation or Illustration or anything like that, which is really frustrating, and really disheartened me in animating any more. So I went through a massive dry patch, where I didn't animate anything. I tried writing and illustrating a children's book but soon just lost the enthusiasm and it was a really frustrating time!

I feel I'm driven by inspirational things (e.g. music, sights, experiences etc.) and I was just getting nothing new to feed off. So I went off to Canada for 10 days on my own, to 1. meet with some studios there to look for work and 2. Just have an adventure. I didn't get a job, but I did get chased by a wolf in the forest... And I think that lightened me up quite a lot and got me back into the mindset of doing something creative. I got back and started designing things and drawing and got me back into the world of animating and illustration. I had a drunken dream one night in Canada, (after getting free drinks in a bar for no particular reason!) about a pelican, and it got me thinking... A series about a pelican ruining everything. Sounded good, so I started on it!

You'll definately be seeing some more pelicans! I got a few pelican movies on the go atm, and I'm sure they'll be uploaded soon.

Q: All comedy writers should be noted for their works. Each one writes differently. How would you describe your style of comedy writing as well as the inspiration you have gained for your writings?

A: I feel honoured to be under the bracket of a comedy writer. The vast majority of the reasons why my animations are in the comedy genre, are because I can't animate well enough for doing serious subjects!

I usually find that the comedy in my animations boils down to either a dick joke, or just the unexpected... Or bleeped swearing. It's the sort of stuff I like to see, and it's short and sweet, and doesn't drag on long enough for me to get frustrated at animating it.

Q: As an artist, what would you say is important for new artists to take note of when trying to make a funny cartoon?

A: Just make sure you find it funny, and push yourself, but don't overshoot! A difficult concept to get, but if you try stuff thats too advanced, it runs the risk off failing and being a blow to your confidence, but at the same time push yourself and don't stay on just one level all the time. Try new things and then work on them, and develop at a steady pace! And remember, if even just one person likes it, then you've done a good job.

Q: What can we expect from Jack Bromhead in the future?

A: Well, certainly more pelican movies! But other than that I'm working on a flash game about 1066... A crazy time in English history that holds so many inspirational stories! But the learning curve is pretty harsh... mainly for the coding side of things, so it may be a while before we see that! Other than that, just some more pelicans!!!!!

An immature animator, or comedic genius? It's hard to categorize Jack Bromhead somewhere at the moment. He is a very good animator as well as a great comedic writer. Where his animations will take him in the future is yet to be seen. I see the future being every so bright for him.

Interview No. 19

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is another wonderful singer that comes to us from the Newgrounds Audio Portal. He has covered the songs Hallelujah, Mad World, as well as Somewhere Out There in which he did a duet with LadyArsenic. He is one of the most dedicated artists on Newgrounds and you can find more of his original music through iTunes. He is none other than Caleb Harvey also known as @Cayler.

Q: How did you find Newgrounds and why did you join?

A: Frankly I don't remember how I found it, but I do remember being fascinated by flash animations back in the summer of '05 so I may have stumbled across it while searching for flash stuff online. Although I wasn't working with flash yet back when I joined, I had done some music at that time and decided to join to put it in the audio portal. I had terrible music software though and didn't take those first few songs and my account on NG very seriously because of it. I've considered taking them down since.

Q: Your first submission to the Audio Portal was a song entitled Rain Storms - LOZ Ocar of Time which was a remix of the Song of Storms from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Why did you decide to remix this song and why did you decide to add your own segment into it?

A: Throughout my younger days, I spent a lot of time playing memorable video game songs on my mom's piano. Around the time that I started making some music on my computer, I had been playing the Song of Storms on the piano and added that original part just to spice things up for my fingers while I played. So when I made the version on my computer, I added in that little part I came up with just to keep it from sounding too simple and repetitive.

Q: Your next song would be Gerudo Valley-LOZ Ocar of Time which was a remix of Gerudo Valley from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. You stated...

I made this one for a friend who wanted to iceskate to this song for a performance.

Is this statement true and whether it is or isn't could you tell us why you made this song this way?

A: This statement is true. In 2004 I was listening to a few OCremixes and heard Gerudo Valley. That friend of mine was at my house at the time and said she loved that song and wished she could ice skate to it because at that time she used to ice skate competitively and ice skaters always choose the song they skate to. I didn't decide to remake it when she said that, but later when I was thinking of something to make on my computer I thought about what she said and decided to make it for her. Back then I wasn't planning on posting my songs anywhere so it didn't really matter how much I changed them because I didn't expect anyone to hear them and give negative feedback so I felt really free to make it however I wanted. Nowadays if I remake something, I consider people who might get annoyed if I add something really different that wasn't originally in the song. Also I may just be getting too old to be original anymore. lol

Q: Musical Castle Oedo shows more about you than the songs before it. This song is not only happy and upbeat, but from the sound of it I'm gonna bank on you having a lot of fun making it. Did you have fun making it? And could you tell us the process of making this?

A: Funny story about this one. One of my fav games of all time is Mystical Ninja 64 and mainly cause I love the Music and the Japanese setting. While I was playing it back then, I heard a song that I wanted to make a remix to, but somehow when I started working on it, I had the wrong song in my head and the one I made wasn't the one I originally intended to. Lol The one that I actually intended to make was this one, but the one I ended up making was still a great upbeat song, which is why I managed to get them mixed up. I'm sure I enjoyed it, but it was so long ago that I barely remember doing it. I was 16 when I made it and I'm 22 now.

Q: FF7 World Theme Excerpt is probably the best of your remixes. What are the proper steps an Audio Artist must take to ensure that they make a remix sound very close to the original, but still be original on its own?

A: I guess the best way to do that would be to follow practically all of the original melody without changing anything, but beef up the overall song in the way that you want to hear it performed. So in the case of this song, I just played the main melody with a piano by itself during most of it and threw in all the strings that would fit once the song reached its most emotional state. But when I recorded this, I was feeling sorta sentimental and didn't want to get technical with it, so I'm sure that had I been really trying to make something beautiful on purpose, it would have ended up too full. So I guess I can't give an exact formula for remix success, only that feeling is important.

Q: Cayler Performs Suteki Da Ne is the first time we hear you sing. I have interviewed singers here on Newgrounds in the past including hania and JAZZA. Tell me why did you decide to sing this song in this language and was it hard to record?

A: Back then it was kinda hard to record because I still had such a small arsenal of musical equipment. Also because I had much less practice at it so my voice was really weak. I had been briefly studying Japanese for about four years prior to singing that song, so the pronunciation wasn't so difficult even though it did ultimately sound pretty bad. Lol That project was so underqualified by my current standards that I wouldn't post it now. Only back then my standards weren't as high.

Q: ~Laces~ by Cayler is a very interesting Blues song. You stated that it was about a Facebook picture comment. Could you please elaborate this witty and funny song for all of us here?

A: I actually made that song by skipping my classes. I made the comment on facebook on someone's photo (the comment was the first verse of that song) just to make a humorous statement. Right after that, I imagined what the melody would be like if it was an actual song and walked over to my keyboard and played it. I didn't want to stop building on it so I skipped my classes to add verses and more music and before I knew it that song was done. Every verse in that song besides the first one was completely random and had no background story whatsoever.

Q: ~Never The Same~ by Cayler is a very interesting song. Could you tell me if there is a deeper meaning within it or is just the poetry of the shooting star that was gifted with a brighter tail than others?

A: Actually this question refers to the song "Fall" so I'll cover both. "Never the Same" was first written as a journal to vent about a real relationship situation I dealt with, and later converted to song. "Fall" was simply a poetic way of expressing the lessons I was learning in life at that time.

Q: We come to one of my personal favorites by you entitled ~All The Music~ by Caleb. This song would also be redone to make All the Music. A very happy and upbeat rock song that is wonderful to the ears. Where did the lyrics come for this song in our terminology though where did you get your inspiration for this song and how did you make it?

A: The very first bit of inspiration for this song came from a drum rhythm I heard. I came home from college one day and started playing my keyboard just for fun, exploring its various pre-made melodies and stuff when I came across a drum pattern that seemed to be asking me to add music and words to it. I had absolutely no intention of writing a song at that moment, I just heard that beat, got inspired, and made the song. Life's inspirational moments can come at any moment so you just have to be ready to go with them when they call. Many of my songs have been instantaneously inspired by a different drum beat actually.

Q: When I interviewed JAZZA we talked about his cover of the song "Mad World." Then we come to your cover Mad World -Cayler. When I asked JAZZA why he covered Mad World he responded saying...

When I love a song I learn it, as simple as that. When I learn it well enough I enjoy recording it, and if I like the result I'll share it.

Would you agree with him or disagree with him? And whatever your answer tell us why in your own words.

A: Absolutely agree. That's how I became musically developed throughout my life, primarily by figuring out how to play songs I liked on a piano. I nowadays try to focus on original pieces just for productivity's sake, but there're always songs by other people that I can't resist covering. I've got to say though that I didn't decide to learn Mad World before covering it, I just heard it somewhere and liked it and knew that if I covered it, the result would be good if I wanted it to be, so I did it. So maybe with advancement in skill it no longer becomes a matter of wanting to try something, but instead a matter of making sure you'll succeed, if that makes any sense.

Q: LadyArsenic is a wonderful singer, one of the best here on Newgrounds. I call her "The Lady" even though she would rather be called by her name Mandi. You two collaborated on a song entitled -+[Somewhere Out There-Duet]+-. You're collaboration with her gives a beautiful performance, could you please tell me how this duet came to be and the process in making it?

A: Well she and I briefly came into contact after she posted a comment on one of my covers (I believe it was Hallelujah) and then I listened to her music and thought she had a great voice and wanted to collaborate with her. But interestingly enough I never sent her a request to do so, instead she sent me one first, to which I obviously agreed. We then talked about what we should do, whether it should be an original or a cover. She told me that Somewhere Out There had significant meaning to her family and if possible she would like to cover that one, so I agreed and began working on the background music. We discussed who would sing which part and what key it should be in and then she sent me her vocals, to which I added mine and the background music I made, and voila. The song was done. It was a very smooth process and we have talked about doing another duet but lately I've been to busy with school to follow up. But maybe someday you will hear another one from us.

Q: If someone asked me what your best song was so they could listen to you I would tell them Never Ending Story. Could you tell us all why you decided to do this song and how difficult was it to sing in Korean?

A: I am currently living with a Korean roommate whose family often comes to visit so I'm heavily exposed to the Korean language. I've wanted to study and learn it, but I've never had the time to do it myself and no way to take an official class. So I only know a few words and phrases and basic grammar, but when I heard my roommate playing this song on his computer, I decided it would be good for me to cover a Korean song to help learn a little bit of Korean. I completely made the background music from scratch and had help with the lyrics from my roommate. I want to do a lot more foreign language songs, but I simply don't have the time to do the things I really want anymore.

Q: You entered in a Chinese Contest at your college at one point and gave us the song Cayler Performs YueGuangAiRen. You are a man of many tongues, tell me how difficult was it to sing in Chinese and is it similar to sing in Korean?

A: I have studied Chinese, Korean, and Japanese and let me tell you those three languages are very different from each other. There are a small few similarities here and there because of the historical relations between the countries based on proximity, but the core of each language is vastly different. I've been exposed to the Chinese language for quite a few years now so the pronunciation isn't so difficult for me. My main problem with speaking Chinese is that I often use the wrong tones, which are nullified in music so there's no problem there.

Q: When it comes to music, what programs and/or instruments do you use to make your music with and what is usually the basic process you go about in making a song?

A: As of right now, I'm using a Juno-G Keyboard as a control surface, Reason 4.0 for the sound bank, and Logic Pro for the vocal recording and mastering. I'm in the process of transferring off of Reason to use Logic's sound bank but I haven't had much practice at it yet. I use a Blue Snowball mic for my vocals, and my computer is a Mac. However, there have been many other things used throughout my history of posting to Newgrounds. These include Magix Music Maker, Fostex 8trk recorder, my clarinet and violin, Mixcraft, and behringer mics. Usually I write a small segment of music first, starting with chords and adding complementing melody, then think up some lyrics which give the song a purpose and try to build from there intertwining the lyrics and melody, although sometimes they are made completely apart from each other like in "Never the Same" where I wrote the music in 2005 and the lyrics in 2006 and put them together in 2007.

Q: Your music tells stories. This is no secret, but are all these stories personal or not? In other words, where does the inspiration for all of your music as a whole come from?

A: My parent were both musicians in high school, my mother played piano and sang the national anthem, and my father played guitar in a rock band that toured the state. But after they got married, they focused on family and life and lost the music. But when I was a young child, I was singing almost as soon as I was talking and my mother always told me that I was a great singer and someday I would be famous and take care of her. When I was 4, they got divorced and I didn't see my mother much after that so music for me is what I've always had to remind me of her.

Q: What can we expect from Cayler in the near future?

A: Well I always have something in the works just waiting to be finished, but last year I bought a service from Tune Core that allows me to submit one full album to iTunes with a deadline of mid 2010, so I have bound myself to that deadline by the money I spent and I will see an album through to the end by mid 2010. That means I will be putting out as much as I can in the near future. I will even be having artistic photoshoots and making music videos, so if you're a fan of my past work then stay tuned!!

Cayler is a wonderful singer. A marvel of poetic genius at times with a story to tell everytime you listen to his music. He is a joy to the eardrums especially with what we have in terms of commercial modern music in today's time. He is also an inspiration to those who make music, play music, and sing as well.

Interview No. 18

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is a wonderful artist that can be heard through the Newgrounds Audio Portal. He has made enchanting songs such as The Picture Player, Farmland (True), as well as The Elder Scrolls. He is at works in making his own company Boutista Entertainment. He is none other than Jon Babb a.k.a. @Bosa.

Q: How did you find Newgrounds and why did you join?

A: I first joined Newgrounds back in 2004. I believe I found the website after seeing the tank logo on a flash game called 'Ghost Motel.' After visiting the site and falling in love with the amount of interactivity and user submitted content, I signed up.

Q: Your first submission to the Audio Portal would be Patch_Bell. What was the process in creating this song and looking back are you still proud of it?

A: Patch_Bell needed only two things: an audio mixer and a violinist. Well, I happened to have them both. It was actually one of my first steps into music, so I am definitely proud of it in that sense. However outdated, I still cannot forget where I have come from through the years.

Q: One song by you that one of my personal favorites is entitled Rain Song - A New Time. The use of rain and the simple acoustic guitar. Is there more to be said about this song or is everything that can be said already said within the song?

A: I remember how difficult that track was to make and how many times I wanted to just give up and move on to something else, but I'm glad I didn't. I remember looking out my window and seeing the rain pour down, adding a calm mist to the mountains. It made me fell very nostalgic for some reason, so I just used that feeling in my music - Rain Song.

Q: Speaking of favorites one song of yours that you claim to be one of your personal favorites is the song entitled The 3 Tissues. If it's one of your own favorites then there is probably a story behind it.

A: Ha! Indeed it is, as this was my first look into fantasy/classical type music. After submitting more and more miscellaneous and dance-type beats, I suddenly drew interest in a more classical approach. The 3 Tissues was something I had never made before (at the time) and you might go so far to say that it opened the door to the future of my music; what you are hearing today.

Q: Going through practically every single one of your songs is no easy feat. However after going through all of them one of the oddest songs, but still quite good is one entitled The Picture Player. Where did this somber idea come from Mr. Babb?

A: Oh boy, that was more on my creative side. I think this was the first song that I made with a story behind it, something that would actually be playing during a movie. The idea for the Picture Player came out of nowhere, consequently, and it's pretty much an example of my random imagination. The song was freestyle and I would just add whatever came to my mind until I thought of an ending.

Q: We now come to an interesting story told through music. The first submission in this tale would be Farmland, the second would be entitled Homeward Bound, after this you would go back and work more on the original Farmland to make Farmland (True) and where it would end would be with She's Left the Farm. I have reviewed just about all of these and I've sort of gotten some impression of what each song means, but perhaps the glass wasn't filled all the way. In other words what can you tell us about each of these songs and do they connect in a linear way or in an awkward way?

A: There's a personal story behind these songs. They do in fact connect starting with Farmland and ending with She's Left the Farm. It's a little too personal for me to share on here, but I can say that it was a love story - something Nicholas Sparks would write a novel about. People on Newgrounds don't always realize it in my music (as only few people do), but a lot of my songs are written based on my own life. I'm not saying my life is filled with drama and it should be on HBO, but I get my inspiration from real life experiences. Farmland was based off my life here in Tennessee, and it represented the daily toil and work. Homeward Bound represented a turn of events in my life that caused me to travel - it was a song about being homesick. She's Left the Farm represented a woman I once knew, and I'll leave it at that.

Q: I am quite lucky to get to ask this. Your latest song is entitled The Love of Marion. This is a collaboration song by you and our very own Hania. I interviewed Hania and her husband James Lee in the past and they are talented people. How did it come to be that you collaborated with Hania and how did it feel in doing so? Also what do the lyrics mean?

A: Working with Hania Lee was quite an experience, and it was a privilege to be able to use her voice in my music. When I contacted her about the song, as I've been wanting to work with her for quite some time, she agreed to collaborate right away. I felt that her voice had a very gentle and reflective feeling to it, so I wanted to see exactly what she was capable of. I ended up being quite surprised and impressed. I don't know what the lyrics mean, as I didn't write them. Hania Lee was in charge of that department, so she would know.

Q: What tools and processes do you take in writing music?

A: I usually use Sibelius to write all my music. I then use East West Quantum Leap products to perform my scores. I've sometimes had the honor to use a live orchestra, and I try my best to use live instruments as much as I can in my music. East West's new PLAY Plug-ins work wonders in music production, and I'm well served with the amount of musical magic at my fingertips.

Q: What is Boutista Entertainment and what is The Quest of Eve?

A: Boutista Entertainment is a newborn entertainment and artistic team devoted to flash, music, art, and anything else in the category of creativity. Quest of Eve is our first project, being a flash adventure game set with some RPG elements and settings. The game will be split into two parts, and it will feature the famous "Be who you want, play as you want" method of gaming.

Q: What can we expect from Bosa in the near future?

A: More music, of course. You will definitely see more collaborated submissions between me and Hania, as she's already drawn further interest in working with me. When Boutista finally kicks off, you can expect a new term for creativity. But as always, I'll continue submitting to Newgrounds as long as people don't grow tired of me.

Bosa is a gift to us all. He makes splendid music, and one can only hope that the music never stops. It is in my opinion that many people can learn about music from Bosa. I can only hope that others will look at his works and know what creativity truly is.

Interview No. 17

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is one who is within the flash, audio, and art communities. He's a brilliant flash artist who has won awards for the PICO DAY anthem, Blamformers!, and :the Composer:. He is also known for the Paladin series and has started the LARRY series, ladies and gentlemen I present to you Josiah Brooks also known as @Jazza.

Q: How did you find Newgrounds and why did you join?

A: I started off on sticksuicide.com. The makers of that site became very well known much later on for explosm.net and their Happiness and Cyanide creations. I first signed up to Newgrounds when the Star Syndicate bunch made a game and asked people to vote for it on Newgrounds. I had not HEARD of NG before, so i came and was BLOWN AWAY! Everything was so big and scary! All the animations were so much better then mine! But I signed up and submitted and experienced for the first time how brutal NG could be sometimes. maybe this was coz it was a while back now, but for a crappy stick figure animator it scared the living daylights outta me! lol. It pushed me to want to impress though.

Q: Your first flash submitted to Newgrounds started a series that never continued. That was CARNOS part 1. What can you tell us about your first work, why haven't you continued it, and are you still proud of your first work?

A: HAHA! It's actually nowhere near my first, just the least crappy of my early work at the time. I had about 2 years of random crap I didn't submit because it was so bad. I also had the bad habit of starting a series I never passed episode 1 on. I think somewhere I still have had started sequels but they never stuck. For obvious reasons I think. I'm proud of my early stuff because it helped me know what an internet based audience does and doesn't like.

Q: Another flash in which you took a new change to your animation skills would be KOROSU - the black samurai. A very nice flash submission that was promised to continue, but didn't. What can you tell us about this flash and why didn't you continue it?

A: Well it was my first taste of success, my first front page animation on Newgrounds and I got very excited, but faced a lot of criticism to the lack of story and character depth. Everything was just cliche, which is something i tend to struggle with! I fall into cliche a lot even when I think I'm being original. That's when I started working on Spree. Its a habit that plagued me for a long time, starting and never continuing, but that's because I saw the flaws and room for improvement and pushed myself on something bigger. I think thats what helped me improve faster, even though i didn't finish much to start off with.

Q: Another great flash by you is entitled Spree. A complex and dark storyline are the best words to describe this flash without giving anything away. What was the process in making this flash?

A: Well this is were I started realizing that story and art are the major factors in a good flash. So I began moving to a more thought out plot (still cliche looking back) and worked more on my art. Again same thing, a lot of negative response that made me push hard in another area :)

Q: We now come to the start of a wonderful series on Newgrounds. Paladin was a five part series with it's own flash game. It must have been quite an interesting journey. I want you to tell me everything about this series... from it's writing, drawing, overall creation.

A: WHOA where to start. Well I'm a sucker for the medieval and I just wanted to make something classic ya know? Well, it began as that and the art was my best. I continued to work on it because I felt more of a connection with it, BUT it still had many flaws, most of which I see looking back but didn't see at the time. In episodes 3 onwards plot was REALLY hard to work with because I never intended to continue it, and there was a LOT of mess to clean up which I did as best I could, and although the final episodes were artistically superior to my previews standard, the plot was just one big mess. The game was a great opportunity for me to do everything at the same quality while focusing on making the story feel more linear. So basically a big cleanup job and to almost make me feel like I redeemed my mess lol.

Q: A great flash made by you that is a personal favorite of mine is also one based off one of your audio portal songs. :the Composer:. I honestly want to know the writing process you took in writing this as well as animating it.

A: The song was written for the animation. The writing process for this one is a lot different to anything else and the biggest reason was because it was ART, made not for any intent of success but only for personal expression. I had a lot going on at the time, and excuse me for getting personal but my parents started down the slope that lead to divorce and when it felt like my world was crashing around me, I had only music to comfort me. Writing songs by myself. well at one point in time it wasnt enough. I needed to SEE what i felt and that resulted in :the Composer:, 3 months of work, simple animation to a thought out soundtrack. It's success STILL amazes me because I submitted it during madness day/week and on the day after the finale to the xombie series, so in my eyes it didnt stand a chance, but I knew why I made it and was very happy with the result. Well it didnt get front page at first but soon enough the score kept rising and it ended up not only on the front page but on the top spot on the 'all time' list on Newgrounds. WOW! I had never been on that list with ANYTHING let alone something I never expected to reach it!! I was blown away and SO humbled by that. SO many emails and heartfelt connections that really mean a lot to me. Newgrounds has a heart! Who knew it! haha.

Q: I am fortunate enough to get to ask you about your latest work LARRY: episode 1. The start of another great and very comical series. What can we expect from this series in the near future and what can you tell us about making it?

A: Well larry is I feel the peak of my animating talent in the sense that I feel I know what to give the audience, how to make a character I like and can connect with enough to WANT to animate, AND the VITAL importance to story. I started work on Larry while doing missionary work for my church, which I LOVED, taking out the time to help others. but I did get spare time in the evenings, just an hour or so after 8pm, and I liked plotting! It started with me thinking 'what will I make when I get back?' and I came up with Larry, who was almost gonna be named Lenny (could have gone either way). I drew pages of different midget knights, until I hit the result you see and it stuck. He was SO FUN to draw, fighting people 5 times his size, angry, happy, crying, just had a dimension to him I loved. From then things just grew, and now I have HEAPS of characters with the same amount of class to them. the thing I LOVE MOST is I'm no longer improvising. With most everything else I've ever made, especially series, it was all made up as I went along. THIS time I COULDN'T animate so I had to keep making character after character, plot after plot, until far before I had flash to work with the world was as rich in my mind as you see in episode 1. RICHER even. I know so many characters and quirks you guys don't and I love it! It's like having a million friends I know your gonna love that I get to introduce to you! The best part is I know whats coming and it's not boring or improvised or anything, it's so fun!

Q: As you've proven with LARRY: episode 1 you are a talented voice actor. What advice can you give to other prominent voice actors out there?

A: Hmm, this ones interesting because until Larry I'd never really pushed my voice like this. It just comes with time and I'd be giving myself way too much credit if the voices were calculated and formulated. As with drawing the concepts of the character, I keep going until something sticks. So I would talk to myself in many strange voices much to the annoyance of the people around me, until something just stuck. Larry's voice just stuck. Kikkets voice just stuck, as with the king, the overlord, everything! To just practice and, know the feel of the character your imitating! It helped for me to know Larry's a little handful, a jerk and at the little time as much of a child as he looks.

Q: Your first entry in the Audio Portal was a song entitled _-= in a river =-_. You certainly have a beautiful voice and play beautifully. How did it feel recording this song and do you still like it?

A: HAHA NO. Sorry, all my early audio portal work is still embarrassing to me, but thats because I didn't GET music. It was just a toy to muck around with. Eventually i learned the powerful impact music can have and went with that, but my early stuff is made up lyrics that i didnt even know what it was talking about. It helped me progress through and I suppose that's why i keep it there, coz we gotta embrace our roots.

Q: When it comes to new artists on Newgrounds I believe they should listen to your canon in C Classical Loop before attempting any other song. This mere simple loop is great piano playing by you. You say you were only experimenting, my question is why?

A: Again, no deep or meaningful answer. I learned a simple version of pachabels' canon that week and was mucking around. :)

Q: In 2007 you stepped out of your comfort zone you've been known for and did a Heavy Metal loop entitled (PG) Shards of Burning Metal. You said why you did a Heavy Metal song, my question is will we see more Heavy Metal works from you in the future?

A: HAHA no. Sorry. Well, I dont know. I can't say. If the time comes where creation calls for it in something I'm doing and I cant hire someone, then I'll work on it. I mean, when I made that it was all done on a keyboard, now I actually know some guitar and could do it a lot easier. I'm just not as big of a fan of metal, unless its in a game. I do appreciate the feel it brings when killing people... virtually that is...

Q: You did cover two songs for the Audio Portal. Mad World Cover, which I believe is better than the original song, and February Song cover. Both of these song covers are wonderful, but why did you decide to cover them?

A: When I love a song I learn it, as simple as that. When I learn it well enough I enjoy recording it, and if I like the result I'll share it. I know you hear covers on the piano, lately i'm into regina spektor and learning some other covers on guitar. I may record them when I get the time!

Q: Your next cover Out of my League cover is in my opinion better than the original and it is my favorite song by you. Why did you decide to cover this song and how did it feel singing it?

A: That's an interesting story. I fell in love with a girl and no one knew but me. She showed me that song, its exactly how I felt, so I recorded it to impress her, and almost told her how I felt. It kinda worked coz we ended up together for a while, and we were both crazy in love, but life happens and people change and it didnt last forever, which is OK :)

Q: What can you tell us about your website JAZZA STUDIOS. Are there main members of your studio? Are jobs opened for prominent animators, musicians, artists, voice actors, and writers?

A: Members of Jazza Studios = me. I am the studio. lol. I still get emails asking if my 'studio' would be willing to animate a companies somethingorather and every time I'm like "DUDE, I'M ONE PERSON!" lol. My fault I know. The site was always intended as a personal showcase for my artistic works so it isn't and probably never will be open to public works. Sorry :( but i wouldn't want to even TRY stealing newground's thunder!

Q: What can we expect from Jazza in the near future?

A: Well I'm right back into the world of animation working hard. I'm striving to submit a new flash game or animation every month or two, so you can expect current and flowing content, and for all reviews and PM's to be read and appreciated. unless they a little rude :) Larry will continue coz I have a lot of people I want you to meet, and fun things that are gonna be happening. My website is going through a total makeover where content will flow freely and in a much sharper layout. Oh and I'm recording a demo CD with the intent to get signed by a record label.

Jazza is quite possibly one of the best flash artists of our time and is certainly one of the best singers we've had on here. He is an inspiration to anyone who wants to get into the music business or wants to be a flash animator.

Interview No. 16

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is known throughout the flash portal, audio portal, and art portal. He is known for Scotty and Pete, The Assumption Song, and Chris & Harry which he hit the triple crown with. He is none other than Chris O'Neill also known on Newgrounds as @Oney.

Q: How did you find Newgrounds and why did you join?

A: A guy called Paul Keating, who was a good friend at the time used to always be sending me shit like Retarded Animal Babies over MSN, and we'd shit our pants laughing at it. I've always been aware of NG. I love animating, and NG is and always has been the easiest site to submit any content to. It's the shit.

Q: Your first flash submission to Newgrounds was entitled HALO-Combat Erected! V1.1. What is the story behind your first creation.

A: Liked Halo at the time. Figured why not make a toon of it. When I finished making it I remembered NG and decided to see how it'd do on it. It unsuprisingly did shit, but I still thought NG was still a great place to show your work. Took me like a week or 2 to make, I knew no-one on NG at the time so there's no voices. I really hate that piece of shit!

Q: One of your best flash submission in my opinion has to be Weird Al's Best. It won a Daily Feature and Weekly 4th Place. On the preloader screen you already stated a good bit, but I think there's more to it than what you've said there. Why did it take so long for this flash to come out?

A: Literally because I'm a lazy bastard. If I get bored it could take weeks before I get back into sitting down for hours on end. Animating is hard work and I really have to be in the mood for it. Plus that toon was a fucking prick to make, specially back then when I was working with a mouse! Yeah, that's that anyways.

Q: The next flash I want you to tell us about is Scotty and Pete. Quite the interesting start for a series, but we haven't seen any episodes after that. What can you tell us about Scotty and Pete and where will it be in the future?

A: Me and that Paul Keating guy recorded the lines one night, making it up as we went along. I really liked it but Paul's gone to college since so I never see him. So that series is down the crapper.

Q: Spongebob Sickpants. What was going through your mind when you created this?

A: I heard Spongebob was supposed to become an adult toon at one stage. It didn't. I was pissed off cos I wanted to see Spongebob do some fucked up shit. I had just gotten my Wacom at the time and I really wanted to try it out. It was kinda practise to get used to the tablet. I loved fucked up shit, I figured why not make some fucked up shit of my own.

Q: You hit the triple crown winning a Daily Feature, Weekly 1st Place, and the Review Crew Pick awards when you created Chris & Harry. HappyHarry has already given us his side of this flash. What story can you tell us?

A: Basically, I made it as far as the part where the moon blows up and sent it over MSN to harry for fun. Then I kept adding on everyday and just had some fun with it. Harry kept egged me on to finish it whenever I deserted it so you can thank that british fuck for it's completion.

Q: In the flash game SHIFT 4 you provided the music. We'll get to your audio portal submissions, but I want to know how you were chosen to do the music for this game. I also want to know the process and steps you went through to make the music for the game.

A: WELL I wasn't actually chosen. I met the Shift's creater The-EXP at the London Meet in 2008, and he PMed me on NG ages later asking me to use my song as the main theme for the game. I loved shift and I was glad he asked me! He also has the biggest dick I've ever seen.

Q: Your first audio portal submission is entitled Music to kill Dragons to. It certainly is a great Classical Loop. What did you use to create this track and what was the process you used to create it?

A: I used Reason 3.0 for that one. I basically tried out all the inbuilt samples and picked out my favourite ones. It was my first time making music, and boy does it certainly show.

Q: One of my favorites by you has to be Go, Go Power Rangers! Epic. It certainly is a great remix. I want to know your story of why did you make this remix and how did you go about making it?

A: I fucking loved Power Rangers when I was a little kid, I watched that shit constantly. I think that theme tune is the best theme song ever made so I felt like messing with it. Also made that one in Reason 3.0.

Q: We now come to two remixes one entitled King Dedede - Mix and King Dedede - Heavy Mix. Both of these remixes are good, but why did you remix the same song twice? Also which one do you prefer?

A: I made those for my lil pal Paperbat. He's making a game and he asked me could I remix that song for his game. The first one is the main theme, the second is heavier because that part of the game becomes more frantic. I like the heavier one better cos it has church organs, and boy howdy do I love church organs.

Q: Although you were never big in the art forum. That doesn't stop you from submitting stuff to the Art Portal. How do you come up with ideas for artwork and animations? For every original character you've created what is the process that goes behind it all?

A: I dunno really, I don't sit down and try thinking of characters or storyline, that dosent usually work for me. Shit just comes to me at random times. Everytime I do get an idea I convince myself it's shit and drop it. I've started so many projects and deserted em. As for character design, I just keep drawing until I get what I want.

Q: What can we expect from Oney within the future?

A: I'm working on a game with the talented young programmer, Josilver. The game's kinda top secret at the moment, but it's pretty different and I hope NG loves it. Apart from that, I have no idea what's in store for the future. Maybe something that's not shit.

Oney is certainly a bright individual. He has covered all his bases from art, animation, and music. He is a rare case we see in most artists, but at the same time we tend to see as well. If you don't know who Oney is then chances are you watched one of his flash movies and had no idea that you did.

Interview No. 15

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is one I've been tempting to interview for quite some time now and have put it off for far too long. He has won awards for his flash movies including Santa's Last Stop and Prostitute Mickey. He started the Apocalypse Lane series and had done much more work and will give us more in the future. He is none other than @Jonnyethco.

Q: The best place to begin is at the beginning. How did you find Newgrounds and why did you join?

A: I found Newgrounds a long time ago. I think I was still in high school, which would have been in the late 90's and early 2000's. I've been coming to the site ever since occasionally to play games and watch cartoons but I never joined until recently when I had something that I wanted to submit.

Q: Your first flash was entitled Why Leave? Short Cartoon. It won a Daily 5th Award. Tell me what was the process in creating this little flash?

A: Why Leave was actually my third animation. The first was a short I did called "Don't Play With Closet Monsters" You can see it here. It's not very good, but it was a learning experience for me with After Effects. After DPWCM I did an 11 min pilot called "Doraleous and Associates" for the comedy troupe, Hank and Jed, which not a lot of people have seen because we are shopping it around to the cable networks. It's a great pilot, I'm extremely proud of it and I'm hoping that one day it will be seen either online or on television. Why Leave came after that and I did it for a kid named Zack Weiner who was doing his student project. We got together over a few days, recorded the audio and animated the toon. It turned out pretty decent, but this was the first one I did where aferwards I said to myself, "I'm ready to try doing my own stuff again." Through Doraleous and Why leave I had gained, I guess, enough confidence in myself to start making something more my style. Why leave was also the first one I submitted to Newgrounds, and getting an actual trophy for it was very exciting.

Q: Your next two flash movies would be Santa's Last Stop and Tree Balls. Both these flash movies earned you a Daily 5th Award and a Daily 4th Award. Why did you want to make two Christmas themed flash movies and what was the process behind it?

A: Santa's Last Stop came from a dream I had where Santa came out of the chimney and then called me a Cocksucker. I woke up and was laughing at just the thought. With Christmas on the way I took the dream and wrote a short script that turned into Santa's Last Stop. I went to a friend of mine named Duke and asked him if he would be willing to play Santa in this thing. He agreed and we got together one night and laid down the audio. I did the drawings and animated it within the next few weeks. When I went to submit to Newgrounds I saw that the Christmas competition was going on so I said, "What the hell, I'll submit this and maybe people will dig it." It got a huge response and it was my first submission that got on the front page which, to me at the time, was the most exciting thing in the world. After it got on the front page I was hooked and I just started making cartoon after cartoon. Tree Balls was next and it was a little idea I had, not to complicated ant only took about 3 days to do. This was also the first cartoon where I did both all the voices and all the animation. I was the happiest guy on the planet when Santa's Last Stop took 3rd place in the contest. That was the point where i realized I wanted to start doing this for a living.

Q: A series begins with a flash movie entitled Renegade Awesome Episode1. What is the story behind this series and what can we expect to see from it in the future?

A: That was me trying something a bit experimental really. I had seen a bunch of game and movie reviews on youtube where these pathetic guys in their parents basements would record themselves on a webcam doing movie reviews. I thought to myself, I should do an animated show in that exact some format. I recorded an episode and had it drawn and animated it in a week. i did the two others after that and they only took about 2 days each because I already had all the elements drawn so it was a simple process of laying in a new lip sync. They got a decent response but they really didn't take off like I wanted so I moved to other things. Now there is a bunch of people who want me to continue the series and if I'm ever given the opportunity I might.

Q: You know I love a good parody, and you have proven this with the flash Obama's Inauguration. I'm sure there is a delightful story behind this. Could you please share it with us?

A: I made that real quick, a couple of days after the actual Inauguration. I was watching the Inauguration at the house and I saw the slip up at the beginning. I thought to myself, "He must have been distracted by Aretha's ridiculous hat." That's what sparked the concept. I animated it over a weekend to try to capitalize on the Obama craze going on at the time.

Q: We now come to one flash movie that I want to know a lot more about. That is Prostitute Mickey. Where did this idea come from and what was it like working with HankandJed?

A: Christ, this one was a fun one to make. Basicaly Bryan Mahoney, who is a member of Hank and Jed, said to me, "Hey, I'd love to get together with you one night and help you write a cartoon." I said, "Sure man, lets get together and just shoot the shit, have some beers and come up with something." We got together one evening and we started tossing ideas. The economy was starting to tank at this time so i wanted to do something that kind of related to that. We first had a sketch we recorded that night where the Monopoly guy couldn't get a loan from the bank. It was really funny and I may go back an animate that one day when the economy crashes again. About 12:00 midnight we were done and stepped out back to sit on the porch and keep drinking. We started talking about how, like in "Santa's Last Stop" and the Monopoly thing, it was fun to see classic characters in bad situations. Then i said, "Yeah, like what if Mickey Mouse had to whore himself out for money?" right there on the spot, i came up with the pitiful Mickey voice and said something like, "Ahh gee. I'll suck your dick for a dollar." We started cracking up and we just start throwing lines back and forth as Mickey and the guy wanting to fuck him. Now we're pretty drunk at this point and we say, "Screw it, lets go record that right now." The result is Prostitute Mickey, which to this day is still one of my personal favorites.

Q: It wouldn't be long until Prostitute Mickey 2 would be released. With the addition of Goofy some say that Prostitute Mickey 2 is quite possibly funnier than the first one. What was it like working on this next production?

A: Mickey 1 was a big hit on Newgrounds so how could we not want to make a second one. Plus it was so goddamn funny that Bryan and I both wanted to do another one. I agree that it's much funnier than the first cause, the first is kinda sad really. Goofy was only going to come to the door once in the original. We recorded it where Foghorn Leghorn came second as his landlord wanting money, and I cant remember right now who we had coming in last. But when we played it back, we were cracking up so much at Goofy that we decided, "Goofy's too fucking funny, he has to come back each time." I was the right decision and made the short funnier since Goofy kept pestering Mickey. My good friend Mario Marchioni was also with us and he did the voice of Minni Mouse, although we altered it with a pitch.

Q: It seems you and HankandJed would become quite the little team. What can you tell me about Mad Mad Mario? And will we see anymore video game parodies within the future?

A: The Mad Mad Mario spawned from me saying to Bryan, "It's amazing how many views some of these game parodies get. Why don't we try to make one just to see how successful it would be?" We came up with a fun concept and we laid down the audio one night, I animated it and submitted it to Newgrounds. Well, like I predicted it got an insane amount of hits and is probably the most successful thing I've done. It has about 450,000 views here on NG, 300,000 on youtube and a german fandub on youtube has about 400,000. So that's a ton of eyes watching this thing and it really helped get may name out there. It's not very original or anything but what I think sets it apart is the delivery. It's a string of obscenities yes, but the way you say them, the inflection on certain words, the anger, all had to be there to make this work and I think we pulled that off pretty well. I plan on doing more game parodies in the future. :)

Q: What can you tell my readers here about Apocalypse Lane? Where can they see more episodes and will more episodes be coming to Newgrounds?

A: Apocalypse Lane is an original web series that was picked up by The Escapist, who are famous for the Zero Punctuation videos. The Escapist is run out of Durham, which is about 2 hours from where i live. I went up there to answer a call for a voice audition for a new Cartoon series they are doing. (which will premiere soon btw) I was cast for 2 parts in the series and while I was there I handed the guy my card and said, "Hey check out my cartoons if you get a chance." I get a callback later saying they want me to pitch them an original series set in space or in a post-apocalyptic world. In about a week, we came up with the characters for Apocalypse Lane and we pitched them the idea. They loved it and the next thing I knew i signed a contract to produce 48 episodes. to me, this series is the best thing I've ever done. Parodies are fun, but this is something completely new, out of the box, and it already has a pretty strong fan base. People were iffy on the first few episodes but ever since episode 6 I've received nothing but praise for the series. I encourage everyone to start watching them because when the series is finished, people are going to look back on it and go, "Wow, that was a damn good show." Unfortunately I cant upload them all to Newgrounds but I plan on uploading one or two more if they will let me. Still, I'm actually getting paid to animate a weekly series and I consider myself one of the luckiest guys on the planet.

Q: Happy Harry describes animating...

I guess I love anticlimaxes and antijokes, it's not that I'm setting out to gross out people, or even make them laugh necessarily (though that is a welcomed side effect), I really just want to surprise them with something crazy and I love playing on people's abilities to second guess an ending.

After watching your flash movies you two seem to have a somewhat similar style, but different at the same time. For every flash that you wrote solo, what is the process you go through in writing and animating?

A: Happy Harry is fucking brilliant. His animation is so solid too. My animation style is cheap as shit compared to him but i attribute that to my ADD. If it's gonna take a long time to do, I'll get bored with it or I'll start thinking it's not funny anymore. Mostly when I write, I have the mic right in front of me. We more or less have a concept and then we write down, point A, point B and point C. But I don't really "write" anything until I'm in front of the mic and I start coming up with lines. A lot of what we say is improvised as well. I find that making a cartoon is so organic that way because you can listen to it right there and go, "No that sucks, let's try another line." or "That seemed funny on paper, but it's not really working, how can we fix it?" It's unconventional, but it seems to work for us.

Q: What can we expect to see from Jonnyethco in the future?

A: Well, we have prostitute Mickey 3 and Mad Mad Mario 2 recorded and already lip synced. Animating and compositing them come down to when I take time to do it. Apocalypse Lane takes up most of my time during the week and what off time I do have I try to spend with my 8 month old daughter. They will get done, but it may take a while to get them out the pipe. If things go well this year and next year looks good, i plan to hire an extra animator to handle my "Fun Stuff" like the parodies and whatnot so I can be doing a series that pays the bills, but also be able to do other projects as well and not worry about the workload. We're not going to stop. My ultimate goal is to have a TV show on Adult Swim or another network. Either way, plan on seeing a lot more content from this bunch of crazy mother fuckers.

Interviewing Appsro shows that no matter what your work is, whether it be animating, writing, voice acting, or making music. There is always a medium in which you can pursue a career with. He has shown that there is a chance to gain recognition no matter who you are or what you do. He is an inspiration to any and all people who submit their work to Newgrounds.