Interview No. 3

Interview By: @The-Great-One

There comes a time when you come across an artist on Newgrounds who doesn't make artwork just for fame, but just for fun and just to be acknowledged. Possibly the most humble of any Newgrounds user I've ever met and believe me when I say we have had our share of quarrels in the past. This flash artist has been acknowledged for his flash works pulling in over 50 Awards. Including Daily Features for his works on The Morgue, -Created-, Joey's Bright Idea, and The Greatest Idea Ever!. He has also received Daily 2nd Place awards for his works on the Weird Al Yankovic music video flash Your Horoscope for Today! and has worked with TheWeebl to create Weebl and Bob: Wizard. He is also nominated for a Tank Trophy this year for his contribution to Metal Gear Funnies. This Newgrounds user is none other than @ZekeySpaceyLizard.

Q: The first flash I remember watching that was made by you was entitled "I'm Blue." What was the experience working on this flash and do you plan on remaking it?

A: the thing I remember the most about that film, was that it was the first time I realized how quickly I can sling together something decent when I feel passion. Just clenching my teeth and working as hard as I can for several hours, sitting back, and having a whole finished cartoon.

the thing i dont like about that film is that I ran out of ideas so the majority of the second half of it is filler.

i still remember importing the planet painting i did in paintshoppro into flash, tracing it, and going "hmm this could be a useful technique to use later on"

as for remaking it, no. i still enjoy the first half, that and its not really an important film. it was like the 3rd thing i made that ever won a daily award, and theres no real reason to go back and improve it since its so old and obscure.

Q: One flash collaboration that you participated with was entitled "The 5 Shades of Blue," in which your contribution was honestly one of the most creative things I've seen on Newgrounds since The Liar. What was your experience on working with these flash authors?

A: it was great. I'd never been part of a collab before, but I had, just weeks prior, seen "The 5 Shades of Green"

at the time of that collab I was really getting into color theory and so the theme really attracted me. of course we had to be very conservative since the limit back then was 5 mb.

but through that collab I met alot of great people. Renaenae who still keeps me up to date on art contests, and Mynamewontfitin who has become a fucking incredible artist of digital paint. SpaceChicken who changed his name and actually wants to bring back the 5 shades one last time. Greedom who introduced me to RedMongoose and then disappeared off the internet.

i recall it was also the first time i got hatemail of sorts when some angry child felt the need to contact me through aim to tell me what a terrible person i was for entering the contest and having my entry picked over his.

of course, once he realized i wasnt influencing the contest, because i wasnt the one PICKING THE ENTRIES, he tried to backtrack his argument. but it was too late. i had seen newgrounds true face.

i entered two more shades collabs after that.

Brown which was one of my first attempts at really trying to make something fancy

and Purple whose part i never finished and submitted it on some alt months later unfinished.

Q: Tell me what it felt liking working with BlueHippo on the Weird Al Yankovic flash music video Your Horoscope for Today!?

A: i'd already known hippo for years. he and i met back in like 2001 on the weebl and bob forums and had become good friends. so having him help me fix flash errors (of which there were many) was good.

Q: The first independent flash you made to win a Daily Feature award was The Morgue. In my opinion this flash was a Mind Fuck, but it was entertaining. Tell me how this flash came to be?

A: ah. one day me and blue hippo were chatting on msn at like 1am and i was going through websites trying to find free mp3s. this was in the days of Kazaa. and even then, kazaa sucked. so i was going through sites trying to find classical or weird music to use for flash when I happened upon the website of voice actress and radio host april winchell.

she had like.....an ark of WEIRD music.

including a bunch of employee training tapes from the 1960's. i was so inspired to use these that i wanted to use them in something really rancid. the tapes had such an upbeat happy theme, i really wanted to have a visual that was the complete antithesis of the merriness. the sickest thing i could think of was a morgue. although thats probably because i had become a fanboy of kingdom hospital and Rijet at the time.

Q: Are there any users here on Newgrounds you like or get along with?

A: sure there's plenty.

i make it a priority to block people i dislike so i can save myself time. the people i REALLY like i talk to on aol instant messenger. i used to use msn but it sucks balls.

Q: Are there any users here on Newgrounds you dislike or do not get along with?

A: oh thats a long long list there. a LONG long list.

and its getting longer since newgrounds is being overrun by /b/ newfags who are using the "lol i troll u" method of arguing whenever someone points out how stupid they are.

but specific people would take me a good hour to list.

i would never want to be a mod of this place, but everyday i wish i could ban certain people. there's too many assholes here who don't contribute diddly squat and then bitch like the authors owe them something.

Q: Do you regret any decisions you've made on Newgrounds?

A: nothing i've DONE here do i regret. but theres a few personal relationships i've had with a few people here that began due to me hurting someone's feelings. those are never too good.

Q: You constantly complain about the state of the BBS. If you had the power to change it, what would you do?

A: delete it.

there is seriously no fixing it at this point. half the laughable moderation staff only sign on like once a month. the other half are people who brown-nosed the staff and now just do the whole "HEY I'LL BAN A BUNCH OF PEOPLE AND WRITE A REALLY RUDE POST HAHAHAHA I AM SO EDGY EPIC" thing, while a slew of 10 year olds make 40 new naruto topics. the amount of stupid kids and even stupider kids trying to troll the stupid kids is massive. and then we finally get a new forum, the art forum, and its slowly ruined by people posting stolen art, people who fly off the handle when someone accuses someone else of stealing art, and people who cant do art at all posting their own crap in all the other threads.

the bbs is a tumor.

but of course, dont point the flaws out or you get banned!

Q: How did you find Newgrounds?

A: i found newgrounds. back then other than a few nice things, the site was mostly people trying very hard to copy xiao xiao.

which was cool. i made some cartoons. everyone hated them. why? well for two reasons, one was because they were awful. feel free to watch my 2003 films. the second reason is because the entire culture of this place at the time was "IT NEEDS MORE VIOLENCE OR NUDITY TO BE GOOD"

so i remained an obscure nobody making things i felt like making and not really caring that anyone liked them. i was in high school at the time.

then i discover the star syndicate, roughly halfway through season 1 of the original dailytoons. it was hilarious. marrying the most bizarre concepts to weird television pop culture, and done in the crudest way imaginable with the most annoying sound as possible JUST TO GET PEOPLE UPSET

and oh people got upset. oh people went NUTS. its like stomping an anthill. they all crawl out waving their tiny little pinchers uselessly. we changed the culture of this place.

and it was fucking hilarious. they made fun of the userbase here, the idiots who ran the bbs. it was great.

so I joined.

somewhere between then and now, I got popular. i have no fucking clue how. i guess tweening my drawings to music caused people to like me. but then, standards here have always been low.

but currently we're stuck in a time when the original rebels here are disbanded, replaced by terrible wannabe's like the duck division, the rock revision, the fuck fascists, etc

and people who think that just because i have a fanbase now (and one thats starting to rival legendary frog's in terms of annoyance and brownnosing and people who mistakenly think i know what i'm doing with my life) means that suddenly I have to straighten up and be a role model for the goons here. the same goons whom years ago sent me angry private messages because i dared call out shit like foamy for what it was.

no.

unlike alot of people here, i chose to NOT just suckle the tit of anime and videogames so people would notice me. i didnt WANT to be noticed. but i was anyway. and now each time i make anything its like an ambush of people who, like you, seem determined to find some sort of 'message' in my stuff.

unlike alot of people here, i chose NOT to suddenly cease being an active member of this community simply cause i was popular. how often does knox come to newgrounds now? once a year. fuck that. what about legendary frog eh? what about all the other 'popular' authors? how many of them actually GIVE A SHIT about this place? hardly any.

unlike alot of people here, i chose to improve myself. and I have. no not by much because i'm a talentless hack. but i'm a hell of alot better than i was in 2002.

i've worked like a dog. and been rewarded for it a couple of times by the very generous tom fulp. do you know how life-changing it is to have 700 dollars land on you for making a cartoon you spent 2 weeks on that everyone was sure was going to lose to "BOWSER HALLOWEEN SPRITE CLOWNFUCKERY 5" and everyone thought you were going to commit suicide because you're an already cynical and depressing person? to be able to afford tools so my art can look less terrible? so I can have some creative freedom? especially when you make minimum wage?

its a fuckin gift.

i havent changed my ways for anyone here.

and i've had alot of fun pissing off people in the process.

and I sure as hell won't be stopping any time soon.

Q: How does it feel being nominated for a Tank Trophy for your contribution to Metal Gear Funnies?

A: it feels like i bit into an apple and clam chowder came out

After interviewing ZekeySpaceyLizard I can truly see an individual who deserves a NG Tank Trophy for Best User this year. Zekey is certainly a flash artist that will continue to be a part of Newgrounds and chances are he wants the site to become better or become a revival of the old days of Newgrounds. Although there are many spam flashes amongst his works, you can surely find some flash movies that show off Zekey's artistic skills.