Interview No. 190

Interview By: @The-Great-One

[ PART 1 | PART 2 ]

Q: Working long nights, both at my night job and work on Newgrounds, a song that has hit me pretty hard is Street Lights. It would be a collaborative effort between you and Seán. For those unaware, who is Seán? Could you explain the collaboration between you two on the lyrics and the melody of this song?

A: Seán (@IrishChieftain) is my husband. He was my fiancé at the time of the making of this song; we had been engaged since mid-2014.

Seán can make a song, more often than not a parody song, out of any subject humanly possible. During a bus trip one afternoon, he made an impromptu song about street lights. For some reason, this made me want to write my own song about street lights – I have long had an affinity for serious songs about little lights in the darkness – and so the words and music just flowed out of me.

Q: Funny thing, one of my favorite songs by you in our last interview was As Stars that Shine (FULL). My new favorite by you is still related to stars in a way with please take care of this star would be your 200th song on Newgrounds. You have shared the story with us here on Newgrounds. This song is almost four years old now. From what I have known about you, from your last interview, and your journey throughout Newgrounds. There’s a lot of you in this song. When AlmightyHans was here, we talked about how The Ballad of CrippleKane affected him and at the time he saw as his greatest work and he reflected on his time on Newgrounds.

“Newgrounds has always meant so much to me. It was where I've met the best people in the world. The kind that restores your faith in humanity. The kind that settles the wonder of how or why we've survived so long as a species. And to be nominated by the site was a very big deal for me.”

You would share the instrumental portion of this song with @LD-W and @ForgottenDawn. Would you agree with @AlmightyHans quote? What more can you tell us about this song that you haven’t divulged? What are your thoughts looking back on it?

A: I have had mixed feelings about Newgrounds in the last year or so; where I would have advocated strongly for it, I’m not so sure I would now – so in that respect, my opinion diverges from AlmightyHans’.

I’ve been a moderator on this site, on and off, since 2015(?). On Newgrounds, I’ve seen some of the best people, and also some of the worst people. I’ve met staunch friends. I’ve met people who have tried to control others in cults, people who have groomed minors and worse, people whom I have fallen out with, people whom I have made amends with, people who have helped others out of the goodness of their hearts, and people who have sent me and my friends death threats simply for fighting for my own and others’ intellectual property rights. I have seen people on this site who believe that people like me, who sought asylum in the UK, should simply not exist. I have also seen people on this site who are in positions of privilege and comfort who have fought for people like me. You get used to the fact that Newgrounds is full of all sorts of people.

When I got gaslit by someone else in a position of authority offline last year, I found it hard to find support or listening ears outside of the people from Newgrounds who were already in my own server or in my circle of friends. Some of its members’ old tendencies of putting down people who have been through real, lived experiences still subsist *to this day*. And some people seem to be blind to the realities of things like gaslighting, for example, until it affects them or their friends in huge, explosive ways. Not long after my own experience, many users on Newgrounds, myself included, experienced gaslighting on an industrial scale from someone who many of us believed was a friend.

Let me make it clear that I believe that the Staff and the moderators I work with are not like this. (This is also true, at least, for a subsection of the NG userbase.) If my memory is to be believed, the Staff are some of the kindest, most level-headed people I have spoken with. They also have a monstrous task of tending to a site with a growing membership, and keeping it as independent as possible. The mods are, in their turn, mostly working adults who are effectively volunteering when they can to help make NG that little bit better.

Anywhere we go, we have the human condition to deal with, and Newgrounds is no different. I think that’s something we all need to be mindful of. Do I look fondly at it? Of course. In my asylum seeker years, it was an outlet I so desperately needed – due to my nonprofit status, there was no way I could have feasibly posted my music anywhere else, not without spending money I didn’t have, or receiving money illicitly. I kept writing songs; I just couldn’t stop. Newgrounds was the site that formed my musicianship for a long time. Without Tom or the many other people who made Newgrounds, I wouldn’t be half the musician I am today.

But at the end of the day, any community depends on its people. I hope that we on Newgrounds can continue doing what good we are already doing, and do better on the parts that need improvement. For my part, I have a life to live, and a lot of atoning to do for past harms.

As for please take care of this star, I still look back on it fondly. I had dramatically changed at that point, compared to when I had first joined the site, and the shift in tone was marked across all my music and artwork. In the days immediately after I had released that song, I asked a few other game audio professionals in my network what their thoughts were on the track, most notably Akash Thakkar. I remember him saying that it sounded like something that wouldn’t be out of place in a AAA game.

Today, I look at that song not only as an example of how capable I am of musical theatre, but also as a symbol of my longing for the days of actual international fraternity – not the fascistic small-mindedness that has led the UK to where we are today.

Q: The last song I want to talk about today is one from 2019 which would be entitled Sing. What about this song can you share with us?

A: I cried after I had finished writing the lyrics, and Greg Slater witnessed this. We were at Soundskills at the time. The lyrics were my attempt at imagining a supportive mother speaking to me from beyond the grave, giving me the support that I never got in my childhood and most of my adolescence. The lyrics might suggest a popular singer in her late teens or early twenties, but instead, it was sung by a struggling asylee in a poorer suburb of Preston.

It is one of the few songs of mine that I can perform on my own, so I might dig it up in a future open mic. Let’s see what happens.

Q: You have become quite an artist here on the site. However, at one point you were looking to drop art. What can you tell us about talking with @Sabtastic that brought you back into making art?

A: To my recollection, she was the kind of person who encouraged people to make art anyway, even if we weren’t feeling so hot about it or if we were getting disparaging comments left and right about it. That alone was enough to keep me going.

Q: Mantle of Stars is an incredible piece that I absolutely love. You’ve stated that it is a piece of a larger project that you look to finish. I haven’t been able to find the finished project though. Will we see the finished project?

A: I hope so, even if I genuinely don’t know when. This is an effort that is far too big for me to handle alone. I don’t consider myself a good organiser. I’m just an audio and narrative person, strapped for time and unable to understand programming languages.

Given the scope and the contents of the story, I’d need some programmers, some artists, maybe a few more to help me in audio, and I’d need them to know in advance that they’re handling religious themes from a queer perspective – yes, this project’s story has finally grown along with me. I want to be able to make a narratively rich game (genre TBD, but I always thought of it as a bullet hell) about an exorcist priest who is sent out to dispel demons, and then realises the error of his ways, over how he has treated certain subsections of people – and how some of his actions are why the demons are rampaging.

Seeing as the only things I can confidently do are audio and narrative, I try and put those two things out there in the hopes that people might take interest and ask me about it. But in recent times, no one on here has, with the exception of @JJGamez64 and one other whose username I’m struggling to remember. I even debated releasing the compilation on Bandcamp after polishing everything up so that I could show it to people as a proof of concept and an outline of the story, but at this present stage of my profession, I don’t think anyone will bite.

I’d like for people to ask me about it though. I’d also like to know the best course of action going forward.

Q: You have attended school for your creative works and you have been on Newgrounds for over ten years now. What are the pros and cons to learning from school vs. learning from Newgrounds? How would you describe the education attained from both?

A: I technically haven’t attended school with the exception of my formal training on piano and drums. Everything else I have either learnt from people around me, some of them from Newgrounds, or learnt it on my own.

I think it depends on whom you wind up receiving your education from. Not all of us are able to put the process of why we do things in words. Some are patient, some are quick-tempered. I remember that a lot of people were eager to give me mixing help in the comments sections of my songs, even for a long while, I couldn’t understand half of what they were saying. I also remember that up until 2019, I had people who were happier to put my art down rather than actually teach me. Some did provide helpful feedback, though. I would ultimately learn my figure drawing from asa+kari and Alroetsue – people not from Newgrounds, but from my doujin circle, Aetherhythm – and I would learn about backgrounds, perspective, movement, foreshortening, and colour harmonies from the things that @ForgottenDawn shared with me.

It's the same with finding a teacher. It’s luck of the draw, what kind of teacher we end up with. We hope that the people tasked with teaching us anything can find out the way we learn things, and give us things that may engage with that way of learning. Some things are better learnt with a teacher, especially things that require athleticism like drumming, but I’m also painfully aware that being able to access lessons is a privilege, and I wish it were not so. At the time that I began formal training on drums, it was 2019, I was still swept by the tides of the asylum process, and I never would have been able to afford lessons on my own. I was lucky to have that opportunity made possible for me by friends and loved ones.

It’s hard for me to narrow down pros and cons without resorting to some form of survivorship bias, but I feel like there’s overlap between taking classes and learning from friends on the internet, overlap that I’ve described above. It’s trying to find the right people to show us things, and then trying to suss out if we have the funds to pursue formal training if we know we can benefit immensely from it, if simply learning from a distance just doesn’t cut it. Another thing to consider would be the initial outlay towards a thing that we want to learn. Some things are more expensive to get into than others. Also, we have methods of learning that might or might not be covered by tutors or online guides.

If something makes the heart soar, and if proper training winds up being the better option to help you develop, I believe it is worth pursuing. How you learn something is valid, regardless of how you do it – just remember that learning involves building good habits with your craft.

Q: In the previous interview I asked you “what is in your opinion, the definition of music?”. Your definition would be the following…

“The inner resonance of its creator’s heart (or the hearts of the community it is associated with). It is indispensable to our lives. And the way I see it, it is a gift from God. Done well, it is a relic that can be passed on to future generations. Done badly… well……. um. What do we do if we find a piece of music that has historically been trash? I guess each person has their understanding of what is trash and what isn’t.”

Would you still agree with this definition? Would you define music differently?

A: At its core, yes, but it has grown since. I view it as a gift from God — I’m aware others think of this differently, and that’s valid — and there are many ways to do it well. Even something “done badly” (like a number of the things submitted in the Newgrounds Worst Song Competition) can have its place, in lifting our spirits and giving us a good laugh.

Music is one of the most fundamental forms of expression for individuals and communities (hence the “inner resonance”), and when you hear a piece of music, you try and be emotionally literate about it. You try and walk with the person who has made that music, you try to understand what has led them to make that piece of music. Even simply liking a style of music is valid. And if emotions are not coming out very well, you aid them in expressing those emotions better. I’ve come to understand that, unless the intention is to harm, divide, and other people, there’s really no set way to do it – like how there’s no one set way of writing a paragraph or a story. Musical tropes, phrases, instrument choices, are all part of the greater languages of music and wordless communication. Some things carry more meaning to us than others, for various reasons.

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

A: Many things, actually; ever since I have been granted the right to remain in 2021, I have been hard at work!

• I write video game music – I am currently open for work, having recently finished a game scoring commission that has lasted me a year and a half – and I’m happy to write music for your games. Some of my more recent examples can be found on my website, on YouTube, and on Bandcamp.

• I also take art commissions – if you are looking for posters, website art, branding, or album art, and you like what you see in my Art section, hit me up!

• I am currently a member of four bands, but there is one especially that I want to draw your attention to for the purposes of this interview, and it is Two Meeps -- @DisOmikron and myself. We are working on our debut album, Valid, and the two tracks we have released together as part of the 2023 Audio Deathmatch will feature in that album. We have a YouTube channel, a Twitter page, an Instagram page, a Bandcamp page, and a website. Be sure to stay tuned for when our album releases!

• Aside from Two Meeps, I am with The Just Numbers, The Accused, and Rakoczy. The first is my first ever rock band, currently on hiatus. The second is a nine-piece Motown and soul band, currently gigging across Preston and slightly further afield. The third is a theatrical folk-rock band in its fledgling stages. I am the drummer of these bands. I hope to be touring with Rakoczy either this year or next year, hopefully across England and Wales at least. If you’re in the UK and you like going to slightly larger venues or folk festivals, please stay tuned!

• Now that I can drive, some of you can expect to see me going further afield. I am hoping to find gigs for myself or for any of my bands not just in Preston, but possibly throughout England and especially in the general North of England.

• On 27 January this year, I will be part of an orchestra for the first time – an amateur one perhaps, but still! I will be one of five percussionists at the Bolton Symphony Orchestra. Looks like I’ve been assigned to concert bass drum and triangle, bringing me one step closer to this drawing I did some time back. If you’re watching Bolton Symphony Orchestra on that day, look out for me if you want – but most of all, enjoy the show!

• I am currently working on a drum and voice album, Tempus Imperfectum. I have previously shared one of its tracks on Newgrounds on Easter 2023, Alle psallite; I will be getting back to work on it in February.

• And… you know, just throwing it out there… I went to a recent open mic and the host of said open mic asked, at the end of my performance, “does anyone know anybody at Disney who can HIRE THIS LADY?” I mean, maybe not Disney given what horror stories I’ve heard about them in recent years – but I’m happy to license my work or write new songs with the flair of musical theatre for anyone who would love to have me in a film, a game, even a stage production! Let’s talk about it maybe!

We now come to the questionnaire invented by French talk show host Bernard Pivot, and adapted by my idol James Lipton.

Q: What's your favorite word?

A: Meep!

Q: What is your least favorite word?

A: Incomer.

Q: What turns you on?

A: (low-key but also not) Rhythm in general, but especially the beat of a deep drum.

Q: What turns you off?

A: The crasser form of Northern humour… ick.

Q: What sound or noise do you love?

A: I love a lot of sounds and noises, but it’s no secret that one of my favourite sounds is still that of the concert bass drum. Also, high-pitched bells, airy mixing (because that makes my brain itch), and the voices of friends and loved ones.

Q: What sound or noise do you hate?

A: Anything with a grating mid-high frequency. I have misophonia. My body physically recoils when I hear it (which has been a deciding factor whenever I have been a contest judge here on NG). Also, sometimes, gunshots and sirens. They can be PTSD triggers.

Q: What's your favorite curse word?

A: If I absolutely had to pick one, it would be “c---.”

Q: What job or profession would you most like to take rather than your own?

A: Honestly? I’m happy with my profession, at least for the most part. I’d love to continue doing musical and artistic things. But if I wasn’t already in music and art, and I had to pick something else, I could see myself being a writer or an English Literature teacher. Perhaps even a translator.

Q: What job or profession would you least like to take?

A: Anything to do with the legal profession – paralegal, solicitor, etc. I know I was trained in the field, but I was abused and coerced into it. I never wanted anything to do with it as a teenager, and I still can’t bear the thought of ever doing it now.

Q: If Heaven exists, what would you like God to say to you when you arrive at the pearly gates?

A: Hopefully? “Well done, good and faithful servant…” Or maybe nothing at all, just an embrace.

Troisnyx has been a constant on Newgrounds for over a decade. She has contributed so much to the site. From music, to helping new musicians, being a part of multiple collaborations, one being The Sketch Collab, and an artist in the Art Portal. Not only is she incredibly talented, she's also one of the greatest friends I have had the privilege of knowing on the site.

[ PART 1 | PART 2 ]

The Interviewer is a part of Dohn's Desk Productions

[ SUPPORT ON PATREON | SUPPORT NEWGROUNDS ]

Interview No. 190

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest has been here in the past. Back then we talked about her rise through music. With songs such as Happy Sunday Morning! and A Night in the Attic. Since then she has been a judge of multiple contests here on Newgrounds, an Audio Moderator, and has graced the Audio Portal with new entries, A Stroll Down St Pancras, A Breeze From Home ~ Vocal Ver., and Street Lights. The Interviewer is pleased to welcome for its 190th Interview, the one, the only, @Troisnyx.

[ PART 1 | PART 2 ]

Q: It has been nearly ten years since our last time together like this. The last time you were here we talked about the song As Stars that Shine (FULL). Looking back at that song and that time period, how would you describe your growth as a musician here on Newgrounds? What are your thoughts on this song today?

A: I love the musicality of As Stars that Shine. It lacks a bit in its production quality, though. One of the things I’ve routinely said about my work pre-2019 is that I did not know how to mix, and while I still love the musical choices I did then, it’s painful listening to the production. Also, I have gotten a lot better with my tonality: the melody may remain the same, but I seem to find many different kinds of chord progressions to vary what goes on underneath that melody, in the hopes of keeping it more interesting.

I would love to bring that song to a folk vocal group one day and see how they spin it. It would be

pretty fun to see and hear. Even better if we could do so with only loose drums and SATB (soprano,

alto, tenor, and bass) vocals.

Q: A Stroll Down St Pancras [Teaser] would be the beginning of a full-fledged track that you would release here in 2015. You would work with @SkankyMojo, a.k.a. AkioDaku, and Greg Slater to bring us A Stroll Down St Pancras in 2020. Five years were between the teaser and the full release. It involves a piano improv piece while you were at St Pancras Station. What is the story behind the production of this song? How did SkankyMojo and Greg Slater become involved in it?

A: Greg Slater is a close friend I’ve known since 2015; we met at Soundskills, the creative charity in Brookfield, Preston, which, among other things, has its own studio. The two of us regularly attend a weekly music group, writing songs together and even playing on each other’s songs. Greg is probably one of Preston’s single best guitarists, not just in my estimation, but in the estimation of many who have heard him in his various bands over the decades (Cold Feet, Dennis Delight, The Just Numbers, The Accused…). Greg laid down guitar on Pancras because we were in a social bubble together during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and Soundskills was closed at the time, and we needed stuff to do.

Pancras was one of those tracks for which I could toss in any instrument, and it would sound in keeping, because it was meant to evoke the buskers and passing musicians trying out the pianos at St Pancras Station. So Greg recorded the guitar parts at mine, on an Epiphone Les Paul jointly owned by my husband and me.

I don’t remember how I got SkankyMojo (then AkioDaku) to lay down bass on Pancras. I half suspect – though I may very well be wrong on this – that it was done through my own Discord server. He is a member of it. Whenever we do collaborative projects where I am at the helm, these typically happen in my server, and I suspect that I asked him there. If not, it’ll have been through Discord or NG DMs. We did have the music talk at some point and we floated the idea of a collab between us. I remember hearing about him through his participation in that year’s Newgrounds Audio Deathmatch, and I quite enjoyed his bass playing, and I was fascinated to find out that he didn’t live too far off geographically from me.

Q: We have another project on a similar level with the songs Nightfall [Teaser] released in 2015. This song would be released in 2016 as Nightfall. It started off as a test and would later be a part of the game Song of the Firefly. Your fiance’s love of space would be an inspiration. What can you tell us about this song from the teaser to the finish?

A: He is now my husband by the way, we have been married since 2022! I finished Nightfall months after I released the teaser. He informed me about BBC Introducing at the time. BBC Introducing still exists, and it is a service by which new or unsigned artists can post their tracks in the hopes of being played by local BBC radio stations at least – for example, the station serving me would be BBC Radio Lancashire. Particularly lucky tracks would end up on BBC Radio 1, 2, or 3 depending on the genre. I felt that it was my only way of getting recognition outside of Newgrounds at the time; I certainly didn’t see many avenues for me as an asylum seeker with no right to work. I submitted multiple tracks; two of them did ultimately get played on BBC Radio Lancashire; one was Uplift, the other was Nightfall, which had the distinct honour of being spun twice! I was already blown away by the teaser, that it just made sense that this project would be one of the next to be finished in the months to follow. The announcer, whose name I don’t remember, was also kind enough to plug Song of the Firefly.

The lyrics came naturally to me, and if I remember correctly, they were already ready by the time I had recorded the teaser. Song of the Firefly had illustrations of a broken and damaged moon watching over an eternal, post apocalyptic night, and I hoped that the ending of the game would feature a world where people might not have to live in fear, but instead be able to go out in safety, and express their wonder at the night sky. Sadly, the game is still in development hell, due to lack of funding and one of the team members passing away in 2020. Please, please, PLEASE throw your pennies at @Hoeloe and her team, not least because they deserve it, especially after many hard years. Heck, I’d like to ask Tom to boost her team, even though they haven’t been able to make games for years due to crippling costs of living.

Even if I were not the musician on this team, I want to see them all succeed. I want to see this game come to fruition. That would be a dream come true for them. I did remake Nightfall and From Earth’s Blackest Night in either late 2021 or early 2022, I don’t recall, and I released them for sale on Bandcamp, with the team’s blessing. I only released the remake of the latter on Newgrounds. By the time I had started remaking these songs, I had lost all the vocal stems – meaning that I had to redo all the vocals on the tracks – but the synthwork for both songs still existed, in .zip files that my husband found in a hard drive somewhere.

Q: You would work alongside @Phyrnna to make the song A Breeze From Home ~ Vocal Ver. for @matt-likes-swords game Epic Battle Fantasy 5. How did you and Phyrnna meet? How did you two become acquainted with matt-likes-swords to work on his latest entry in the EBF series?

A: We met through Newgrounds DMs in 2012. I wanted to get to know Phyrnna, and specifically without putting her on a pedestal because I imagined she’d have been thoroughly sick of that treatment. I just wanted to come as I was – I was a relative newbie to the site, having only signed up a year prior, and I wanted to make friends. My acquaintance with Matt would come later; I did follow him on Newgrounds, and I did leave comments and responses on certain posts.

But it is his Twitter account that I remember more distinctly. There may have been a good bit of back-and-forth between Phy, Matt, and later on, Ronja, about the people making fan works of the Epic Battle Fantasy series; I suspect I’ll have been brought up in their conversations at some point. Phy and I spoke infrequently on Discord DMs. She was one of the first people to have helped me with my music production, having gifted me a copy of The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook back in the day. I still consider her a good friend, and I hope that she gets the rest and refreshment she needs during her hiatus.

She approached me in 2018, because by that point I had already done a number of Epic Battle Fantasy-related covers. I had done a version of Estavius in 2012. That same year, I amalgamated all the Bullet Heaven tracks into a single arrangement, Capriccio Bullet Heaven. The following year, for the NG Audio Portal’s 10 th anniversary, there was a remix and cover competition in which I scored third place; I arranged Phy’s lullaby that she wrote for a fan’s child, Sleep Wrapped In Love. Phy already knew what I could bring to the table, so I believe that it was with this knowledge that she approached me in 2018. I was happy to bring my lyric-writing and arranging to the table. The vocal version of A Breeze From Home went as she directed: the original was a bright and cheery tune about being back in one’s home village; the vocal version was a wistful crooning song about being weary from having journeyed for so long, while also being glad to be back home.

Q: the new world would be a song that would seem to lead into the tessarakoste, the Lenten prompts of 40 days. What can you tell us about the new world and the Lenten prompts?

A: the new world and tessarakoste are separate things with separate intentions which happened to

have been done not too far apart from each other.

The former was a song whose lyrics I had already written some time back and it was lying around in my OneNote, and I needed a reason to finish it, because it was an exceedingly painful song bringing up memories of child abuse. When I found out that Chel Wong, a fellow game audio professional whom I was already friends with, was hosting the Charity Album jam (I think that’s what it’s called?) with the aim of donating all proceeds from album sales to the charity, Able Gamers, I was immediately interested. I couldn’t earn money from my craft at the time due to me still being stuck in the asylum system, but I could at least partake in a charitable project. That year’s themes were “asleep” and “awake.” This song lent itself naturally to the “asleep” half of that year’s Charity Album jam, and so I finished it up before the deadline that year.

The latter, tessarakoste, was a way for me to make my Lent a bit more contemplative. We were in the third and final lockdown, at the time this was happening. I had nothing that I could feasibly give up, not in the situation I was in at the time, and so my then fiancé and I thought of ways to deepen my interior life instead. We settled on the idea of me praying through my music-making. We discussed what prompts I could potentially set to music, and we came up with a list of 40, as well as a separate list of backup prompts if any of the base 40 were too difficult for me to set to music in a single night. The rules I had set myself were simple: come up with a song, however simple, each night. Express any prompt as best as you can. Once a prompt is considered done for the night, there’s no going back to it. Move on. And so there was this constant sense of “moving on” that I needed to be mindful of through the entire season of Lent.

Fun fact: The Drummer’s Prayer, the song I consider my best work of 2021, was originally slated to be part of the tessarakoste album, but I had to scrap it at the time because I lived in a ground floor flat and had an upstairs neighbour who hated the slightest possible noise. They didn’t like that I was attempting to record my bodhrán for it. I was not going to be able to finish that song in a single sitting. I would ultimately record and finish it later in the year, because that song and its premise kept calling out to me long after Lent was over.

Q: @Ceevro has lead many sing-a-longs here on Newgrounds. You would participate in one entitled Barrett's Privateers Singalong. How did you become a part of this sing-a-long? Did you discover this sing-a-long collab first or was there something that drew you to this one over the others he had done?

A: I discovered it on the Audio Forum, and I think I wanted to take part in this one more than the others because it was a sea shanty, part of the folk and trad genres that I have long been used to. I was also a chorister, at the time, so I felt confident enough to contribute to it. People were recommending the sing-along collabs to me, too, so I felt they were worth checking out at least once.

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Interview No. 189

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Patreon Post Date: January 17, 2024

Today's guest has been a household name on Newgrounds for over two decades now. In the past we talked about his works on Popstar, Roller Coaster Junkie, and the upcoming movie that would take Newgrounds by storm and is still in the Top 50 of the Portal which would become Tarboy. He would later on bring us a character that is a Newgrounds symbol and that is NOX. I am most pleased to welcome, @JamesLee.

Q: At what age did you become interested in animation?

A: I was 14 when my dad’s friend burnt me a CD with a whole bunch of pirated Adobe and Macromedia stuff. It blew my mind having access to all that, it was heaps of fun learning how to do all the simple stuff, like tweening a shape.

Q: What brought you to Griffith University?

A: It looked like the best animation program near me I could find at the time. I didn’t know there was anywhere to study animation in Brisbane, and Griffith had the only course that was focused entirely on animation.

Q: You have a Bachelors in Animation with Honors from Griffith University. A lot of creators tend to learn both from schooling and Newgrounds. What can you tell us the differences between learning from both?

A: Film school taught me a lot about movement, and classical fundamentals, whereas Newgrounds gave me a lot of insight into the making something for the internet. The feedback you receive on Newgrounds is honest and especially starting out, you come up against the harsh realities of making something for the public. And so I got a lot of practice in honing my work for an audience.

Q: We have a lot of animation jams that are happening on Newgrounds. Back in 2010 you would make 24 shorts in 24 hours, titled 24 in 24. This is an ambitious project which you have stated was physically exhausted. How much planning went into the shorts before the animation process?

A: 24in24 was inspired by Scott McCloud who would do a 24 page comic in 24 hours. I went into it with a few ideas in my back pocket in case I was too tired and hitting a wall. But I had a rule that all of the visuals, except the transitions would need to be completed in the 24 hour window.

Q: You would do this again in 24in24 Twenty Eleven. After the exhaustion from the first one, what made you want to make a second one and why?

A: I wanted to try it again because to see if I could improve upon the quality of ideas. I produced a lot of filler/sucky shorts in the first one, so it was a fun way to test myself under pressure.

Q: During the My Little Pony craze that was going on during 2011 and 2012 you would bring us Batman Hates Bronies. These are two of my favorite things that you would bring together in this parody. Why have Batman attacking bronies? What was the experience in working with Jazza and TomaMoto?

A: I guess I just wanted to make a video about bronies, since they were so visible at the time. And it just made sense to me that batman would have this huge aversion to them. It’s so weird looking back and thinking that this was what the internet was back then.Jazza and Tomar just nailed it. It’s such a huge relief when the first take comes back perfect, with no needed changes or finagling. They’re both total pros at what they do.

Q: Pregnetheus would not only be a parody of Prometheus, it would also be the first movie made on your new computer. I love the idea of using a claw machine. How did you come up with that?

A: haha, I cant remember exactly but i think it was just a spur of the moment thing

Q: One of your best movies in my opinion is your animated documentary entitled Nolwandle's Story. How did you come in contact with Amnesty International. What was your experience like working on a documentary?

A: They reached out to me and commissioned the short . It was tricky coming up with a style that was achievable given the budget, that also does justice to the heavy themes that were discussed. I’m proud to have worked on a project with such a personal story like that.

Q: Before we continue onward, I think we should address something important. With the Internet becoming more dominant and creators expanding their creations further and further, it is important to keep your wits about you. Tarboy 2 was at some point 50% complete. There were a lot of issues coming up due to a Tarboy game and legal problems. You were also hit with burnout during this time. What is the complete story behind the development hell Tarboy 2? What advice can you give to creators on Newgrounds so they won't fall into any similar pitfalls?

A: I started Tarboy 2 after the game project and subsequent fallout had concluded. I ended Tarboy 2 because I wasn’t happy with how it was turning out. And there was too much baggage as well, so I pulled the plug.

As for how the game project went, I’ll say, be extremely careful on who you sign a deal with. Especially if it comes to rights over your IP, or requires heavy commitment from you. Have a lawyer check over the contract, and even then you have to really trust the person. If you make anything that people like, hucksters are naturally going to climb out of the woodwork and try to sway you. Find experienced people that you can trust and get their insight. Be mindful of your own inexperience and wishful thinking, and how that can make you a target for people who will promise anything.

Q: When the Fine Bros. were attempting to copyright React videos you would bring us an idea you couldn't resist with Welcome to React World™. Why couldn't you resist this idea? Would this be the precursor to NOX?

A: Yeah I’d say so, it was the most satirical work I’d done at that point and solidified the dystopian look. I hadn’t done much only in a few years at that point. It was one of those ideas I just got obsessed with, and had to make it.

Q: We have now come to NOX. Where his debut would be on YouTube entitled Sick of Silly Logan Paul. How did you come up with the character of NOX? Why was his debut not on Newgrounds? Why start with Logan Paul?

A: It just seemed funny to me that he would of born out of some pointless run of the mill internet shit. Like some demon that crawled out of a sewer just to talk about Logan Paul. At the time I didn’t feel like it was a good fit for Newgrounds, with it having that drama/commentary channel bent to it. And I felt like Newgrounds was a cool place without all that youtubey shit. As my work integrated more animation and started commenting on broader topics, I felt like it was a better fit with the Newgrounds ethos.

Q: A Life Without Facebook would be NOX's debut on Newgrounds and his official debut. You stated that if the feedback were great, you had a lot of these planned out. Your work on Nolwandle's Story, your parody writing, and your combination of animation and live action have culminated into a new series that has taken Newgrounds by storm. Why was Facebook the start for this series?

A: I was thinking a lot about the fact that I’d spent my life trying to make engaging content, and how engaging content was feeding into people’s worst habits. That I’d have to be on these shitty platforms to progress my indie career, incentivised to clickbait and play the shitty game of getting eyeballs. So Nox was a way to reconcile this conflict, and I felt the topic Facebook privacy would be a good place to start, considering it was recently in the news with the Cambridge Analytica stuff that was going on.

Q: Out of all the NOX movies, my favorite side series involving him is absolutely the Court of Public Opinion. My favorite being Ellen & the Court of Public Opinion. The court of public opinion has always been a thing for centuries, you're the first I've seen bring it into a physical form. Where did the idea come from? What has made you continue it onward?

A: I’m not too sure where the idea came about. I was just interested in the cancelations that were going on, and the discussions surrounding cancel culture in general. My views on the topic have changed over time, or maybe gotten a little more complicated, as the weaponry of cancelations, accusations of cancelation, the language surrounding it all gets refined in the propaganda machine. It’s confusing and multi-angled, and I think people have been trying to figure out the blurry lines amongst all the shit slinging. So I wanted to represent some of that chaos and spectacle surrounding it all.

Q: I'm jumping a little out of order. With Donald Trump being referenced in the Ellen & the Court of Public Opinion, the movie before that one would be "winner". I love the line in the Ellen movie about losing subs again. Well, we can now lose subs together, because I thought "winner" was absolutely hilarious and provocative without coming off as pretentious. That's some impressive comedic humor in this time when anybody against Trump is going on about jokes that a 2nd grader could come up with. What made you want to make this movie to discuss Donald Trump during this time? Will we see a follow up?

A: Previous to that video I was looking for ways to critique people of any political stripe, but increasingly I was feeling there was this pressure that you don’t criticize Trump on youtube. And some people are gonna balk at me even saying that. And that speaks to what I was feeling at the time. That there was something uncool, un-nuanced, ‘Orange-Man Bad-Esque’ about calling him out. That you need to have this veneer of pontification, unbiased, critiquing everyone in equal measure. Or else you’re some phony hack who watches CNN. And so with all that I thought it’d be kinda funny just to make a video that plainly says I think Trump’s a fuckhead.

****It feels dirty pandering to an audience. Infantilizing. I’d prefer my audience knows I’ll do my best to speak my mind honestly, not just repeat their own thoughts back to them with pretty production gloss. It’s more respectful that way I think, even if I’m critiquing a guy you like. That’s the ideal at least.

Q: Your funniest movie and what I believe to be your absolute best is Breaking up with Adobe. With the death of Flash, you would bring us a movie that was not only a tribute to flash, but satire as well. The writing and animation is incredible. I love how you blend live action and animation together in the NOX series, and I feel this is the best one. You have a lot of history with Adobe products. Looking back on them and where we are today, how did you compile all the pros and cons into this movie? Why the analogy of a couple breaking up for it?

A: I just feel like we’re all in bed with Adobe, and we can’t get out. It lured us all in with nice features, and now we’re kinda trapped. Like a bunch of chumps. There was one day my software crashed, and I just said ‘FFFUUUUUUCK YOUUUUUUUUU’. As though years of using this shitty software had been reduced me to a husk of angry man swearing at my computer. And then like everyone, I just loaded it back up again. Like I was crawling back.

Q: Rise of NOX would be your shot at YouTube and the setup for your Patreon. You would address this topic in Web Animation & Monetization. You still submit to YouTube and Newgrounds at the same time though. As a creator is YouTube important to help grow an audience?

A: Man that’s a tricky one. I’ve been very fortunate with how my youtube has panned out this last year. At the same time though, it was such a fucking grind. The platform is full of quality content that doesn’t get seen, let alone gaining enough audience to make it financially sustainable.I do think Newgrounds is very important though. Coz early on, you’re naked on a deserted island, rubbing two sticks together, hoping to get a spark going. Newgrounds can be that spark to get those first hundred or thousand followers. Your hit rate here is going to be far better than throwing your video into the white noise on YouTube.

I know someone on here who landed a show deal after their video got some traction on here. And there’s other people who were able to translate even moderate success on Newgrounds into some very big things. So don’t think that the subscriber number on YT or Tiktok, or twitter, is the be and end all.

And if you do make it, I think it’s important to remember Newgrounds, and keep supporting the site. Help keep the site healthy so that others starting out still have that pathway.

Q: What can you tell us about your work on Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn?

A: That was my first time working on a production of that size. It was stressful. I’m not sure they knew how much I was just winging it, heh. It was awesome though, we had a lot of creative freedom, and an excellent team. I learnt a lot about production management, and gained an appreciation for logistics and producer roles.

Q: You have worked with 2D animation, 3D animation, live action, and have combined all of them together. Looking at your works from Funky Bunny Breakdance to Miyazaki is my Dad!. How do you feel about your growth over the years? What advice can you give to animators on Newgrounds?

A: It’s crazy looking back. I miss the feeling of starting out, when making some goofy little animation was this great achievement. And then staying up all night with buddies, trying to get our submission to make it through the portal. It felt like it was going to take forever, to be good enough to make something that wouldn’t get blamed. I remember seeing this janky animation of a baby crawling in the Flash 4 tutorial help, and being blown away that they could animate a character with different body parts like that. I feel nostalgic for that time, when so much was undiscovered.

I think my advice is, you don’t have to feel shitty about your animation skills, or how you measure up to other people. Any skill you want in animation, is something you can learn. That’s all it is, just something you haven’t learnt yet. And learning it is pretty fun.

Q: What is in your opinion, the definition of animation?

A: hm shit I’ll have a crack at this one:

The art of edited, stylised movement applied to screen

How’s that?

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

A: More Nox. More Nox stories and lore.

We now come to the questionnaire invented by French talk show host Bernard Pivot, and adapted by my idol James Lipton.

Q: What's your favorite word?

A: fffffffUUUUUCK

Q: What is your least favorite word?

A: I dunno diplodocus sounds pretty shit and an even shitter name for a dinosaur

Q: What turns you on?

A: subs

Q: What turns you off?

A: marvel movies

Q: What sound or noise do you love?

A: citypop

Q: What sound or noise do you hate?

A: People who sneeze so loud, it’s like they’re being hit by a car

Q: What's your favorite curse word?

A: doodle

Q: What job or profession would you most like to take rather than your own?

A: A musician

Q: What job or profession would you least like to take?

A: adobe beta tester

Q: If Heaven exists, what would you like God to say to you when you arrive at the pearly gates?

A: sup slut

James has always been a favorite animator of mine here on Newgrounds. His art and animation alone speak for themselves. His writing and comedic timing is absolutely hilarious and dramatic. From bigwig robots getting a beat down by a boy of tar, Batman beating up bronies, to a subscribe button being chased down for a click. Whenever you watch something by JamesLee, you know you're in for a good time, or at least a strange time. He is one of the masters of animation here on Newgrounds.

The Interviewer is a part of Dohn's Desk Productions

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Interview No. 188

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Patreon Post Date: September 13, 2023

Today's guest is one of the hardest working animators here on Newgrounds who at the time of this post is working on five individual series. Beyond the Fog, Chaotic Heart, Solace, Mix 'n' Match, and Bear-bot, which is still in development. His works involve a remarkable array of characters and worlds. I am most pleased to welcome writer, animator, and all around talent that is @9Hammer.

Q: We begin at the beginning. When and where were you born?

A: I was born in 1996 in South Florida.

Q: What do your parents do for a living?

A: For both parents, they both do accounting.

Q: Around what age did television and cartoons start to inspire your love for the craft of animation? What was it about these cartoons that drew you in?

A: At a young age, I was heavily into Spongebob Squarepants and Fairly Odd Parents. Something about the show's vibrant color palettes and grounded humor drew me into continuous bouts of viewing experiences.

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

A: I discovered Newgrounds at elementary school, though never made an account. Played games on it for some time, then High school came around and I decided to join Newgrounds for its helpful animation community in 2012.

Q: What can you tell us about Muffin and Banana- Pilot?

A: The pilot itself was more of a one-off idea I had in math class in High School where it was an attempt at anti-humor. Sadly, and understandably, it fell flat since I barely knew how to construct a set-up and punchline.

Q: Almost a year later you would also post Draw Anything. Why this gap between submissions?

A: The gap, from what I can recall, was mainly me stepping back to focus more on mathematic studies (which I still practice to this day). It was mainly me stepping away from animating to focus on schooling, but in a way, it helped incubate my animation mind a bit.

Q: What brought you to Valencia College? What have you studied there?

A: After a 4-year gap between High School and college, I decided that it’s best to start college studies. This was mainly because I graduated the youngest in my class, and didn’t feel confident about college yet. Nonetheless, I studied art and design to help construct the building blocks of my artistic and design abilities.

Q: You would intern for the Santo Design Group. For the artists and animators here on Newgrounds, what did you do as an intern there? How has this internship helped you and do you recommend interning? Why or why not?

A: The internship definitely helped with understanding what’s behind the curtain in the industry. We mainly handled social media posts, created graphic designs, and helped with other in-house studio needs. Interning helps, and given the opportunity during your schooling, i heavily suggest it. The opposite is also true where if you are out of school (or have the skillset & no degree), it’s probably best to go for a paying job with a portfolio.

Q: There's a lot to unpack here, I just want to know the start. What was the transition from Valencia to University of Central Florida?

A: Ah, during COVID, I had to finish my classes online at Valencia. From there, it was admittedly a nightmare to get through the transition, but that’s dealt with. There was a lot of pressure and some stressors that came about during the quarantine era with housing and the overal transition, but I was able to go in-person to UCF after all was said and done.

Q: Procedural Movements of Odanates - nature of the movement of a dragonfly. This is an incredible project I want to know more about. How did it begin? What is it? What can you tell us about the work you've done on it?

A: This project came about from my recent studies in college with insects. If I were to also side major for entomology, I would’ve, but nonetheless, I decided to showcase the movements of a dragonfly with code. In Autodesk Maya, there is a scripting language called MEL, and using various lines of code, and a model with animated movements, I was able to illustrate how a dragonfly would move and wander in 3D space.

Q: What can you tell us about your work on The Oniyanna and working with Jason Laureano?

A: This project, which we’re currently brushing up on, is an introduction to an outer space team of two. Jason is also a close friend of mine whom I met at college, and we worked on this project with a few others to deliver a 3D animation based on a space-like interior look.

Q: What is Sleeping Rabbits?

A: Sleeping Rabbit’s is my music alias (and also on FA), but it’s mainly a different name for that scope of work.

Q: We now come to your first series on Newgrounds. Beyond the Fog. Where did the idea come from?

A: This idea came about after I graduated High School. The tagline “A Tale of Dissociation” came about from leaving schooling and everyone going their separate ways. I decided to take this idea through my gap years and built on in constantly.

Q: Starting at Beyond the Fog: Episode 2 - Astray at Sea, it is amazing how we go from the high seas to the high skies. What made you employ air ships and sky isles? Was it a barrier to keep Abyss away from Sen and Valerie? Why airships instead of a secluded island on the sea?

A: It’s funny actually. The initial idea with the scripting left a lot of room for interpretation as nowhere in the script was the idea of ‘water’ relevant. In the production of Episode 2’s storyboards, I came up with the idea of sky ships and isles. The idea would soon open my horizons to other ways of conveying the story, and here we are. Honestly, one of the best accidents I’ve implemented into a story.

Q: When can we expect Beyond the Fog: Episode 8? Could you give us the title as a teaser?

A: The title itself is under “Beyond the Fog: Advent”. This itself will be the conclusive episode to the series that was originally scripted, though I’m hoping to get it out by the end of 2023.

Q: We step into a world that gives me vibes of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign in the series Chaotic Heart. How did you go about building this world? Which came first; the setting, characters, or story?

A: The characters actually came first in this instance. Kai and Indigo - witch and hat respectively - were one of my favorite new characters to draw in 2017. From there, I had the characters down, and then a story of them fighting another enemy came about from a bunch of doodles.

Q: Chaotic Heart has a lot of characters. My favorite though is Indigo. Where did the inspiration behind the cat come from?

A: The inspiration actually came about out of happenstance. I thought of a character that was clairvoyant with eyes at the back of a character’s head. Thus, indigo was called into existence. Cappy from Mario Odyssey only furthered the validation for the character after that point.

Q: When The-Super-Flash-Bros were here we talked about the iconic series Another Day. You would bring us your own wholesome series with Solace. When asked why they made the series, the answer was for fun. What made you want to make Solace? Is there a part of you in these characters in this series?

A: Solace came about on a trip across the waters to Mexico in 2018. During the trip, I found the classical works of Ralph Vaughan Williams and attributed a new rabbit character to the music. The entire trip was me spilling out the ideas for the character in drawings and doodles. From there, other characters came about and stories were conceived.

Q: My favorite series by you is absolutely Mix 'n' Match. The first episode is one of the funniest things I've ever seen on Newgrounds. Where did this idea come from? How did you come up with the characters Mix 'n' Match? When can we expect the next episode?

A: Mix’n’Match came about during a halftime break at an Orlando basketball game in 2019. I had a note pad and a festering idea of a mouse baker, so putting pen to paper created the primitive design of the character Mix.

Q: A philosophy behind writing is that if you have great characters, the stories write themselves. Do you believe this? How do you come up with your characters?

A: I believe it greatly since the characters are the main characters we follow around most of the time. This itself shapes the environment from our perspective and can create compelling, intimate stories.

Q: When Monocrom was here we talked about his project A little ghost story. He described his writing as old school, using a notebook with events and a pen. When the event was completed, the event was crossed off. Once all the events were crossed off, the story was complete. You on the other hand have done work on four series, with a fifth one on the way. Are there any similarities with this method in your writing? How would you describe your writing process? Is it the same for all the series or are they different?

A: The way I get around to writing multiple stories at a time comes from my lifelong aspiration to tell new and original stories. In the wake of the 2018 start of my first original series, I started to practice constantly and fail a bunch with writing. The fear of failure was definitely a hurdle to cross, but I put that fear to the wayside after constant practice in my writing. This spans for all and future series too.

Q: What can you tell us about the upcoming series Bear-bot?

A: This upcoming series will definitely be one of my ambitious series, but I’ll say that it’ll be a very action-oriented series with combat galore.

Q: With working on Bear-bot, you will be writing, animating, and directing a total of five series. What makes you want to take on such huge workload?

A: This work ethos actually came about by happenstance with my ambition to be a constant learner. Taking a lot of facets in my day-to-day (reading, music making, cycling, work-life balance scheduling) helped with fostering a positive, efficient, and healthy mindset for art. There’s a lot I can say and aspire to talk about on this matter, but I will say that it comes about from constant disciplinary practices in and outside the field of art. You have to make the time for it over time to be motivated to tackle a lot of passion projects.

Q: What advice do you have to give the different writers and animators of Newgrounds that you wish you knew when starting out?

A: Drink water, I suppose. Keep the mind sharp any way you can!

Q: What can we expect from 9Hammer in the future?

A: A lot more new stories, art, and music. I don’t have any plans on stopping this momentum.

We now come to the questionnaire invented by French talk show host Bernard Pivot, and adapted by my idol James Lipton.

Q: What's your favorite word?

A: Intrinsic.

Q: What is your least favorite word?

A: Overrated.

Q: What turns you on?

A: Books.

Q: What turns you off?

A: “Hey Nine! Are you afraid of 7?”

Q: What sound or noise do you love?

A: The sound of an A add9 chord.

Q: What sound or noise do you hate?

A: Nail tapping.

Q: What's your favorite curse word?

A: “Damn”. Alternatively, “Dayum”.

Q: What job or profession would you most like to take rather than your own?

A: I would likely go for a modeling job. I find myself modeling mundane objects in my room, so something of that nature would be nice.

Q: What job or profession would you least like to take?

A: Call Center job.

Q: If Heaven exists, what would you like God to say to you when you arrive at the pearly gates?

A: It would be akin to a one-word response from a discord user in a DM: “hey”

At the start of this interview I stated 9Hammer is one of the hardest working animators here on the site. I still stand by that statement. To see how much he puts into production of each series is incredible. With each one being a small tidbit from high school, or evolving small little doodles into something grand. It astounds me. I remember when he announced he was working on Mix 'n' Match, which would be the fourth series he would be doing. When researching this interview, he was working on his fifth, while still putting work into the other four!? 9Hammer is an absolute machine.

The Interviewer is a part of Dohn's Desk Productions

[ SUPPORT ON PATREON | SUPPORT NEWGROUNDS ]

Interview No. 187

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Patreon Post Date: August 30, 2023

[ PART 1 | PART 2 ]

Q: You have been asked for your advice on voice acting in the past. Part of your advice was to just do it. You have sited Rob Paulsen's Talkin' Toons and Dee Bradley Baker's I Want To Be A Voice Actor!. This would be back in 2019. In 2021 when you were asked about how to make demo reel you would talk about timing, genre, and characters and use your Character Demo 2021 as an example. Do you still agree with the advice you have given in 2019? Has how you grew as a voice actor changed with your demo reel advice in 2021? Could you elaborate more on your advice for new voice actors and those interested to voice act for the current year 2023?

A: In regards to my advice from 2019, it still rings true. When it comes to getting started in your voice acting career, the best route is to just DO IT! People will come up with every excuse in the book to not try and pursue voice acting. “I’m not good enough,” how do you know, you’ve never tried! “I don’t have a good mic,” and? Use for phone for the time being, look up cheaper mics that are perfect for beginners and continue to upgrade as you improve. I started with a USB mic from my Guitar Hero World Tour game (NO JOKE!). “I’m not talented enough.” I can guarantee ANYONE that Tom Kenny (Voice of SpongeBob) was not good when he started. Voice acting takes a lot of studying and training to improve. I SUCKED when I started, and I like to see that I’ve improved a lot over the years, it takes time! Don’t be afraid to just try it and see how you like it! If you don’t like it, you can say, “Hey, I tried, it’s not for me,” or it can motivate you to improve and become a great voice actor!

In regards to demo reels, a lot of the advice stills holds as well. The timing is the most important thing. You NEVER want to rush into making a demo and NEVER make it yourself. It’s always best to have someone help you create one, someone who has experience in the industry and making demo reels. In reels, depending on what type of demo you’re making (animation, video game, commercial, audio book, character), you wants to show off your best voices, but more importantly, you want to show off your ACTING. Acting is the most important thing in the craft. If you can’t act, you won’t make it as a voice actor. For commercial reels, acting is a component, but also understanding the various reads and styles that go into commercial spots in vital. The final thing with demos, you ALWAYS want to include your natural voice, and always showcase it first. Don’t hide it behind other voices, let the casting director, or team, know your voice right away.

Q: You would join Fro's podcast, The Dom and Fro Show in Episode 5 to talk about Fro's skit No Slip Canes!. What was it like to work with Fro on this skit?

A: It was really fun working on No Slip Canes! The best part of that skit was the fact that it was one of the first skits we produced for the very first Newgrounds Voice Ating Collab! Fro wrote the script years ago and thought it would be perfect for the collab. So I recorded the main dialogue, @NickSenny and @KidKerrigan recorded the secondary dialogue and I edited it! Fro enjoyed it so much that wanted to put it on the Dom and Fro Show. It was his story after all, but I was happy that we let listeners hear it early and give them a taste of the collab!

Q: As an interviewer and part of Off The Wall I am still new to podcasting. You would go onto interview Aaron-Long in Episode 9 of The Dom and Fro Show. You sound like a natural though. Does voice acting make this transition easier or is there something special that it takes?

A: Going into that interview with Aaron, I had a bunch of podcasting experience under my belt already. I was a part of two podcasts prior and I’ve always enjoyed recording them.It’s always been natural to just strike up a conversation and hold that conversation with a person. Plus, I’m a big Aaron Long fan, so having that opportunity to ask him questions about Sublo and Tangy Mustard, Bojack Horseman and Tuca and Berdie made it super easy to talk with him! I feel that being outgoing and comfortable speaking with others goes a long way in podcasting!

Q: You would serve as a guest and then later on become a host. How did you become a part of The Newgrounds Podcast?

A: Man, I LOVED being a part of NGP. I’m very thankful for that experience and to be a part of the team! So, I was actually talking to our mutual buddy @JohnnyGuy, and he mentioned how NGP was looking to branch out further and what ideas could work for future episodes. I mentioned to Johnny that I would love to help them out if they ever needed it, whether it be a guest host, or coming up with topics/segments that they could use for episodes. Well, Johnny being the awesome dude he is, agreed that I would be a good host, and he went ahead and mentioned to @WillKMR and @GoodL that I was interested in helping out with NGP. The crew discussed the possibility of me coming on and it was unanimous, even though I think @PsychoGoldfish wanted me to f off ha! Totally kidding. We all jumped on a voice chat and the guys welcomed me aboard! The timing was bitter sweet though because GoodL also let everyone know that he would be stepping down from hosting. I would go on to be a host on the podcast for over a year and I met a lot of amazing people along the way and connected with the community further which was amazing. I honestly believe that if it wasn’t for NGP, I would have never appeared in @Pelo’s Spooky Month as Bob Velseb. I met Pelo through the podcast and we connected after our interview with him. NGP was good to me and it will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart. I love NGP!

Q: We now come to one of your biggest contributions to the site. The Newgrounds Voice Acting Collaborations. A project started in 2020 and has been going strong since then. I love that it brings a lot of voice actors to the spotlight here on Newgrounds. There are people I have never heard of who participate in these collabs. What was your thought process behind starting the collabs? What news is there of 2023's Voice Acting Collaboration?

A: The Newgrounds Voice Acting Collaboration is one of the greatest accomplishments of my career and Newgrounds. Before it was a collab, I simply wanted to put together audio skits that me and fellow voice actors of Newgrounds could voice on. It would be a way for me to meet other voice actors, improve my craft and grow my presence on the site. However, during one of the animation jams (I believe it was either the Pet jam or Elon Musk jam?), it dawned on me that there’s never been a collaboration solely for voice actors. So, I pieced together a simple concept for the 2020 NGVAC, posted about it in the voice acting forums and waited to see if anyone would bite. Thankfully, @NickSenny would be the first one to reach out about wanting to be a part of the collab. Then more and more voice actors reached out about wanting to voice in it. Then Fro reached out and offered to write a few skits for us. Next thing I know, we have 22 audio skits lined up and we have an assortment of voice actors, writers and composers. I was mind blown about how many people wanted to participate, how well it was executed and how well received it was by the Newgrounds community. I was so proud of what we did, and what we did in ‘21 and ‘22. I’m so proud that I created a platform for the Newgrounds voice acting community. I gave them a place to showcase what they can do, practice their craft and meet fellow voice actors like I initially wanted to do when I was starting out. It’s honestly a blessing that we’ve had the collab run for three years! I’m so grateful to the team who’s helped me put it together, you guys are the best <3 As of right now, we don’t have anything lined up for 2023, but we’ve had some recent talks about establishing a new format and trying to release a mini collab by the end of the year. It could ultimately evolve how we do the NGVAC and make it easier to manage! Keep your ears peeled for news about it!

Q: What has the experience been like working on these collaborations with all of these different voice actors?

A: It’s truly been a blessing. I’ve met some AMAZING voice actors through the collaboration. I’ve got to listen to, and experience, the amazing voice acting talent this website has to offer. I’ve been able to bask in the final product that these awesome voice actors helped put together! It truly is a testament to how badass voice actors are what they’re capable of doing with their talents. One of the coolest experiences from the collab is that I got to work with one of Newgrounds idols @AlmightyHans. I’ve always enjoyed his voice acting work and I looked up to him when I was starting. I got to voice in a skit with him and that was truly awesome!

Q: Your talents became quite known throughout the Musk Jam. You would bring the voice of Elon Musk and others to Elon's secret room, Elon's Nu-Human, Fat and Musky, The New Tesla Model, and the winning entry of the jam, Son Of The Musk. How did you come about voicing this many entries? The workload alone must have been incredible.

A: Honestly, just being proactive! I was in the forum post daily looking for animators who needed help on their submissions. I made it known that I wanted to provide voices and help out in any way possible. That allowed me to secure the roles I voiced in those submissions! Being proactive during the Musk Jam produced the opportunity to work with the legend @Bowz and introduced me to my buddy @BoyPorcelain! You never know what can happen if you put yourself out there and ask!

Q: All the way back in 1999, Tom Fulp would give us Pico vs Bear. Dungeonation would work on bring us a remake of the game PICO VS BEAR DX. You would supply the voice of Tom's most iconic character, Pico. How did you come to voice Pico? What was it like working on this game?

A: This is the beauty of my last statement. You never know what can happen if you put yourself out there and ask! At this point in time, I barely knew Dungeon, but we chatted on Discord in NG related servers before. One day, Dungeon mentioned that he wanted to remake Pico vs Bear for Pico Day. I told him that was a badass idea and he should take on that task, as well as others! So he did and started providing some assets, and wips, of his early development. Me, looking for any opportunity to help out with a NG project, I asked Dungeon if he planned on having any sound bits for Pico. He told me yes and I asked if I could do it for him. He agreed to me helping, provided the sound he wanted for Pico and I created small audio bits for the game! He loved them and I was set to be the voice of Pico in DX, a dream come true, getting to voice PICO!!! Well, Dungeon continued developing and showed me the in-game dialogue he was writing for the remake. Me, being the proactive voice actor i am, asked Dungeon if he wanted to have the dialogue fully voiced. I feel he was hesitant at first, but I told him I could help find voices for Darnell and Nene and he was in. So I found the actors, recorded my dialogue for Pico and the rest is history. This was a blessing for sure, getting the chance to voice the legendary, staple character of Newgrounds, Tom’s main guy. I’m so grateful that Dungeon gave me the opportunity to voice Pico, it’s allowed me to voice in more projects since then! However, voicing Pico in DX has been my most memorable performance because it was the first performance for me and I had a blast bringing his voice to life. Seeing the community praise the voice and my effort meant a lot to me.

Q: When and how did you meet SrPelo? When did you become a part of the Spooky Month saga voicing Bob Velseb in Spooky Month - Tender treats? What is it like working with SrPelo? Did he have an idea in mind for this character who was once seen and not heard or did it come from you?

A: So as stated earlier, I met Pelo through NGP! Will was able to secure an interview with him and I was brought on to co-host the episode. The interview, I believe, is still the most listened to NGP episode on Newgrounds and the YouTube channel! We talked with Pelo for a little over an hour and we had a blast chatting with him! After the episode, I reached out to him and just thanked him for coming on to the show. During the show, we made it known that I’m a voice actor and I do voices. So in my DMs with him, I told him that I’d love to help him with voices if he ever needed the help. Graciously, Pelo told me that he would definitely put me on his list of voice actors because he’s always looking for new VAs to help him out! I was pumped and grateful that he didn’t turn me down. After that conversation, I stayed in touch with Pelo throughout the year, mainly minor chats here and there. There weren’t any voice over requests from Pelo though and Spooky Month 4 came and went. It wasn’t the end of the world for me though because I know Pelo has his team and had his actors already! I remained in contact with Pelo though, just to keep myself on his mind if he ever needed help with voices. Then, in February of 2022, his production team reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to voice a character appearing in the next Spooky Month named Bob Velseb. I was ELATED at the message and I HAPPILY accepted! Working on the show was an absolute blast. Pelo already had a voice in mind for Bob and we quickly landed on the voice you hear in the episode. Recording the lines was an absolute blast and hearing Pelo’s reaction to them was even better. I constantly thank Pelo for the opportunity to voice Bob in Spooky Month. It has opened doors for me simply because he gave me a platform to showcase what I can do as a voice actor!

Q: I have one piece of ridiculousness I would like to know more about. What can you tell me about Important Announcement and what is the story behind Bro-son's inspiration?

A: HAHAHAHAHA!!! So I know this is really random, but @Bro-son posted this silly story on his Instagram one day. I saw it, laughed my butt off and I knew I had to record it. So, that’s what I did and that’s what led to the ridiculousness of that upload!

Q: Ceevro has a series of singalongs here on Newgrounds. One involving a sea shanty entitled Barrett's Privateers Singalong. You have started the Sea Shanty Collab!. Any news on this collaboration?

A: Man, I wish I had a lot to report on the Sea Shanty Collab. As of right now, it’s still a idea that’s floating around. We’ve had people show interest, and I’ve had a few people wanting to help me and get the ball rolling, but we just haven’t been as proactive as we need to be. I really want to bring this collab to life because I LOVE sea shanties and I feel it would be a fun collab to put together! It would be a great collab for composers and vocalists to just have some fun performing, and singing, sea shanties! I’m hoping we get this thing completed. It may not be completed this year, but maybe we’ll see it in 2024.

Q: We are nearing the end of this interview. You have celebrated 200 Fans, 400 Fans, and 800 Fans. You are nearing 3,000 Fans here on the site. You gave us a recap of your time on Newgrounds with a Pico Day entry entitled A Homage to Newgrounds - Pico Day 2021. Although you signed up in 2008, you have taken Newgrounds by storm as of late, celebrating your 100th movie and doing more since then. Reviewing your growth over these years and the making of your homage, is the reason you joined the same as why you have stayed with the site for so long?

A: Absolutely, I joined Newgrounds because I loved watching the animations, playing the games and being part of an awesome community. Now, I get to be in those animations, games and even songs now! I’ve connected with the community further and they’ve allowed me to entertain them all these years. I always say this, and I always mean it, my Newgrounds followers are the most important to me. You guys truly care about the work that’s put on the site and your support means the world to every creator. You guys push us to be the best we can be at all times and allow us to grow in our crafts. I honestly wouldn’t be where I am today without Newgrounds and this community. Newgrounds gave me a platform to show what I can do and provided me with my first voice acting opportunities. This site is the best and I’ll always love it. Nothing will tear me away from Newgrounds. I plan on voicing Newgrounds content until you guys don’t want me anymore, and even then, I’ll still upload my work here! I’m a Newgrounds member for life! Thank you guys for all your love, and support, over the years and allowing me to show you my talents and my love for voice acting. You guys helped me get to where I am. I’m grateful for every single member who’s crossed my path and supports me!

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

A: Hopefully more and more voice acting work! You should be hearing me in more animations, and games, on the site soon! I’m hoping to land representation too and open more doors in my career. We’ll see!

We now come to the questionnaire invented by French talk show host Bernard Pivot, and adapted by my idol James Lipton.

Q: What's your favorite word?

A: Dream

Q: What is your least favorite word?

A: Stop

Q: What turns you on?

A: Positivity

Q: What turns you off?

A: Negativity

Q: What sound or noise do you love?

A: The voices of my daughter and son

Q: What sound or noise do you hate?

A: My wife’s voice - KIDDING! XD - Probably an alarm clock, the old school, loud ones that wake you up in a state of fear

Q: What's your favorite curse word?

A: FUCK! :D

Q: What job or profession would you most like to take rather than your own?

A: If I was still able to, I would play professional baseball

Q: What job or profession would you least like to take?

A: The guy who shovels elephant crap at the zoo

Q: If Heaven exists, what would you like God to say to you when you arrive at the pearly gates?

A: “Well done my good and faithful servant”…Praise my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! <3

Seeing a movie or game with VoicesByCorey in the credits is a real treat. You never know which character or characters that he's going to play. It's fun to play a game and try to find him. It's also a hard game to play because he's never truly defined or typecast to one specific style. He's ever changing to whatever the character looks like, acts like, and talks like. For him to describe the process behind his work is outstanding. He truly is this site's Mel Blanc. If you need a voice actor in your project, then Corey is your guy, for sure.

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The Interviewer is a part of Dohn's Desk Productions

[ SUPPORT ON PATREON | SUPPORT NEWGROUNDS ]

Interview No. 187

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Patreon Post Date: August 30, 2023

Today's guest has been the voice actor of over 100 Newgrounds movies, and including games and audio projects well over 300 projects on Newgrounds. With works on Mordecai and Rigby doing salvia, the Evangelion Collab, for which he shared the Triple Crown of Daily Feature, Weekly 1st Place, and Review Crew Pick, and Hellion: Oxenfree (PILOT). This is just a small sample of his work and to try and categorize it further to borrow a phrase would be like trying to catch lightning in a butterfly net. I am most eager and privileged to welcome, @VoicesByCorey.

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Q: We begin as always at the beginning. Where and when were you born?

A: Orange, California, lived in Southern California for 30 years before moving.

Q: What did your parents do for a living?

A: Well, my mom and step-dad are both Inspectors, and they turned me onto it. My dad is currently retired and my step-mom works with LA County Probation and is high up in their ranks.

Q: Did you play around with voices when you were younger? Which voices?

A: All the time! I would mainly do silly voices to make people laugh, but the main voices I first learned were, in order, Eric Cartman, Sonic the Hedgehog (Ryan Drummond’s voice) and SpongeBob SquarePants!

Q: What brought you to the University of San Diego? What did you acquire a Master's Degree in?

A: So I went to the University of San Diego to play baseball! I played there my final two years of my undergraduate schooling. I went to a Junior College in Cypress, CA my first two years. I earned my Master’s Degree in Sports Management.

Q: When and what drew you to the pursuit of voice acting?

A: I’ve always been interested in voice acting. One of the main things that got me into the craft was hearing Robin Williams as Genie in Aladdin. In the 90’s Robin was in EVERY kids movie, so I knew his voice distinctly. When I heard his voice in Aladdin, I asked my dad how Robin’s voice was there, but not himself physically. My dad explained voice over to me and I thought it was really cool they could do that! What drove me to actually pick up a mic and begin my career in voice over was Rob Paulsen. He had a voice acting podcast called ‘Talkin’ Toons’ and I loved listening to it. He had big name voice actors on and when asked how they got started, they always answered, “I just did it!” So, the podcast encouraged me to, “Just do it,” and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever decided to do.

Q: You found Newgrounds through the animation Blockhead. The series TANKMEN would keep your interest. Why did you decide to join Newgrounds?

A: Well, when I first came to Newgrounds, it was 2002, so I was at the age where silly cartoons peaked my interest and Newgrounds had PLENTY of silly animations. Plus, I LOVED flash games and, of course, Newgrounds had a plethora of them too! It was, and still is, a great site to keep yourself entertained!

Q: You originally joined Newgrounds under the name LeVi422. You would go on to change your name to VoicesByCorey. Both usernames are based off your real name. Why did you make the change? Is there significance to the 422 in your username?

A: Yeah! Levi was, of course, derived from my last name LeVier, and the 422 is my two favorite numbers combined, 4 and 22. I will say, my latest favorite number is 28 though (it was my number when I played baseball in college). I remained LeVi422 when I started my career in 2013, but I decided to change my name when I began to take my voice acting career seriously. I wanted to create a brand and have a name that represented my craft. Hence why I switched my name to VoicesByCorey! It’s direct and lets everyone know what I specialize in, voices! I feel if I didn’t make that switch, I wouldn’t have grown as much as I did in my career on Newgrounds.

Q: How did you become associated with the Casting Call Club?

A: When I started branching outside of Newgrounds, I wanted to find sites that would provide paid casting calls. I already knew of Voice Acting Club thanks to Kira Buckland, but fellow voice actors I met suggested Casting Call Club. It’s a great site to find paid and non-paid casting calls. If you’re just looking to get some experience under your belt and practice your auditioning skills, it’s a great site to be on!

Q: You would collaborate with Cerberus Creative on a number of projects. One of the earliest projects you would share with us would be Camp Rogain VA Demo. What was the project you were working on? What can you tell us about working with Cerberus Creative?

A: I owe a lot to the Cerberus Creative team. They were the first team to hire me for my voice over services! They originally hired me to voice Camp Rogain in their mod for Arma 3. Unfortunately, they recast the role without telling, but they made up for it by hiring me as a lead in the mod! I ended up voicing Mikalis Drakon, the Greek leader of the Freedom and Independence Party. My character guided the MC during the final two missions of the mod campaign. Cerberus Creative created this mod for a contest put on by the creators of Arma 3, Bohemia Interactive. Our mod was submitted into the campaign category and we placed first in the contest! It was awesome to be a part of and Cerberus Creative made my first voice over experience meaningful.

Q: The first movie you would voice act for would win the Daily Feature, Review Crew Pick, and Weekly 2nd Place awards. You would voice Butt-Head in Mordecai and Rigby doing salvia. How did you meet MartinFelice? What was it like working with him? Looking back on this movie, what would you have done differently as a voice actor?

A: I actually met Martin through Newgrounds! He posted in the voice acting forum stating he needed voice actors who could impersonate Beavis and Butt-Head. I reached out immediately because I knew I could do both voices. He thankfully cast me as Butt-Head and the rest is history! I love that animation because it was one of my first Newgrounds toons and it was animated incredibly well! If I could have done anything differently as a voice actor, I would have listened to Butt-Head a bit more so I could pinpoint the nuances of his voice. I feel there were times where my performance didn’t hold up to Mike Judge standards.

Q: How did you come to work on FreaksOUT!? What is it like to voice two different characters in the same movie?

A: I landed the roles of Mayor Chill and Uriel the same way I did with Butt-Head! WINprince posted a help wanted message in the voice acting forum and I jumped right on it! Thankfully he gave me the roles! It’s actually really cool getting to voice multiple characters in animations! It’s happened quite a few times throughout my career and it always puts a smile on my face. The cool thing with Mayor and Uriel is the face they had accents! Mayor was British and Uriel was Irish, so I got to play around with accents for the first time as a voice actor!

Q: One of my favorites by you has to be King's Drive Audio Play. It is incredible to hear this calm voice turn into a desperate despicable character bit by bit. How did you come to meet Seth Bramwell. What drew you to this character?

A: If I’m not mistaken, I met Seth through Newgrounds as well! I wouldn’t be surprised if I was cast through the voice acting forum again! I truly enjoyed being a part of King’s Drive because it was my first attempt at an audio drama, which I’ve always loved. I also got to show off my emotional range for the first time as a voice actor! I feel that’s ultimately what drew me to the audio drama. Getting to portray a character who seems like an ordinary driver, but turns out to be a psycho who wants revenge for his daughter’s death. It was intriguing getting to bring that transformation to life! The only thing I didn’t like about it was my audio ha! I recorded half the audio in my makeshift recording space, and the second half I recorded at a studio my cousin owned, so it sounds WAY better than my home recording! The overall product was fantastic though, I was very proud to be a part of it!

Q: JoshDytonVO is a favorite voice actor of mine here on the site. You would get to work with him on Space Quest. How and when did you meet Josh and become a part of Space Quest?

A: JOSHY BOY! First off, I absolutely LOVE Josh, and he’s one of my best friends, even though we’ve never met in real life! He’s one of the reasons I’m still voice acting today. Him and our other buddy, @NickSenny, have continued to push me to be the best voice actor I can be and they’ve supported me through everything. I’m so thankful for those two dudes, much love to my brothers! <3

I met Josh through a project we both worked on! We were both cast in the base defense game Space Raiders in Space. Funny enough, Nick was cast in the game as well! It was the first project we got to work on as a trio. I voiced the lead, Andy, Nick voiced the hilarious surfer bro Jimmy and Josh was the charismatic, and flirty Narrator. We all agreed that we should start our own group, make projects and voice in them! That’s how we created our trio team, Cerberus. Now, I don’t know if Josh created Space Quest solely for us, but I do know it was an idea he had for awhile. Him and Nick voiced in the first episode, and Josh asked me to voice in the second episode, which I happily agreed to voice in! It’s always a pleasure working with my buddies. I’m hoping we get another episode of Space Quest soon!

Q: You would use your voice to compete here on Newgrounds under the 13th Voice Acting Contest. The theme was Horror. You would end up placing 6th in the contest. What is the difference in using your voice in competition versus a project?

A: I would say the biggest difference between a project submission and competition submission is solely the writing! Not only did I have to come up with voices, but I had to put together a story that was compelling and fit within the parameters put in place by the judges! I wrote a story based on a concept I’ve had for a while. To me, I didn’t execute it the way I wanted to, and it didn’t really fit within the Horror theme they asked for. If I could go back and record it again, I definitely would and make adjustments to my story. Another key difference are restrictions you’ll have in a competition. We have a time limit and it affected my submission because I had to leave out crucial story details to fit within the time limit. When you’re in a project, it can be as long as you want it to be!

Q: You would go from competitor to judge in the 14th Voice Acting Contest. How did you form a process in judging voice actors skills?

A: Thankfully, LuckyDee, who orchestrated the contest, put together a grading scale for us so we could examine every component of a submission. We would focus on the voices, then the acting, then how they fit within the story, then the story itself, then their editing of the submission. There was so much that went into judging and it was a lot of fun too! It also put into perspective what I should be focusing on when I record for an audition, or project!

Q: One series you have done a lot of work for would be In the Shadow of the Valley. What can you tell us about M.M.M. Studios and how you became a part of this project? What's it like working on a large series?

A: M.M.M. Studios was great to work with on ‘In the Shadow of the Valley!’ I found them through Casting Call Club and auditioned for the lead Martin. Thankfully I was cast in the role and got to participate in another audio drama, my biggest one to date! The cool thing about the audio drama is that it’s based on a book written by the head of M.M.M. Studios! The story is a prequel to another book written by the same person! It was really fun to be a part of it, but it was a lot of work! We recorded 30 chapters for the audio drama and I had a lot of dialogue to record being the lead. The final episode had me record over 120 lines if I remember correctly! It was a great experience for sure, not only for my voice acting, but my audio editing skills too! I got into a groove with editing because of this project!

Q: You and I not only have a friend in common, but a project as well. How and when did you meet Fro? What was it like for you working on THE FROLLAB - The Father of Forums?

A: I met my Corey counterpart through the Voice Acting Collaboration! Fro offered to write some skits for us to record and the rest is history! Fro is a TREMENDOUS writer and I always enjoy seeing what he puts together. Some of my favorite audio skits from the NGVACs, like ‘The Pretenders,’ were written by Fro. Aside from the NGVAC, I worked with Fro on his podcast, ‘The Dom and Fro Show,’ and we interviewed Aaron Long! Fro is an awesome dude, and I’m glad I can call him my friend. He’s a great representation of what every Corey should be like.

I loved working on The Frollab! I had the chance to narrate the story put together by all the collaborators! I narrated the first half, while my buddy Geoff Galneda narrated the second half! It was hilarious and an awesome tribute to Fro!

Q: On the subject of Fro, on the Off The Wall podcast hosted by ThatJohnnyGuy and myself we talked to Fro about a project you two would be a part of. One of the funniest damn songs I have ever heard on Newgrounds. What can you tell us about I'm a Simp For You by The Simpletons?

A: Hahaha! ‘I’m A Simp For You,’ was all derived in the Newgrounds Podcast Server if I remember correctly. Me, Fro, PyschoGoldfish, and a few others, were talking about how dumb it was that people were buying bath water from Belle Delphine. It turned into a whole discussion of how weird some people can be and how awesome it would be if we made a song about it. So, we sat there writing lyrics for an hour or so while MrSnuggles put together a catchy track! The Simpletons created the best simp song ever and it was the biggest hit EVER on Newgrounds. Sadly, we let the fame get to our heads and we disbanded after we released the track. We’ve talked about getting back together for a world tour, but Fro didn’t want to leave his cat at home, which is understandable.

Q: You would sing alongside with other Newgrounds members with another hilarious song. How did you become a part of the song Welcome to Ram Ranch - Cloppin' Clyde? What was it like to work on it?

A: I was fortunate to work on Ram Ranch simply because @TeraVex is a homie! Tera reached out to me and wanted to know if I was interested in hoping on the track. So I happily obliged and recorded vocals as a super country sounding bloke and Elvis. It was really fun and hilarious as well. Tera let us improv some dialogue that found its way into the song and it just makes the song that much better!

Q: Hania, Cayler, Jazza, Zachary Louis, FolegAlmighty, and MistyEntertainment are all past singers who have joined us in the past. You are another singer added to this list. Unique is this situation, where you have been a voice actor on the site first and have sung in songs on the site. I always was interested in how voice actors develop their character towards singing. How are you able to make a character sing? Is any musical training required?

A: I mean, I would say that being able to hold a tune while staying in character is a must, but it can be tough. Thankfully, the only times I’ve had the chance to sing on Newgrounds' tracks, I sand in my natural voice and over the top with my others. So there wasn’t a lot of effort to truly stay in tune and sing to a standard. With Ram Ranch, Tera wanted us to be over the top and silly with our deliveries so that’s how I performed. With Simp For You, we wanted to sound bad on purpose haha! So if I was out of tune on that track it was all part of the performance. I will say though, if you’re looking to be in animations that feature songs, it doesn’t hurt to have vocal training. Look at Jim Cummings, he’s one of the biggest voice actors out there and sings in nearly every Disney film, or show, he’s appeared in. It also makes you versatile because a studio doesn’t have to search for a vocalist to sing for you.

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Interview No. 186

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Patreon Post Date: August 23, 2023

Today's guest is one of the most dynamic game creators on the site. From taking the shooter genre to new levels, with titles All-in-Gun, Dynacore, and Pain Reaction, which would win the Daily Feature. To redefining the platformer genre with Wall Clip, which would win him a Daily 2nd Place, The Right Turn, which would win him a Daily 3rd Place, and Fruity Tower, which would not only win him Daily 4th Place, but would be the highlighted feature on the Frontpage. This is just a small taste of the variety that our guest offers. I am pleased to welcome, @Prox276.

Q: We begin at the beginning. You were born on April 26th in Germany. What part of Germany do you come from?

A: That's true. I've spend most of my life in Lower Saxony, its more quiet parts at that. Nothing too exciting but I hope to escape to a big city when I go to university to study computer science. There isn't all that much to do and most people come here to retire, so yeah, not exactly silicon valley.

Q: What do your parents do for a living?

A: My mother works as a cashier full-time and my father is a former truck driver who is currently on unemployment benefits due to medical reasons. We've never had much money but it's enough to make ends meet.

Q: What was the first video game you ever played? How has the experience shaped you as a game developer?

A: I don't remember the exact first game I ever played, ironically enough I think it was probably some flash game that originated on Newgrounds because that's the type of game I was playing non-stop at the time. Like with many others it made me value creativity, individualism and dark humor. I think you can see that shine through in some of my newer games.

Q: How and when did you become interested in game development?

A: Video games have been an integral part of my childhood I always wanted to express my ideas through this interactive medium but for the longest time I lacked the skill, willpower and/or tools to learn how to make games. I've probably spent hundreds of hours in Little Big Planet and Super Mario Bros. X as a kid, using the built-in tools to create my own games, which I'm guessing is was what sparked this fascination at first. Around the age of eleven I began to dabble in various game engines but I never followed through with actually making a game since I initially found the learning process tedious and frustrating. What kickstarted my gamedev adventure was 2kliksphilip's "The Game Making Journey" series, which made the game development process seem a lot less intimidating.

Instead of the hyperpolished console games I came to expect it showed something way more achievable for thirteen year old me. I installed Clickteam Fusion 2.5 the same day and made my first game; Blob's Adventure, a very simple platformer looking back but still a start!

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

A: At first I was just looking for another platform to publish my games on to gain some recognition I wasn't getting from itch.io alone, but I quickly found a sprawling community of very talented creators and excited players alike. Since then the Newgrounds release of my games has risen from "just upload it and see what happens" to top priority for me. Updates always release first on NG and I try to add medals and other API Integration where possible. Overall I cannot thank the community enough, it's safe to say that I wouldn't be where I am now if it weren't for their feedback and encouraging words! I'm still surprised I blew up the way I did on here!

Q: Your first game on Newgrounds would be something I have never seen before on the site. All-in-Gun. Where did the idea for this come from? Looking back on it with what you know now, what would you do differently?

A: I took part in the GMTK Game Jam 2019. The theme was "only one" and I created a top-down shooter called "Upgraded". Shortly after I took the theme and decided to create a new game with it on my own terms. The result was "All-in-Gun", a game where everything is controlled using only one input. It was the very first game I ever uploaded to Newgrounds, which is why it is still a huge milestone for me. It has held up remarkably well but I still think that it is a huge mess on a technical level and it has a lot of flaws in it's design. To put it harshly the artstyle incoherent and uninteresting and the game has pacing problems with a lot of levels feeling like a tedious and frustrating test of precision rather than the high-speed action game I wanted to create, so I would definitely work on those two aspects.

Q: An inventive concept of not only the platformer, but the changing platformer is The Right Turn. Playing SHIFT here on the site and seeing how the game changes by simply modifying the level. This is a flipped version of it. Was the platforming aspect built first then the turning added or was the turning aspect thought of first? How did you pull these two things together into a game?

A: The game was designed around the turning mechanic from the start. I just followed my intuition concerning how a game like this would work in real life. The spring at the bottom, which you use for jumping, was inspired by the way you launch a ball in a game of pinball and mechanics such as flipping the box to flip gravity came naturally through that way of thinking.

Q: I want to know about Dynacore. How did @TomFulp inspire it? This is one of the biggest games you have made. When did this project begin? When was it complete? What hurdles did you overcome when making it?

A: Dynacore is by far the biggest game I've ever made, and even that would be an understatement. It took two years start to finish, starting development in September of 2020 and releasing in August of 2022, although it was supposed to release in late 2020. At first it was nothing more than a short game for a school assignment but it quickly ballooned out of control. My previous games were more primitive so there were a lot of hurdles, mostly in technical and design related aspects. The dungeon generation for instance took many iterations, some of them late in development when I had to painfully rework it to work with the existing code. I definitely bit off more than I could chew so Dynacore ended up taking much longer than it had to, but hey, that's the cost of learning! I've made a video on my YouTube channel where I talk about Dynacore's development in a bit more depth, so you can feel free to check that out if you wanna know more!

Q: Fruity Tower has been your latest game. It would not only grace the Frontpage, but Tom would showcase it as well. Was this game in production at the same time as Dynacore or did it come after its completion? Where did the idea for Fruity Tower come from?

A: Fruity Tower was a submission for the Juice Jam II, a game jam me and a few moderators from our game development discord server "Game Dev Bois" hosted, so it was in production well after Dynacore was released. The theme was "Paying the Price", which I struggled with for a while before I came with the idea of fruity tower, partially

inspired by Minecraft funnily enough. I always found the simple mechanic of losing all your items on death fun. You could choose to play it safe and return to your base to store and use all the loot you found, or you could venture further into unexplored territory, risking everything for more items. I tried to imitate this risk/reward dynamic in fruity tower by letting the player choose how far they go in each run before "chickening-out".

Q: You have genre hopped here and there throughout your development history. I would say that you have perfected the Shooter Genre of games in multiple styles. Each game though doesn't feel the same. How are you able to adapt this genre into these styles so naturally?

A: That's a good question. I feel like the top-down shooter genre in its most basic form is so simple that it can be adapted to fit many different styles. Even just changing the player speed, acceleration or bullet velocity goes a long way in changing the feel of a game, so it's kind of a blank slate for any type of project. Apart from that presentation plays a large part as well; I believe in substance through style. The visuals and music of a game influence the way a game is played and perceived more than many realize. Just attaching even a simple story and world to a game is enough to make the game flow naturally.

Q: What are the key differences between game programming and game designing?

A: Game design is more about crafting every aspect of a game to fit an idea. You can change a game's design by adjusting many different aspects such as visuals and sound, with code being just one of the tools of game design. A good programmer isn't necessarily a good game developer because like any tool code can be underutelized, overused and misused (like for example adding mechanics that are technically impressive but don't make the game any more fun) and knowing when and how to use it to create a good game is what makes a great game developer.

Q: For new game developers coming to the site, what advice do you have to give to them?

A: Have fun with it! Experiment! Push the boundaries! Don't look at ratings or views, just make the stuff you want to make and everything else will come sooner or later! If your game doesn't excite you it won't excite anybody else. For the longest time I created the games I thought I "should be making" but once I dropped that notion the whole process became much more fun, fulfilling and personal.

Q: You're also a musician here on the site, making music for your own games and releasing your own albums. How and when did you become interested in music?

A: It actually happened pretty recently and very suddenly. As a solo game developer I was forced to learn how to compose and produce music, but I later found out that it was one of the most enjoyable processes of game development for me. Something about making music was just the quickest path to get into "the zone" for me. Since then I've picked up alto saxophone, electric guitar and bass and it's been a big source of inspiration for me that doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Q: What is, in your opinion, the definition of video games?

A: I'm gonna sound a bit full of myself but bear with me. I think it's important to look at a game as an experience first. It's not an interactive movie, but something that transcends the sum of its parts. The screen you play it on, the controller you use the control the character, the game itself, it all forms an experience.

Q: What can we expect from Prox276 in the future?

A: I am currently working on a chiptune EP in the same vain as my previous album "Cat Issues" called "Melochromatic", I'm aiming for a release this year but with finals approaching school has got me busier than ever. I've also started getting more comfortable in Godot and I've set myself the goal to start working on my first commercial game before 2024. I don't wanna promise anything because I'm still looking for the "perfect concept" to fill out my unreasonably high expectations but it's probably going to be more story-oriented, perhaps more linear than something like Dynacore.

We now come to the questionnaire invented by French talk show host Bernard Pivot, and adapted by my idol James Lipton.

Q: What's your favorite word?

A: Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung

Q: What is your least favorite word?

A: Queue, sorry but there's no way that's pronounced as "Q".

Q: What turns you on?

A: The On-Button.

Q: What turns you off?

A: When they don't tip the waiter.

Q: What sound or noise do you love?

A: The sounds of rain at night.

Q: What sound or noise do you hate?

A: The sound of a fly buzzing.

Q: What's your favorite curse word?

A: пиздец, I live in a Russian household so I hear it a lot. It has a lot of meanings but often just means "Shit".

Q: What job or profession would you most like to take rather than your own?

A: Independent Indie Developer

Q: What job or profession would you least like to take?

A: Waiter

Q: If Heaven exists, what would you like God to say to you when you arrive at the pearly gates?

A: Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung

Prox276 has the ability to take one game genre and adapt it into a variety of games. These are games which you have certainly played with similar controls. Not in the similar fashion though. He finds a way to perfectly marry game design and development in a way some designers and developers can't. His creativity and insight are remarkable. No two game feels alike. If you haven't played any of Prox276's games, you're doing yourself a great disservice.

The Interviewer is a part of Dohn's Desk Productions

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Interview No. 185

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest has been brightening up the Audio Portal and the Writing Forum with his music and poetry. With songs such as Vista Sounds - Library, Vista Sounds - Must Be, and School Days, which has developed into a series. At a young age, he has taken the site by storm with his works. I am pleased to welcome, @Vista-Sound13.

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

A: I actually found out about NG out of nowhere when I was in Kindergarten, and I used It as a website to play games on, mostly Mario games. After Kindergarten, I haven’t been in Newgrounds until 7th grade. That is when I heard about Geometry Dash and its music. I also found out that you can make music and get it heard in GD, hence my existence in this part of the media. I joined so I can get my music allowed for use in GD, but now, I’ve grown a passion for music which is sadly fading away slowly.

Q: When and how did you become interested in music?

A: I was weirdly inspired by an artist hight Rukkus who is a dubstep producer, and I really loved listening to music overall. So, I decided to download FL Studio and start my first song in which honestly wasn’t terrible. Then, I started making more and more brief pieces, which were quite bad, but then I started making longer pieces, learned tips, got more interested in music, and became a decent artist, and the process was quite fun.

Q: Your Dad purchased Image-Line's old-school breakout sample pack. What was it about this sample pack that appealed to you. What songs have you made with it?

A: The style of early hip-hop appealed to me a lot, and this drumkit that you are talking about was pretty good for that kind of music for the most part. After getting this pack in 2019, I had been producing pieces with it

• Serendipity (2019)
• School Days II (2020)
• I’m Done (2020)
• Books (2020)
• School Days XII (2020)
• Study Hall (2020)
• Interview (2020)
• Verglas (2020)

Q: We come to your first song, entitled Calm System. You made it on Fruity Loops Studio. Although simple from the works that would follow, I can still see your style has not changed, but evolved. If you were to remake this song, what would do differently?

A: Well, I kinda did lol… and it came out very Vistaed!

Anyway, if I were to do it again, I would

• use the same melodies (obviously),
• make some new melodies,
• use much more sounds to make the piece more full,
• maybe use a more consistent drumbeat,
• make it more structured as the alpha piece doesn’t have structure.

Those stuff will make a superior remix, but there is your beta piece. Who knows if I’ll make a gamma piece?

Q: You and I are both writers here on Newgrounds. While I have dabbled in short stories and journalism, you have dabbled into poetry. Your first step here on Newgrounds being "Double Entendre". How long have you been writing poetry? I get the feeling that the poem is about two personalities presented online. The yellow and blue in cyberspace. That was until the ending which throws me off.

A: I’ve actually been writing poetry since I wrote Double Entendre, That was the first poem I’ve written for fun, and I’ve been writing for fun since.

And speaking of “since”, SINCE you were befuddled by the envoi of Double Entendre, I was basically saying that I am a person who appreciates clean content more than dirty content, and ogling racy pieces would resemble the opposite of who I really am. That’s what “Verso” essentially means. I should really make a music piece out of that word.

Q: You would continue to share poetry on Newgrounds, to the point you made a thread to collect the archive entitled Vista's Poesy. Do you have any plans of turning one of these poems into a song?

A: I kinda do, and I’ve been proposed that suggestion as well, and it’s really cool, but I’m not a rapper, I don’t really have bars, and I cannot sing, I’d need autotuned if I wanted to even try to sing. Anyway, I would have to pay a rapper to rap over a beat I’d make using my verses, and I don’t make money yet, so I’ll have to wait ‘til I can get my hands on that opportunity.

Q: One of the first songs I heard by you would be Vista Sounds - Library. I absolutely love this piece. Not only do I love the music, the beat, but my favorite part is the pencil writing and scribbling in the background. It just matches everything else that is going on. I love the jazzy groove it sets, that it isn't a quiet song, which is something I expect in songs titled library. What made you break away from that norm? How did you do the pencil sounds in the song and incorporate it to get this balance?

A: I’m happy to hear that you really enjoyed my Library piece. Anyway, I never really adding constant background effects recently. I didn’t really stop, it just happened naturally.

How did I do the pencil sounds? I didn’t, I simply looked up a pencil sound online and found something good.

How did I incorporate the balance? It was really as simple as adjusting the volumes of the sounds and a few EQ tweaking until I got a good mixing.

Q: Vista Sounds - Must Be would be the first of your songs to grace the Frontpage of Newgrounds. A nice ambient piece, with some Techno and World vibes going into it. What can you tell us about this song? How did it feel hitting the Frontpage for the first time?

A: The song Must Be is a piece which is apparently dubstep without growls and all that jazz (I thought it was simple, ambient electronic music) that honestly just happened. Sometimes, I get inspired to write pieces of certain moods, and sometimes, pieces would just happen, but recently, my pieces were planned as I’ve been encountering beautiful words to musicalize.

Anyway, it felt absolutely amazing to see my work on the homepage for the first time. At first, it felt huge going on the homepage as I was going to start getting views, but after winning this achievement again and again (it happened a lot), The big feeling petered off, but it still felt good.

Q: At the time of this interview, there are fourteen songs in the School Days series. How did the first song School Days accumulate into thirteen other songs. Will we see a continuation of it?

A: The first song didn’t accumulate into the rest of the saga. What really accumulated the saga, were the school-related pieces outside my grasp (other people’s work) like School Days by []. Also, there are music videos with a school background/setting imbuing be with that high school vibe. Not for learning but with cool, significant coveys of teenagers getting together and being school.

I would like to lengthen the saga, but it’s going take some inspiration.

Q: We now enter the Country genre. With another favorite song of mine, Vista Sounds - Nature. You have this skill of being able to add a beat to anything. Hearing the country twang of a guitar with this great beat, just melts my ears. Your first dip into Country would be with Vista Sounds - No Mention. What made you want to pursue the Country genre here on Newgrounds?

A: Thank you for your two pleasant cents on such pieces. Anyway, nothing really made me really want to make country music, and I never really pursued the Country genre. In 2020, I was simply producing incidental music, and it just turned out to be a Country style, hence No Mention. In 2021, I had some guitar samples I could chop up for my next pieces, and that’s what I did, hence Nature. They really came together nice.

Q: You are the only musician here on Newgrounds I know of that adapts their style into Classical, Jazz, Hip Hop, R&B, Country, Pop, and even Brit Pop. How do you adapt your style through a wide range and still keep your music fresh?

A: I get inspired by other music like modern western pop music, early hip-hop, and rarely classical piano music, and the big factor of my style is me wanting to describe moods and settings through music and hoping that people will make use of it, and that requires different soft genres like chill hop. But, A.I. technology is growing in the music community, and people may start using music made by A.I. as they won’t have to pay for the music or wait for permission, but my pieces are free too. Anyway, I keep my music fresh because I try to keep my mixing clean and radio-ready. When I’m cooking something quirky, I always need it to be pleasant to listen to as well, or I’ll get slated for the questionable mixing.

Q: During your time, you have confessed to cracking songs. You would remove these songs and later re-upload them with their original versions. I don't fully understand what it is you did. Could you elaborate on it? What cautionary advice can you give to aspiring musicians here so they can keep their wits about them?

A: Not songs, plug-ins. What I did was get my father to pay for some of the products I didn’t pay for, and only reupload the pieces with those samples. The other songs with the other samples are still gone, but maybe one day, I’ll be rich enough to free every one of my pieces, even the bad ones.

Anyway, I would advice produces to not do what I did because you can face charges for it, and I heard that piracy is more serious than it seems. It make sense because you’re not paying the people who work so hard on these goods, and because they worked hard on it, they should get hard-earned money and a lot of it.

Q: We have spoken to different Newgrounds members when it comes to battling depression. You would share these symptoms with us. How have you been feeling since? What advice can you give to creators who are also depressed?

A: I think the main reason I’ve been sad sometimes is school. I try to be a good person that almost everyone would appreciate at the very least, but sometimes, I would somehow slip up and get royally chided for it. It happened a year ago, and I was super ablaze as I felt violated. When I’m depressed, I don’t do anything fun; I spend time thinking of what an apparent knave I’ve managed to prove to be.

I’m really sorry when I say this, but for advice, I don’t have any goof advance for depression. All I can say is that depression absolutely sucks, it’s the worst illness to ever exist, and everything and everyone that imbues others with this illness are defo evil until they edify themselves and fix things.

Q: You are also quite the artist and animator here on Newgrounds. What can you tell us about the Newgrounds Ratings characters? What can you tell us about When the Submission is Rated A?

A: The Newgrounds Ratings characters are a covey of characters who represent the content ratings used in Newgrounds. Everyone, Teen, Mature, and Adult.

E is a happy, awesome fellow who is positive, outgoing, and appreciates kids.

T is mellow, cool dude who is mostly negative, but haute. He also has the power to print T-rated contents from his head, which is a printer.

M is one who is snaky sometimes, but most of the time, he is somewhat a chill one, but he’s not very nice. I first illustrated him to be a quite grumpy and cross, but now I think he should be more laid-back. Anyway, he can also print content out of his printer of a head, but with M-rated contents to scare kids and bribe adults so they don’t hurt him.

A is more outgoing and animated than M, but he’s bawdy, sultry, and a lecher. He can also print adult content out of his head, like T and M. I first illustrated him to be an evil one with an wicked attitude which he carries most of the time, but I then felt like that was weird to do, so I had to allay his persona a bit.

And there’s When the Submission is Rated A. This skit was supposed to speak for two things. Not being comfortable to see a piece of alluring content at its fullest because the rating says you shouldn’t, and quickly seeing the true colors of an innocent looking thumbnail before you see the whole thing. It’s not really a pet peeve as it’s not frequent, but it is annoying when it happens.

Q: As much as I love your characters. I have to say I love Waffle Wedges!. What made you take a shift to something different with your art?

A: For one, I’ve watched the Alphabet Lore by Mike Salcedo, and it was quite the mini-movie; it was amazing. Then, I saw a lot of LittleElcho’s pieces which were very quite. Then, at one point, I wanted to illustrated the characters I and Y from the Alphabet Lore. I chose those two because the letters “I” and “Y” rhyme, and I kinda wanted to emphasized that. To do that, I felt like doing a different approach, and it was inspired by LittleElcho.

For Waffle Wedges, I saw a picture of some waffle wedges which looks very scrumptious and made me want to remix it, in the same style I remixed I and Y.

Q: What is in your opinion the definition of music?

A: I think that it’s so broad that it’s awesome. Music can be many things; it doesn’t have to be a fully-made song. It can be just rhythmic percussion, and maybe you can add actual melodies to it. Music is so broad that we don’t have to try super hard to make music, and that’s one of the beauties of it.

Q: What can we expect from Vista-Sound13 in the future?

A: You can definitely expect more music and utile (useable/useful) loops for your convenience from me, at least once a month. You can also expect a few Alphabet Lore fanart as the movie is that good. If I ever make a lot of money, I may be able to purchase some quality software and hardware to create quality animated skits or digital art pieces.

Vista-Sound13 is a musician I came across while looking for music for The Tank Tribune Phonograph. I absolutely fell in love with his music. It is my vibe whenever I am working on something here on the site. To see how he can blend his style into so many genres, it reminded me of Back-From-Purgatory. Vista-Sound13 is quite the underrated musician here on the site. One that this writer, truly appreciates being able to listen to his music.

The Interviewer is a part of Dohn's Desk Productions

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Interview No. 184

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is one of Newgrounds most brilliant minds. They went out to place a spotlight on the different creators of the Newgrounds community. With the Underrated Artist Hangout Thread and The Official Hav Show Thread. They also had their own project called Nol's Therapy Mansion. I am pleased to welcome the genius that is @HavryloThePigeon.

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

A: Like a lot of people, I originally sort of hung around Newgrounds and various other flash sites back when I was a wee lad in the early 2010s; sort of the final years of the "flash era" before flash games in general began to die out in popularity. Newgrounds never really stood out to me compared to all the others, but around 2019 when news broke that Flash was gonna be shelved soon, I started re-visiting a lot of these old flash sites to see how they were doing, and\ Newgrounds was one of them.

I had vaguely heard of Newgrounds experiencing an uptick in users after the Tumblr exodus, but it wasn't until I spent a few days browsing the site that I began to realize that this place still was still quite active and had a thriving community. Of course it's still not nearly as big as it used to be, but the community was still very much there, and I really liked how it was continuing to operate as an independent content-hosting service that didn't have the restrictions and algorithms of bigger social media apps. So in September 2019, I made my Newgrounds account so that I could be part of it. And I don't make accounts lightly, I promise :3

Q: When and how did you begin writing?

A: I can't really answer that myself. Apparently I always had the talent, since I've always done well enough in English classes and all that; and I used to write a lot of stories as a kid. Honestly, I feel like it's just one of those cases where you feel compelled to do it because you just do. I was never discouraged by anyone to stop writing, nor did anyone ever put a lot of pressure on me to write. It's just always been there.

But I'd be lying if I said there weren't times where I gave up on trying to write because I felt it was pointless; especially nowadays where a lot of people prefer to just read stuff online over reading full-length novels (including myself at times) and I've tried getting into other things like art and drawing, etc. But the only thing I've ever really been good at, it seems, is writing; at least that's what I probably have the potential to be good at. It's like the passion isn't always there, but it still eats away at you, begging to be used.

That may sound like a non-answer, and I suppose in a way it is. Maybe because there really isn't any clear-cut answer as to why writing has always been my default quirk. In university I'm studying English and Creative Writing, though, so let's hope this quirk does some good for me in the long run.

Q: How would you describe your writing process?

A: It varies a lot, and probably not for the better.

Sometimes I can write poems in a single night and feel happy with them. If I'm writing a short story, I maybe spend a couple days labouring over it, then after some time when I'm finished I go back to revise it/clean it up. As for longer stories/articles/zines, my structure is usually to write up a plan, fill in sections of the story in the order that I desire, until eventually it can be fit together as one. And then doing revision later. Nothing particularly unique about my process, I'd say.

A lot of the ideas I get for stories and poems are, weirdly enough, often based on the music I listen to; which probably explains why they're so weird. That was the primary inspiration behind Nol's Therapy Mansion, for example, but I'll talk more about that later.

And of course the books that I do in fact read influence my writing too. If I had to list some authors that inspire me the most, they'd be:

• Haruki Murakami
• Cormac McCarthy
• Denis Johnson
• Charles Bukowski
• Osamu Dazai
• Jesmyn Ward
• Leonard Cohen

Q: What can you tell us about Rhodia?

A: A defunct story I'm no longer working on...

Q: You had an idea to bring Newgrounds an official magazine which would lead to The Official NG Fanzine Thread. It looked absolutely incredible. From the Introduction to the Best of the Month. Why did you not pursue it further and end it?

A: To put it bluntly, I just felt it was a waste of time. Plus I realized that I didn't really have the capacity to go through every aspect of Newgrounds so comprehensively, searching for the best content for it every single month. And, of course, there's the Tank Tribune, which actually started up around the same time as my little thing. So I figured you would be the much better guy to run a regular publication for NG, especially with all your credentials. :)

This is a habitual thing, though. I'll pick up on something I'm really passionate about, but then once the flame dies out or the reception isn't as good as I'd hoped, I just drop it. It's a part of growing up, I'd say.

Oh yeah, and I was on the Newgrounds Podcast to talk about it too. I actually asked the crew to delete it because I'm just so ashamed of how awkward I was, with that insane stutter and my social ineptness on full display for hundreds of people to see. I shouldn't have gone on the podcast in the first place, considering how the fanzine was never going to get up off the ground anyway. Well, at least I learned to not believe my own hype lol.

Q: You would start highlighting underrated artists on the forums, which would later become the Underrated Artist Hangout Thread. What made you want to place a spotlight on the artists on the site?

A: There were some artists on NG I enjoyed that, in my opinion, weren't getting enough recognition by the wider NG community. And given the accessibility of Newgrounds and the supportive community there is here of propping each other up, I figured I'd fit right well into it by making something of a series out of it. And it was definitely good

Q: You started NSFW Artist Interviews by Interviewing Edeshye. From one interviewer to another I can understand the choice. Why NSFW interviews? Why Edeshye as your first pick?

A: Edeshye and I had been acquaintances for some time before the interview, so he was my natural first choice! But aside from that, I just saw that nobody else on Newgrounds was trying to make a thing out of interviewing NSFW artists, so I tried to jump to the chance to do it. However, even after that first interview, it was hard to find other artists willing to be interviewed with me; I must've gotten turned down by like 3-4 people. But honestly I get it. I'm just some nobody on Newgrounds, no reason for them to waste their time with me lol.

Q: What can you tell us about The Official Hav Show Thread?

A: It was just a thread to gather ideas for The Hav Show, a podcast I did back in 2021 as basically an audio form to the stuff I was doing with the Underrated Artist Saga and my fanzine. I dropped it after a few episodes because 1) I didn't have enough ideas to keep going, and 2) I was terrible at riffing over a microphone; which you can clearly tell just by listening to it. I'm leaving them up just as a sort of reminder of how far I've come or something like that, and I'm also just less ashamed of it than my abortion of a fanzine podcast. I'd like to think my voice has gotten slightly less bitch-boy esque since then.

@Matthew-Lemons and @GenericAnime, I'm still incredibly sorry lol.

Q: My absolute favorite thing by you has to be Nol's Therapy Mansion. You wanted to collaborate with other Newgrounds members. It reminds me of scottmale24 was here and we talked about Epic Quest! - The Newgrounds Choose Your Own MS Paint Adventure. Where that was drawings, this was audio. It was like listening to a radio serial. Where did the idea come from? Where is Episode 3? Why did you decide to drop this project?

A: Yeah this was a pretty weird thing. Some of my main inspirations for it were Yume Nikki, and - you'll die in agony when you hear this - motherfucking Roblox horror games. I just thought it'd be a cool idea to try and make a little series based off some of this scant ideas I had of this alternate fantasy world within our world, where the main character is someone who knowingly puts himself into it and has at least some idea of what he's getting into and is okay with it. But at the same time he's also clearly disturbed and his apathy towards his situation is at least partially born out of that. Sort of a metaphor for a period in my own life where I was apathetic about life and felt like I lived in a world that was alien to me.

And it actually got a fair amount of momentum, which was pretty cool considering all I had was an Audacity mic and some choppily spliced together audio files. I made a thread offering people to give me ideas, and I actually got more than enough ideas to work with for a second episode from a whole bunch of different people, including some of the artists I had made friends with through my shouting-out posts. @SaucySaucepan even made some brilliant fanart of characters he wanted in my show. It was really awesome to see all this traction for my stuff, even if it was just a tiny community on a niche art site like Newgrounds.

Ultimately I didn't make Episode 3 because I couldn't figure out what exactly I wanted out of it. Even by Episode 2 I could tell I was stretching myself thin with the writing and story (there was probably six minutes worth of Zeph rambling that could've been condensed a helluva lot to save time) and I just couldn't see myself improving enough with future episodes to really sustain a following, let alone grow it. And so, I dropped it. Yet another project I jumped on only for a brief, fleeting time, because it just didn't represent the heart of what I wanted to make. Whatever that was!

Q: olskoo at one point made a thread where anonymous confessions could be made. You took this idea to the next level asking for confessions, rants, and venting and gave us Hav's Depression Chamber - Episode 1. Why an advice show? Why only one episode?

A: I thought it'd be a cool idea at first, but it didn't get much traction and I sort of realized there was a reason why it stuck to the forums. So that endeavour was over and done with pretty quickly. Needless to say I ain't no Therapy Gecko here lol.

Q: You have had many ups and downs here on the site. From not doing much on the site, to praising Newgrounds and hoping to add content to it, to wondering if what you're working on is good enough, to talking about your future, and ceasing your endeavors on Newgrounds. You have had many incredible ideas that we have spoken about through this interview. It is an impressive portfolio and shows off your skills well. Could you elaborate further on your rollercoaster of growth here on Newgrounds and what you hope to achieve outside of it?

A: Oh man, you didn't even address the most embarrassing shit. Back during the Half-Life collab I joined the official server of all the animators working on it, because I wanted to """write an article"""" about the collab's development process. However because I had no people skills I had no clue what to ask anyone, and I never reached out to anyone about any personal issues they were facing during development. So my """article""" was solely based off the crap I was

seeing in the public Discord chat. It got to the point where @TerrorByte chewed me out over DMs for being the nuisance I was, and so I took the hint and just dropped the whole thing after that. So yeah, if you want the most embarrassing moment in my whole NG career, that would be it lmao.

But I think the main takeaway I've gotten from my time on this website is that, as much as I may hate myself for all the bandwagons I've boarded and crashed, it's all really just a part of growing up. I've had my time on here to figure my shit out, and I still have plenty of time to continue doing just that. I used to feel ashamed for not having scored something big when I was still younger, but now I realize that I'm very grateful for having had the privilege to divulge in all my ridiculous avenues of creativity without having everything I do constantly scrutinized by people online at such a young age. When you're young and you blow up, the negative repercussions will always be far heavier than the positive ones. And as much as I may have wasted my childhood online, at least I didn't have to experience that, even when there were many times where it could've amounted to that. People complain that you can't get a large following on Newgrounds, and honestly that's kinda true these days, but at least in my case it definitely saved me from much more dire consequences. It's a small but tight-knit community where everyone is sort of kept in check, which is really good and I'm glad to have at least experienced that while I've been here.

As of for now, I'm moving on from NG because I think all my endeavours here have run their course. I'm not really looking to become internet famous anymore. I feel like I'm reaching a point now where I'm just realizing how toxic it can be to focus on that kind of shit. Not saying I'm fully independent of the desire to become internet famous - I still think about it a lot, and it's obviously much more helpful for your career, whatever it is, to be internet famous,- but having online attention just for the sake of it is something I'm now realizing is simply not worth it. I've come to the same conclusions as the people you shouted out, @wavetro and @Burner98, that online attention-whoring comes back to bite you in the ass at some point or another.

I still post here on NG fairly regularly and I still check for notifications, but that's the tale end of it. I'm not a creator on here anymore. From here on out, I'm just moving forward with my life. That's about all I can say right now in terms of what I "plan to achieve" outside of here.

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

A: You can expect me to occasionally be in the BBS, usually in either Politics or General, just having a normal one with all the other forum regulars. This might sound weird but I don't have a lot of internet accounts where I feel I can just be my normal, chill, boringly authentic self, but my Newgrounds account is one of them. So yeah, I'm not ready to just up and leave this place quite yet. As long as I feel like I need to someone "authentic" for the day, I'll still be on the regular, at least for the time being. It's been fun, and now I'm like Mario on the castle roof, just lounging around.

That's about all I gotta say. Thank you Great One for giving me this opportunity :D

I have always loved the ideas that HavryloThePigeon would come up with. Whenever I saw them working on something new, I just had to know what it was. I was sad to see many projects just stop though. Juggling all of that would be a hassle. Believe me, I can know. I am glad that we can still expect to see HavryloThePigeon around on the forums at least. Maybe something will come to this pigeon, and they will share it with Newgrounds. Whatever it is, I am eager to see it!

The Interviewer is a part of Dohn's Desk Productions

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Lost Episode: 9/12/2007

Interviewed By: @The-Great-One

POST COMMENTARY

This is probably the only interview I am still pretty proud of. I was just starting to hit my groove. I didn't like it back then when I deleted these episodes. Looking back on it now, I think it held up pretty well. It does resemble the interviews done on the Newgrounds Mag back in the day though. Which was what I was going for, and I finally nailed it. If you want to read a more proper interview, I interviewed MaestroRage as part of collab interview, Interview with The Symphony of Specters. That is a better interview than the one here.

Well here it is. Right after Castle Crashers closing and the winners announced I have interviewed one of the winners. This person has contributed over 60 songs here on Newgrounds under three different accounts. One person on Newgrounds who has a gift and has given it to us all who have heard his music. The one and only MaestroRage.

Maestro's first account ever created was if I recall correctly was "SoulStrings" but he changed the username to MaestroSegments. Songs are still submitted under that username so keep an eye out for those, and also if I'm not mistaken songs are also still submitted under Maestro's second account MaestroSorrow. So check out all three and look at all of the Maestro's Music.

Q: Where do you get your inspiration for your music?

A: There's really no certain way to answer this to be honest. A majority of my inspiration comes from movies and scenes I act out in my head. I used to be an avid writer and poet, writing stories has always been a driving force for me, and so I act out these stories in my head, and a soundtrack slowly emerges. As I liked fantasy/sci-fi setting stories, my songs follow suit in that regard.

Q: How does it feel being part of the Castle Crashers winners list with your song _-={Rage of the Champions}=-_?

A: Quite good! I was actually not even expecting to place! When I heard that WinterWind-NS, Arbiter, DavidOrr, MusicalRocky were all competing, I simply could not refuse the challenge! Knowing that I was up against the most powerful classical composers NG had to offer I couldn't sleep for literally a week, and spent a LOT of time in front of the computer experimenting, testing, building, scrapping. DavidOrr and I talked from time to time, and he helped. But nothing helped me more then when he showed me a demo of his work. I told him RIGHT there and then.

"David, you're going to win!"

He didn't believe me, but I knew. Knowing that something so foreboding was out to get me, it sent me into an even crazier frenzy. At that point I didn't even want to win, I just wanted to test my mettle against these people. To be fourth in this competition is not something I take lightly. Oddly Rage of the Champions was the one I was so sure wouldn't win.

Q: With over 60 songs on at least three different Newgrounds Accounts you still haven't shown your Flash potential yet. Do you have any upcoming plans for making a flash?

A: I did, and I do. I simply do not have the patience to improve my art. I'm fairly decent with the pencil, but like most flash authors, the mouse is no representative of the hand. If I do start flash seriously, it would not be a cartoon, but gadgets. Juke Boxes, flash effects and the like.

Q: The return of MilkMan-Dan to the Newgrounds Audio Portal, do you and him plan on making any more collaborations together?

A: MilkMan-Dan is a very close friend to me. We do not talk as often as we used to, but he will always be a friend. He's return is not real in my opinion. He made a return song, and then left after the redesign. He did not find it to his liking, and closed shop. That is, as far as I know anyways. Our styles have also developed in very different directions, a collab looks less likely to be successful with every passing month. I can only hope.

Q: You're mostly known for submitting Classical music to the Newgrounds Audio Portal...are there any other genres you've been experimenting with?

A: Yes, in fact I just finished my newest experiment He's a Pirate Dance Remix. Though technically thats a classical remix with electronic elements. My next projects will involve collabing with DarKSidE555 in extending and enhancing "Rage of the Champions", give it a much crueler, darker feel with much more ruthless guitar action. After that, I don't rightly know.

Q: Other than Newgrounds what is your basic day to day life like?

A: Varies, somedays i'll sit outside, and watch the day wash away while thinking. Other days i'll do math all day, and some days the musical muses invade my personal space and I work on tunes all day. I've also recently started practicing the piano. It's getting embarassing to say "I don't play any instruments :P"

Q: If people go through the reviews of your music they can read the stories that the reviewers paint in their minds. Going back through those reviews are there any in particular that have caught your eye?

A: So many to pick from now... I personally take every story painted for me and take it in, and live that life, that story. There were some that really made me stop and think, though to be honest I do not remember where they were, and by whom. I do remember the story, and the sentiments. To try and filter out which ones of these made me really think would be a week long adventure. I do remember the most recent, written by one Link1243, on Remember Us. His story really moved me, and I have plans to make a piece based around it.

Q: What other Newgrounds Users here do you have connections with?

A: Real life connections? Sadly none. But if you mean by whom I talk to regularly, and am friends with. Well, just bounce into the forum. At least 75% of the people who post there are people I know, or are familiar with.

Q: After competiting in the June's Monthly Audio Contest # 7. Are you willing to try and get your music branched out even further?

A: Every contest, i'm there, every day I try to think of something new. Some styles need to be studied before attempting them... like... well all of them :/. My dance experiment was a failure in terms of being really dance, but it is an important step. I wonder how badly i'll miss the mark on some Industrial :D!

Q: What do you have planned for Newgrounds in the near future?

A: It's strange, I keep literally all my music exclusive to Newgrounds. I mean, I have tried signing up for other music sites, uploaded a song here and there, but Newgrounds is the only place where certainly you can trace my history and my progress. I don't rightly know if I will ever really move out of here. The day I stop making tracks, I will be certain to let everybody know, in my own way of course. And that will be something unique, let me tell you ;).

POST COMMENTARY

I think part of the reason I didn't like this one was because it didn't feel authentic. When I changed over to what is now the official account, I wanted my own style. Which I don't think I fully got until I interviewed Sexual-Lobster for the first time. This is the last lost episode though. It was a delightful high note to end on.

The Interviewer is a part of Dohn's Desk Productions

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