Interview No. 81

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is certainly one of the more interesting ones interviewed here, and that is truly saying a lot. His NSFW works have been recognized by many members of Newgrounds, as well as his other artistic pieces such as Madness Heist movie poster. He is the one, and I am quite certain, the only, @TheShadling.

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

A: As a young gentleman with high tastes, still new to this whole "internet" thing, I was in search for special imagery of my favorite videogame characters, wich would give myself sexual arousal. That search brought me to this site, although really disappointed with the amount of good masturbational imagery, I decided to join later. so I would be able leave zero reviews.

Q: Your first entry into the Art Portal is one I actually quite like and that it The tale of boxing. It holds an interesting comic book style to it. Is this what you were going for or is there something else here I'm missing?

A: It symbolizes the beauty of the female genitalia in a painting, anybody can see that, except for women, cause thei are missing a certain part in their brain.

Q: conmpentlative is another interesting piece by you holding the possible cop/reporter motif. What drew you to draw such a piece in other words what was the inspiration?

A: It has been drawn so long ago, the memory of it has already decayed way to much inside my brain, it faded like dust in the wind.

Q: What is the Ng Levels Art Collab?

A: A complication of faggots, n****rs and dykes who think thei are cool.

Q: When it comes to your artwork, some of it can be quite disturbing. Examples being PedoMom, Revealing Taste, Tasty Catgirl, Hero on Display, Fuhrungsqualitaten, and L33t Gamer. In this world, pornography is abundant, but when it comes to drawn stuff such as comics and hentai, one question people ask is who draws this stuff and why? So I ask you, what possesses you to draw such adult pictures? What is the fascination with transsexuals? Also what do you think of those who dislike your works for simply not being what they expected?

A: No

Q: We come to one picture by you entitled Wife. It comes from the flash comic by you entitled Bloodrocuted. Growing up during the 90's I was no stranger to that of the Grunge underground comics. Were you inspired by comic books during your lifetime? Whether your answer be yes or no could you please tell us your inspirations?

A: Yes, next to my siring hatred for female life forms, I was mostly inspired by the Grunge underground comic: Micky and Donald Duck adventures.

Q: Shads Sketchbook Tour collects sketches from your sketchbooks. For those hoping to get into art or animation, how vital is it for them to have a sketchbook?

A: Vital? No, I only use it to help me get laid.

Q: Shad's Army Scrapbook. A lot of beautiful sketches as well as some disturbing ones. You stated that these were drawn during five months of army services. When did you enlist in the army and what did you do? Also did these sketches help you cope or just put you into a different world?

A: I joined cause I happened to find the Bugs Bunny cartoon where he was in the army so hilarious! Those Sketches where made to give me perks in the army, such as handjobs in the shower, or a gentle massage in the tank, its all good.

Q: When it comes to your artwork from sketches, drawing, coloring, and working on the computer. What are all the tools that you use? Also what can you recommend to someone just getting started in art?

A: The same tool I use for masturbation, my right hand. Anybody who wants to get into "the art" should bionicly engineer their feet to be hands aswell, so thei can have even more tools at their disposal, something about the Darwin theory promises us that in the near future we wont even have to engineer our bodies to get that to work.

Q: Looking through all of your artwork it is apparent that you have your own definitive style and can adapt to other styles quite well. Have you ever thought about taking a shot at animation though?

A: I did think of taking shots before, but never at animations, more at women.

Q: As a Newgrounds artist, what advice do you have to give to other artists and animators here on Newgrounds?

A: Always wear a condom, blood and or semen doesn't belong in the mouth.

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

A: Death

Well many of you suggested an interview with TheShadling and so I decided to answer your request. I thought it would be interesting to see what answers I would get from TheShadling, I had always been curious about works like what TheShadling draws and the inspiration behind them. However it seems TheShadling has decided to take a different route in answering my questions. Did I learn anything from this? Nope. He is still an outstanding artist though.

Interview No. 80

Interview By: @The-Great-One

The following trailer above is of a flash animation Madness Heist and it is made by today's guest. He has also done works such as Tactical Diplomacy, Tactical Directive Pt1 v1, and Gotham Heat. He is none other than the Master of Carnage, @MOC-Productions.

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

A: I remember my friends and I used to check out the site and play some of those random games that would come out and watch the cartoons as well. I want to say this was in 2001 right after 9-11 went down and there were a bunch of anti-terrorism games that I'd get a kick out of. I also remember loving Retarded Animal Babies and Perfect Kirby.

I decided to join mainly because I was always fascinated by art/film. I saw all these great cartoons and knew that NG was a user-based site. So these weren't professionals working in some office. They were (for the most part) regular people like everyone else. I thought if people are able to create these kinds of things on their own, why not give it a try? I always liked to draw comic books and such. So I got a hold of Macromedia Flash (before Adobe came and ruined it) and decided to try animating.

Q: You have been here since 2003 according to your sign-up date which means you've seen Newgrounds in one of its earliest incarnations. For those who didn't know what it looked like back then could you tell them what effect that design had on you and the 2007 redesign had on you as well? Also what are you excited for in the upcoming redesign?

A: I remember the very first original design of NG was very simple. There was a front page with some new cartoons and games (which were mixed together, I think), but for the most part, that was it. Most of the movies I ended up watching, I found through the few category sections that were available (parodies, violence, etc.). While it was always a user-based site, most of what you'd see would be controlled by Tom and the higher-ups.

When the big redesign came (I think this was the 2007 one), it became much more user friendly/oriented. I noticed alot of new artists were coming out of the woodworks. There was the ability to post news on the front page, the daily awards had a nice big spot on there, and it was MUCH easier to navigate. I think that was the point when users started to get alot more recognition and control.

Q: As part of this year you come from the early years of flash animation when not a lot had yet been set in stone and many people were new at the time. What was the feeling like entering this new world that not many people knew about? Who did you meet along this journey?

A: It was actually quite intimidating. Like I said, a few of my friends knew about it, but at the time I joined, it was still kind of an underground thing. However, when I joined, I sort of rushed into it thinking I could get as much attention as some of the other flashes I'd seen. I held those on a high pedestal. I'd submit my stuff and think it was a huge accomplishment just to stay in the green. But there were SO many higher quality animations coming out at the time, it was hard to keep up.

I remember meeting one user who went by X13LAZE at the time when I was doing one of my Tactical Diplomacy movies. It wasn't until I met that guy that I realized that Newgrounds is ALL about collaborating and helping eachother out for the sake of art. It was pretty cool considering there aren't many sites that offer that kind of thing. Now I know plenty of awesome people on this site that I wish I could meet in person.

Q: Your first flash on Newgrounds would be a trailer for your upcoming series called Damage Factor, it would start with Damage Factor Part 1. What is this series about and will we ever see the light of day of Damage Factor 2, the sequel to the four part series?

A: Oh, God lol. That trailer/series is something I loath at this point. The trailer was my very first flash animation. Literally, the VERY first thing I ever did with it. I had no idea what I was doing. I hadn't even grasped the concept of "layering" by then so I was just erasing little parts of the frame and drawing the movements over them. It looks awful. I'm actually shocked I ended up finishing that series. The goal was mainly to have one of those cliché "framed cop" stories and make it feel like a movie.

As far as Damage Factor 2 goes, I wouldn't hold my breath. The DF2 trailer I put out was just a bunch of clips from the same action sequence I created just to see how my human art skills were doing. I didn't even have a story lined up. After I released the trailer, I decided I still wasn't quite ready and just kind of abandoned the whole thing.

Q: Your Tactical Diplomacy series resembles in story to your past works while different in its style. Why the change from humans to something more adorable?

A: After Damage Factor, I got a lot of criticism about the art, which was well deserved. Nothing looked consistent. A lot of people (including myself at the time) don't realize how difficult it is to draw the human body. I figured if I wanted to have lengthy flash movies with my still novice skils, I had to tone it down and use a more simplistic character design.

The story behind Tactical Diplomacy is actually kind of strange. A buddy of mine and I created this little character (the guy with the big eyes) and would send eachother MS paint pictures of the character blowing stuff up back and forth. When I learned a few techniques with flash, we decided to actually ANIMATE one of those sequences. It was originally supposed to be like a 30 second thing, and I just ended up building a story around it.

Q: Tactical Directive Pt1 v1 would bring forth a new sleek style from you as well as a wonderful story. Where did the inspiration come from for this? Were you given flak for being a Madness clone?

A: I've always been influenced primarily by the film medium. With this one, I wanted to really let that show.

Surprisingly, there wasn't too much criticism about the Madness design similarity, which I wasn't trying to hide. I thought about actually making as a Madness movie in the beginning. The reason I didn't is because it's a very dialogue-oriented story, which means people have to be able to distinguish who's who. Keeping with the style of Tactical Diplomacy (which is still Madness-inspired) allowed that.

Q: We come to my favorite by you and that is Gotham Heat. I am a huge Batman man and I loved seeing this. The last time I spoke about a Batman flash with someone here it was with HappyHarry. So let's look at yours. It takes up after the movie "The Dark Knight", the question is why did you feel the need to continue the story and how much inspiration did you draw from other Batman materials when making this flash?

A: My friend Chris (the co-writer of the story) and I, like many others, were fascinated by "The Dark Knight". We kept talking about how awesome the ending was and how we liked the idea of Batman being a fugitive. We also loved how ruthless Batman is when it comes to taking down cops. He has no shame in just beating the shit out of them for the greater good. So I kept wondering how Batman would go about fighting crime with the whole police department coming down on him.

In the midst of animating it, I ended up watching a TON of Batman: The Animated Series. I learned a lot about Batman through watching that incredible show, and think the movie turned out that much better because of it. Plus the characters of Bullock and Gordon are directly inspired by their design in the show. I just liked the idea of blending The Dark Knight world with the Animated Series world because in the end, they both have pretty much the same approach to Batman.

Q: Madness Heist would be your entry for Madness Day 2011 and would win 3rd Place. This is an amazing action movie, well written and smart. Where did the story of this begin? How did you find the voice actors, music, and how was the story written? Also will we be seeing a sequel for next Madness Day?

A: I came up with the idea for Madness Heist in the middle of making Gotham Heat. I had always wanted to do something for Madness Day, but always thought it would get shit on. But after developing the idea, I felt the only way to go for it would be in the Madness style.

Finding the voice actors was probably the most fun I've had collaborating. I got really lucky with the people I found. I got to work with Motley-Fool and ShockDingo for a second time, and RicePirate and Apatheria for the first. All of them took the characters I created and took them a step further. None of them sounded like I had imagined the characters in my head. Instead, they ended up sounding even better and creating something really unique. Same goes for my brother (MrRedstone), who did the musical score. He's been into music since he was a kid and basically begged me to do the score for this one. I honestly couldn't believe the kinds of things he was able to pull off with just a computer and a program.

As far as a sequel goes, for the most part, I'm against it. I did have a pretty solid idea for a prequel/sequel, but I feel like a sequel, good or bad, could cheapen the experience of the first one. Pretty much all loose ends are tied up by the end, so it wouldn't really be necessary to keep going. But who knows.

Q: When it comes to animation and art where do you draw your inspirations from? Who inspires you to create?

A: I'm a HUGE fan of film. Almost all my inspiration for animating comes from things I see in the movies. Madness Heist is essentially a giant homage to my all-time favorite film, "Heat" by Michael Mann.

However, one flash on NG that really inspired me to give it a try was David Savage's "Hostage Situation 2". It came out in 2001 and it was WAY ahead of its time. None of us had ever seen anything quite like it. This flash alone proved to me that a cinematic approach could be taken with flash animation, rather effectively. I can honestly say that movie was what motivated me to get into cinematic animation.

Q: Since you grew on the Internet with the growth of its technologies, you have evolved over time. What advice would you like to give others getting into art and animation with many of the tools that you had to wait for already supplied to them?

A: It's absolutely amazing the types of things a computer and a draw pad can do. We're living in the digital age, which is something that shouldn't be taken for granted. People used to use tracing paper to draw frame-by-frame animation, now everything is done through tablets, laptops, and computers. It makes things so much faster and easier.

It sounds cliché, but practice really does make perfect. With the tools that are available now, it's easy to practice. So anyone who is just starting out, just animate whatever the hell you want. No matter what it is, you'll be proud of it because it's YOUR creation and no one can take that away from you. Down the road, things start to make more sense and you learn new things as you go along, which is actually the fun part.

Q: What can we expect from MOC-Productions in the future?

A: Currently, I'm working on developing a potentially huge sci-fi project. I want it to be the most epic thing I've ever done, which means it will take FOREVER to complete, but hopefully be worth it. I'm trying to save up to get a Cintiq for this one so I can improve my FBF skills. If and when it does take off, I'll most likely be collaborating with Shadman (for a portion of the art/backgrounds) and almost all of the voice-actors I've worked with in the past. The excitement of that notion alone is what is motivating me to get this project going. I can't stress enough how awesome it is to share the experience of creation with the many awesome people on this site. It really is the best part, so I do look forward to this project.

When it comes to MOC-Productions, he has a dark vision and a wonderful style that has grown and adapted over time. He truly is underrated here on Newgrounds and I hope that has been changing since his release of Madness Heist, for he is a gem that should be taken notice of and polished.

Interview No. 79

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest has been here once before with The Forum Regulars interview. During this time he has hosted many different projects. From The Green Line Collab, Mario's Castle Collab, Official Redesign Bookies Thread!, and the Brown Paper Bag Mask Contest. As an Icon Moderator he started the Thumbnails for Charity. He is a force to be reckoned with on Newgrounds, he is none other than Travis.

Q: The last time we spoke it was in The Forum Regulars interview. For those who don't know though, how did you find Newgrounds and why did you join?

A: I might as well just copy and paste my answer from last time for consistency.

Way back when the first Madness cartoon was a hot ticket on the internet, me and a friend were mesmerized by it. We found it on Funnyjunk.com and that just stuck with me because it was a great animation and for little kids, it was the violence that was the draw. Fast forward a few years down the road when Madness Apotheosis was released. I did a search on Madness, in Google, wanting to get some nostalgia and Newgrounds was the first link that popped up with a Madness Apotheosis. From there I was basically a lurker until the fated day last year in which I signed up.

Q: When you first signed up on Newgrounds you were under the name Liquify. What made you want to change your username?

A: I felt like Liquify was never "permanent." When I came up with the username, it was on the fly and while I love it, it just didn't feel like it was going to be my final username.

Travis feels permanent and "original" I guess you could say. It sort of stands out from other usernames beign that it is my actual name.

Q: When HeRetiK was here we talked about The Red Line collab. When Toast-Tony and Fifty-50 were both here we talked about The Green Line Collab. You were the mastermind behind this collaboration so what inspired you to start it and what was your experience in running it?

A: The Red Line Collab was the definite inspiration for this collab. Before starting the collab I also saw the Blue Line Collab, which was also inspired by the Red Line Collab. No offense to the people who participated in that or the guy who ran it, but the quality of the art was so awful I wanted to make my own.

I quickly learned early in my own collab that I was accepting lower quality stuff and after a little time I finally started cutting the bad and getting the great.

My overall experience running that collab was just getting to work with some of the Art Forum/Portal's greatest artists. They did a great job and if anything I was humble that I got such a good showing for not being a known artist.

Q: When I spoke with Fifty-50 about The Green Line Collab he stated this...

"at the end of the collab there was quite a scene if Cloudeater was allowed to be part of the co-authors. Liquify/Travis was quite annoyed with Cloudy for trivial reasons in my opinion."

Who is Cloudeater and what went wrong within the collaboration? Also were the reasons trivial?

A: Eh, I'd like to not comment on it. That was when I was still green on these forums... no pun intended. And I believe it's not worth commenting on.

Q: Mario's Castle Collab is a hilarious collection of shorts in tribute to Mario's Castle Calamity. This collaboration is yet again your idea. So what made you want to make a tribute to this flash and turn it into a collaboration? Also how is Mario's Castle Collab 2 coming along?

A: The setup of Mario's Castle Calamity is so perfect for a collaboration that I was really suprised it wasn't done before.

It's basically a bunch of skits with a common goal and the same setup each time. Why not have a bunch of people participate and make a few parts each rather than do the entire thing themselves?

Basically I have been more of a mentor/writer throughout the process. I have been really hard on quality control on each and I have wrote several skits for it. I also did a part that someone took and later "perfected."

The 2nd Castle Collab is coming along well. We are almost done. We just need a few more parts to come in that have been in development since the beginning. It's been a fun process and everything about this version is bigger and better.

Q: How did you become an Icon Moderator and do you enjoy being an Icon Moderator?

A: Simply enough, I just asked in the Icon Mod Crew forum.

Q: Thumbnails for Charity was an idea you had to help donate to the Child's Play Charity. For those who don't know, what is Thumbnails for Charity? How much money have you and the other Icon Moderators raised?

A: Thumbnails for Charity was an idea I had when Breast Cancer Awareness Month started. Basically for every icon we finished Newgrounds would donate a set amount of money to a charity.

I messaged Tom and he suggested the Child's Play charity and we went with it. I figured it would be something that we could really get a lot of people to help with and rally for charity while also knocking out a ton of icons.

I really want to thank Tom for allowing us to do it, it was really nice of him and it was just such a good feeling once we were done.

I also want to give a big thanks to Bahamut and Heinrich. They really helped to knock it out of the park.

Q: You are running Mario's Castle Collab 2, you're participating in the "I walked into the shop" collab, holding an Official Redesign Bookies Thread!, and your Brown Paper Bag Mask Contest came to an end. Doing all of this on Newgrounds it is amazing that you have any fuel left at all. Do you ever take a break?

A: Well I am just glad I took a gap year after high school. If I was in college right now, I think I would implode. I am currently holding a part time job and getting everything in order for college next year.

Needless to say I have been procrastinating on Mario's Castle Collab 2 a bit because I actually have a lot of bills to pay. Also... college is very expensive.

Q: When it comes to the admins here on Newgrounds you seem to have a close connection with them. Is this through the efforts you have put into Newgrounds, through Google+, both, or something else entirely?

A: Well I'd say I only know a handful of the admins.

I believe it's through the icon crew, Google+, and the fact that I actually met Luis.

I can't really speculate much because I don't really know how it all happened... if it even did haha.

Q: I asked if you wanted to be a Forum Moderator back in The Forum Regulars interview. During the time gap of that interview and now, has your thoughts changed on this subject?

A: Not much really. It's a lot of responsibility, but I guess I wouldn't mind being one and if I had the opportunity I would probably jump on it.

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

A: Well, I'll leave the mystery up to the people on whether or not I am being serious...

Luigi's Castle Collab

I have known Travis for quite sometime now. He truly is a force here on Newgrounds with the many different projects and collabs he runs. Last time we interviewed RicePirate who like Travis, is a very hard worker and can collaborate with just about anyone. If Travis and RicePirate were to ever team up on something, I bet that whatever it is, it would be sheer power.

Interview No. 78

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is one that has been requested by others and who others were surprised not to see on The Interviewer's list. He has been rampant throughout the Flash Portal due to his short time here with works such as Twilight: Hairy Moon, subject_b, and Dot Dot Dot - Animated. He is also a very prominent voice actor lending his voice to many others works. He is none other than, @RicePirate.

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

A: I was trying to show a friend of mine Metal Gear Awesome on Youtube. Instead, we'd stumbled upon Egoraptor's animated plea for assholes to stop uploading his videos from Newgrounds to Youtube. I promptly visited Newgrounds and quickly discovered a good number of online cartoons that I'd enjoyed over the years had, in fact, been created specifically for Newgrounds.

I joined so I could write a review for Girlchan in Paradise Ep2. It was the first thing I did on Newgrounds.

Q: Your first flash on Newgrounds is entitled Castlefailure SotN. Why a video game parody for your first flash and looking back on it are you still proud of it?

A: Well, as you probably gathered, the bulk of my initial exposure to Newgrounds was the work of Egoraptor. So the Awesome series was likely my inspiration. The SotN Librarian-gag was something I'd wanted to riff off for quite some time. So I decided to stop "thinking about it" and just make it.

I am still proud of it. Not because it's good, but because it was the first flash animation I'd completed, and it would flip a switch in my mind that I could actually see my ideas through to completion. They wouldn't necessarily be masterpieces, but they were created ... and not just doodles in a journal or a joke in my head.

Q: Twilight: Hairy Moon would give you some popularity here on Newgrounds. I'll admit it was the first flash I saw on here made by you. What made you want to parody Twilight and out of all of the subjects of obscurity in these movies, why the shorts?

A: My sister is 16 years younger than me, and I see her maybe 4 days a year. Like most young girls her age, she was a pretty big Twilight fan. She wanted to take my wife and I to see the new movie, so we did. I'm very tolerant of shitty/sub-par things (movies, meals, etc), but I'd never wanted my money back from a movie as much as after I saw the second Twilight film. Among all the ridiculous nonsensical bullshit that movie vomited onto the audience, the fact that these elephant-sized werebehemoth's came out of the woods wearing pristine designer denim cutoffs without a spec of dirt on their freshly waxed bodies ... just stuck out to me, I guess.

Q: Red Ronin: 24 HRC is an interesting collab where you got to work with artists such as redminus and RedHarvest. Whose idea was this and what was it like to work with all of these artists?

A: The original 24-hour collab was RedHarvest's idea. I'm sure there were others before it, but the first of our "series" began with Harvest and the idea of a Neo-Western theme. The second 24-hour collab was Red Ronin (with a loose samurai theme), again Harvest came up with the theme, however this time, I actually compiled the project and "coded" it. The title 24HRC (which I grew to like) came about strictly due to the Newgrounds title character-limit.

The 24HRC collabs were a wonderful way to meet and work with a wide range of talented artists. While we retained a small core group (Pegosho, Redminus, RedHarvest, Ockeroid, TheBoogley, Bubbowrap, Turtleco, myself and others), new artists were always welcome to join. Many of us didn't always have the time to dedicate to one larger project, so a fairly open-ended collab that only required 24 hours was a great opportunity to work on something, as bizarre or random as it may have seemed to the audience. I learned a lot from these experienced animators, and made some invaluable connections.

Q: What was The Roll Call Collab supposed to be?

A: While I personally believe collabs are a solid way to meet new artists and get your hands bloody ... the nature of most of collabs is failure: namely, failure of completion. The Roll Call collab was a fairly ambitious project that seemed simple enough on the surface ... that, over time, lost its momentum and eventually stagnated.

The short of it: It was a bunch of random "characters" being announced in a standard roll call.

Q: We now come to the flash movie that would truly put your name on the spot and it is one that I'm quite curious about as I'm sure others are as well and that is Dot Dot Dot - Animated. It is your first flash to hit the Triple Crown, winning the Daily Feature, Weekly 1st Place, and Review Crew Pick awards. You use the voice of D-Mac-Double, reading Axman13's review of the game Super PSTW Action RPG. There is a lot to be said about this flash movie. What does Axman13 think about the flash movie? Also what inspired you to create this flash movie and what are your thoughts on the success of it?

A: From what I've heard, Axman13 was fine with it.

The inspiration was D-Mac's track. I thought it was hilarious, classy, and well played. One night I had eaten too much salsa and I couldn't sleep on account of stomach pains. I'd always wanted to try my hand at kinetic typography, so I gave it whirl and completed it the next day. O Fortuna was the first song that came to mind and it happened to time out almost perfectly. I bank the success of DotDotDot completely on D-Mac's performance. The success of the video was a fortuitous fluke, and to this day I am most proud of it only because it brought a good chunk of traffic to Newgrounds, to Rhete's game, and most of all to D-Mac's voice talent.

Q: When BoMToons was here we talked about Newgrounds Worm. It was a project done behind closed doors. How did you get involved with it and what was your experience in working on it?

A: At some point, the Dub Collab had been abandoned. Seeing as half the project was already completed, I was frustrated that the collab leader would bail out after so much effort had been invested by so many people. So I picked up the pieces and finished it off. The response was (understandably and expectedly) mixed.

Renenae, an artist and forum moderator, had taken note of this series of events. And over a series of discussions centered around "abandoned projects", the Newgrounds Worm came up. Apparently, the project had made great progress and was near completion, but like many collabs hit a wall before reaching the finish line. I told her I'd be happy to help. So, after a year of stasis (I think it was year ... or more?), the wheels were back in motion. I got in touch with BoMToons and basically just asked him, "What's left?"

To be honest, I wasn't really all that involved. I was more like the last little screw in the entire spaceship.

Q: What is Creaturing: Art with (and for) Kids? What is its purpose and how far has it come?

A: I've already written so much more than anyone will want to read, so I'll save some space with this one. The Creaturing project has been explained here.

The purpose is to inspire children to create and to be inspired by them. It's come leaps and bounds, considering it started as a single seed of an idea. I give all credit to the amazing artists that have participated and the kids that provided the source material. To see the progress, check it out here.

Q: My favorite flash by you has to be your Clock Day entry subject_b. This is truly a bizarre flash like most other Clock Day entries, but it is one that can be interpreted in different ways. It is best to hear from the horse's mouth, so what can you tell us about this flash as well as the process you went into making it?

A: Well, it was Clock Day. So that was the starting point. The origin or purpose behind something so seemingly random as a Strawberry Clock intrigued me, so I just kind of let that lead me forward. I made the first frame, found a song I thought shared the mood, then storyboarded the rest to the music.

I figured the story was pretty linear with only a few loose ends. It's the events that lead up to the situation that are open to interpretation. I was hoping the that the audience could share in the "piecing-it-together" that the protagonist was going through, room by room. I'm glad you liked it.

Q: Looking at your flash submissions you are more of a prominent voice actor than you are an animator. When it comes to voice acting, what inspired you? What is your setup?

A: I studied acting, but I run a graphic design company, so the time necessary for rehearsals and performances doesn't exist anymore. I got into voice acting as a logical way to continue "performing", but without the heavy time commitment. Unfortunately, most of my professional voicing work is pretty standard Narration based projects, while my passion is Character voicing. Newgrounds continues to offer me numerous opportunities to practice the craft of a genre I haven't had much professional experience with.

Most of my professional gigs are recorded in Manhattan, at Edge Studio. My home setup is simple, just my MacBookPro, a Blue SnoBall mic, and a generic pop-filter. However, a serious upgrade is on the way in the near future.

Q: When it comes to voice acting do you have any advice to those wanting to lend their voices to the masses?

A: Listen. Imitate. Experiment. There's no substitute for spending time behind the mic. Some folks assume that voice acting is simply a matter of talking into a mic ... that's one small part of it.

Also, when an animator releases a project, and it's obvious they know nothing about the exporting sound options (to ensure a decent quality of sound), don't be a bitch and take it up the ass ... say something. You'll be doing everyone a favor.

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

A: You can expect that I won't stop making stuff. Good stuff, shitty stuff. You can expect that I will always try to improve, I'll be drawing more, and I will one day overcome the shadow Dot Dot Dot had cast across my entire body of work.

DOTDOTDOT 2 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Twilight: Hairy Moon is what introduced RicePirate to me and to be honest I didn't even know he did Dot Dot Dot - Animated until after watching it. As an animator he is quite good there is no doubting that, but his voice acting overshadows this by far. I can certainly see why others have suggested him.

Interview No. 77

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest has been here once before. When he was first here we talked about his works in flash animation as well as his voice acting and music. He was one of the first twenty guests here on The Interviewer. Within this time however he has brought us many more projects from Leo & Satan, How to be a Vblogger, and he offered his music abilities to that of The Room Tribute. He is an amazingly funny guy he is once again @Oney.

Q: This is a sense of Deja Vu. You were one of The Interviewer's first guests. It has been two years since then and you have certainly exploded throughout the portal. So let's start with FRED - Animated Series. Going back to the Assassin days of Newgrounds of killing off celebrities, I guess it's not really surprising that someone on Newgrounds would kill this guy, but if you could humor me, why did you decide you were gonna 'pull the trigger' so to speak?

A: I just remember hating him a lot at the time, I don't really care anymore though.

Q: Telefrancais collab would be a strange collaboration. How would you come across this collab and was it fun working with these other Newgrounds artists and animators? Also what all did you do for the collab?

A: I'm pretty sure I just wanted to participate in a collab because I had never done it before, I also liked the freedom in the project, I had no idea what I was doing. It was great working with these guys, was a really chilled project.

Q: Kids These Days is interesting. What does it parody exactly? Is it a parody of those who over-exaggerate with what kids and teenagers like in the media or is there something else here?

A: Euggh, it was a commission for RTE, ireland's main broadcasting company. They asked me to parody the Jonas Brothers, I had literally no interest in working on it. For a huge broadcasting company they really had no idea what the fuck they were doing.

Q: Learn 2 Read although quite short has a kid with a voice similar to a future character of yours and the adult turns into a red demon similar to another character of yours. Would this be the precursor to that of Leo & Satan? If not then where did the idea of Leo & Satan come from and who does whose voice?

A: Learn to read was seperate from Leo and Satan, although I do see where you could think they're related. It was literally a one night project I did out of boredom. As for Leo and Satan, when I was in school, my friend Sean and I were joking around and thought it would be funny if Satan was a mischievous old man whose worst punishment was putting to much sugar on someone's pancakes. We needed someone for Satan to piss off with this so I drew Leo and we made a the short Pancake Doomsday. It grew from there.

Q: Leo & Satan II is hilarious. The intro stated that 'you asked for it'. The demand for a sequel came to be and you certainly didn't disappoint. You did not have to give into this demand though, why did you want to though? Also after Leo & Satan's first adventure, where did you get the ideas for this one?

A: People really seemed to like Algebra Aversion, and I always wanted to make a drug related cartoon. I also wanted to see if I could top the first, I think it came pretty close.

Q: When it comes to those who do vlogs on YouTube I like Jonathan Paula as well as What The Buck. However How to be a Vblogger would be you and psychicpebble's shots on the vloggers of YouTube. Where did you two get the idea for this? What is it like working with psychicpebble? Also are there any vloggers that you do like?

A: I don't mind vloggers, it's when they pollute the front page of youtube with the same grin every day, that really annoys me. As for the bigshots like Ray William Johnson etc. they are untalented dickheads that do the same thing over and over and I just wanted them to know not everyone wants to suck their cocks. Working with Psychicpebble is always a pleasure, he's very organized and talented.

Q: You would get to work with Tom Fulp and JohnnyUtah on The Room Tribute by making the music for the game. One being the Chris R Battle Theme. How did you end up being chosen to do this? What are your throughts on the movie "The Room"? Also what involvement besides music did you have in the game's creation?

A: I remember I was at the NG office when Tom showed us all a preview of the Room game, he said he was getting Mike to do a theme for the game. I asked could I try make him some music, and he said yeah. I sent him the song and him and JohnnyUtah liked it so much he asked me to do the soundtrack. No talent was involved however, I just remade the songs from the movie.

Q: When eddsworld was here we talked about Hammer & Fail and Hammer & Fail 2. How did you come across meeting Ed and what was the experience in working with him?

A: I met Edd at the Newgrounds London Meet, I showed him my cock and he asked me to voice in his flash. I feel bad cos whenever people ask me for lines I leave it till the last second. Working with Edd is a pleasure though, he has patience for that kind of bullshit.

Q: Why Terry is Gay. I only have one question for you here. Who's Terry?

A: One of my old friends who is actually gay.

Q: Leo & Satan III. We get to see a different side of Satan. However the ending seems to be a cop out for continuation. Was this intended to continue what is now a series or were you just leaving the door open?

A: Naaah, I knew there'd be more after this one, if you wait till the credits are over Leo comes back from the dead, I just wanted to fuck with people.

Q: Leo & Satan IV where Leo and Satan would play the game "Stranger Danger", but lose the batteries to the controller. It is blown out of proportion at its finest. Your movie would go on to inspire the Stranger Danger Game here on Newgrounds. Where did the idea for this adventure come from and what are your thoughts on the game?

A: This was the episode that taught me not to write for the sake of writing, I always had people telling me that I could have Leo and Satan in any dumb situation. I wanted to test that and have a whole episode revolve around losing batteries, I'm really not happy with it. I think it's the ending that I really fucked up on.

Q: The Obnoxious Orange would be another point of YouTube that you would make fun of. Why the Annoying Orange and will we see other YouTube entities?

A: Well that cartoon was actually animated and written by PsychicPebble, I just did the voice of the orange. There will be more youtube parodies in the future, we need to write them first.

Q: When Manly-Chicken was here we talked about the all confusing !-!Awesome Collab!-!. What were your thoughts on it?

A: I just drew a shitty AWESOME BANDICOOT picture to get some kids hopes up, that's how pathetic I am.

Q: TOME Episode 01 was recently released. When Kirbopher was here we talked about the precursor to this that of his "TvTome Adventures". It was met with a scathing review from both psychicpebble and yourself. Where do you stand on Kirbopher and other Newgrounds animators here?

A: I didn't like it, it's just my opinion. I think he has potential but he won't unlock it until he takes some criticism.

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

A: Me and PsychicPebble are working on a sketch cartoon, it will be out soon enough, also maybe more Leo and Satan's when I get things sorted out.

In the past I stated that Oney had hit all the bases of art, animation, and music and is one of the few Newgrounds members to do so. I still stand by this statement. However back then he wasn't the Newgrounds household name that he his nowadays. He has grown in all three of these branches and has added voice acting to this. If you have yet to see any of Oney's flash movies then you truly have missed out. Chances are most of you probably haven't listened to his music and for that I say shame on you.

Interview No. 76

Interview By: @Atlas

Today I have with me one of the best voice actors in the audio portal. His username is "@GiantJuicyKickballs".

Q: How did you find Newgrounds and what made you join?

A: I found out about newgrounds back in the 96'-97' era, back before it was the Newgrounds we know and love today. I was in junior highschool and the internet was really cool, as was Netscape...which I guess dates me a bit. However I remember that Yahoo was the big big site to go to if you wanted to find fun new things on the web. One day my friends and I were in the school library and stumbled upon a site called "Sites That Do Stuff" which by now is not the same site. It was just a basic list of links to click that would bring you to sites...that do stuff. Two of the links which really stood out were Assassin, and Club a Seal. I would spend hours upon hours killing digital celebrities and helpless baby seals. Not to mention the fun of Teletubby Fun Land. ( I always thought that vacuum was coked up). So I watched the site bloom into what it is today, through its many changes, and pranks.

What made me join was the old school feel of the forums, the fact that you could not only vote but leave a comment (be it helpful criticism or just meaner than a drunk pregnant mother flushing a live kitten down a toilet).

Q: You've won 9 awards from 8 different collab projects. In each of those you voice acted. How did you get into voice acting?

A: Nine awards? Wow. I wasn't even counting.

I have been imitating voices and accents since I was a little child, loved watching Red Dwarf, and would just be amazed with Looney Tunes. I still watch cartoons to this day, some of my favorites are Ren and Stimpy, Beavis and Butthead, Bob's Burgers, and Archer. I absolutely love Jon Benjamin.

I got into voice acting through college radio actually. Being college radio we had a budget of Zero. So all the production/imaging/voices were created by the students (including myself). Having a morning show at the time, I thought hearing my voice throughout the day would become stale and boring, so I started using accents and different voices for ads, spots, bumpers, sweepers, station I.D.s, and other technical words. I noticed that when I sat in the room for hours, I usually came up with two or three good characters that would make people smile, pay attention, or downright laugh.

I decided to further delve into voice acting, and through research I found a site called Radio Daddy, which is a request forum mainly for radio stations looking for voices. So I created an account, grabbed my crappy computer microphone, and jumped in.

It was hard for me to break the habit of sounding like a radio announcer, and going more towards the smooth waltz of actually acting. Thank god I was in a couple of high school plays. I saved up enough money to actually invest in some equipment. My microphone is an AKG Perception 120, I use a shock mount, pop filter, and a Blue Icicle. The recording software I use is adobe audition 1.5 and 3.0.

I guess I rambled on a bit there. Oh well, NEXT QUESTION!

Q: You don't have any solo projects and haven't done anything with any games is there a reason why?

A: Solo projects as in animating as well as voicing? Well, I don't know anything about flash whatsoever, as far as games go, while I have not voiced for any games here, I have been offered in the past to, it was for an XBOX Live indie game, unfortunately I was going through a tough time in my life and couldn't voice act due to lack of internet/space to record. That went on for about two years.

However I would LOVE to voice act for some games, I think it would be really fun and a new experience for me.

And if anyone wants to teach me how to use flash for free, I would not object.

Q: You have 23 audio submissions and most of them have a score of at least above 3.50 how does that feel?

A: Crimany! I have 23? I better get cracking on more.

I just checked, and I do have one that just reached 3.50...not tooting my own horn. Maybe just a little.

It feels pretty good considering the amount of audio files on this site, that people have somehow found mine (which I do honestly credit a lot to the flashes that I have voiced for). I do feel humbled, and appreciative that people like my work. Albeit smart or stupid audio. Or ones that you cannot hear...but yes, I am deeply honored.

Q: You have one art submission, Murphy The Detective Mobster. How was it making art for a change?

A: To be honest, I was really tired, cracked out on Monster energy drinks, it was about three in the morning, and I was sitting at my computer, bored out of mind. So after about thirty minutes of messing around in Photoshop 7 (because I am poor) and a half a pack of cigarettes later, I created Murphy. I had a voice pop into my head, and I wanted to create what I thought the voice looked like if given a face. It took about three hours.

I really enjoy using photoshop, and who knows, I do have some ideas for a series, with Murphey, and I do plan on contacting some animators whom I admire, and/or have worked with in the past.

Q: It seems you and Kieran-s can make great animation together so how did you meet him?

A: First off, thank you!

I received a message from him back in May 31st 2009. (I still have the pm) And he asked me "Are you interested in playing the role of the main character's enemy."

I think I replied "Hell yes" or something to that effect.

So we talked back and forth for a couple of days, looking at rough scripts, trying different voices, some with effects, some without, and finally settled on the one that you hear as the first vampire in the Edwin series.

I'm not quite sure how he found me though...Australians are very mysterious to me. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly it is that makes them magical.

I know fans of Edwin who are reading this are probably thinking to themselves "Why hasn't the next episode come out yet?"

Life gets in the way. But I haven't actually voiced anything since early 2010.

I like Kieran's style of animation and writing, to be honest, I didn't say yes off the bat, I looked his previous flash and instantly loved it. Then I said yes like a giggly school girl who has just been asked if she liked candy.

Q: Now besides being known for voice acting you also have a bunch of Rock songs. One in particular I liked was "Hangover Blues". Anything you can say about that song that you didn't in the comments?

A: I originally wrote the song when I was 16 or 17, it was a slower song back then, mostly inspired by Tom Petty for the chords and style, I might upload the original version of it one day, digital drum loop and all. We used it as a warm up, made a couple of changes, liked it enough to keep it.

Q: You only have a total of 70 posts and your latest one being posted over 2 months ago. Any reason to the low amount of BBS posts?

A: Not really, I've just been pretty busy moving, finding jobs, moving again, not really having time to post.

Q: How many more Edwin episodes do you think you will voice for and will come out?

A: Good question, I've been pretty busy with school as has Kieran, but we do talk about it....

Q: Is there one other voice actor pro or amateur that you like to listen to?

A: I do like Sapphire, we've worked together on more than just Edwin, for other sites and people, I find her voice so easy to work with, like liquid gold. Makes me a little gushy.

Q: How did you think up your username?

A: It was inspired by an old DJ from KISW by the name of Ricker. One of his favorite things to say/talk about were Big Giant Juicy Kickballs, and I was trying to think of a name while listening to him, then just typed it in.

Q: What do you think of The Interviewer?

A: I think it is great for this website, it also helps bring attention to some people who are not so well known, as well as obvious "celebrities" on this site. I hope it becomes a permanent staple on this site.

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

A: More voice acting, maybe not as frequently, but at least some podcast updates. I do have some sketch ideas, so I'll be talking to my animating friends and see what we can do.

Interview No. 75

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is an interesting one, if you didn't find Newgrounds on your own chances are you found it through the website we're going to talk about today. I think it's important that I tell you how this interview came to be. You see MiniClip has a Newgrounds account here and I thought I'd take a shot and just send a PM to the account. To my surprise I got a response, from a person who manages contact information. He hooked me up with the Head of Games of MiniClip, Alexander Williams. He agreed to answer a few of my questions that I had for MiniClip. So today's guest is Alexander Williams, Head of Games for @MiniClip.

Q: The best place to start is at the beginning. When did you find the Internet and what about it appealed to you?

A: I first got on to the internet at school in 1993. At the time it's only use for me was in researching my schoolwork but it felt cool not to have to go to a library to find information and it felt so much more up to date and relevant than anything that had been printed.

Q: Whose idea was it to make MiniClip and why?

A: Miniclip was founded by Tihan Presbie and Rob Small. They wanted to create new online entertainment. A lot of the stuff at the time was old television cartoons being repurposed for the web and they saw an opportunity to do something new in games and small flash clips.

Q: What is your job at MiniClip?

A: I am the Head of Games. I am responsible for sourcing the content for the website.

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

A: Newgrounds was one of the first places we found that was doing something new with flash games, allowing users to make and post their own games for review and comment by other users was pretty cool and it was a great place to spot new trends and talented designers doing what they loved.

Q: Your first game uploaded to Newgrounds would be entitled Dancing Ant. Looking back on that now are you still proud of it?

A: Looking back it is pretty obvious we have come a long way. I still like Dancing Ant because it reminds me of the early days of the company and the low barrier to entry for someone new to get in to flash development. Poser was a good friend to someone starting out and we cut our teeth on pretty rudimentary animations and games. It is very cool to see some of the work that is done these days but certainly for Miniclip Dancing Ant was a fun place to start.

Q: You have been a publisher at one point in your time. You brought us the game RuneScape. How did you acquire that and where does MiniClip stand with RuneScape now?

A: We were introduced to Runescape though the cousin of a colleague, he came back from a weekend at home saying "He was playing it all weekend and raving about it!" So we all jumped in, tried it out and were hooked. We were just beginning to look at the model of partnering with developers of larger game and Runescape seemed like a perfect fit for the growing Miniclip audience. We have enjoyed working with Jagex (the developer of Runescape) and are still publishing Runescape on Miniclip.com along with other titles from Jagex.

Q: You do tend to have connections with Newgrounds. One game uploaded on Newgrounds would be entitled Fragger, it was uploaded by Newgrounds user Harito. Then you would come out with Fragger Lost City. How did this come to be?

A: When we saw the original Fragger game we knew it was a winner and wanted to get involved in bringing it to a bigger audience. We worked with Harito on developing the new levels and sequels to Fragger and continue to see great success with the flash game as well as the mobile versions.

Q: How well do you know Newgrounds founder Tom Fulp?

A: We spent a fair bit of time in contact with Tom over the early years as we were keen to get featured on the Newgrounds frontpage.

Q: When it comes to doing your own game site, what problems tend to arise?

A: The size is now a 'challenge' so to speak. When we were a smaller company we could build out or components in a day or so, but now we have so many users everything needs to be scaled up to support them. Building a new highscore system that can handle 65m users a month is no longer a 1 day job. Along with that is the constant challenge of managing the hardware the site runs on. Whilst many people don't think a games site has to be a stable as a bank, you will soon lose users if the games are not available 24/7, if the highscores/player leagues don't work, if the games crash your computer. All these have always been there but at our current size they represent a problem to a LOT of users if things were to go wrong.

Q: Was there anything about your site that you regret doing?

A: I suspect our web designer would say "using nested tables" when we first built the site and I would say capitalising the 'C' in the original logo which now bugs me ;-) !!.However I don't think there is anything major we have done that we haven't learnt from and so no, we don't regret anything about the site.

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

A: Plenty more great games, in many more places. We are pushing heavily in to Mobile, we have started with iOS as it is the most mature market but are investing in Android, WP7 etc. I am pretty excited about the updates coming to Flash in the coming months namely Stage3D (Molehill) which looks to be pushing the limits pretty nicely on what developers can do with Flash.

Thus is MiniClip. A small gaming website that exploded into something more. Some Newgrounds members probably found their ways here through MiniClip and people from Newgrounds probably found their way to MiniClip through Newgrounds. One thing I always saw MiniClip for was a junior version of Newgrounds in a way. Fun and friendly. If you like to make games and are debating on making your own gaming site, then please take notes.

Interview No. 74

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest I am sure many people if not everybody who reads this knows to some extent. His music on Newgrounds starts at the beginning with The Day I Return and leading to Conflicting Forces. However most of you know him for his big Internet viral hit Numa Numa Dance as well as its sequel New Numa. Although he hasn't been seen much on Newgrounds he is running many projects on his website Numa Network. He is none other than Gary Brolsma, but on Newgrounds he is known as @Gman250.

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

A: It's been quite a long time, I'm not even really sure how I first found out about Newgrounds. Back in 2002 or so, I remember a lot of friends in my grade at school trying to sneak in a few games during computer class. As I was browsing around the site more, I started getting a desire to learn a little bit of Flash, as that was all new to me at the time.

Q: Your first flash on Newgrounds would be entitled X-beanies - Its Goin Down. What made you want to make this flash and looking back on it are you still proud of it?

A: While I was in middle school, I used to make some animated GIF's with my buddy Randy. He had a webcam and an awesome action figure collection, so we used to sit together and make some still frame animations. We eventually started adding Beanie Babies to the animations, and made this video, along with the Nuts Wars trilogy.

Q: You would attempt different music videos using stick figures to showcase. You like others in the past, like others interviewed here, did not have high quality works. We get to Rock Your Body and things do improve here. What changes were you looking to implement did you take constructive criticism from your reviews?

A: Like I said before, I was teaching myself Flash, I was young and wasn't really sure what I was doing. I spent a few weeks just making stick figure music videos with an overuse of little gradient circles, it's really nothing fancy, more or less just test runs. I eventually made "Megaman's Journey" which was probably my biggest effort put into a Flash. I was trying to make a movie/game hybrid, but even that was beyond my knowledge, so it ended up being buggy and had a very rushed ending.

Q: As you kept going through your flash in 2004 you would change pace in a way. December 6, 2004 would be the debut of Numa Numa Dance. You have stated that it was released on Newgrounds first, is this truly true. What inspired you to set up a webcam, pick a song, and then lip sync and dance to it?

A: This is true, it debuted right here on Newgrounds. The end of 2004 was the point where YouTube was just launching, so there wasn't really a place to upload an actual video that you could share with people. When I originally made the Numa Numa Dance, I was just fooling around, having a good time, and I recorded it. I uploaded it into the portal, and sent the link to some friends. They all had a good laugh, and I thought nothing of it. I kept checking back, and a few days later, I saw that it got posted to NG's home page. This made it explode and the views just kept rising and rising.

Q: After two years you would return and give us New Numa. The demand was there since day one. Why come back now and incorporate newer things within it? Also is this truly you singing this time?

A: The New Numa is also a lip-sync. When I made that video, I had management behind me, so we were able to create a custom song, include my band at the time, green screen effects, and some other locations and tricks. Even though the demand was there, I still love the original, because it was something "pure" and just plain fun. I think the sequel was a little overdone, but it allowed me to start a contest to give back to the fans which is something I think not many people have had the chance to do.

Q: Although as an animator to be honest you're not entirely good at, which is okay I'm not either. To counter that though you are a wonderful musician and I think those here tend to overlook you on the Audio Portal. Your first entry is entitled The Day I Return. You've stated that this is a remix. Why a remix for your first entry?

A: I was still in school at the time, and also with 2 bands, so I didn't have much time to really sit down with Flash. I wasn't really happy with the animations I was making anyway... so I eventually gave up on Flash movies, and just stuck with making music. I picked up FL Studio (Fruity Loops), and eventually taught myself how to make beats and whatnot. Those beats through the years, eventually turned into full songs. I tried my hand at a Final Fantasy song because I absolutely love the FF Soundtracks.

Q: Snakeman: Slither Mix is a remix of Snakeman's stage from Mega Man 3. It is a wonderful rendition, but the question is out of all of the songs from the Mega Man games especially one from Mega Man 3 or even Mega Man 2, why this one?

A: Mega Man 2, is definitely my favorite game of all-time, from gameplay to the soundtrack, it is a masterpiece of video gaming. Although MM3 is a close second place for me, I really liked the song from Snake Man's stage, and thought it would be easy to try and make a quick remix of it. Again, I was young and still learning. There are a lot of remixes these days, most notably the ones on Overclocked Remix are my favorite. It probably would be good to go back and revisit some Mega Man tunes one day.

Q: The first time we hear you sing is in the song Conflicting Forces. A good song no doubt and as singing goes you have a great voice. When it comes down to it would you re-do this song with newer technology and truly give it a remastered quality?

A: Thank you, yes I will most likely re-do this eventually. Right now I have another album I'm working on, I don't think it will appear on this one, but down the road I would like to give it a little more love.

Q: To go through all of your songs would have us here forever. So we'll come to your latest work and that is My Friends Call Me Splangey. Who wrote this song and are you still the one singing it?

A: I wrote the music and the words for MFCMS, and yes that's me singing. This is one of the tracks off the new solo album I was creating. A more band-oriented version may appear on my bands upcoming album, but I can't say for sure right now. We're still working out the kinks on that.

Q: Who are The Nowadays?

A: My main band "Nonetheless" started in 1998. We took a break from playing together around 2002. During that off-time, my drummer, Dan, along with 3 other friends formed "The Nowadays". Around 2006, "The Nowadays" fell through, and I started playing with "Nonetheless" again. Lately we've been playing shows at local bars, and are trying to flesh out a full length album. This will hopefully be finished sometime in 2012.

Q: Some people on Newgrounds probably aren't aware of the third Numa Numa Dance. Numa Three: Crazy Loop!. Why did you make a third one and how come it never saw a Newgrounds release?

A: NND3:CL was a YouTube only release for subscribers of my channel "Numa Network". It was also a thank you and promotion for Dan Balan, formerly of O-Zone. I didn't feel it was too important to put it in the flash portal, because it was just a quick video.

Q: When it comes to the upcoming Newgrounds redesign, with it a lot of features will be brought to the table, such as a new Audio Portal and the possibility of video. Will these and other new features bring you back here as more of a frequent contributor?

A: I'm constantly working on new music, so any additions to the Audio Portal will be awesome. Video can be hit or miss with the other websites floating around the internet. But Newgrounds has an advantage that it has a great community and unbelievable animators, so only time can tell what the future will hold. Tom Fulp has been an awesome friend to me, and he has really good ideas, so I trust that he and the whole NG team will do a great job with the redesign.

Q: What can we expect from Gary Brolsma in the future?

A: A big project coming up is the Chronicles of Rick Roll movie... other than that, a new album from my band, "Nonetheless" is on the game plan. I frequently visit NG, so I'll be sure to keep you all updated on my page.

Gary seems to be an interesting mind. A man much like BoMToons, who wants to do things. Wants to be productive and not only that, but have as much as possible while doing it. Some of you reading this probably did not really take the time to look at Gary's other stuff and I understand that, but he does have a voice and he can sing quite well and I think that is where he truly shines, within music.

Interview No. 73

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is still not really known on Newgrounds and still has yet to do a lot here. He is a singer and has covered songs such as Hallelujah (Acapella) and Kryptonite (Acapella). He has also written one of his own songs Never Sleep Alone. Please welcome, @FolegAlmighty.

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

A: That's a tough question... I honestly don't remember how I found NG. I actually Joined back in 2003 under the name Rextex, I just have a different account for my music. I know that I used to spend hours and hours and HOURS on Newgrounds back in the day, watching flashes, posting in the BBS and especially sig making. I actually almost went to school for Graphic Design thanks to NG. (I ended up going for theatre.)

Q: When the different Members of the Audio Portal were here they discussed a few things about music. How did you discover music?

A: Well, my first exposure to music was back in fifth grade when the kids at my elementary school were given the opportunity to join band, to start playing instruments and taking lessons. I wanted to do that. I I went in and said I wanted to play the drums, so Mr. Teeter, the band instructor, said alright, tap out quarter notes with your left hand and eighth notes with your right. Once again, I had no exposure to music at this time, and so I blew it. I ended up playing the Trumpet because that's what you play when you can't play anything else.

Q: What first inspired you to make music? Acapella in general?

A: Well, as far as recording goes, that started when I got a software on my old Dell PC that could layer multiple tracks; something like Audacity. I did a lot of voice acting for NG, and then I started goofing around with recording my voice over itself. At the same time, I got a pirated (lol) version of Finale, and delved into the field of composing. That's about when I fell in love with the concept of harmonies. To me, harmony is the most pure, beautiful thing in this world. I can't describe it, and I certainly don't understand harmony, but... I became obsessed with it. And it's always come very easily to me. I can hear a song for the first time, and a harmony will play in my head, and then another one, and then it's just a matter of putting all those sounds together. When I went off to college, I got my MacBook Pro with Garage Band, so I started goofing around with that, and that's when my acapella stuff started. Summer of 2007.

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

A: Hum. I don't quite have a definitive answer for that. I'm inclined to say that any audio created with the intention of being music is music, but then there are things like The Beatles' "Revolution Number 9" and Acid Mothers Temple that I just don't see as being musical. I think there needs to be a certain degree of structure, or rhythm, or pitch, or SOMETHING for me to listen to it and admit, "Yeah, that's music."

Q: Your first entry to the Audio Portal would be Hallelujah (Acapella). There truly are many songs in this great big world to choose from, why this one as your first?

A: The first time I heard this song, it was performed by Rufus Wainwright in the film "Shrek." I fell in love with the song, both the melody and the lyrics. It's one of those songs that has stuck with me ever since. So when I started recording things, I decided that that song was perfect for what I was trying to do. There was just so much opportunity for harmonizing that I couldn't pass it by.

Q: Your second song would actually be a comedy bit Misirlou (Acapella). Why did you want to do something a bit more comical with a song?

A: Truth be told, I recorded Misirlou before anything of my other songs on the portal. It was actually my very first venture into recoding self-layered acapella. The reason for it, I can't tell you. I think I was just... bored. And I thought it would be fun. And it was.

Q: Your comedy would not stop there, but we would at this point still get a full song with The Lion Sleeps Tonight. When people talk about this song there are usually two responses, one is they heard the song and just liked it or there is a connection to the movie "The Lion King". Would one of these be your answer or is there a different answer altogether?

A: It bugs me when people cite "The Lion King" when talking about The Lion Sleeps Tonight. I'm not saying my version, I'm just talking in general. I've never quite understood why that connection is formed so strongly in peoples' minds, either. Timon and Pumba sing it for, like, thirty seconds, and then that's it. The song itself was written by a South African composer in the 1930's, and then made famous in the 1960's by the group The Tokens. As far as I'm concerned, it's just one of those timeless classics, and it needed to be done.

Q: One of my favorite songs by you has to be Kryptonite (Acapella). It is one that I not only really liked, but one that I would like to hear the rest of. How come this song has yet to be completed and will we see it finished?

A: First off, if anyone knows what happened with Kryptonite, please tell me. I left it on NG, didn't check it for, like, a year, and I came back and it had explosive traffic. Tens of thousands of listeners, hundreds of reviews, I found it all over the internet, it was in NG flash movies, on YouTube... I mean, I really don't know what happened there. It's not even one of my favorites I've done. I barely like it, to be honest. Haha. Anyway, when it comes to my acapella songs, you'll notice that most of them are either abridged versions of the full songs, or just plain incomplete. I wish I had an artistic reason for this, but the truth is that I just get bored and want to start new projects. Kryptonite will never be finished, because all of the source material was deleted, along with about forty other incomplete acapella projects. Those will never see the light of day.

Q: When talking to beat boxers or acapella singers their main attribute is their voice and how they utilize it is amazing. You are no exception. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is truly an amazing piece. What was the process you had to take in bringing this to life?

A: That, I think, is my favorite project I've done. I was interested in doing songs from all different genres of music, and I happened to be listening to a lot of Ennio Morricone at the time. I decided that particular theme would be the most recognizable of his music. I was very interested in doing an all-voice version of a no-voice song, so I set off on it. Basically my process for any acapella cover is just to listen to the original track and try and isolate all of the individual elements. So if I was first going to record, say, a cymbal track, I would listen to the original source and focus only on the percussion. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly was a really fun project to do this on because of the astounding number of subtle elements Ennio put into the song. So I listened, recorded, listened, recorded, listened, recorded. This particular song was completed in one night.

Q: Gangsta's Paradise. I just got to ask, what the fuck. Because this is not only very impressive, but it is quite funny at the same time. Why this song and why not the full thing?

A: Again, my interest is to create unlikely acapella covers from all genres. If I sat around and did the songs that everyone does in acapella groups, there'd be no reason for anyone to listen to my music. As far as I know, I have the only recorded acapella versions of Misirlou, Kryptonite, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly theme... and Gangsta's Paradise. Plus, doing songs that everyone knows but nobody expects in that style makes the enjoyment of listening to them all the greater. Plus plus, Coolio's the shit.

Q: After "Gangsta's Paradise" you would drop off of Newgrounds for 2010 without a submission. Where were you and why didn't you return until 2011?

A: I just got involved in other things, my music hobby slowed down a bit. I don't have any great reason. I just find it hard to stay in one particular place for very long. I get restless. So I stopped recording for a while. Then, earlier this week, I just decided I wanted to start again. So I did.

Q: If someone was to ask me what your best song is I would tell them I'm Your Man. You've stated that the instrumental isn't yours. If it's not yours then whose is it?

A: That instrumental is from the Michael Buble recording of "I'm Your Man." It's just the best one out there. It's a really high-quality karaoke track, which is always nice.

Q: Your latest work is Never Sleep Alone is a very touching song. I can sense that this truly does come from the heart. What all can you tell us about this song?

A: This song... I met my girlfriend of two years in college, and last summer I was a couple hundred miles away from her doing a show. We missed each other a lot, blah blah blah ooey gooey lovey dovey nobodywantstohearthat Anyway, I just... wrote down what I felt and made it into a song. It's a very, very simple song, but it's honest.

Q: We have spoken to other different singers here on Newgrounds, they include JAZZA, Cayler, Zachary Louis, and Hania. They have all taken different routes with their music as well as the creation and craft of it. How does the music come to you? Which comes first in other words the melody or the lyrics?

A: When I write music, usually it's the lyrics that come first. Right now I'm writing a musical, with the working title of "RPG: The Musical." So when I'm writing a song, I just write the lyrics down, find the rhymes, find the rhythm, then find the music. Then the lyrics get tweaked around the music a bit. It's kind of a give-and-take. That said, I think I'm better at ripping off other musicans' work than writing my own. ;)

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

A: Well, right now I'm working on acapella covers of "It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band, and "Fuck You" by Cee-Lo Green. I'm also considering uploading a sample of one of my songs from my musical. I'm always looking for ideas, too, so if NG users wants to hear anything in particular, they should feel more than welcome to send a request via PM. Or anything via PM. I'm always looking for conversations. And friends. And lovers.

You know it saddens me that Newgrounds members don't lurk more on this site. I know Tom Fulp does the Treasure Hunt usually once a year, but only for flash movies and games. Why couldn't he do the same for the Audio Portal? There truly are some hidden gems in this place and FolegAlmighty is certainly a diamond in the rough.

Interview No. 72

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest has been here once before. During his time away from us he has been working on LARRY episode 1.5, LARRY episode 2, LARRY: Gnomergeddon, Larry And The Gnomes, Meaty Boner, and Fried Egg (Friday Parody). He truly is on a journey through multiple different projects and has yet to stop. He is once again, @Jazza.

Q: Last time we left off, we spoke about LARRY episode 1. Since then it has garnered its own collection here on Newgrounds simply entitled Larry. A lot has been built upon this series since then. Starting with LARRY episode 1.5. You've stated that it's an introduction to newer characters within the same land as Karryon. Why did you feel the need to introduce us to these new characters and will they play some supporting role later in the series?

A: My intention since before I even began animating the series wasn't to follow a single character, although it is named after one in particular. My hope was to create a thick world of memorable characters for their own unique stories and reasons. BUT in saying that, it is still a series following a continuous story of the main character, Larry, so I've always planned having 'side' episodes which allow me to break from a rigid timeline and character focus. For me it feels like a nice mix, being able to keep a good solid story planned while still telling the stories of the many other characters within the town, so they feel as important and likable as any other, even if in the main episodes they only make small appearances

Q: LARRY episode 2 continues the story, but unlike the first one it seemed a bit shorter. Is there a reason for this?

A: Well it's actually not shorter hehe, they're almost exactly the same in length. In terms of how long i plan for episodes to be, i roughly aim for 8-10 minutes, but it's more about telling the story properly weather it takes longer or shorter then the usual 8-10 minute goal :)

Q: We now come to the LARRY games. They include LARRY: Doug-Out, LARRY: Big Dipper, LARRY: Gnomergeddon, Larry And The Gnomes, and LARRY: Pup Run. You have stated time and time again that these are mini-games. Is that all they are or do they have some connection to the series?

A: Of the Larry games the only one which isn't a mini game is Larry and the Gnomes (which i intended to feel like a full story in itself), but the purpose of the mini games (aside from promoting the series in a different way to a different audience) has been to increase the richness of the world. Letting people be involved in the story rather then just watching. I tend to feel if an audience member has played as Pup running full speed through Karryon for 15 minutes, the next time they see it happen in an episode, they'll feel more connected to the experience.

Q: When it comes to the LARRY series there are more games than there are movies. Why is this?

A: It just happened that way I guess, I enjoy making both, games tend to be more gratifying to make in the short term (mini games at least) so they're fun to bring out, and they reach a wider audience. Otherwise, I still have a LOT planned for future episodes. But games too ^_^

Q: Our first meeting there was one game I forgot to bring up and that was the Kill Kar. It would get a sequel called the Kill Kar II: Revenge. What was the inspiration for both of these games and why a sequel?

A: To be honest of all the games i've worked on, they are both the ones i've been the least attached to. I think mainly because I like to think of making games as a story telling experience, neither of those games are. They were more of a 'something to do' project.

Q: You have been busy with Game Jams recently. With entries such as Meaty Boner, Robinson Crusoe: The Game, and Sundown Dash. When it comes to joining with a group of people, what do you look for in a collaboration?

A: ENTHUSIASM! I'm an extremely energetic person when it comes to working on projects, and the game jams have been a vital resource for me to let out some steam when working on a big project, to get together with other people ready to have a lot of fun and work their guts out with me over a weekend and make something start to finish.

Q: You are not only an outstanding flash animator and artist, but you are also gifted with a wonderful voice. One song I want to know more about is one that you have written yourself and that the Happiest in the World. Where did this song come from?

A: That's one I wrote a while ago, it was after a break up and I was nice and emo lol. It was also in my early stages of learning to write songs so there's little subtlety, but in a way i kinda like looking back at the things I've made in the past even though i feel i could do better now, and seeing the progress and changes I've made.

Q: We've talked about you doing a cover of Mad World. So why you do covers is understandable. However when we come to Fried Egg (Friday Parody), you basically pulled a "Weird Al Yankovic" with us and it was hilarious and glorious. I may regret this, but how on Earth did you come up with these lyrics and will we see more song parodies in the future?

A: Aha it was very spur-of-the-moment. It's how I enjoy working, if the passion to do something arises I either make it in that moment or leave it and it never gets made. So that song was on a weekend in which I (and many others) was humored by the video by rebecca. The lyrics were kinda pooped out :P

Q: Words for Alexandra is a beautiful song, one that you breathed so much life into. I personally can say that I understand how you feel and it's a terrible feeling to lose a friend in high school. When we spoke with Bosa he stated that it was a bit too personal for him to share. So if you do not wish to share then I won't force you, but I and others would like to share these feelings with you if we can.

A: No i'm pretty open about it all so no worries. Like I said a moment ago, It was something that in the moment of obviously intense emotion and chaos, i needed to express, to both tribute her and release my own emotions in a healthy way. I kinda worry now and then if i throw my audience off a little when one moment i put something out there of nothing but parody, stupidity and impulse, then the next moment i'm singing through tears and emo-ing up the joint, but in the end i like to see my role as a story teller. Some people may not ever like the way i do what I do and that's perfectly OK, but a story is a story, weather is makes you laugh or cry, and It's just who I am in that I have the need to share it.

Q: We have spoken to MasterAardvark here on two different occasions. You have stated that you were part of a stream with him. What is this strange being like?

A: If i could put it in to words you would die of pure awesomeness and horror at the same time. We had the best evening when he and Lochie came over, and in the evening we got a little tipsy and jumped on chat roulette, made MasterAardvark (felix) take his shirt off, face away from the camera, and convince creepy dudes to touch themselves, then got felix to reveal his nasty beard and male gender. It was possibly the best time of our lives and we all slept in the same bed that night. Not gay. Here's a pic... He'll thank me for sharing that with you :)

Q: What is Ortus?

A: Ortus has been my focus for the last year, it's the biggest project i've ever been a part of running by far, and i would say as a flash game, and as an RPG game in general, has many hige things to offer that people haven't seen before. We've been working around the clock to make it revolutionary. It's a MASSIVE multi-pathed story based isometric RPG in flash, with at least 50 hours of gameplay easy, HEAPS of different story paths, character options and endings, locations, skills, enemies, and.... Don't get me started coz i could go on all day. It'll be done before the end of the year fingers crossed.

Q: What can we expect form Jazza in the future?

A: Ortus is the big thing this year, it's my baby as well as the baby of the other dedicated team members. I want to do more Larry content as well ad music and an album later, and whatever direction becomes my more prominent and professional path (music, games or animation) I'll be sure to keep doing the others in my spare time and keep passionately telling my little stories to whoever might care to partake! :D

Jazza was here once before and when he was we learned a lot about his works and a little bit about himself. With this interview I think we learned a little bit more. The amazing thing is by the time this interview has been posted he still isn't done yet or probably has something newer out already. He truly is a worker. From the old members that grew on this site with Paladin and to the new members who are now growing with Larry. Who knows where this creative artist will take us next, all we know is it will be somewhere wonderful.