Interview No. 16

Interview By: @The-Great-One

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Interview No. 15

Interview By: @The-Great-One

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q: Happy Harry describes animating...

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

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

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

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

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

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

Interview No. 14

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is not only a forum moderator, but he is also one of the more interesting audio artists in the Audio Portal. Although far more known in the forums than he is in the Audio Portal he hopes to become a better Audio Portal artist. He is none other than @Gooch.

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

A: I remember it was back in my junior year of high school back in 2002-2003. This one night, my buddy Darren and I were chatting on MSN Messenger, and he tells me he's playing this game called Ganguro Girl. Needless to say, I was hooked on that game.

It wasn't until later on that I ended up signing up, though. Once I ended up playing the game Disorderly, I knew that I could see myself having a lot of fun with the website. So then I signed up for my account in May of 2003 under the alias "Gooch_20-04". The 20-04 represented what year I graduated from high school. Good thing I'm just Gooch now. The extra numbers at the end would look ridiculous nowadays.

Q: Your first submission to the Audio Portal would be entitled Tribalistic Clink Clank. An amusing little piece and one that could be useful. You said you whipped it up with things around the house, what were these things and is there a funny story behind the creation of this piece?

A: There's really not much of a story behind it, persay. I just found myself hitting a couple of pens against my computer desktop. I experimented a little bit with it, and I found myself using a drink coaster to give it that clanky sound you hear. After adding a little bit of echo and reverb on it from the sound recorder on my computer, Tribalistic Clink Clank was born. I didn't think that it would have much success at all. I was elated to see that it was used in another user's flash, too.

Q: I know this is jumping ahead, but I want you to tell us about Psychadelic Bike Ride. You stated you had some inspiration from ChazzGoth. What inspriation was this?

A: Well I got to know Chazz from his inquiry for voice acting. I've been doing a little voice acting for an upcoming project of his, and am hoping that it will be a huge success here on Newgrounds.

Anyways, I sent him the song and asked for his assistance on what a good title would be for it. I'm naturally horrible with creating song titles for my own work. He suggested "Psychopathic Bunnies". I liked it, but I thought it was a little too extreme for the song. After giving it another listen, I felt like the song would best describe somebody just riding on a bike and experiencing this sweet journey on it they've never seen before. If it wasn't for Chazz though, I probably would have ended up naming something completely different.

Q: One of my favorites by you is entitled Piano Hop. One user described it as a nightmare or strange dream. Would you say the same? Also could you tell us about the creation of this song?

A: Sure. I was still relatively new with using Fruity Loops when I came up Piano Hop. I just remember coming up with a beat for the drums and bass to use, but I felt like i needed to spice it up a little. Well I ended up seeing the paino app that was on it, messed with it a little, and the rest is history.

As for it being described as a nightmare or a strange dream, I can definitely see the user's perspective. It does have somewhat of an creepy feel to it. I can just picture somebody walking through an abandoned mansion, all spooky and dark. It just has that kind of feel to it, although my original opinion about its sound didn't fit the description I currently possess of it today.

Q: What is the thought process and inspiration come from when you make music? In our terminology how do you make the music that you make?

A: There's not much to my music-making process really, and there's nothing that just comes out and inspires me to make something. I just like to experiment around with things. If something catches my ear, then I just run with the ball and try and create something unique that everybody would enjoy listening to.

Now has that completely worked out? I'd have to say probably not. I like to have high hopes for any song or loop I create. That just makes me want to strive harder in suceeding as being a well-known and respected audio artist here on Newgrounds.

Q: Now we come to the question I'm sure most people want to know. When and how did you become a BBS Forum Moderator?

A: I'm actually on my second stint as a moderator. I remember the first time I became a moderator. It was November 7th, 2005. I was modded along with Evark, actually. I guess my 1 and 1/2 years of posting history convinced the moderators and administrators at the time that I was responsible enough to handle the privilege.

Well, I kind of burnt myself out on Newgrounds last year, and I was de-modded do to inactivity back in June of 2008. However, I came back to my favorite website this year, and I kind of hinted around that I wanted to be back on the "Mod Squad". Sure enough, I was re-modded earlier this year, and I've continued to enjoy the privilege ever since.

Q: How did the other moderators feel about you coming on board?

A: I don't think ecstatic is the word to use here, but I'd say they are happy that I'm part of team. I haven't had too many problems with anyone on the team, and I try and be available for them whenver there is a problem to be discussed.

Q: Do you like being a forum moderator?

A: It has its ups and downs. The ups just outweigh the downs. I've always been happy to be a moderator on here, and I will continue to do so as long as I affiliate myself with the website.

Q: You talk about a band called 311. What connections do you have with this band? No matter the answer, why do you talk about them so much?

A: I've listened to 311 for fourteen years now. I don't have any physical connections with the band, but I'd like to say that I connect with them spiritually. They've always had positive vibes in their music, and their music has always kept me a positive person in life.

As I said, I've been a huge fan of their music for fourteen years now. I always like to talk about them because there's so much to say about them and how much you can relate their music to others. That, and just the influence and the upbeat nature of 311 is always great to talk about. There's never a dull moment when talking about them. I just wish more people would appreciate their music though. I know they've had their fair share of fame stemming back from the mid-90s on, but the appreciation for their music (specifically on Newgrounds) doesn't seem to resonate with some of the younger generation. Hopefully that will change in the future.

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

A: Honestly, expect the unexpected. I could post for a few months and be on another hiatus just like that. I don't think chartering what I do would end up taking its course. Hopefully there will be no hiatus, but you just never know with the unpredictability of things.

However, my best friend Dougie (also known as "killinois" here on Newgrounds) are trying to get a band started. He plays guitar and I play the drums. If we can manage to find a bassist and a singer (probably another guitarist, too), we just might start to submit audio to Newgrounds not made on Fruity Loops.

We'll just have to see what's lies ahead, I guess.

After interviewing Gooch. I can honestly say that he is passionate about music, but doesn't seems to forget about it now and then. Perhaps Gooch will become an everyday name in the Audio Portal, that my dear readers is what I am hoping for.

Interview No. 13

Interview By: @The-Great-One

My guest today is one of Newgrounds highest critics. He has written over 15,000 reviews and is still writing them to this day. He has been known for his works in the Flash Community for the Ghost Motel Series, the Lepo Series, the Lazlow Radio Series, and much more. I am of course talking about @XwaynecoltX.

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

A: Me and my friend loves Mike n Spike or however it is, and searched stuff on the net and came across this flash site which had funny movies, it was called newgrounds.

Q: Before I start asking you about your flash work, I want to ask the one person who has collabed with you in most of them. Tell me how you came across artist Violet-AIM?

A: Violet is my gf, and now my wife for several years, we both love art and animation, infact she has a a good job with it now.

Q: You are more known through Newgrounds for your high review count. Your first review was for one of your own flash movies y my 3rd movie. Why did you decide to review something that you yourself worked on?

A: It was violet's first work I only did some voices and backround art, but I commented on her part mostly.

Q: You started making more constructive reviews on March 7, 2006 when you reviewed Bloby. Why the sudden change to your critique styles.

A: I felt that since i do write lots of reviews that they should have more depth to them especially if it can help the artist.

Q: You are a high reviewer here on Newgrounds. Do you have any advice for those who wish to write better reviews?

A: My reviews have always been about trying to help the artist, so try and at least point out a few good points to improve on and it can be done in a positive way.

Q: When it comes to your audio reviews, why don't you use the same constructive critique styles you use in your flash reviews?

A: Not sure thats still testing for me I don't want it to be the same as my flash reviews im sure it will change in the future though.

Q: Your first flash here on Newgrounds would be y my 2nd movie. This would later turn into a small series. Where did the idea come from and why did you and Violet-AIM decide to turn this into a series and where is the 1st movie?

A: we like to do different things and that was more of a test on how we did with flash and stuff, we moved onto better things.

Q: Your first solo flash would be X Stick Man (Closed Movie. You stated there was a movie there, but you decided to close the project. What was this movie about and why did you close it?

A: lol that was my own test, it was closed many years ago cause basicly it was crap and probably still is haha.

Q: You and Violet-AIM started a series with the flash Lepo 2: Driving. An interesting series at its best, and in the author's comments Violet-AIM had this to say...

Me and Xwaynecoltx had fun making this hope you like.

So XwaynecoltX. Could you tell us the fun that you both had in making this flash? As well as the overall series?

A: It was a strange little man we made with some classic 80's music, his misfortune adventures, had fun with it because of the bad things we had him go through

Q: We now come to a crucial question. The start of Ghost Motel. Where did the idea come from for this series and what was the experience of working on it?

A: GM was the best stuff we did. me and Violet, would take time with it, at first the first pilot episode was just gonna be the only one but it came close to winning an award and some people said we should make more, we love ghost stuff and ghost stories so we went with this.

Q: Throughout the Ghost Motel series you have been the voice actor for mostly all the male characters. My two favorite characters you gave voices for were "Joseph" and "The Riddler Clown." How did it feel doing those voices and do you have any advice for other voice actors on Newgrounds?

A: Well while im not the greatest voicer it was fun. you have to try and give good emotion in times of need and such.

Q: Ghost Motel 11 was presented to Newgrounds on January 19, 2005. You and Violet-AIM have pissed me off and probably others as well by leaving us with a cliffhanger ending and four years with no new additions. Will you and Violet-AIM be continuing the Ghost Motel series?

A: Ha sorry to upset others, school and jobs and life tend to get in the way of newgrounds hehe, but as i have told many others ep 12 is being worked on.

Q: You have your own solo series entitled Lazlow Radio. Where did the idea come from for this and will you be giving us more in the future?

A: I dont know, wanted to see lazlow's voice from gta games as he is in his own show on flash, it was kinda neat

Q: What can we expect from XwaynecoltX within the near future?

A: Not sure you can see me around from time to time, when i have the time as well as violet.

Q: You've been on Newgrounds for a long time. What advice do you have for other artists, reviewers, and users?

A: Just practice everyday, and enjoy it, dont worry about the negative, and keep on creating new and awesome stuff.

Well it looks like we have another couple on here besides James Lee and Hania. XwaynecoltX has given us so much, but says very little. Which is hard to believe when you look at his reviews. All I can say is he's pretty much straight forward.

Interview No. 12

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's artist is one of the flash portal, audio portal, and now art portal communities. He has received Daily Feature awards for Wii Are Sold Out, Dollar, and Merry ThankMas!. He is also a Forum Moderator and an Art Moderator. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you an underrated talent @SardonicSamurai.

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

A: The first I ever heard of newgrounds was way back when the assassin games were out. A lot of my friends were suspended from school because they were playing it in class. So I had been going to newgrounds for a long time. I didn't actually sign up until September of '05, and the reason why I did was after I watched FALLEN ANGEL: TEASER nearly a year after it was submitted. It motivated me to finally create an account and start posting on the BBS.

Q: Your first flash was a Halloween flash enititled The Necromancer. Where did the idea of this come from and what was the experience like making it?

A: I had been playing with flash for a little while, and some of the projects I had been working on were taking too long and I really wanted to just have something on the portal. When I heard news that people were making Halloween flashes, I came up with a short skit and decided to create a quick flash entry. I definitely had fun making it, and I knew I wasn't going to win anything. I just had fun with it and hoped people would at least enjoy it and get a chuckle or two.

Q: A flash you contributed to would be Welcome to PalTalk which would be something more suitable for the Audio Portal. Was the voice in the flash submission the actual guy or was it someone else reading this? Also was this for real or was it a joke?

A: I joined Paltalk and became somewhat of a regular for a long time (Though I rarely go on it nowadays) One day, some random kid decided to enter the chat and act retarded like that. It was sort of funny listening and watching other peoples reaction to him; taking him way too seriously. People actually thought he was some deprived sheltered kid, so I drew (or whatever the hell you want to call those bunches of lines) a picture with some of the things he yelled about. It was just a stupid inside joke, haha. Hurray for spam!

Q: Another flash I want you to tell me about is Soft Taco! Where did the joke come from and what was the experience in creating this flash?

A: Yet another Paltalk insider thing. Around the time, I had a Taco Bell spree and would order around 6 soft tacos and come back into chat and talk about how delicious it was. People would say I was going to explode into a toilet for eating so much of that garbage, so as a joke I made the flash in 2-3 hours and submitted it to the portal. I had no idea it'd get as popular as it did. I think most of my animations (if that's what you'd like to call them) are shit. The only reason why I score so high is because people like my sense of humor and my crazy voices I guess.

Q: The first flash to win you a Daily Award would be Wii Are Sold Out. It's quite obvious where the storyline and concept came from, but why did you want to make a flash talking about this?

A: I worked in Target electronics during the insane hype people had for that damned console. "Excuse me sir do you have any Wii's?!", "I need a Wii I'm sure you have to have some in the backroom!", "Why don't you people ever have Wii's?!". I would literally be asked those types of questions every 2-3 minutes over the course of several months. One day, I was being yelled out by a customer (or "guests" as we call them at Target for some gay reason). I went into the backroom twitching because I wanted so badly to do something that would have prevented me from making flash for a long ass time, haha. Instead, I vented through flash when I got home and submitted it to the portal. This was yet another flash submission I thought would never get as many views as it did, haha.

Q: Your next flash that would win a Daily Feature would be entitled Dollar. Why did you create this flash and what was the process behind it? Also who did the voice of the Dollar, just out of curiosity?

A: It seems like any popular flash I make is created due to me venting. A group of friends wanted to go hang out in an area that was around 30-45 minutes away. I really wanted to go, but gas was $4.00+ and I had no money to fill my tank up. Instead of going out to party with friends, I created that flash as a joke. I was the voice actor for the Dollar, as well as every other character I've ever animated. I don't like asking for voice actors help, and I have a wide range of voices. I've constantly been told by friends to get into voice acting, and I'm just now starting to take those people seriously. I'm looking for a new microphone and hope to start voicing other peoples animations as well as my own!

Q: Another Daily Feature win for you would be for the flash Merry ThankMas!. Where did the idea for this come from and what was the process in creating this flash?

A: To start, I am not a very religious person. The ideas of religion are great, but people tend to ruin them. Christmas, for example, should be a great holiday. Instead, people kill each other over sales and... wow this is sort of sounding like Merry ThanksMas isn't it? Basically, I just threw in a bunch of random characters and had them talking to one another. My favorite Holiday is probably Thanksgiving, and it gets completely run over by Christmas. Hell, the day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday. "Hey it was nice to see you guys here on Thanksgiving but I'm leaving to go wait in line for 6 hours for some sales for Christmas!"

Q: A flash entitled Stamper N' Johnny would be making fun of Stamper and JohnnyUtah. I want to know how you came about creating this flash and why?

A: If you look at some of their flashes, you'll see that they both submitted some form of a shape themed animation. Soon after, people started making different shapes in different flashes in different scenarios. By the time I got wind of the whole thing, people had already submitted pretty much all recognizable shapes to the portal, so I figured instead of shapes I'd have two of the people that caused the damned thing jumping up and down on that damned gray line. If you haven't noticed the pattern yet, most and almost all of my animations are created in spur of the moment. I'm trying to change that but I'm a busy man, haha.

Q: You unlike other flash artists also have works in the Audio Portal. Your first song there was PartySamurai. Your second song was SamuariPluck. What can you tell me about these songs?

A: Those were created in fruity loops 5 several years before I first submitted them. A friend gave me a copy of his FL studio, so I decided to experiment. Those were my experiments. I have no idea how to create good sounding songs, but eventually I'd like to try and learn how to use Fruity Loops, along with other software. Once I get my new microphone, I might fiddle around with making new submissions for the audio portal.

Q: How did you become a Forum Moderator?

A: To be perfectly honest, I'm really not sure. Long before I became a mod, Wade started up a game of Halo 2 and posted about it in the forum. I joined in, and I rocked at the game. I was befriended by Wade and some other staff members and I started playing with them regularly. Unlike most people on the forums, I treated them like people; not gods. I was there to have fun and not suck e-penis. I later joined Paltalk, and I was constantly solving problems in the chat. I was on my way out to run some errands when Wade first told me I was being modded. I had to give a quick thanks and run out the door before I could even check anything out. So I guess I was moderated because I was a relaxed and fair person that never asked or begged or even showed signs of wanting to moderate the site.

Q: Do you enjoy your job as a Forum Moderator?

A: First, I wouldn't consider it a job. I'm definitely not being paid to help moderate, haha. It's more like volunteering to clean up trash off the side of a highway. I'm quite lenient towards people, so I generally don't get complaints from users who're spamming. As a matter of fact, I really haven't been banning anyone, minus a few people here and there. I've been so busy with work and other things that my online time has become small. Since college is over, I'm slowly starting to go online more and more, though I still go out to hang with friends and go clubbing or dancing and the whatnot. As a matter of fact, I came home to read your message right after getting back from dancing with a great group of friends, both old and new.

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

A: I really want to start submitting more to the portal. I'm really surprised at the following I have now due to some animations I never thought would become so popular. I really like to make people laugh and I hope to create even more laughs. I have so many ideas and small projects started, I have no idea what will hit the portal next. More likely than anything else, something will probably piss me off and I'll go on a 3-4 hour drawing/ voicing/ lip syncing spree and submit it to the portal, haha.

As far as what I'd like to have on the portal, I would love to start a series with my username as a main character. I'm still working out ideas but I hope I can work on that some more. I'm also thinking of making an animation about a group of workers in space... but I won't give much detail on that because I'm still working out character designs and a script... I hope to at least submit one thing to the portal this summer!

I enjoyed interviewing SardonicSamurai and see him as just a basic everyday user. He's just your everyday user who treats the site as is. Although he isn't exactly dedicated to it, he does enjoy being here.

Interview No. 11

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today we're looking at a group of people who have won over twenty Daily Feature awards for their flash work. They're known for bringing popular series to Newgrounds such as Another Day, Decline of Video Gaming, and James the Zebra. They have worked together with very-well known member LegendaryFrog to create FF7: About Random Battles which won a Daily Feature award and a Weekly Users' Choice award. This and much more has been accomplished by none other than @The-Super-Flash-Bros.

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

A: I got linked to it from a forum I used to go to. Someone was linking to LegendaryFrog's cartoon: Chocobo Mix. I showed it to Tom and we decided we could make our own cartoons similar to that.

Q: Your first flash submission to Newgrounds would be Metal Gear Mayhem. Where did the ideas for this flash come from and what was the process of creating it?

A: I hesitantly drew the characters in Flash, having not used the program before. We were using Flash 4, at the time, and Tom animated it using a strange combination of early actionscript and actual keyframes. I wanted to draw backgrounds but we were so concerned about filesize we didn't dare!

Q: The beginning of what is now a regular series on Newgrounds is the creation of Another Day. What can you tell me about the first part of this series as well as the whole series?

A: The first part? I made it for fun, I was trying out a Wacom tablet that my Dad had bought. The wobbling was borrowed from LegendaryFrog's "Kerrigan and the Frog". The series in general has been about me getting to grips with animation and storytelling. I've still a long way to go!

Q: Your first collaboration was with a flash called The Matrik Has You.. How did it feel working with these different flash artists? Was the experience fun?

A: That was a big moment for us. We'd made friends with LegendaryFrog after getting noticed for making the platformer game, Nightmare. The Matrix Has You was our big break, really. And it lead onto the Decline series. It was very liberating writing our own script, recording the lines and doing whatever we felt like. We also got to work alongside John and Richie Zirbes :)

Q: A second series would be started by you Double-Helix and that would be Decline of Video Gaming. What all can you tell me about this series?

A: I'd been trying to make a Devil May Cry parody for ages but not having much luck and one day I got talking to my friend Dan and we decided it'd be fun to write a cartoon which featured lots of parodies of different games. So we set it in a game store. The whole thing ended up being very popular. We owe a lot to the voice talents of Egoraptor, especially in later installments.

Q: While we're on the subject of series, I want you to tell me about James The Zebra and his series ranging from a winter wonderland, outer space, and even a pirate ship. What is the story behind James?

A: James happened pretty much as the intros would have you believe. We wanted to make a Christmas game, but we wanted a unique character that people wouldn't expect. He was so fun to work with we kept him going :) We've kept that exact same image of James we used in the first game, we just dress him up in different outfits. Its really great fun designing simple platformy arcade games. I like how people of all ages and gender seem to enjoy James.

Q: The year is 2007 and you give us all your newest character Detective Grimoire. What can you tell me about this game and is there a sequel in the works?

A: I have a lot of affection for Detective Grimoire, I can't wait to get back to working on the sequel. I think he has a lot more to offer (the sequel has full voice acting and much more interesting puzzles). Overall though its me and Tom indulging our love of point-and-click games. We wouldn't be the same without Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

Q: Your flash From Player to Playa is an interesting flash about Desktop Icons and their programs. What can you tell us about it and will you be making another flash in this kind of form in the future?

A: I made two silly trailers in a row, I guess I was just in that sort of mood. I didn't want to overdo it, so I didn't make any more. If I have a really solid idea, I'll do more I suppose. Player to Playa was made in about 3 or 4 nights. I love the feel and pace of trailers, its a good excercise to try and recreate that feeling as closely as possible, while including jokes and whatnot.

Q: What can we expect from The-Super-Flash-Bros in the future?

A: Currently working on "James the Super Zebra" which is on a scale like no other James game before it. People who are fans of the intros will be pleased by the format of this one :) Then after that we'll officially get back to Grimoire 2. Although I've done a lot of art for that game, its still in its early stages and needs a lot more scripting to get the story just perfect. I'll probbaly release some of the animations I've been doing at University, too. Not sure how well they'll go down on Newgrounds though!

The-Super-Flash-Bros are an interesting team of animators. Hearing these different stories I'm sure is enough to inspire anyone in animation. From there story telling of Another Day to there games James The Zebra and Detective Grimoire, I see storytellers at their finest.

Interview No. 10

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today we look at a married couple here on Newgrounds who work together on flash animations. They are a pair that have probably been overlooked by Newgrounds fans and I for one do not believe that is right at all. They have been won a Daily Feature award for their work on Popstar. They have also won the Daily 2nd Place award for Roller Coaster Junkie and Make Snacks not War. These two very talented individuals are @Hania and @JamesLee.

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

Q: I hope you understand that I prefer to use your names as Hania and James Lee to make it easier to ask certain questions throughout this interview since I am interviewing two people. I would also like separate answers from both of you unless you both agree on the same answer.

A:

James: No Prob :)

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

A:

James: I don't really remember how I found it actually, I came accross it in 2000, about the same time I started learning Flash. At the time there was nothing else like it on the web. Coming here really inspired me to work harder at my Flash.

I joined up some time later, along with my cousin krazy-kenny, and we collaborated on animations, most of which were blammed :)

Hania: I came across it through James. When we first met, he showed me his flash animations on newgrounds and suggested that I upload my music so other flasherino's could use it. I'm glad I did as I see my music in other people's works (be it flash or remixes) and it's such a buzz!

Q: James - your first two flash submissions on Newgrounds were entitled Mah Animated Xmuss Card and Funky Bunny Breakdance. These were both holiday e-cards basically to send to someone. What was the process in creating these?

A:

James: Actually, my first few submissions were blammed under a separate account, you can see my earlier work here http://jeffshowproductions.newgrounds.

com. They were called the Jeff Show, and they were deliberately lame. I don't think the 'deliberate' aspect of their lameness was very obvious though :P

With the e-cards, along with most of my early stuff, there was no process. I'd just load up Flash and just start animating. Half way through I'd decide to actually make it into an e-card. The vast majority of my old stuff was never finished, so I guess that was the benefit of creating a holiday card, having a deadline would force me to finish my work.

Those two animations were typical of my work at the time. I'd just lay down a soundtrack and see what ideas came to mind. It's a great, spontaneous process that I've kept with me up until now. Coming up with ideas out of thin air, and then putting it to paper can sometimes be difficult, so having a music track to work with really keeps the momentum rolling.

Q: You and Hania's first flash together would also be your first Daily Feature award. That is the flash entitled Popstar. I for one found the story of this flash not only hilarious, but honest. Can you both tell me the creation of this flash?

A:

James: My job was pretty easy on this one. The story and themes were already layed out for me, so I just ran through the timeline, scrawling in some rough graphics as an animatic. We had most of the story plotted out in about 20 minutes, and from there I just ploughed through it. After a few years of learning the 'correct' way to do pre-production, my approach to animation in general had become quite rigid. It was great to return to my old methods and I re-learned some valuable lessons about keeping a spontaneous workflow.

Something we wanted to inject into the Flash was a good balance of music and visuals. Too many music videos rely too heavily on the music, and the visuals simply describe what the lyrics are already saying. We wanted the visuals to bring added meaning to the song.

We wrapped up the whole thing in about two weeks. Afterwards, we were really surprised at how smoothly and stress free the production went.

Q: Hania - on May 21, 2008 your song ~Roller Coaster Junkie~ would hit the Audio Portal and gain you much praise. On January 27, 2009 James had created a flash for your song entitled Roller Coaster Junkie. Where did the idea for this song come from and when did the idea of making a flash for it come into play?

A:

Hania: In all honesty, I really LOVE roller coasters. I was home alone one night and wanted to amuse myself, so I wrote a jiggy little tune and sang about a roller coaster junkie; having thought up the lyrics in first-person. James is always looking for fun and quick little projects, so I offered up RCJ and he came up with the awesome animation.

Q: Hania - one of my favorite songs by you and I'm sure others will agree with me is ~Silver Memory~. Where did the idea of this song come from and will James be making a flash for it as well?

A:

Hania: Thanks! Glad you like it :-) Silver Memory came from somewhere very deep inside. With the war that was (and still is) going on, I wanted to write a song that brought attention to all the innocent that die. I didn't want to point fingers or get too involved in the politics, so I wrote about a fictional planet in space being taken over by 'Invaders'. I thought I could make a subtle awareness of how it might be to witness the terrors that happen when two societies are at war. Strangely enough, the idea has grown into so much more - I'm writing a novel based around this planet with songs that coincide with the story line, giving the reader a new experience while they read the book. I can't say that James will create a flash for 'Silver Memory' but there are plans to make a flash for one of the songs I've created (and not yet released) for the Memory Planet Series.

Q: Your next collaboration would be that of Make Snacks not War. You stated it was for a competition. I want to know is how did you come up with this idea and what was the process that went into making the flash?

A:

James: It was created for a Doritos Promotion, where the public were asked to create their own ad. We ran through a few ideas and just settled on the most off the wall (within reason :P) idea we could think of.

Really we just ran through as many ideas that we could think of, where the triangular shape of Doritos could be replaced with something else ( we had an idea for Dorito rocket ships, Doritos sailing boats, pyramids etc). I think we chose the spears idea, because we could make it 300-y, and we thought the idea of all the spears landing directly into their mouths was so stupid it could work.

We wanted it to be very epic and atmospheric, but there was too much detail to read on screen. We were limited to 29 seconds, so we had to throw out a lot of shots, and really reduce the amount of graphics on screen, so it could read easier. In the end we were glad because it ended up a lot punchier.

This was our first project were Hania's music would need to be underscored, to not distract from the core idea of the ad. Typically we create the soundtrack before the visuals, but this Flash was created in more of a standard fashion, with music created towards the end. It was an interesting learning experience and was quite new for us.

Because it needed to abide by TV guidelines, we had to be mindful of not pushing the envelope too far, and making it too 'edgy'. Luckily, we'd worked with Eric Gusky before on Tarboy, and not only did he do a great job on the acting, but he's a professional sound designer for radio advertising. He took care of the sound effects and gave advice on changes, based on his advertising experience.

Unfortunately the entire promotion was a complete failure. Technical issues meant (from the promoter end) that they didn't upload the ad until the last day of voting. We got no exposure and really had no chance of getting into the top ten.

We bitched and moaned for a couple of days but we moved on to a new project soon after. At the very least, we had a great time making it :)

Q: What can we of Newgrounds expect from Hania and James Lee within the future?

A:

James: We're getting ready to release our big project (Tarboy) in the coming month or so. We've had it completed for about a year and a half, but have delayed putting it onto Newgrounds so that it could complete its festival run. Plus, it's kind of our baby, so I've been a bit too precious about releasing it without it packaged absolutely perfect. It took 8 months of our lives and it's hard to let go :P

I won't give away any story details, but it's a musically driven, sci-fi 'epic'. Hania produced an amazing score for it, and we've already got music and (some) of the script together for a sequel.

It's received a lot of great exposure so far, and we hope that the Newgrounds community will respond well to it. Soon after, we'll be putting out another film called 'Purged', which was an experimental project I completed in college.

Hania: Apart from Tarboy and Purged, we'll be putting up all our smaller projects as we complete them along the way. James and I are always working on something small and something big - allows us to have a fall back project to take our minds off the stress of the bigger project. So you should be expecting a short video clip (about 2 minutes in length) called 'Sudden' coming out soon-ish and various other short films here and there as we conjure them up from our brains.

Upon interviewing this married couple of Newgrounds. My only question now is. If these two can get together to bring forth some wonderful work. Could the same be said for Tom and April Fulp. Basically what I see is two people, one who enjoys music and one who enjoys art. Put them together and you have a story to tell.

Interview No. 9

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is someone who I am surprised is not a Newgrounds Administrator. He has been known for The Newgrounds Sketchbook Tour which is something he has done since the 2006. He has also worked on flashes such a Portal Defenders which was the first Newgrounds game to use the Medals Feature, Newgrounds Rumble, and Castle Crashing the Beard, which all have won Daily Feature awards. He has contributed much to Newgrounds for nine years now, which is why he has also won The Newgrounds Tank Award for Best User of 2007. This user is none other than @Luis.

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

A: I think I found newgrounds by clicking on a baby seal banner ad. I dont remember what it looked like but I do remember thinking, god who would make such a dumb game.So I clicked and then I found a ton of other 'dumb' stuff and thought to myself, 'I NEED to get in on this'

Q: One of your early flash submissions that would be turned into a small series was perverto. Where did the idea of this flash come from?

A: Ugh I actually am embarassed about Perverto, and only keep it on the site for the sake of documenting NG history, but the idea behind the series was a direct reflection of why I joined the site and being heavily influenced by my portal peers at the time. Perverto falls in the same vein as Scrotum the Puppy by Brian Beaton (whatever happend to that guy) and things like Nail jesus to the cross by Tommunism. Back then the site was alot more steered towards the violence hungry teens who take out their annoyance with pop media through Flash. SO in that sense Perverto was a perfect fit. As for the actual character, its based on a friend of mine back in high school whom we did call Perverto (his name was Roberto). He would catcall and holler at girls as they walked by our lockers and he'd be the classic sex-deprived teen. So he served as my inspiration for finding a character that was repulsive enough to be happily accepted into newgrounds at the time. (The portal back then was alot more unforgiving)

Q: You have made a contribution to Newgrounds classic Assassin Series with your flash Snipe Justin Timberlake. This may be a stupid question, but why did you make this flash? Also what was the process in making this flash?

A: That game sort of is the same in mindset as the Perverto series, its a reflection of newgrounds' userbase interests at the time. NG back then was alot more raunchy and contraversial, so alot of artists including myself were making movies and games that lashed out at pop media/icons. I pitched the idea to Tom, and he went into his laboratory and whipped that out of it. I wonder if he regrets making it now that we know of his deep man-crush for JT. Or maybe thats why he accepted to do it to begin with.

Q: During 2004 you did a lot of Newgrounds Time Trials starting with NG Time Trial Challenge. Could you tell us the process of these collaborations as well as why you haven't done anymore of these?

A: Well the process is fairly simple, you had a challenge and a hard deadline and you set people free to resolve it within the given timeframe. The aspect of flirting with a deadline and showing off in front of your flash peers was appealing and the series took off from there. As for why it ended, well theres a few reasons. One of the most hardcore participants of the series was LiveCorpse, who as we know is no longer around. So I kinda felt like it was a good gesture to have the series die off with him, but also there was alot greater collaboration going on (whether as a result of the series or not is anyones guess). So there was no real reason to keep it going. I still like the concept behind the Time Trials, of artists dealing with a common challenge in their own manner so I've since dabbled in series like Pass-My-Flash and AlmightyHans' Valentine '29 collaboration. I love seeing what other artists come up with, I find it almost more exciting than submitting my own work.

Q: In 2006 you started the Newgrounds Sketchbook Tour. Could you tell us the experiences of seeing all these drawing personally as well as responses from the Newgrounds Office?

A: The Sketchbook Tour has grown alot since when I started it. It was a tough sell back in 2006, because who the hell wants to give up their mailing address. So it was alot of doors shutting in my face and it kinda felt like a door-to-door salesman trying to sell something with 0 street cred to it. I didnt get a coder for it because the one person I did ask told me nobody would want to look at a slideshow (which is more or less what it is). So the first SBT was done by me and coded (badly) by myself. It was a good start though and it built up enthusiasm for it both in the ng community and the office. I recently wrapped up the mailing phase of this year's tour. It was like 200+ envelopes and almost none of which I had to pitch. It was all genuine interest so it should be good and its great that the community embraced such an unusual offline project.

Q: One thing that I and probably others want to know is this. Why is it you have decided never to level up, but remain at the Level 2 Lollipop?

A: Well I deposited like once back when i had just joined the site and then I just kinda forgot about it. One cool thing about NG is that you can tailor it and enjoy it how you see fit. Like theres people who really get into the leveling up aspect and having the power to make and break dreams with their powerful votes. Theres other people who really get off on trolling the forums, and theres others who create epic movies/games. Others who make epic spam controbutions, the fact that the site has arms long enough to embrace this somewhat dysfunctional family of internet users is interesting. But anyway, eventually the lollipop became my calling card and my middle finger to Tom and his plans for world domination. You can be a powerful user and NOT get into some aspects of the site and that is kind of cool. I think most artists tend to be low-level users anyway.

Q: How did you become a Forum Moderator and do you enjoy your position?

A: I became forum moderator cause Tom said I should. At the time I hadnt dwelled in the forums much. I had a low post count and it was kind of an akward entrance into the mod family. But on the plus side, I did recognize that and in order to gain respect of my peers I did make it my goal to get more involved in the forums. Not just babysit my collab threads. I dont really enjoy the aspect of 'moderating'. I like the concept of helping the site grow and having the added responsibility of being a catalyst in that. The part where it gets tricky is that I REALLY enjoy being a 'peon'. I like the aspect of mixing in with regular users and just getting along with everyone. So in that aspect I dont like the idea of being a moderator that looks down on other users or demands respect. Thats not to say that way of dealing with the site is not correct. Its simply not my thing. I know the site has grown its userbase and is trying to also grow its sophistication but i also kinda like that it still has that immaturity/abrasiveness to it. So alot of the nipple twister users I actually find nothing wrong with, in fact I think they are important part of the unique attitude that newgrounds has. That's not to say that users who are obviously causing harm to the site and other peoples experience shouldnt be dealt with. I just think that a week long ban is more effective than a 30 day one. 30 days of inactivity breeds users who are bitter and more hellbent on being annoying when they return or through alts. So by stomping one flame out you've just made a series of brighter longer burning ones. Overall, I enjoy it and I think its cool that the site trusts a select group of users enough to take care of the site with no real incentive. I mean nobody gets paid or anything, its all a love for the site.

Q: You are probably known more throughout the Art Forum than the Flash Portal. You've hosted many contests throughout Newgrounds and overall have brought the community of Newgrounds together. When it comes down to it, which contests were your favorite to hold and why?

A: I'm probably least known on the Art Forum. Which is sad, cause i REALLY do need to start drawing more. But I actually enjoy seeing what other people can do as opposed to showing what I am capable of. Theres something more exciting about the raw talent of someone else and being the person who polished that diamond or shined the proper light on it and exposed its shimmer. That and its just fun to see what people come up with. I think my favorite contests have been the ones involving painting figurines, like the Munny and Teddy Troopers. Theres some awesome solutions that people have come up with. I'm talking like professional grade stuff. Its amazing how much OTHER talents users have. Plus its cool to get away from the computer and do something else thats equally artistic.

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

A: I dont really plan ahead to far out. But its a safe bet that most of what you can expect from me is community related. Meetups in exotic locations, more dumb contests, and more collaboration. I definately want to expand collaboration to touch other parts of the site such as the audio portal so yea more communication and collaboration with the audio side of the site would be great. Those guys need more lovin.

Interviewing Luis has shown me not really a dedicated user, but a user who just enjoys being on Newgrounds and enjoys being within this community. I for one am surprised that he is not an administator... well who knows maybe some day he will be.

Interview No. 8

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is known more around the Newgrounds BBS Forums that anywhere else. He's a face many people know and the name hardly anybody forgets. He has become user of the day and has made over 20 threads on the BBS. He is none other than @Elios.

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

A: Well, i first discovered this place back in 2002-3 when Madness Combat came out, and it was featured at ugo.com. At first, Newgrounds seemed like "Just another one of those flash game sites", so i didn't really bother to fully explore it. Until i heard about a fancy new redesign from a friend, so i came back, and i liked what i saw, so i joined.

Q: Quite possibly your most famous thread on Newgrounds was the thread titled Photo Op me! Where did the idea come from with this thread and what was the experience feel like doing it?

A: I got a digital camera for christmas (I still don't know why, i didn't even ask for one). And i was toying around with it, taking pictures of various things, when the idea of "Have people tell me what to do, and i'll post it!" Came into my head. Instead of the ever popular "Photoshop me" thread theme, i took a different road with this one. At first, i thought it would be fun, taking a few pics of myself, doing a few silly things. Little did i realize how extreme and risque this thread would become!

After a few pages, and seveal hundred PMs of "Do this! Wait...do THIS!", my only options seemed to be, bail, and look like a fool, or keep going, and look like an attention whore. I figured, hey, if they like it, keep going, no shame. I even made a meme out of myself for doing a well placed facepalm.

Q: One thing you've started on Newgrounds is The Newgrounds Tank Wall Project. Where is the inspiration for this project and what is the experience like in doing it?

A: The one thing i've learned from this site, is that everyone that is part of this community, wants to do something great. That one big project that everyone says "Wow! That certainly is impressive!", and it's not necessarily for the attention or fame, but that feeling of achievement. Again, i never really realized how large this project would get. I started with the tank, and i though "Hey i'll throw a few names on the wall around it for some friends". But then the ideas just kept flowing, and now i have over 210 unique users (and their names) involved in this project!

Q: Would you like to be a Newgrounds Forum Moderator? Whatever your answer could you explain?

A: Ya know, i run hot and cold with thinking about being a moderator. Sometimes i do, sometimes i don't. At first i think, yeah, i could help out a little, especially at 4 am when no one else is around. But then i think, i REALLY don't have the time to be a truly effective mod. I'd show up, lock ban lock ban lock, bye guys! It take a heart of stone, and an empty calendar to be a true mod.

Q: Your first flash submission on Newgrounds was called Welcome to Newgrounds! This flash basically welcomed new users by giving them proper information. Why did you make this and would you want to recreate it?

A: I made that project because, after several months of being on the BBS, and seeing WAY too many threads that the FAQs can answer, i decided to make a simplistic mspaint + windows movie maker + flash converter film, that basically explains how Newgrounds works. Similar submissions, were all like, lists of stuff, and click buttons, i wanted to make something unique, and rather humorous. So i drew a bunch of stick figures, downloaded a few pics, and recorded my voice, simple as that. When my flash was popular, i'd say it was pretty effective for answering noob questions.

Q: You started a series on Newgrounds and have yet to pick it back up again. This series is called INKmen. You started the series with INKmen: "username". Where did this idea come from and why haven't you continued it?

A: Ahh yes...i do long to continue my series. I first started with the same technique as my first one, mspaint and windows MM, but the barrage of PMs and comments of "Dude! GET FLASH!". So i found a free copy of flash, and tried some REAL animating! Man, i still don't know how the professionals do it, i managed to make a circle move from one side of the screen to the other. Yay me! I still have all my comedic sketches written and saved somewhere. And I'd love to bring my ideas to life someday, but i have some learning to do first about proper animating.

Q: One project which you have considered your biggest project is that called Storm of Zehir. Where did the idea come from? Will it be on Newgrounds? What information can you tell us about this?

A: Well, this one is quite complicated, but i can explain it easily. I own a series of PC games called "Neverwinter Nights". Within this game, is a program called the Toolset, which allows you to make your own games and adventures. This is the same program that the creators of the game used to develope to official game campaign. Now over the past 6 years, i created my own campaign entitled "The 12 Towers". It would take WAY to long to explain in depth what it is, so anyone can PM me for details on it. Anyway, i've been seriously working on this project for a little over 2 years now. This will be a fully online multiplayer game, and 100% original content. I've made threads in the past, asking for ideas from the Newgrounds community, and they've been a real big help! I still have a while to go on this project, but the building process is fun!

Q: On Newgrounds we have a married couple who make flash movies together. They are James Lee and Hania. Will you and TwistedLittleMe ever work on something together?

A: Perhaps in the future. If she's a better animator than i am, then maybe we'll see INKmen sooner in the portal!

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

A: Honestly, i'm not really sure! I'll still be around for a while, maybe i'll start another Newgrounds related project or two. But for now, i'll get my daily XP, and make the general forum laugh!

After interviewing Elios I can honestly say that he is what he is. And what he is, is nothing more than just a plain user. Here to have fun and enjoy the community that is Newgrounds.

Interview No. 7

Interview By: @The-Great-One

Today's guest is an audio artist of Newgrounds who has created many wonderous titles. He is known for his happy hardcore songs such as {Runaway}. He has also been known for his remix of Heaven Is A Place On Earth, Pink Elephants and Lemonade, and {Into The Mind}. This audio artist is none other than @DaGrahamCraka.

Q: I hope you know constructing this interview was quite difficult for me to do. Gathering everything and looking through all of your songs wasn't easy. You have quite a lot of work to go through. So if I have forgotten something or if there was something I didn't include I hope you can understand my situation at hand.

A: I totally understand and I'm sure the interview will be top notch. :P

Q: Your first submission on Newgrounds was Apex (demo). What was the process in making this song? Also since it's labeled as a "demo" do you plan on going back and working on it more?

A: To be honest I can't really remember the process I took. It was a long time ago. It was really my first experiment in FL Studio of actually trying to make a complete song. It's labeled a demo because I had intended finishing it at the time but I have since given up. I don't really see much potential...

Q: Your first remix on Newgrounds was that of the original arcade game Donkey Kong. This remix was entitled Donkey Kong Title Song Remix. Why did you choose this as your first remix and how did you create it?

A: Well, I chose it because I really think Donkey Kong as had consistently good music. A lot of video game music is pretty sub par, specially for that era. I'll be honest I used a midi. I had just discovered using them and found a website that has a lot of video game midis and I immediately went for the Donkey Kong section. Oh well, it was a long time ago.

Q: Your next remix would be Aqua Group's song Barbie Girl. You entitled it Aqua-Barbie Girl Remix. You would go on and make a second one {Aqua-Barbie Girl Remix}. What is the difference between the two songs? Why did you decide to make a remix of Barbie Girl? What was the process in creating these songs? And will you be making another remix and adding vocals like you did with the song Heaven Is A Place On Earth?

A: The reason for the two songs is that before the update, every once in a while there would be issues with uploading music. If you screwed around with the browser a lot of times it would corrupt the file data and wouldn't play. That's why i uploaded the second one, because the first one didn't work. You wouldn't notice it now though, since the update corrected the problems. I guess I had always liked the song, it's pretty catchy. I remember attempting to do this one without a midi. First remix I did so with I think, I used them for something though, can't remember what. I probably won't ever return to it, but who knows.

Q: One of your classical pieces that is a very nice piece, but the title seems to confuse me and I don't doubt it confuses others as well is Rise Of The Cock.Why the sudden urge to change over and make a classical piece and what is the story behind the title choice?

A: I've always enjoyed orchestral and classical pieces and right before I made this song I had managed to get my hands on Edirol Orchestral, which is an orchestral VST. The reason I named it that was cause when I was listening to the finished projects it just reminded me of big, fat, warm boners. Honestly, though I just named it that to be silly. I'm just so silly!

Q: One song you gave us a preview of and have not yet finished it is Hands Up {Preview}. It is a really nice preview and I for one would like to see it completed. Why have you not completed this song?

A: I just ran out of ideas I think. Lost interest as well. Then I just sort of forgot about it. I think a couple of months ago I went back to it to try and finish it but nothing ever become of it.

Q: The Audio Portal community is one that is kind and generous to different talents and one that offers suggestions and friendships amongst musicians, critics, and storytellers alike. Do you have any friends within the Audio Portal community? Do you have any rivalries or enemies?

A: I've made a few friends within the portal. Cornandbeans and I are actually really great friends and know each other personally. I met him freshman year and he showed me his music. He started using FL studio in the early summer of 2006 I'm pretty sure, and he turned me onto it and I started using it in September. He had had previous music experience though with Jazzware. He might have used some other programs too but I don't know. We've made a shit ton of music together but it just sits on my hard drive. We don't ever finish anything.... I also got to become pretty good online friends with Dj-Nate and Ocon. Nate and I even tossed around the idea of him coming down in the summer of 2007 to visit with Ian (Cornandbeans) and I and do a bit of collabing. Never panned out though. : (((

Q: There are time when artists in the Audio Portal enjoy dueling one another and letting the public here the completion of their song. You and Sylacone have dueled as well in the song DaGrahamCraka vs. Sylacone. Would you mind telling us the story on how this song came about?

A: Well, I can't remember how me and Sylacone started talking, but we did. I had been working on the song for a little bit and I asked him if he was interested in maybe turning it into a collab. So we proceeded to send the file back and forth adding bits of our own until it turned into what it is now.

Q: I have made references to your song Heaven Is A Place On Earth. Which is a remix of Belinda Carlisle's song Heaven Is A Place On Earth. Out of all of the great 80's songs out there to choose from, why did you choose this one and was it a hard decision to make?

A: I think I was watching TV or something. I heard the song somewhere and I thought it could be turned into a pretty good happy hardcore song. So I went to work on it. I think that's how it happened...

Q: The last question I wish to ask you about your music is the song Pink Elephants And Lemonade. Later on you made a full version of this song Pink Elephants & Lemonade-Full. What is the difference in these songs and what was the process in making them?

A: Well I heard a remix of Dear Jessie by Rollergirl on a happy hardcore mix and I loved it and I had been working on a song that had a pretty similar sound so I thought I'd try to turn it into a remix. So I got the acapella for it. The difference between the two isn't drastic. I lengthened the final version and improved the mixing a bit. There's definitely a noticeable difference but it's not that nuts.

Q: Who on Newgrounds would you like to make a collaboration with?

A: Well, I enjoy working with people I like. So I guess I'll list my three main bros. Cornandbeans, Dj-Nate, and Ocon. I've already done a dick load of collabs with Ian like I said earlier and me and Nate tried it a few times but we just never finished any. I've never collabed with Alyk (Ocon), but he doesn't even really do much music anymore. I've sort of lost touch with a lot of the AP community recently, but if any of you all read this and wanna collaborate hit me up. My aim is on my page.

Q: What can we expect from you on Newgrounds within the near future?

A: I'm working on a happy hardcore tune right now called "Goodbye to Romance", that I'm definitely going to finish and upload. It should be up in maybe a week or so? Hopefully I won't let you all down. I might upload a trance song I've been working on. But as usual I'm sort of losing interested in it... As for the not so near future, I want to start moving my music production in a more professional direction. It might be a while but hopefully not too long. I'll still be uploading things on here though. I guess I'm just gonna play it by ear.

After interviewing DaGrahamCraka, I certainly do believe he is a very talented artist. Whether or not he knows it himself is a different story. I guess you could say that he is quite humble about his work and only wants to give his fans what they want. That is dedication.