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.