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Saxonia Issue 04 Part 012
Interview with Vouck/Arid Weed/Drifters/Tristar
by Lars "Ghandy" Sobiraj
The reasons why I decided to make this interview are quite simple.
One side of the story is, that after TAC died some years ago, nobody
in the PC or Amiga mag-world gives attention to the ASCII Scene, which
is a shame. And on the other side, this person is someone that gave
loads of new strength and a lot of motivation to other ASCII artists.
By founding his group Arid Weed and by slamming out aggressive
statements, like: "Someone is calling a virtual customer service: There
are no more serious ASCII artists out there! Just lazy bastards and those
strange block people."
That was the beginning, shorty after Arid Weed had been found. We`d
like to find out the rest together.
Ghandy: So, Marco, feel welcome in our hall of fame area. Maybe I maybe
offer you a sip of good whiskey first or would you prefer to smoke a bit
weed instead? ;-)
Vouck: Hall of Fame ? I am fameous?!? At least I won`t be famous, but it`s
unavoidable sometimes.
I would take both a little Jolly and a glass of good whisky. Currently I
just enjoy my beloved Becks ...
Ghandy: You had your comeback into the Scene some moths ago. How did
you join the Scene first
and when did you decide to enter it again?
Vouck: It was in 1995 when I first called Slapshots` board which was
known as 'The Gathering'.
At this time I was 15 years old but I had started with a C64 in 1992
after the fall of
the 'Berliner Mauer' - my dad wanted to bring me in contact with
computers -> original quote
'Computers will take a big part in the future.' It seems he was right.
My Dad was a locksmith
and I should never use my hands in order to earn money. That was the
reason behind.
I have been in groups like Looker House, Arcade, Altern and so on. Well,
I don`t really remember 'em all.
I complety stopped all scene activities in 1999 when I started a drug
career with a friend of mine - another reason was the depressive Amiga
scene, where everyone just talked about the 'dying Amiga scene'. From
that point I attended techo partys every weekend and mixed different
chemicals like LSD, shrooms, amphetamine and all the other party
"utilities". After a short two week break in apsychiatry, I recognized
that it can't be the sense of life amd stopped all this shit. I had to
reorganize my whole life, but fall into a heavy weed problem for seven
years.
Last year I met Slapshot again and got a link to Boondocks. I just wanted
to do after all the years some Ascii again - just for fun. And the story
continued until now.
I had left Aerosol after releasing "asl-neu.txt" and revitalized my own
group named "aridweed".
Ghandy: Wow! Thank you for being so honest and revealing us the
background of your story. Please tell us, what's so fascinating for you
speaking about the Scene.
Vouck: I know many people which would write here giant philosophic
stories about the funk, the feel, the flavour of the scene and the
experience they got from the scene. Well, nothing against philosophy but
current scene is just a point where I get at least some fun in my life.
That`s all. When I was some years younger, I thought that was the main
point of my life but today it`s just great to find some older and also a
lot of newer friends.
Ghandy: Your crew Arid Weed brought a lot fresh wind into the rusty
Ascii Scene on the Amiga! How did you manage that?
Vouck: Slapshot told me that Cubon is also interested in Ascii art and I
just asked him if he wants to join. First I was scared about all the pc
sceners but now it`s just normal, Amiga lost the war it seems, but ...
hmmm Amiga has won because Amiga sceners had and still have attitude
compared to the biggest part of the pc scene which just consists
of wankers or wannabes.
Ghandy: What is so special for you when it comes to Ascii? Why do you do
this, why don't you paint f.e. with a graphics program etc.??
Vouck: Why do graffiti artist paint on wall ? Because they simply want
it! Ascii is currrently an old "dead" art and I`m still living sometimes
in history.
Ghandy: I know the feeling pretty well, too well. Who were the Ascii
artists that did influence you, that you adored?
Vouck: Definitely Mogue and H2o, Tommy and Nup. Also 2Fast and Neurodancer.
Ghandy: Speaking of the Amiga demoscene, how came that you also joined
Drifters?
Vouck: It`s a rejoin. I met Jesus/Drifters at MS2K-1, I was high on LSD
and he was totally drunk and we had a great weird talk. Clary appeared and
after that we had some great talk and she explained me her crew and we
agreed that drifters needed an ascii artist. That`s all :D
Ghandy: Btw.:I heard rumours your crew is working on a demo for Breakpoint,
can you confirm that?
Vouck: Really ? I am just an ascii artist, I have no clue about demo.
I just move stupid slashes and dots. :D
Ghandy: As you might already know, the Drifters demo did came out!
But let`s move to other topics. Do you plan to buy new Amiga hardware like
an Amiga One or Pegasos? What do you think about the next generation Amiga
hardware?
Vouck: Do you know the sequel of Kill Bill ? It sucks ... the first
movie was the best imho. It`s the same with Amiga.
Ghandy: You told me you're working at Dell. What are your hobbies beside
computing?
Vouck: Ascii and my Girlfriend. At the weekend I booze or smoke some weed.
That`s my life. I rather prefer to not use the machine at weekends, I am
a little fed up with pc. The machine is just a machine there is no soul
inside.
Ghandy: No doubt about that! At the end I'd like to invite you to greet
your friends, having left the Scene or not, the more the better!
Vouck: Clary Ami_Trsi Tommy Nup DMG Abho Dipswitch Zaner Trash Cubon
Elend Zorro Eskoner (Trivial) Slapshot Neurodancer H2o Mogue Irokos Don
Rapello Acehigh Gencha Alien Yool Zemra SpeedDevil Zack Ghandy Digiman
Spots ... damnit I always miss to greet a lot of people.
Please excuse my low brain if i forgot you. Thanks for wasting your
time to listen my history.
Last note: In case you`d like to check out their releases, move your
browser to
http://aridweed.untergrund.net !!
