Interviews

Interview with The Syndrom

Published in Domination Paper Edition
Performed by Duke


It has been a while since The Syndrom was last known as one of the front men of the magazine industry, but now he is back on stage again with the return of The Insider. Most people know him as one of the best musicians on the C64 today, but he also reached fame through his efforts in the release of The Pulse Magazine. He created the last outfit for this magazine, and led the magazine's team of critics in the making of World of Demos. We caught up with Syndrom and had a little chat with him about the return of The Insider. A German publication, which has picked up the pieces of the past and carried on writing the history of The Insider.



D)
The Insider is back on the international C64 stage, and you are one of the main people behind this comeback. What was the reason for bringing back The Insider to the scene?

T)
Well, as you can read in the magazine itself, several people have been working on a new outfit for the Insider; unfortunately it took some time to finish it. And since we already had collected a few interesting chapters which were too good to be wasted it was without doubt for me Insider had to make a comeback.


D)
Please introduce the people behind the magazine to our readers!

T)
Well, the main person behind Insider always has been Happymaker of Reflex. He put a lot of work into all issues (remember the special paper-issue) except the last one. This was due to a lack of time and interest caused by his community service. So as you know, Insider comes from Dresden/Germany, all the c64-sceners from Dresden started to work on the comeback issue... For a detailed list read the editorial of Insider.



D)
What contents will the readers be able to find in The Insider?

T)
We try to avoid chapters about the cracking/Illegal scene - Insider was always meant to concentrate on the legal part. I was connected to its production right from the first issue, and as you know I'm into music, I always kept my eyes on providing a rich offer of high-quality tunes. Sure, it's not essential for a magazine, but who cares? Anyway, we always try to come up with good news, charts, some kind of demo-reviews, good and many (not only one) interview, and some interesting extra-chapters.



D)
You were a key player in the success of The Pulse Magazine, and it is no secret that I (Duke) was very unhappy that you decided to not return to help produce Scene+. Why did you not team up with old colleagues from the days of doing The Pulse Magazine and instead decided to focus on The Insider?

T)
Well, as I said I was involved with Insider from the beginning and since spare time, especially spent in front of the computer, gets more and more rare, I simply couldn't have managed to work for The Pulse (or Scene+) again (since this was VERY time-consuming! Just remember doing world of demos, where we reviewed EVERY major demo. I'm kinda disappointed about today's magazines, nobody seems to care about good demo-reviews anymore, and it’s rather impressive if there is one at all!)


D)
What are the main differences between the role you play in the making of The Insider and the role you played in the production of The Pulse Magazine?

T)
Well, the main difference would be that I don't face any deadlines except the one I set :) Beside that I don't think there's too much different, I just write a few text, and keep organising the tunes (which have been exclusive all the time!), and updating the outfit.



D)
What is your overall impression of the comeback issue of The Insider? Are you satisfied with the result?

T)
Yes. I'm satisfied! Some people may think it's a weak issue, but I'm very pleased that we finally managed to get it finished, after all the trouble we had during the making. Also I'm proud of my code, which is capable of displaying nearly everything; I just didn't have time yet to code any more "plugins" except the standard picture displayer. I know that there are a few bugs here and there, but all in all I find it a well-done issue...


D)
What do you think is the difference between The Insider and the other magazines in the scene today?

T)
I'm not the one to judge it. One thing I noticed though is that more and more magazines slow down there releasing-speed. (Insider is no exception - there won't be more than 2 or 3 issues a year)



D)
What are the immediate future plans of The Insider?

T)
Well, we will definitely release another issue in 1998, probably at the end of the year.


D)
Alright. Thank you for your time and much luck with making The Insider a big success! :)

T)
Well thanks, and - as you keep saying - all the same to you... ;)

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