Interviews
Interview with Jazzcat
Published in Domination Paper Edition
Performed by Duke
ONSLAUGHT still moving in the fast lane
Recently Deekay left Onslaught in agreement with Jazzcat, and this gave birth to more than a few speculations of what Onslaught would bring forth to the sceners in the future to come - at least with what demos are concerned. We caught up with leader of Onslaught, Jazzcat, and had a little chat with him about the situation in Onslaught - and found that there is really nothing to worry about. The thumb is pointing upwards for Onslaught indeed!
D)
Hello there, David. Thank you for doing this live, exclusive, special, kickboxing cool interview ;)
J)
No problem there Alex, even though I have 600 windows open at the moment, I am happy to oblige :)
D)
That's a lot of windows. Gates would be proud! ;) Anyway, it's been a long time since the press uncovered the many sleazy activities going on below the surface in Onslaught, so I thought it was about time yours truly made a move ;)
J)
Well somebody has to, and who better apart from myself? But that would be boring interviewing myself, so please proceed..
D)
Hehe, yes, there is some truth in that of course :) Let's begin with talking about the year of 1998. How has 1998 been for Onslaught?
J)
Not too bad, we have certainly picked up our works on the internet - to stay with the fashion, so to speak. Release wise, we have stabilised and have kept up a regular pattern.
D)
Deekay recently left the Onslaught ship, and I understand this was a decision made by both him and you? Care to explain?
J)
Yes of course. The organisation of the group was originally a "cracking group" based one - meaning deadlines and a emphasis on reliability. Deekay was not used to this as he paints when he feels he wants to. Also the group is internationally based, it is hard for Deekay to correspond the with the coders who are in three different countries (UK, Australia and Poland) - he is used to a German organised crew and phone calls within the same country. All of this, along with the delay of some of the productions caused him to be not so happy. So we came to the decision that it would be better for him to leave the group and join a group he is happy with, as we only want members who are happy with things, which he was not. We are still on very good terms, although both Onslaught and Deekay are a bit sad of his leaving - as he was one of the original members of the group.
D)
Yes, I understand this must have been a very difficult decision. So where does this leave Onslaught in terms of planning future demos?
J)
It is fine for us - we have recruited some good graphicians such as Informer (painter behind Wild Jesus/Scorn) and Madhead/Ascraeus. It is more of loss with Deekay, not as a graphician, but as a group friend and member.
D)
Well, that at least is a very positive message to come from Onslaught. Of course, Deekay being who he is, people would naturally expect his departure to have serious consequences, but these two sounds interesting indeed. Any demos currently in planning?
J)
Yes we have several productions. 2 graphics collections from Naphalm and Informer, a trackmo from Naphalm, a demo from Regi Keyz, Jolz's demo, Nostalgic Visuality - a cooperation demo with Visual Reality, Album Of The Year, a coop demo later on with Byterapers and some other things which are explained in the latest Onslaught News Update (No.#2)
D)
A lot of productions indeed. And Onslaught has also started releasing games again, I see.
J)
Well we have never really stopped, the intensity has, but we always have something around the corner to surprise the scene, and I can comfortably say we have a few BIG surprises before and after the New Year.
D)
So I take it the scene spirit is alive and well in Onslaught?
J)
For sure - we are trying all the time to reactivate our inactive members. Some will come back soon, some already have.. and with them more projects, fun and activity in general. The member status. Care to share that with us? Jazzcat, Vengeance, Jolz, Morbid, Bizarre, Homeboy, Doom, Cubehead, Regi Keyz, Naphalm, Leming, Gop, TBH, Madhead, Digahole, Meff, Sting, Trouble, Informer, Moses. - Active
D)
You are probably one of the most active sceners in the C64 today - or at least one of those with the most projects going at the same time. How difficult would you say it is to manage a group like Onslaught?
J)
The group is not too difficult to manage. What consumes more time than my group is my magazine and my independent productions, such as Album Of The year. I just wish I was organising a group in the 80s that would have been real fun, but maybe a nightmare also.
D)
You have to be kidding? Organising a group with stamps? Hehe
J)
I am speaking in an "activity level" sense - compared with the late 90's.
D)
Yes, of course. :) So tell me, David, why does Onslaught want to lead the charts? What is it that makes us all thrive for glory - even in this late stage of the scene history?
J)
We really do not care about the charts, although of course it is nice to be included with other quality groups. We just wish to get some respect from some people and to show people that there is STILL a lot more to do on this old and cool machine.
D)
That's what I meant. The scene spirit still waves it's flag above Onslaught, I see. Splendid! Magazines. Let's talk magazines. Your own production, Domination, is not released under the Onslaught label, but Vandalism News is. How is Vengeance doing - is he set for a major comeback, or will he take things slowly at first?
J)
He will just release as he sees fit. I think he has some more pressing matters in real life that keep him away from the scene. But I believe when he gets on the internet, all the old spirit will flow back. Issue thirty one is in the making at this time.
D)
Glad to hear it. Yes, the Internet has indeed been good for many sceners - no doubt about that :) So in closing, what do you foresee the future for Onslaught to be like?
J)
Quite good, some different type of releases than what people normally expect from us. Meaning a greater concentration on the demo side of things. We will not be as active in the cracking scene as before, but we will be delivering QUALITY and not QUANTITY. It is funny how some "big shots" said we would die - but we obviously proved them wrong and in a BIG way too.. expect the unexpected!
D)
Thumbs up, David. Keep up and the good work, good luck in the future with all your projects.
J)
No problem Alex. Anytime.
Published in Domination Paper Edition
Performed by Duke
ONSLAUGHT still moving in the fast lane
Recently Deekay left Onslaught in agreement with Jazzcat, and this gave birth to more than a few speculations of what Onslaught would bring forth to the sceners in the future to come - at least with what demos are concerned. We caught up with leader of Onslaught, Jazzcat, and had a little chat with him about the situation in Onslaught - and found that there is really nothing to worry about. The thumb is pointing upwards for Onslaught indeed!
D)
Hello there, David. Thank you for doing this live, exclusive, special, kickboxing cool interview ;)
J)
No problem there Alex, even though I have 600 windows open at the moment, I am happy to oblige :)
D)
That's a lot of windows. Gates would be proud! ;) Anyway, it's been a long time since the press uncovered the many sleazy activities going on below the surface in Onslaught, so I thought it was about time yours truly made a move ;)
J)
Well somebody has to, and who better apart from myself? But that would be boring interviewing myself, so please proceed..
D)
Hehe, yes, there is some truth in that of course :) Let's begin with talking about the year of 1998. How has 1998 been for Onslaught?
J)
Not too bad, we have certainly picked up our works on the internet - to stay with the fashion, so to speak. Release wise, we have stabilised and have kept up a regular pattern.
D)
Deekay recently left the Onslaught ship, and I understand this was a decision made by both him and you? Care to explain?
J)
Yes of course. The organisation of the group was originally a "cracking group" based one - meaning deadlines and a emphasis on reliability. Deekay was not used to this as he paints when he feels he wants to. Also the group is internationally based, it is hard for Deekay to correspond the with the coders who are in three different countries (UK, Australia and Poland) - he is used to a German organised crew and phone calls within the same country. All of this, along with the delay of some of the productions caused him to be not so happy. So we came to the decision that it would be better for him to leave the group and join a group he is happy with, as we only want members who are happy with things, which he was not. We are still on very good terms, although both Onslaught and Deekay are a bit sad of his leaving - as he was one of the original members of the group.
D)
Yes, I understand this must have been a very difficult decision. So where does this leave Onslaught in terms of planning future demos?
J)
It is fine for us - we have recruited some good graphicians such as Informer (painter behind Wild Jesus/Scorn) and Madhead/Ascraeus. It is more of loss with Deekay, not as a graphician, but as a group friend and member.
D)
Well, that at least is a very positive message to come from Onslaught. Of course, Deekay being who he is, people would naturally expect his departure to have serious consequences, but these two sounds interesting indeed. Any demos currently in planning?
J)
Yes we have several productions. 2 graphics collections from Naphalm and Informer, a trackmo from Naphalm, a demo from Regi Keyz, Jolz's demo, Nostalgic Visuality - a cooperation demo with Visual Reality, Album Of The Year, a coop demo later on with Byterapers and some other things which are explained in the latest Onslaught News Update (No.#2)
D)
A lot of productions indeed. And Onslaught has also started releasing games again, I see.
J)
Well we have never really stopped, the intensity has, but we always have something around the corner to surprise the scene, and I can comfortably say we have a few BIG surprises before and after the New Year.
D)
So I take it the scene spirit is alive and well in Onslaught?
J)
For sure - we are trying all the time to reactivate our inactive members. Some will come back soon, some already have.. and with them more projects, fun and activity in general. The member status. Care to share that with us? Jazzcat, Vengeance, Jolz, Morbid, Bizarre, Homeboy, Doom, Cubehead, Regi Keyz, Naphalm, Leming, Gop, TBH, Madhead, Digahole, Meff, Sting, Trouble, Informer, Moses. - Active
D)
You are probably one of the most active sceners in the C64 today - or at least one of those with the most projects going at the same time. How difficult would you say it is to manage a group like Onslaught?
J)
The group is not too difficult to manage. What consumes more time than my group is my magazine and my independent productions, such as Album Of The year. I just wish I was organising a group in the 80s that would have been real fun, but maybe a nightmare also.
D)
You have to be kidding? Organising a group with stamps? Hehe
J)
I am speaking in an "activity level" sense - compared with the late 90's.
D)
Yes, of course. :) So tell me, David, why does Onslaught want to lead the charts? What is it that makes us all thrive for glory - even in this late stage of the scene history?
J)
We really do not care about the charts, although of course it is nice to be included with other quality groups. We just wish to get some respect from some people and to show people that there is STILL a lot more to do on this old and cool machine.
D)
That's what I meant. The scene spirit still waves it's flag above Onslaught, I see. Splendid! Magazines. Let's talk magazines. Your own production, Domination, is not released under the Onslaught label, but Vandalism News is. How is Vengeance doing - is he set for a major comeback, or will he take things slowly at first?
J)
He will just release as he sees fit. I think he has some more pressing matters in real life that keep him away from the scene. But I believe when he gets on the internet, all the old spirit will flow back. Issue thirty one is in the making at this time.
D)
Glad to hear it. Yes, the Internet has indeed been good for many sceners - no doubt about that :) So in closing, what do you foresee the future for Onslaught to be like?
J)
Quite good, some different type of releases than what people normally expect from us. Meaning a greater concentration on the demo side of things. We will not be as active in the cracking scene as before, but we will be delivering QUALITY and not QUANTITY. It is funny how some "big shots" said we would die - but we obviously proved them wrong and in a BIG way too.. expect the unexpected!
D)
Thumbs up, David. Keep up and the good work, good luck in the future with all your projects.
J)
No problem Alex. Anytime.