Domination 05 Interview

• Interview with Morpheus of Flash Inc *

When did we see this famous legal group grace our screens last? Too long is the answer. Here I am proud to present probably the most active member of Flash Incorporated, a scener with many years under his belt. Here is Morpheus/Flash Inc.

[D] = Domination

[M] = Morpheus/Flash Incorporated

[D] Hi and welcome to the interview section, firstly as a usual introduction I ask of you to describe yourself and a basic outline on what you do on the Commodore 64.

[M] First of all, I must thank you for having me interviewed in your fab mag. Well, you can describe me as a man with many thoughts and ideas about most things in this so called life. I'm 22 years old, I play drums in a metal band, and I have no girlfriend. What more? I'm just a normal nice guy.

[D] Little doubt has shown that Flash Inc. have had a some what slump in activeness, during this course members left, but what are the reasons for no more releases with the famous FLASH INC touch we admired?

[M] The main reason is Zodiac. After the demo "Prometheus Unbound", he lost all interest in coding on the C64. I can understand him after four years (including 4 summer-holidays) of coding, coding and coding. Today I'm eager to see some new FHI products and I know there will be...

[D] What is your opinion on the demo scene of today? And how do you fare your group against the growing new talents these days? is their still room for tradition?

[M] The demo-scene is slow today, but that's because there have been so many things done already, that it's very hard to find new ideas for you to code. What also slows the demo-producing down, is that we all grow up and find other things to do instead of sitting locked up in a room for hours, just to code or whatever. And I see no problem handling new talents, because we in Flash have done our fair share, we got our reputation and I think people respect us for what we have done and what we will do in the future.

[D] There must be a particular demo style you prefer, such as the modern trackmo, old-styled parts or the world record breakers, which do you prefer and why?

[M] First of all, I HATE TRACK-MO's! I guess the style like the one in Prometheus Unbound would be the best. Hard-coded parts with cool graphics and design. But I LOVE to watch old style demos!! THEY'RE GREAT!! AWESOME!!

[D] Your C64 history must be pretty interesting, there must have been over your time many changes and shifting in the mainstream. Please try give the readers some details of your scene career, from the very beginning to the present. Also try to name some major highlights or personal accomplishments…

[M] I first started off in my own group, THUNDER SOFT. But I was so lame that I only could do stuff in basic. Later I formed a group with my friend "The Rascal" called "Quick Quartet", using the handle "HOOK 2001". I didn't have that name for long though, because a friend told me that it sounded bad. Together we wrote a list of some 12 names, and all I had to do was to choose one of he names on the list. I chose "The Phantom", 'cause I saw this cool dark man in front of me, and I wanted to be linked to that. But my friend (Pentagram of The Fire Force) later found out that someone already had that name. Back to the list I went and saw "Morpheus". WOW! I fell in love with it, and it was like I missed it the first time I looked at that list.

Then I was in the group "Peek & Poke". Really great name, don't ya' think? I can remember visiting the Agile & Rebels party in Tyres0/Sweden in 1987, sitting among Sweden's number one's, being the lamest prick at the party. But The Rebels at least tried to be interested in what we did, so that kinda helped a lot. But then we had the mighty guys in Super Swap Sweden. You know, Kjer, Badger and the guys. They were staring at us as if we were some kind of aliens. If you ever get hold of Tronic's party-demo: Read the party report. "The Lamers" in that text are me + a guy from Paragon.

After Peek & Poke, I was in Pentangel, Gemini, Eltronic, Shine, Zone 45 and at last Flash Inc. I could never leave Flash, since I have had so much fun in this group.

[D] It is now the time to storm your brain! Please give your first answers to the following;

Antic: Old stuff. Disk mags: COOL! Arcade games: REALLY COOL!! Scene: It's a great thing, and I'm proud I'm part of it!! Drugs: I say NO to everything that has to do with that. Violence: A bad way to express yourself. The female form: Without it, I would die! Sweden: A nice country to live in......And GIRLS!!! Lame: You have hurt one of your body parts. Elite: Flash Inc. This magazine: Too bad it's not released for Flash Inc. Interviews (!): I love' em!

[D] What would you say would be your greatest personal challenge on the C64 that you have overcome and defeated?

[M] Entering the graphic-charts after "Party Attraction". I guess it was all because of my work with that 8x8 font in the intro. And also releasing 19 issues of Hotshot.

[D] What has Flash Inc got planned on the C64? Is Hotshot going to be released and will it be like before? Give us some new light on your group.

[M] As I'm the driving force in FHI, I'm the one planning for future releases. And yes, we have stuff coming. I won't tell you what that is, but you won't get disappointed when you see it. We got a new coder in FHI called Warp8 and we'll see what happens. He will code the new outfit for Hotshot which will be released in the future, but on my terms. You see, I cannot find the time to release it on a regular basis.....JUST LOOK OUT!

[D] Now your personal favourites of the following;

Computer game: Krakout. Scene friend: (outside Sweden) Jack Daniels. Demo Group: The 1001 Crew. Coder: Zodiac. Graphician: Creeper. Musician: Benn Daglish. C64 greatest year: For me, personally, 1989. Food: Pasta. Sport: Ice-hockey. Dream Girl: Lola Anders (English Penthouse feature) Drink: Soda. Hobbies: C64, play the drums and movies. TV show/film: Beverly Hills Cop. Disk Magazine: Hotshot. Computer: C64! C64!! C64!!! Sexual position: At it's peak (It's pointing right up, haha)

[D] What is the story behind members like Zodiac and Creeper, what happened to these concerning Flash Inc.

[M] Zodiac, or as we call him, "Falk0ping's nightmare" is a very smart and talented guy. He dedicated four years of his life to Flash, intensively coding demo-part after demo-part. I guess all that activity became his fall. Will he ever code on the C64 again? I don't know.

Creeper is a good friend that joined Flash in 1991 via Unifier. He wasn't in the group for long, but he did some stunning stuff for us. He left 'cause the action in FHI slowed down, and joined Antic. (gamla m0bler)

[D] If you had the choice to create the ultimate group in the scene year of your choice, who would be in the group and for what reason and also which year you would choose?

[M] Coders: Hacktec/1001 Crew, White/The Judges, Kjer/Horizon and Zodiac/Flash Inc. Hacktec and White, because they could come up with brilliant ideas like they used to + Kjer and Zodiac 'cause they are mathematical geniuses and they could realise my demopart-ideas like no one else could.

Graphixers: Creeper, Mat, Ste, Dokk, Bob Stevenson and LIZ. Because they RULE!

Musicians: Benn Daglish and Martin Galway. Simply because they have done so many awesome tunes!! And the year would be 1986.

[D] The scene now is at an average point with occasional slumps and rises. Compared to the yesteryears, one would say going down hill. What would be the best way to improve this scene to a degree of more action or the old scene style?

[M] Things will never be the same as it used to be. The scene can never be as active as it was, 'cause this CPU has seen it's light days. But that's how things work, and we must play along and do the best of the situation. To speed up the action?? Well, that will happen when all the old game companies will return and produce more hot games or when some nice soul will give us all some new C64 hardware, that makes this computer POWERFUL!!

[D] Over the years there must have been quite a build up in acquaintances through the legal demo scene and other scenes in the general, please feel free to send any greetings to those you know throughout the world.

[M] That's really hard. I don't want to leave anyone out. But I must say that I have met some very interesting people through out my 11 years with this computer. I just want to send a hello to all my friends out there.

[D] What is the dream choice of yours for a C64 demo, what do you wish to see Flash Inc. achieve today?

[M] My dream choice is so hard and too complex to explain, so I'll leave that out. But for Flash, I hope we can continue to release stuff as long as we are alive. I will never sell my C64, and if there's only me left, I'll do stuff anyway. We have made some kind of comeback with our small demo, "Still Crusin'", and I hope we can keep up the work. I know there's demand for FHI stuff.

[D] Okay, any last words of wisdom to leave with the audience of this issue of Domination?

[M] Yes, I hope all of you have enjoyed reading this interview. Hmmm... Well... I can as well give you this information now. FLASH INCORPORATED are looking for new members. If you are interested, send me a letter and tell what you do and what your scene history looks like.

ANDREAS WALLSTR0M XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX SPANGA SWEDEN

Or mail me on FUTURE ZONE or WAREZ AQUARIUM! Thanks!!

[D] I appreciate your time spent with completing this interview, thanks my friend.

[M] It was my pleasure!!