An Interview with Kai Spitzley

by Neil Carr

Kai has many website interests these include: c64rmx mailing list, arnold.c64.org, LN Archives, girls.c64.org. Another person who gives the scene a big boost, and the C64rmx mailing list has proved to be a vital comunication portal for remixers.

Real name: Kai Spitzley

Handle: Heechee

Born: 1978

Nationality: German

Interview date: 14 April 2001


Neil

What are your favourite c64 composers?

Kai

Actually, not Rob Hubbard. Besides the divine IK song I haven't played many games with Rob tunes in them. I like Chris Huelsbeck, Jeroen Tel, Martin Galway, David Whittaker and will discover even more on my way through the HVSC.

Neil

What are your Favourite Sids?

Kai

Ok, here we go. Katakis,The Last Ninja Trilogy, Pacey (Ninja Mix), Double Dragon 2, Rollerboard, To Be on Top, Iron Lord, Times of Lore, IK , Ninja, Power Drift (great while driving!! >😉, Slaine, Driller and Acidgroove come to mind. 😊

Neil

Which arrangers do you like?

Kai

The Dead Guys (PeaperBoayh!), they have such a simple and very unique style. I could listen to a tune on the radio and say: Hey, this sounds like some Dead Guys song! Personal milestones in remix history are DJ Lizards Hypaball Remix, Reyn's Nexus CD, G²'s Katakis medley, Future-Eater's Last Ninja song and Tim Forsyth's Ghouls n Ghosts cover.

Neil

What gave you the idea of a c64 Remix mailing list?

Kai

Easy: Puffy64. We were chatting via ICQ when he brought up the subject, we discussed it a bit further and it seemed to be an excellent way to bring the remix community together which at that time was spread over dozens of sites you had to scour for new mixes. Except for Triad MP3z of course which was the first step towards RKO.

Since I already had some experience with mailling lists I started collecting eMail addies and checked all remix pages I could find, added eMails from virtually everyone involved in C64 music apart from pure SID and sent out the initial invitations.

Neil

Are you pleased with how the mailing list has been received?

Kai

Sure! It seems most people were fed up with trying to find remixes all over the net so subscribers (thanks to many people spreading the word) started pouring in pretty quickly. I'm glad the list members are such a nice bunch. Whenever I eMail someone (I admit sometimes I'm a bit too trigger happy) to nicely point out that a mail doesn't concern anyone on the list, isn't related to C64 remixes etc. I in most cases get a polite Hey, you're right. 😊 reply or a polite Hey, that may be true but (insert nifty reason here) and both of us are a wee bit wiser afterwards. 😊 The occasional bloke might show up but that's normal. (they're everywhere you know)

Neil

What rules do people need to be aware of when submitting to the mailing list ?

Kai

Good question. (literally😉 As a rule of thumb, think before posting whether most people on this list will be more happy after reading your message. For this I've developed a happiness point system. The goal is to _evenly_ increase general happiness. A new remix announcement gives everyone two happiness points. Replying to this message saying you hate this remix makes the composer lose 5 points. (uneven distribution - bad) Saying you like it gives the composer 5 points (his happiness increased - good, though still uneven) but you'd have achieved the same via a personal mail. You can download the MYhapp manager from… Oh ok - you get the point. Only reply in public if you think everyone is concerned. Easy as that. =)

Neil

Who do you think gives the C64 remix scene the biggest boost and why?

Kai

I'd say Linus Walleij gave the *scene* the biggest push since Triad MP3z was the first place where composers could upload their remixes and is imho RKO's daddy. 😊 Michael Schwendt gave the *remixes* a huge boost with his Sid2Midi utility which (I'll boldy assume) most remixes are based on.

Neil

What are your fondest memories of the c64?

Kai

Heh, playing Decathlon with my pals is the first that comes to mind. It still great fun using an emulator (and C64 sticks). Another great memory is a whole night playing Sentinel Worlds and trying to find the Book of Spells which I did find in the end. And nothing beats playing Last Ninja 1 for the first time at a friend's place. He had one of those crappy quickshot sticks which made jumping over the swamps horrible. (for me at least) Of course (like so many other people) I tried recording some of the music to tape by holding my cheapo cassette player to the monitor. I still have that tape. 😊 Other memories include my Action Replay cartridge (two words - Strip Poker!) and accidentally cutting off the power while saving my game in Curse of the Azure Bonds and thus erasing several months of dungeon exploring. That's how Kai was introduced to redundant backups. 😊

Neil

The Last Ninja Archives is quite an original idea. How come you decided to create this site ?

Kai

There wasn't anything like it at the time (mid 97) and I was just trying to put some content on my otherwise crappy site. While playing the games on my emulator I always thought that those neat C64 screenshots could be used for some animated walkthroughs which you could watch like a little slideshow. I soon found out I wasn't the only one with fond memories of LN, I got many eMails urging me to further expand the site since LN was their favourite game as well. Then the rumour on LN 4 started and the site just keeps growing…

Neil

What are your likes/dislikes about the C64 remix scene?

Kai

People remix because it's fun, that's what I appreciate. No dislikes about the 'scene'. (except the name perhaps😉

Neil

You mentioned to me that you tracked music several years ago, and are considering to do it again. When can we expect to hear something from Kai, or is it just a consideration?

Kai

It is definitely more than just a consideration. I will start composing again, just gimme a decade or two and eventually I'll whip up a C64 remix myself. 😊

Neil

So, What type of music did you track, was it original stuff or was it based on the C64?

Kai

No C64 stuff at all, just things that were floating in my head which I wanted to track down. Which explains why I made 86 songs, of which 90% are less than 5 groovy patterns, the rest actually consists of whole songs. 😊 I really need to be more consistent next time.

Neil

What are your thoughts on the Bitlive event?

Kai

Great idea and I hope there will be lots of talk & reports & media afterwards and that this won't be the last one.

Neil

Do you think that C64 music can make an impact commercially?

Kai

Nah, not really.

Neil

You have interests in many websites… c64rmx mailing list, arnold.c64.org, LN Archives, girls.c64.org. This must take up much of your spare time. Which site takes the most maintaining ?

Kai

I guess the most time-consuming tasks were creating the LN walkthroughs and sifting through that huge pile of smutty C64 software I downloaded for Girls of '64. That was no fun at all, no no. 😉 Nowadays the LN Archives don't take that much time to maintain since most content I add is created by someone else and I just sort it into the site - it's mostly admin stuff now. Until LN4 comes out, that is. 😊 Girls of '64 takes the most time right now. Several times I thought I had seen it all just to get an eMail from someone who still had some disks with even more dirty files! There's no end to it! It looks like Arnold will soon take over though, right now I'm checking (along with the other admins) incoming and existing files and renaming them but there will soon be some new features, a news script, a message board, etc. which I've already set up, there's only a little tweaking to be done but that's a big secret for now so don't tell anyone. 😉

Neil

What non c64 music do you enjoy listening to?

Kai

99.9% instrumental stuff. I don't like vocals at all since I believe the music should convey the feel of the song, not some dude whining about lost love. I dig acoustic (I like irish & celtic folk) & new age music as well as all sorts of electronica. I'm a sucker for ambient, rave & goa stuff, love Tangerine Dream (sadly I somehow entirely missed Jarre) and Electric Universe as well as triphop & big beat. Add Vivaldi, White Zombie and all sorts of game music on all sorts of systems and you've got a broad view of my musical taste. 😊

Neil

Is there a tune that has not yet been covered or remixed from the c64 that you would like to hear?

Kai

Sure: McRollerboard.sid - song #2 (aaawesome groovy C64 feeling) Other songs are Firetrap (#1) (I bet the Dead Guys would have fun with it 😊 or Pacey Ninja by Jon Wells!

Neil

What does the future hold for you, and your websites?

Kai

Hm, we'll just have to see about that… =)

Neil

Lastly, An open question, say anything you want regarding the scene.

Kai

The music & people are more important than the scene. 😊

C64 rmx mailing list is a vital component for the scene, and the LN Archives is also a great website. Keep Up the good work Kai.

- Neil