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An Interview with Thomas Detert |
by Neil Carr
Thomas Detert produced many fine tunes on the c64. Remembered most for his music in the Demo scene, yet he provided music for many a game. He still writes music to this very day, quoting Thomas "I couldn't breathe without music." |
Real name: Thomas Detert
Handle: B.U.C.K Born: 1969 Nationality: German  |
What other c64 composers did you like? Too much to mention here, but mostly Martin Galway, Jeroen Tel & Rob Hubbard of course.  What other c64 sids did you like?The Fairlight Intro Tune,some of Markus Schneider’s Game Tunes and some tunes of Chris Hülsbeck. What were your likes/dislikes regarding the sid chip? Likes:
The sound of the SID was unique and still is unique! Dislikes: Oh, the Filter of course  It never sounded as i wanted it and on every C64 it didn’t sounds the same , which was very unpleasant ‘cos i worked hard on sounds to create something never ever heard on the C64.And when i thought i had something done and played it on a C64 of a Friend ,it sounds very different to what i create ,not always , but mostly. And i always wished to have more voices
What tune of your own were you most pleased with? This is very hard to say, because they are all my babies, aren’t they ? I still like “B-Bobs” very much, the whole Soundtrack was really good for the Game. And there’s “Gordian Tomb” the longest Soundtrack for a Game I ever did (over 30 minutes!) It took me weeks to get finished, but I was very pleased with it. By the way it was a Game coded by Markus Schneider
 If there was a tune you wish you could claim as your own, what would it be, and why?Just 3:
Parallax by M.Galway Lightforce by R. Hubbard Hawkeye by J. Tel! Why did you start writing c64 music? I always wanted to do music, but when i first heard Yie Ar Kung Fu by M.Galway (The Cover of a Jean Michele Jarre Song) i was totally fascinated by the Sound of the C64, I even took a Tape Recorder to get it on tape, silly isn’t it ?
And then I got the Soundmonitor by Chris Huelsbeck to create my own Music on the C64, this must have been 1985/86! After a few Blip Blop Tunes I did some good stuff out of the Soundmonitor and we’d put them into our first Demos released under the Group “Omega 8” but the Routine took too much time to use it in Games or bigger Demoparts, so our Programmer Helge Kozieleck created together with Markus Schneider the “X-ample Music Player”.  How did you get into the game music industry?I do not really remember how it was but we did games on our own and sold them to some publishers and after a while they asked me to do music for different game-projects & C64 magazines. What are you thoughts on arrangers remixing your old c64 tunes? I do like this really much. It shows that my music had something and that it ‘s worth remembering! Could you tell our readers a little bit of your history regarding you and your music? Well, I was always influenced by music. To do music was always my aim to be honest. After I left school, I did some Jobs to earn money and to build up my own little Studio. Some friends of my brother and me do liked the Idea of building up a little C64 Group to create Games and Demos on Computers (first C64 then Amiga, PC & Playstation). After some Demos we did our first own Game which must have been”Gordian Tomb”. My first Music in a Game was “Blue Angel 69” by Blue Byte.  There were two generations of c64 music composers; I would put you in the second generation. Did any of the past musicians have any bearing on you and your music?Yes! Martin Galway inspired me very much; I loved the way he arranged his music. His Tunes always have been full of sound without using any percussions.
But when I first heard Jeroen Tel’s Cybernoid-Title Tune with the Basedrum in it, I couldn’t believe that this was done on a C64. And of course the great Rob Hubbard!!! What would have happened to the C64 without his music and his music-routine??? What was/is your inspiration musically? I always loved the music of Vangelis and Jean M. Jarre and I took a lot of inspirations out of their music. But pop-music did the same for me, like Howard Jones, Art Of Noise and the Pet Shop Boys. You see, musically I come from the 80’s Do you still write music? Oh yes i do!! Since 1993 i have my own Company “ACTIVATE Music Productions” with my Partner Mike Griesheimer and we do productions for record companies like Sony, Universal etc. Our biggest success was the group "666" which sold over 4 million records worldwide. The latest hit was "D.E.V.I.L" has been No. 18 in the UK-Top 40 !! Would you consider returning to the game music industry? Maybe, because today it’s easier to create what you want. But not as a fulltime-job, just for fun, a tune here and there I did the X-ample intro-music for "Mission: Impossible" by Infrogrames on the Playstation.
What are your thoughts on music in modern day games? Some are great and some are not. Like it always was !!
Have you heard about Bitlive. If so what are your thoughts on it? Never heard of it,sorry!
Have you ever considered remixing your old c64 music with modern day
sounds? Yes always, but TIME is my biggest Problem to be honest. I did some Synth-Conversion back in 1990 on my old Equipment, but nowadays it doesn’t really fit to what I would like to do today. How did you feel when your name first appeared on the credits of a game? It was GREAT! A feeling that i will never forget! You wrote much music for the demo-scene, what can you tell us about this? What shall I say? For me the demo-scene has always been very important, because these guys are the computer-artists of tomorrow, you know!!  What does Thomas Detert do now?He is doing music!!! Music is and was and will be always a part of my life. I couldn’t breathe without music! What are your plans for the future? Too much to mention, but hopefully I can go on with earning money by doing music. And I will buy a Sidstation to put C64 sound into my releases! Lastly, What would you like to say to the scene? Keep the Spirit of the old C64 alive. I am glad that I was a part of it, really!!! And thanx to everyone who liked and do like my work. Well 4 million records is certainly not to be coughed at. No. 18 in the UK charts... He has certainly progressed since the c64 days... His contribution to the c64 will never be forgot. - Neil Interview date: 22.04.2001 |
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