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2023-02-26
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u
Interview with PRESS PLAY ON TAPE
ROC=K On !
PPOT (left to right): Jesper Holm
Olsen, Sren Trautner Madsen, Theo
Engell-Nielsen, Martin Koch, Andr
Tischer Poulsen, & Uffe Friis
Lichtenberg.. Photo: Ditte Valente
Q - Please introduce yourselves to our
reader
A. Hi, we are PRESS PLAY ON TAPE - the
C64 revival band. We mainly play tunes
from the games for the old home
computer C64.
Q- The Band plays C64 "SID" tunes on
real instruments
A. Yes, we do. We have always heard the
tunes as music played on regular
instruments & not as techno music. We
really think some of these tunes come
alive when real drums & bass are added.
Mostly we play rock versions of the
tunes.
Q- What instruments are used & who
plays them
A. 2 keyboard players: Theo Engell-
Nielsen & Andr Tischer Poulsen.
2 guitar players: Jesper Holm Olsen &
Martin Koch. Drummer: Sren Trautner
Madsen, & Bass player: Uffe Friis
Lichtenberg.
Q - Does the band play any other music?
A. Yes, we do play a couple of game
tunes from the Amiga, & a few from
other game consoles, like the Sony
Playstation. On top of that we do, from
time to time, play a tune for a special
occasion. When we formed the band we
were very careful about only being a
100% pure C64-band, but nowadays we
tend to just play whatever we feel
would be fun to do.
Q - Where have you performed
A. We have performed quite a number of
concerts in Copenhagen, Denmark, where
we live. We have also played 4 concerts
in England, 2 in Norway & once in
Germany.
Q - Some people may say why bother what
is the point?
A. It's a trip down memory lane going
to our concerts so if you're not
sentimental about tunes from computer
games, it's not for you. For those who
like that, we have received a lot of
positive feedback, & for a few we have
changed their lives---just a little
bit, we hope. For us it's about having
fun, no more. We have a lot of fun
whenever we meet to practice, & even
more so when we're live on stage. If
others find it enjoyable, then it's
great!
Q - Do you have groupies & a website
with merchandise?
A. We have a group of regulars to our
concerts, which we think is nice.
Wouldn't call them groupies but we have
some fun memories & odd situations
that again & again bring a smile on our
faces.
We have had some merchandise---mostly
t-shirts---on our homepage but most of
it is sold out at the moment. Maybe it
is time to do something about that.
Q - Are there girls watch you perform
or is the audience predominantly guys?
A. Oh, yes. In the beginning girls were
not that frequent but as the time has
gone by we see more girls among the
audience. That said, the audience is
Mostly guys. More than once we have
heard the story about a guy in the
audience bringing his girlfriend & have
her complaining about "what a Geeky
band -- I don't bother seeing this",
but afterwards she comes over & start
talking about how she all of a sudden
remembers that her little brother used
to play on the C64 & she actually knew
half the tunes :)
Q - Where are you from & where will you
be playing in 2008
A. We all met at the University of
Copenhagen at the Dept of Computer
Science. Some of us played in another
band that broke up & then we formed
PRESS PLAY ON TAPE. We were all members
of the demo group hybris/NEMESIS as
well. At first it was meant as a joke
but then somebody heard & we actually
got asked to play before we knew any
tunes for real---suddenly it was
serious business :)
We will be playing at The Rock in
Copenhagen, April 19th. No more gigs
are planned right now.
Q - Are you available for hire?
Weddings/funerals etc?
A. We are. We don't play weddings
(other than band member's or funerals
or regular parties as we are not a
party band. We play at themed events.
Q - I have seen you live on 2 occasions
both Back in time events, I was very
surprised about the quality & profes-
sionalism of the band how much time
does the band spend practising
A. Thanks. Happy to hear that. We spend
one evening each week on a regular
basis. When we have important gigs or
are preparing an album we might meet
more frequently. That being said we are
by no means pro musicians, but the
niche we have found here makes it
possible for us to keep in touch as
friends, have a lot of fun while doing
it, & getting to play at the weirdest
places where an "ordinary" cover-band
would never play. We are still amazed
sometimes at the events we actually do
get to play. Like in 2005 where we were
asked to do a support gig for a big
Danish group called Mew whose main
audience was teenage girls born AFTER
the C64 went out of style. Only one
thing to do: Overplay it & just dress
up as ber geeks (bicycle helmets, short
pants, white socks, etc) & just act out
in front of the 3000 people crowd.
Surprisingly they actually enjoyed it!
Q - There was also a DVD of one of the
events would you comment about this &
seeing yourself on TV?
A. The DVD came about when we played in
London in 2004 at a Back in Time event.
Chris Abbott, the manager of the event,
had it recorded on 5 video Cameras & on
a digital sound mixer. We got those,
edited the concert ourselves & sent it
back to Chris on a hard disk. So to
tell the truth, we had watched our-
selves quite a lot before getting the
actual DVDs :)
Q - Have you appeared on local or
international TV
A. We have had our share of minutes of
fame, yes. We have appeared on national
TV & on a German channel as well. CNN
mentioned us a few months back on their
web site, too.
Q - Have you appeared in other DVDs
A. Not that we know of, no. There is a
german guy & his friends spending a lot
of their free time doing a documentary
on the C64 who interviewed us for that
project, so we should appear on that :)
see http://www.entsorger-film.de/
Q - How seriously do you take your-
selves?
A. We are very serious. We never joke
about anything. Ever. And if you
believe that...! No, we are not at all
serious about ourselves. We're serious
about having fun! We try to be very
serious about being on stage, though.
Q - How has fame changed you?
A. Almost not at all. In the beginning
we were very nervous when playing live
but that have changed quite a lot.
Also, in the beginning, we were
impressed by all "the little things".
That has faded away. We certainly feel
much more at ease before a gig than we
used to.
Q - How do you obtain the music, is it
all reproduced by ear or do you use
something like SID2MIDI
A. We use all the tricks that are in
the book (and some that aren't).
Nothing is sacred.
Q - "Press Play On Tape" OK what
prompted the band to use this as a
name?
A. It is somewhat short. It is catchy.
It spells retro. Those who have ever
spent time playing on a C64 knows
exactly what it means. It tells a
story.
Q - How can our listener hear this
music, do you sell commercially
available CDs
A. You can download some of our tunes,
you can buy our CD's, you can watch
videos on You Tube?. Go to our homepage
& there are many ways.
Q - What introduced you to Commodore?
A. Many things. For all of us it was an
interest in computers when we were
(very) young. Not all of us had a C64
but those who did got it because it was
one of the two big home computers of
the time: C64 & ZX Spectrum. Chance...
Or fate, perhaps? We really got into
the music back then too. Sometimes we
would go out & buy a game just because
a particular compose made the music.
Some of us recorded the music on
cassette tapes & listened to it on our
Walkman!
Q - Honestly how many of the band own
C64s
A. 4 of us.
Q - Do you still use C= machines & if
so what do you use them for?
A. They are still working, as are our
Amigas. On rare occasions we turn them
on & play a game or two. But not more
than that.
Q - Do you use real C= machines on
stage?
A. No. We dare not. We use a Windows
based PC for playing some of our sample
sounds. Even that we consider being
risky. We've converted a broken C64 to
a USB PC keyboard that we've used on
some occasions.
Q - Have you any comments about the
Prophet cartridge have you seen or used
on of these devices?
A. Unfortunately not. We haven't had
the chance yet.
Q - Time to plug the website & your
merchandise, can you tell our reader
what is available from the site?
A. Go to
http://www.PRESSPLAYONTAPE.com
and get a lot of info about the band,
our concerts, our CD's, listen to
music, see videos, or even download
them. Subscribe to our mailing list &
get news about upcoming events, new
releases etc. It is not a high-volume
mailing list so don't be afraid :)
Q - Have you any final comments you
would like to tell our reader?
A. Hope to see you at one of our
concerts! If you plan to go to
Copenhagen, Denmark & see us, be sure
to book tickets as we have only
experienced playing for a full house.
ROC=K ON!
THE END