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ourINTERVIEWS

Mb: HEY ZAPSTER
MaestroZap: hey
Mb: Alright, so you have time now?
MaestroZap: Well I have to go cook dinner soon but yeah.
Mb: What are you cooking up tonight?
MaestroZap: Don't know yet gotta check what's in the fridge.
Mb: Do you like to cook? I see you've submitted a recipe to Don's cookbook CD.
MaestroZap: Well Nina is the master cook in this house but I like to make those 3 dishes I do well once in a while :-) The problem cooking in this household is
3 kids w. 3 different tastes.
Mb: So tell me about a day in the life of Zap…
MaestroZap: A day in the life, lemme think. Get myself outta bed, start some tea and toast…
Mb: You an early riser?
MaestroZap: Not by choice :-) I do get up first though. I 'm just the one most responsive to the alarm clock I guess.
Mb: Must be that digital thing. So after you get your self together, what happens?
MaestroZap: Well, then I get my ass into my office/studio, sit there forever looking at computer screens.
Mb: Is that what you do for a living?
MaestroZap: programming, surfing, making music, in a big synergetic misch-mash. Officially, I'm a software engineer. That's a fancy word for programmer
Mb: What kind of software do you design?
MaestroZap: CAD software for mechanical design stuff, but that's just the boring day job :-) I am fortunate to work from home which means my office and my studio is the same place. You can see it in 3D at http://www.Master-Zap.com/studio.
Mb: How did you build your new video of Nina?
MaestroZap: The Nina video was done in the garage... well my office/garage is in the garage too :-) but it was shot in the garage. We hung tons of green cloth up and put on Nina some funky clothes. Then we nailed a blue apron to a door... also in the garage :-) ... and shot some face shots but actually the video has a "making of" section tellin' ya all that stuff. Most is then computer graphics in 3D Studio and Adobe Premiere.
Mb: Sure looked like a spaceship...weird garage! You did a great job. How long did it take?
MaestroZap: About 4 months all-in-all, from first shot to "lets call it finished" day. As you know a movie is never "finished" only abandoned :-) I learned so much during making it that if I remade it today it would look much better.. and I would do it faster
Mb: So I gather you're a big fan of technology.
MaestroZap: yes I am a technology nut. Really. Even when I listen to music my first thought is about production and such. Actual notes, and actual lyrics are irrelevant :-)
Mb: let's explore that. What about criticism leveled at the electronic genre..."Actual notes, and actual lyrics are irrelevant".
MaestroZap: Well I'm the first to admit there is a load of crap produced. I am also the first to understand people who don't "get" the genre and think it's just mindless noise. But there is also a load of wonderful grooves and glorious sounds produced and that's the thing... it's ABOUT wondrous grooves and glorious sounds... not about "songs". It's a different way of appreciating music vs. the normal "rock ballad listener".
Mb: Do you attempt to conjure a mood more than a message?
MaestroZap: Yes that's one way of putting it. Message is furthest from my mind when making music.
Mb: Both you and nina have had great success at mp3.com.. What's been the secret?
MaestroZap: I either start out with a chord sequence and add a beat to that, or I start with a beat or add a chord sequence to that... "melody" and "lyrics" (if any) are the last things to be appended on top. (Generally, there are always exceptions) As for Nina's success, it's Nina's work. Really. I "just" produced the sounds. I produced the sounds of my own music too but look where that's at, the bottom of the charts. The difference? Nina's *incessant* promotion work. Also Nina is better looking than I am :-)
Mb: lol... Do you think that helps?
MaestroZap: Image is everything these days, isn't it? I haven't had time to promote myself so much either.... while she has been doing it 24/7
Mb: Are you more a "behind the scenes guy?"
MaestroZap: Yeah, and I like that.... the ghost producer kinda guy... I do not have much of an urge to perform... more to tinker
Mb: So what else is important in your life... politics? religion? history?
MaestroZap: I used to hate history in school, but I've grown kinda interested in how people used to live lately, partially due to some traveling so I've seen stuff like Pompeii and stuff but that's more of an "interest" than being important" to me.
Mb: And what do you think of how people used to live?
MaestroZap: Well I think people were much more like we are today Archeologists tend to paint a picture of stupid religious nuts. I don't buy that for a second They find a pot and go "oh this is a ritual sacrifice bowl"... when in reality it was their flower pot They find some form of altar and think "oh here they sacrificed the animals" when it was the butcher shop in reality
Mb: What do think music was like in the ancient world?
MaestroZap: well it definitely had to be more "real time" than today having no recording technology.... more like a huge jam session or something...would have been very interesting to participate that's for sure
Mb: OK, I've gone to our BB for a question... Shaky wants to know "How many death threats do you get from guys jealous of him being married to Nina?"
MaestroZap: hahahaha No death threats... yet. But a few jealous boys that's for sure :-) It was even more fun before we went "public" with the fact she was my wife... we played it as if we didn't know each other or anything in the
beginning... of course Paisley figured it out after half a day but we told him to keep the secret and he did...
Mb: In seriousness she asks "What does he prefer? Software synths or REAL synths?
MaestroZap: I prefer real synths simply because they are more tactile (knobs instead of dragging through menus) and don't waste any processor cycles :-) Also nothing beats true analog… yet.
Mb: Were you the first guy on the block with a moog?
MaestroZap: It was a Yamaha CS-5 but yeah. Also, I live faaar out in the countryside so there's no "block" around here :-)
Mb: How old are you?
MaestroZap: Oh, you never ask a lady about her age. Unfortunately I'm not a lady. 34. Luckily I was born in December. This time of the life that's a good thing ;-)
Mb: So you came through the digital evolution of music.... what kind of music is being made around you, especially living in the country...?
MaestroZap: I live about 12 miles outside a 100,000 population town called Eskilstuna which has a relatively okay music life, but it's mostly rock. The band "Kent" comes from my hometown... you probably never heard of them although they *did* attempt a US release I heard...
Mb: Where did you find your inspiration to be a musician?
MaestroZap: My father sang in the church choir and used to be a performer playing accordion and doing theatrics when he was young. But frankly I think the largest thing was purely technological rather than musical... my crazy brother went to an electronics school and *built* an early synthesizer.... and I was hooked... hearing kraftwerks "auto bahn" and "trans europe express" was a nice early eye opener
Mb: So you're a nuts and bolts guy?
MaestroZap: Well music is just mathematics turned into audio anyway...
Mb: OK, so the world is about to explode and you have one thing to type online before it all goes... what would it be?
MaestroZap: The first that comes to mind automatically is "Nina, I love you"
Mb: ....lol... you'll score big points for that one!
MaestroZap: But maybe I should type something deep like "I just figured out the answer to the universe its..." and then it blows up. I love cliffhangers like that… although we all know the answer is 42. We just don't know the question.