An Interview with The Mighty Bogg
What other c64 composers did you like?
Galway for the rich sound, Hubbard technically. Rob's tunes were very well constructed, making 3 voices sound like 33. I could never work out which voice was doing what. The constant blipping & beeping gets wearing, though.
What other c64 sids did you like?
My fave all-time Sid was Hall & Oates Maniac
, which was an anonymous, simple 3-voice arrangement, but was the first tune I saw (heard) which ran on interrupts. Typing in programs while music played in the background blew my mind. Still don't really get it. Favourite game music has to be Castle of Terror. Utter genius, fantastically atmospheric. That's one I load into Sidplayer to listen to as music in its own right.
What were your likes/dislikes about the sid chip?
It was basically a synthesizer on a chip. I especially loved the fact you could adjust the pulse width realtime (in BASIC!) for chorus fx, which makes 3 oscillators sound like 6. I hated the fact that filters varied on different machines. Someone once ran my demos in a shop, but you couldn't hear the drums on Smalltown Boy cos I'd used filters.
Why did you start to write music on the c64?
I studied & played music from age 9 to age 23, got into computers at 17, and it seemed an ideal medium. I can arrange much more complicated stuff than I can play. My music theory qualifications are higher than my practical ones, which basically means my head is a better musician than my fingers.
If memory serves me right their were just two Bogg Music Demo's (correct me if I'm wrong) what can you tell our readers about these demo's?
The first was cover versions, and I basically rearranged songs I liked into 3 voices. My favourite bit (oddly) was writing the machine code to animate the Frak balloons that fly up the screen (or was that album 2?). The second album was mostly self-composed, fiddling with filters & experimenting, which people either loved, or loathed to the point of abuse. People used to mail me on Compunet to complain that I wasn't doing cover versions. I used to write back saying that Jean Michelle Jarre didn't have people moaning at him for not doing cover versions, so shut up.
That demo also had embarrassing amusing
voice samples by me, which gives you an idea what an 18-year old lad from Yorkshire sounded like (ie awful). There was also a Christmas demo on Compunet, which people were charged o1 for. A friend at the time helped
with graphics, so I had to give him half the money I got (£150) even though I did all the music and programming. And indeed most of the graphics. Anyone got a copy?
Why did you stop writing music for the c64 after just a short time?
Boredom, age, beer, opposite gender, coupled to the fact that no-one asked me to write anything commercially after Spiky Harold (wonder why!) so I didn't see a career in it. I only actually did 2 paid jobs I think, the other being Dan Dare. I reviewed Electrosound 64 for a magazine, but the flood of writing offers I didn't receive afterwards told me I can't have been too hot at it.
Your music was heavilly distributed on the c64, reaching many parts of the world, why do you think your music became so popular?
Accurate cover versions always seem to be popular, and I have a good ear & can isolate the things people will recognise a song by. A bit like MP3 compression. Inaccurate cover versions are just hilarious. Search for MIDI files of Bohemian Rhapsody
& you'll see what I mean.
There has been quite a few covers of your music over the years, have you heard any that has impressed you?
I quite liked the versions on C64Audio.com, not tried any more. If the Chemical Brothers decide to cover Bogg tunes, and give me royalties, I'm highly unlikely to argue. Anyone feel like mailing me some versions and saving me the bother of finding them, I'd be grateful. Unless it's a 5MB download.
What did you use to create your music?
Master Composer, prior to that BASIC.
I would say you were one of the earliest c64 composers producing anything of any note. What year did you make your first tune, and who gave you the inspiration to write c64 music?
I had a Speccy from 1983, and bought a 3-voice soundbox for that. I got my C64 in 1984 I think, and obviously having a 3-voice built in synth impressed the pants off me, so I probably did something fairly soon after. I started with DATA statements & POKEs, millions of lines of numbers. Wouldn't have the patience now.
Unless our readers were part of the scene in the early days they have probabily never heard of you or your music, what can you tell them about this?
Er, some kid doing pop songs on his home computer, got onto Compunet (C64-only internet
, except ran at about 3 baud - DAT ACK ERROR anyone?), did some of his own tunes a few people liked, got a couple of commissions out of it, watched Barry Leitch rocket to international computer music stardom under his nose. Incidentally, Barry got slagged when he was on Compunet, and I got this minor celebrity status. When you look at who got the jobs and who now lives in the USA writing game music, who had the talent?
Just when C64 music started making an impact it seems that you just vanished, was there a reason for this?
I lost interest, sold my gear to a second-hand shop for about 20 quid, and believe it or not destroyed my 64 by pouring water into it. As an electronics engineer I cringe at that now, but the recklessness of youth eh? My 64 emulator is now my favourite piece of software, ironically. Maybe every 35-year old wants to pretend he is 18 again…
Did you ever create music on any other format than the c64?
Only Speccy. I've always owned synths, recording equipment etc, but since marriage, kids, house etc don't have the time. I just play on stuff like Vaz or Symsynth now. All my gear has been sold, and all my floppies rotted away in my previous house, which had a basement so damp you could have moored a boat in there.
Because of the age and time of your music, you never was able to use some of the tricks of the latter composers. Do you think you could have improved upon your music if you had used some of these tricks?
Yep, but I seem to remember Rob Hubbard wrote his sound routines himself. I wasn't that good with machine code! I never found a commercial program that I liked apart from Master Composer anyway, so I had to improvise by coding arpeggiated chords (eg in RollerCoaster) note by note then speeding it up about 50 times. Incidentally, I have absolutely no recollection at all of programming RollerCoaster, but it's there, so I did. Weird.
Did you ever try to make a living out of c64 music. If not why not?
As mentioned previously, did a couple of commissions, but I think my Spiky Harold music
was so awful no-one dared ask me again…
What are your thoughts of people remixing your music?
Flattered! It took me 15 years to get my Bogg albums again (got em 2 months ago) so I had no idea my stuff was still kicking around, even less idea that it was still popular!
Have you ever thought of doing computer music again?
I'd enjoy writing game music for a living, but I just don't have the inspiration. I get stuck after about 5 minutes. I sent a couple of audio demos to Atari about 10 years ago, but they wanted me to submit them on an Amiga (!). I couldn't afford one at the time, so that was that!
So, What does Graham Marsh do now?
He repairs computer monitors for a living, lives with his wife, 2 daughters and two Miniature Schnauzers, does no music writing or performing, messes about on PCs, loves Gameboy Color, hates PC games and the ludicrous idea that you need
a Pentium III 900Mhz to type a letter these days (I refuse to upgrade my P133), cycles to work, and lives a normal (ish) happy life!!
What does the future hold for you?
Winning the Bananalotto jackpot so I can buy a helicopter (flew one once), grey hair (about 30% already), fat belly, wrinkles, aches & pains, moaning about Radio 1 (thank goodness for Mark & Lard), not knowing anyone in the charts, paying the mortgage, being proud of my family, still playing gameboy when I'm 95, and listening to Cardiacs FOREVER. (www.cardiacs.com)
Will we ever hear anything from Mighty Bogg
again in any format?
Doubtful. Can't be arsed really. Toyed with the idea of making a Bogg 2001 remix album, but don't hold your breath. Well you could, but you'll die.
What would you like to say to the scene.
Email me (gmarsh223@yahoo.com) with Compunet memories…
Isn't it sad that the Mighty Bogg disapeared so early. Be it commercially or as a hobby. The Mighty Bogg was one of the musicians who set the c64 Demo scene alight with his albums. One could only guess at what might have been during the more technical years to come.
- Neil
