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thepunklounge-blog · 5 years

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The Punk Lounge talks to GINGER WILDHEART

Ginger Wildheart's music career is inching towards its thirtieth year and whilst it would be easy to say he's done it all, Ginger is an ever-developing beast. In this interview, as well as discussing the legendary Wildhearts, Ginger talks about the remedial follow-up to 'Ghost In The Tanglewood', writing to heal, and a remixed 'Chutzpah!' Whatever your musical tastes, it seems Ginger has a project to suit, so take a read and learn a little about the man himself. Cover image by Trudi Knight

Photography by Ami Barwell Hi Ginger, how are you? I’m good! I take every day as it comes. Today is a good one. I’m thankful for that. I understand you've had to postpone some shows this year due to poor health, are you feeling better? I'm feeling better every day. Healing is a process that unfortunately takes patience. I’m not the world's most patient fellow so it’s been a pain in the arse to take it easy. Plus I hate to cancel shows…I really fucking hate that. But I’m feeling strong again so it’s all good from here on in. You’ve got an impressive CV, including: starting your professional career with The Quireboys; touring with Courtney Love; being in a band with Beki Bondage; and side projects and solo albums galore. Which of those, if you could, would you revisit? Touring with Courtney is always fun, I’d do that again! The rest I wouldn’t be interested in. I very much like G.A.S.S MK II - particularly 'Friends Of Bill', 'Petite Mort' and 'I'll Have Another' - what was the thoughts behind it's release? Is it a sort of 'Best Of...' of the first G.A.S.S? After the year that was G*A*S*S, we released an album called 'Year Of The Fan Club', on which the songs were voted for by a committee. Although it was a great album some of my favourite songs of the project didn’t feature on on it. I always had, in the back of my mind, the desire to release a ‘part two’ collection, hand picked by myself. This is what G*A*S*S Mark II is.

Do you still plan to tour with an all-female band? Talk us through the significance or thought process behind that decision… I’d love to do that and see no reason why it won’t happen. The idea came about as I was thinking of which musicians I’d like to have with me this time around. Before I even thought about it I’d drawn up a band that consisted exclusively of women. There wasn’t much planning behind it beyond the simple fact that I’m fortunate to know some incredible female musicians. I really love the way female voices work together too. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of 'Earth vs. The Wildhearts' seems crazy to me - is it surreal to you or do you look at it as kind of nice familiar territory to return to? Well there certainly was never any plan to celebrate 25 years of anything with The Wildhearts, we’re just not that kind of band although having said that, we’re sturdy types so it doesn’t surprise me that we’re still here doing it. We’ve survived a lot over the years, I think we’re close to indestructible now. How would you say the dynamic of The Wildhearts has changed and how have the tracks progressed throughout the years? What are your hopes for the band in the future? 'Earth vs.' was just a great collection of tunes, most of which still feature heavily in our live set. They don’t seem to age and instead have bore themselves into the DNA of most of the band and audience now. I give thanks every day that The Wildhearts are still alive and kicking against the pricks, and I’m proud to walk onstage with these guys. I can’t see that ever changing. The diversity between the songwriting styles is very prominent on 'G.A.S.S MK II', and the difference between The Wildhearts and your solo country stuff on 'Ghost In The Tanglewood' is huge. Is it a struggle or a pressure maybe, as someone who tends to release a lot of new music and plays a lot of shows, to write in so many styles? I would really struggle to write in a similar style, year in year out, to be honest. I’m a huge music fan and listen to a lot of different styles, from very aggressive to very mellow, so it feels entirely natural to let the song choose the style it wants to be born in. I don’t get in the way of that process and just let the music come as it feels natural to do so. Earlier we talked about how The Wildhearts have progressed as a band, but given the extent of your career both in and outside of The Wildhearts, how have you yourself progressed as a musician and songwriter? Oh yes, I’m progressing all the time! I’m learning about myself and improving as a player, writer and singer every day. I will never stop learning, that’s where the inspiration comes from and how it remains pure. What do you think has been the most defining element in terms of that progression? Has it been musical influences? Life events? Or something else entirely? I think the ageing process is a great source of inspiration. I think about some things differently now than when I was an angry kid, while other stuff I feel exactly the same about. It’s a cliche, but a true one, that unhappy or traumatic events provide the most fertile musical ideas. Happiness is its own reward while sadness comes with surprise benefits for a writer. This is how I’m able to live with depression.

Photography by Ami Barwell You've spoken in previous interviews for your love of country music and music being as a medicine. There are some really uplifting, brilliant tracks in 'Ghost In The Tanglewood' which certainly have a medicinal quality to them - with that being said do you find many of your fans from other bands you are in, have been - throughout the years - drawn to your country music for the same reason as you are, as a form of relief? I consider country music, in its most authentic form, away from the heavily commercial style of country, to be very therapeutic. There’s an honesty in country that couldn’t exist in something like heavy metal. It would rub against the bravado, or sit at odds with the often fantasy nature of most bloated rock music. As I get older I crave honesty in all walks of life and raw honesty in music is as important as honesty in writing or movies, or indeed communication. I have no time for bullshit anymore, on any level. How has music and depression has co-existed in your life? Do you think there can, perversely, be a positive effect on the music but at the detriment of your health? I think I’m still writing songs that excite me because of their raw and candid nature. Most of the music I write comes as a healing agent and some of the music I write has literally saved my life. I can’t be too dissatisfied as a musician, regardless of the cruel nature of depression. Writing myself out of a corner has become a more reliable form of therapy than anything on offer in the world of medicine or mental health research. I’m learning that living outside of the system is a more reliable form of treatment and my songs make this possible. What's on the calendar over the next few months? I release the follow up to 'Ghost In The Tanglewood', called 'The Pessimist’s Companion' this month, with a full commercial release planned for February . We have The Wildhearts ‘White Album’ remastered package being manufactured as we speak, hopefully for a December delivery and a fully remixed version of Chutzpah! (parts one and two) will follow that. I’m currently writing another album of fun pop/rock tunes to be released Summer 2019 exclusively on the Round Records website, which we’ll probably record at the beginning of February. Then The Wildhearts are finishing our new album which we hope to have ready to release in May. Aside from a few shows in December I won’t be playing live until February/March when I’ll be promoting 'The Pessimist’s Companion'. We’re playing really old theatres again, as I did on the 'Songs & Words' Tour, and I’m really excited about that. To find out more about Ginger's new music and tour dates visit www.gingerwildheart.net or visit his facebook here. Interviewed by Scott Bickers and Sophie Williams Read the full article

#GingerWildheart #RoundRecords #TheWildhearts

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ciathyzareposts · 6 years

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Game 98: Amazon: Guardians of Eden (1992) – Introduction

Written by TBD

If not for the title, I wouldn’t be sure if it was a jungle adventure game or a pirate game?

Continuing my self-appointed position as official “Access Software” player, despite the previous three Access Software games all being played by different reviewers, I’m playing through a game I hadn’t heard of until it came up in our Year Ahead post – Amazon: Guardians of Eden.

The emerald inside the letter O is glinting. I suspect the emerald is a genie working for an evil Vizier.

The game’s back cover and manual specifically mention that it’s “patterned after those campy, exciting serials such as Flash Gordon, The Lost City and Rocketman” and, though I haven’t seen many of those serials, I know the style well.

For some reason I keep doing games that have been inspired by pulp serials or movies of the 1930s-1950s.

I’ve done the It Came From the Desert games, an Indiana Jones game, the Leather Goddesses games, and now I’m doing Amazon: Guardians of Eden. What pulp serial game will they make next?

I really want to see this serial made into a game. It has a jumping superhero with a revolver, a guy with a jetpack and a Mondas cyberman helmet and a fight between a spaceman armed with a pistol and a robot armed with a hammer. And that’s before even getting to the stratosphere zombie itself!

The manual includes some fun facts on the Amazon. I’m not sure at this point if this is used for copy protection or just interesting facts for the reader.

Will the game at some point ask how many times Texas would fit into the Amazon jungle?

Access seem like they enjoy being one of the first to utilize new technology – they had one of the first games using VGA and used some voiced dialogue as early as Mean Streets, used some real ‘actors’ in Countdown and had some rudimentary FMV cutscenes in Martian Memorandum.

So it’s not a big surprise that this game was one of the first to use Super VGA (which is not just regular VGA that happens to have been born under a red sun.)

Rather than using Super VGA in an obvious way, such us using the 4x resolution to give more detailed graphics, it just has the standard game window take up ¼ of the screen, with the rest of the screen used for the inventory window, chapter icons for quick access to previous chapters (in case I miss some important information I suppose) and some empty space. Weird.

The game window takes up the entirety of my monitor (apart from the black bars I have on each side due to my widescreen monitor) – VGA graphics!

The game window is now on the left middle of the screen but in exactly the same resolution as the VGA version – Super!

I suspect they decided on the Super VGA thing late in development and all/most of the art had already been drawn but they really wanted to use the technology so found a way to shoehorn it in.

As I don’t want to squint to see details in the world and am happy to press a key to access my inventory, I think I’ll stick to the VGA version, thanks. But I could change my mind later if excess inventory manipulation becomes commonplace. The game makes it easy to switch on the fly with a simple Alt-V keypress.

Access software again uses their Online Hint System – online in this case meaning in-game via the ? icon at the bottom of the screen.

I’ve chosen to turn hints off for this playthrough but have the option to just delete my config file and use hints at any point in the future. According to the manual you lose points for using it – you start the game with 170 points; you lose 3 points for a Level 1 hint, 5 points for a Level 2 hint, and 10 points for a Level 3 hint. If you use all my points you won’t be able to get any more help. As long as you finish with more than 100 points I’ll get the best ending. When I finish the game I’ll be sure to reload and use up a bunch of points so I can see the ‘less exciting ending’ as well.

I like that, in mentioning the hint system, the back of the box makes fun of the system used by other adventure game companies.

Take that, Sierra and Lucasarts! Then again, those hint books and toll numbers made, according to some reports, more money than the game itself. Take that, Access!

Opening Movie

youtube

Here’s the opening sequence in full, but if you just want to see the exciting animated cutscene part of it, skip to 2:30.

The game sets the mood right away with the black and white chapter card.

We start with an introduction to the characters – two brothers, Allen and Jason Roberts. Allen is currently in the Amazon basin doing research on… something… we’re not told what.

After a few pages of narration about the brothers, the cutscene continues as we zoom in on a small jungle camp.

The camera pans across in stalker vision, implying someone’s watching the expedition from the dark of the jungle. It’s very cinematic.

Then we switch to a view of a man sleeping in a tent while various shadows cross the front – the shadows draw their guns but fall after the sound and silhouette of arrows hit them. A third shadow appears and is much bigger (closer to the tent) – when the third shadow is shot he falls through the opening, waking the sleeping man.

I’d make exactly that face if my dead friend fell through my tent flap while I slept in my casual jeans.

I think that the surprised jeans man in Allen Roberts – I’m terrible with faces but the other shot we had of him gave him a beard so I’m going with it. We play as Allen’s brother, Jason, who’s just arrived at the office unaware of what’s gone on with his colleagues in the Amazon…

Based on the intro, this game seems to be sufficiently pulp-serial-like, following up on at least one of its back of the box promises. The again it’s also failed in another of its back of the box promises as I don’t find the Super VGA to have unbelievable clarity.

My first look at the interface when I started the game gave me a feeling of familiarity – it’s very similar to the Martian Memorandum interface. Amazon uses icons instead of words, and combines a few verbs into one, while adding a CLIMB verb.

I notice there’s no USE icon, but assume a combination of OPEN/MOVE, GET and TALK will suffice for this game’s purposes

So now to the important question – what PISSED rating will this game get?

Looking at some contemporary reviews:

Computer Gaming World had good things to say about the game – comparing the story favourably with the Hollywood era it’s homaging.

Dragon Magazine gave Amazon 5 out of 5, but seeing as I’ve never seen a reference to Dragon Magazine giving anything less than 5 out of 5, I don’t think that means a hell of a lot.

Our PISSED ratings of other Access games have ranged from 42 to 53.

Mean Streets 53

Countdown 42

Martian Memorandum 50

My biggest concern after playing Martian Memorandum, which I enjoyed, is will Access Software save some of their budget money for proofreading this time? Having played through the intro and reading the back of the box without seeing a single error, I’m feeling optimistic about the answer. And I’m ready to find out! Let’s go!

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There’s a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it’s an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won’t be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 50 CAPs in return. It’s also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it. All correct (or nearest) votes will go into a draw.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/game-98-amazon-guardians-of-eden-1992-introduction/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

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thepunklounge-blog · 5 years

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The Punk Lounge talks to GINGER WILDHEART

#GingerWildheart #RoundRecords #TheWildhearts

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