I hadnt done one of these in quite a few months. I do intend to bring them back to a regularly scheduled basis and concept in 2009. For now, I had a chance to bounce off a couple questions to long-time NG-contributer, Edmund McMillen, aka BlueBaby. Incase you've been living under a rock the past week or so, you'd know that he's recently releasesd his CD This is a Cry for Help, in a nutshell its a 10-yr compilation of Edmund's career. That being said, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to have him reflect and also tell us about himself. I've condensed these interviews into really short format cause nobody likes to read a long line of text anyway.. so its a pretty quick read.
Onnn with the interview...
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Luis says:
Hello, so the first question is pretty standard fare and maybe semi-redundant since I've already kinda introduced you above, but it might be the most fitting question for this particular interview since you've been part of newgrounds and the flash scene for so long. Tell us who you are and what got you into NG and flash in general?
BlueBaby says:
I'm Edmund McMillen, like Tom I was making zines / comics in the late 90s and decided to take my work online in the form of flash animations. Back then Newgrounds was one of the only sites you could submit flash animations to. I submitted Destination Egg and I met Tom.
A few years later I moved on to making games, actually started my first game with tom that would later be finished by Rift (Cereus Peashy). I'd then go on to make Gish and a slew of flash games.
Luis says:
What had you been doing prior to entering the scene 10 years ago?
BlueBaby says:
10 years ago I was writing, drawing, and publishing comics and zines independently, the series was called this is a Cry for Help, prior to that I was just in school drawing.
Luis says:
Ah ok so thats where the name originates from. So now that we covered beginning of your journey, lets quickly fast forward to 2008, what kept you motivated to stay in the scene for 10+ years, thats like unheard of in the web industry- to be around for so long?
BlueBaby says:
I guess the scene is what motivated me. Seeing people make games and art in general is a big motivator for me to continue doing what I'm doing. Also the positive response to my work has motivated me to push myself more.
The core of my motivation is probably set around the fact that my career is basically an unknown adventure. I'm exploring art, game design and myself as I make stuff, it's very enjoyable and that's why I continue to do it.
Luis says:
Fair enough, so let me turn grim for a minute and ask you what you think the hardest lesson to learn has been in the past 10 years?
BlueBaby says:
Probably that the more honest and personal my work is the less marketable it becomes, it sucks to think about, but I don't think ill ever be able to be truly honest with what I'm doing till I'm financially sound to the point of not caring at all about making any kind of profit from my work.
Luis says:
I hear that, I think thats a hard pill to swallow in general. You come out of college thinking you can hit the ground running and many times thats not the reality of it. So let me ask you this, being independent for so long, No doubt you've faced challenges in all that time but was there a particular low point in your career where you really had to pull it together. Reason I ask this is because its an inevitable hurdle one faces as a freelancer and its many times the straw that breaks the camel's back causing freelancers to throw the towel and go back to joining a work force so I ask in an effort to enlighten those who are either in a similar situation now or are perhaps unfamiliar with the challenges of the business?
BlueBaby says:
Yeah, there have been MANY times where I've gone to 7/11 to get some cheap food and my card gets declined on 2 bucks worth of corn nuts. That shits hard, but for me it just gives me that much more to fight for. When I was working on Gish I was living in a tiny room with my wife and cat. I had to borrow money from Alex (Gish) to pay rent, we got by on Top Ramen and hot dogs. But honestly thinking back, those were some of the most memorable and fun moments of my life, there is something about being super poor that makes you really appreciate all the little stuff.
Truth be told I did throw in the towel once. Before I was making games and couldn't hack it with my web work and comics I got a "real job" as an animal control officer for over a year. If i didn't get fired I'm sure id still be doing it this day.
Doing art for a living is fucking hard, I'm not going to sugar coat it. Your not going to make much money as a freelance artist and your probably going to run into a few walls along the way, but you will have a lot of freedom and having a career is a very uplifting thing, especially if your totally independent.
Luis says:
Ah Ramen is the meal of champions! Well thats cool that you kept your morale up through the rollercoaster ride of the business. While we're on a high note, let me spin that question the other way. What is/was your proudest in the past 10?
Probably winning the grand prize with Gish at IGF 2005. The 2nd would be releasing this CD.
Luis says:
So now that we've danced around the release of your disc 'This is a Cry for Help', lets dive into some vague questions regarding that (obviously I dont want to cut too deeply into insight you might have already shared in the cd) but lets start at the beginning, what made you to take a break and devote time to making the compilation?
Alex and I were talking about the idea of releasing our next game on a physical CD for people to order from us. I looked into the cost and was surprised to see how cheap making professionally printed CDs actually is. The thought of putting all my flash games on CD instantly came to mind that day.
When I got home and told Florian about the idea he said, "Why not just put all your work on it".... I was like, yeah why the fuck not. I've been doing this for 10 years, it seemed appropriate.
Luis says:
Theres a quote on the product description of your CD where you said 'I don't censor my ideas even if they contradict my personal views' is there a particular project that it particularly applies to or maybe is there a particular project that managed to get you alot of harsh criticism for its content?
BlueBaby says:
Yeah, going back and reading a lot of my comics now Im like.. wow, what the hell was going on with me then. One comic in particular was about an abortion that comes back and kills its mother... it came off very pro life, yet I'm very pro choice. I also had a few racist characters in my comics that contradicted my views as well, but I found it interesting to write about so I did.
Cunt is another one that definitely comes off as misogynistic and I got a lot of shit from feminists for it. I don't hate women, but that's not going to stop me from writing from that perspective. Hell, I once write a comic about religion that was actually pro religion... I tend to contradict myself in my work and it confuses and angers people, but any kind of emotional response is still an emotional response.
Luis says:
Whats next on your plate, where do you go from here, where do you see yourself 10 years from NOW?
Well im currently finishing up Meat Boy 1.5 with Jon. Then I'm moving on to a new, extremely awesome game with Tommy again, it's currently untitled. I'm also working on a secret game with Tyler Glaiel and Triachnid 2 with Florian, if he would just stop playing Team Fortris and Fallout it would done in a few weeks.
In the non flash world I'm working on a game called "No Quarter" with Alex (Gish) and Gish 2.
I also have a few small art projects I work on when I have extra time.
Ihave no idea what I'll be doing in 10 years.
Luis says:
Ok lets wrap this up with a final question, is there anything you feel like sharing that might motivate someone else attempting to follow in your footsteps?
BlueBaby says:
Being independent is extremely rewarding emotionally and mentally. If you're a self motivated artist (and yes programmers are artists too) and you want to make art; stay independent, you will eventually get the respect and acknowledgment you're looking for.
If you're just looking to make a quick buck, go get a job.
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