|
I have been a long time fan of the Beastie Boys and when I first got an internet connection I started to do
some stuff in Dreamweaver (Webpage Editor), so later on after I knew how to work with the program, I was
looking for a subject for my webpage. The subject turned out to be the Beastie Boys.
When did it start and with what content?
The site started in November 1998 with some info on the Beasties like a Bio and some pictures, a few weeks
later when I finally discoverd a little file on the internet called mp3 I started to put them on Beastie
Plaza.
Beastie Plaza was a very professional looking site - did you do everything or was there a staff to help out?
I am the only one working on the layout and the content. Later on there were some people helping me with
putting up some news and other little things.
How much time were you spending on the site each month?
I think at the top days I was working 4 hours a day on the site. At the moment I'm not doing anything to it.
You were renowned for getting the latest Bast Boys tracks in MP3 format on your site before anyone else. You
were one of the first sites (maybe THE first) to offer the Country Mike LP tracks for download. How did
you hook up with those in the first place?
Yes we once had the biggest archive of non linked mp3’s available, at one time we had about 40 mp3’s
up for download (all non album that is) that was in 1999 and we also discovered a lot of mp3’s no one
ever heard of. I'm glad we could offer the rare rare tracks to our visitors. I found the mp3’s by digging
deep into ftp servers, internet, and I got some of my own cd’s and some mp3’s were sent to me by
people.
I found the Country Mike album on some ftp, I don't know exactly what ftp it was but I know it took some time
searching :) When I put the album up the site I got some good reactions from visitors, it's nice when people
appreciate the hard work you do.
What's the full story with your problems with the Dutch RIAA?
In 2000 I got a letter from the Dutch RIAA that we needed to take down the mp3’s or face consequences.
Well there was no other thing to do, I had to take them down, and they were not even album version they were
all live and rare tracks. But a year later I put some mp3’s up again and they are still there, in the
audio section.
So in the end, why did the Beastie Plaza shut it's doors?
I don’t have the time anymore to work on the site every day. And at the moment there is no big challenge,
no rare mp3’s to put up and it’s a bit dead round the Beasties anyway. But when I find some rare
stuff I will put it up.
What are the high points you remember about the site?
The highest point must be when I had around 40 mp3’s up for download on the site
and the low points (if any)?
That I was forced to take down the mp3’s
Looking back over the history of the site, is there anything you would have done differently?
I wish I did not change the layout all the time in the beginning of the site. But the layout that we have now
is almost up for 2 years now.
Did you record any sort of statistics over the years like the amount of visitors you received?
Yes, I have a nedstat account on the site. I think the meter is at 80000 now, the visitors dropped a little
since I'm not working on the site anymore.
Is there any chance of the site reopening later down the track?
Maybe, when I find the time or people to do it. But I will keep the url and the site will stay up. Maybe some
day in the future you will notice some changes, then you know I found some time again to do it.
So are you still going to collect Beastie Boys music (cds/vinyl/mp3s) or are you giving up totally?
I'm still collecting Vinyl mp3’s and cd’s. I just came back from town and bought the Alive Bentley
Remix promo cd for 3 euros.
Any final comments, greetings, etc
I would like to thank all the people who visited my site and especially Chuck J aka ChuckChillout (he was
there from the beginning of the site), Rip Round’n Rock, the people of
Cachi Online (site is no more), and all the others
I forgot.
|
