TEKNIDERMY - ISSUE 7: November/December 2001

The Underdogs #1 - un2
by [morph]

In any hobby you always have the “names”. The “names” are the people that everyone has heard of, everyone likes, and everything they touch is considered to be the thing to have. In our case you have people such as Dangeruss, Treetog, plus many others. As well, in any hobby you have the people that will be the next up to bat. These are the people who are good at what they do, but for some reason no one has heard of them. You utter their name/handle, people will reply, “Who is that?” Maybe a year from then, that name will be the known name. That’s what keeps any, and all, hobbies alive. This interview column is meant to bring those underdogs to the light of it all, to make them the names, so that we can allow new people to step up to the plate and allow out hobby to take the cycle that every hobby does. In this first edition I would like to present to you a person that I have always considered to be an underdog from day one. I first saw his work on skinz.org (not knowing who it was), and met him, about a year later on IRC. I was attracted to his work mainly because the style reminded me greatly of mine, we seemed to progress at the same time, and somehow using the same styles without knowing each other at that time. I present to you a person not known for his LiteStep themes or wallpapers (but should), un2.


Name: Dave Sarmiento
Handle: un2
Location: Whittier, CA.
Skinning: About 2 Years

Tek: How did you hear about skinning, and what about it made you want to start?

un2: Well, it all started with WinAmp, the whole skinning scheme just zapped me in. Having total control of how it looked just amazed me and it gave it a personal feel.

Tek: So was WinAmp the first application you skinned?

un2: As for skinning, yeah, it was.

Tek: Then what happened? Give me your story.

un2: When I first wanted to look for skins, I went to an old site (www.1001winampskins.com) for my fix. It became apparent that the skins were getting drab, and I had a big collection of other authors’ skins. I took it that "Hey maybe I can skin WinAmp." I downloaded whatever art program I could get at the time (unaware that PhotoShop was GOD), which happened to be paint shop pro.

Tek: What nickname did you go under at that time?

un2: I used the nick "uphonic", it was during the elite skinz.org days.

Tek: What was your first skin?

un2: goteci45

Tek: So when did you make your move to LiteStep?

un2: When WinAmp just couldn’t satisfy me anymore. I wanted more customization on my desktop. The old drab explorer bar just didn’t cut it, even with WindowBlinds.

Tek: So how did you find LiteStep?

un2: I kind of stumbled on it when I was searching for WinAmp skins at skinz.org. I went to the section, and it just blew my mind. This was what I wanted, this is what I have been asking for.

Tek: So what was the first theme you used?

un2: My first theme was one of yours, Oriental

Tek: Funny, your first theme, was my first original theme. So how long was it until you got tired of everyone else's themes and started to make your own?

un2: About a month later, but I still didn’t have a clue on how to configure LiteStep.

Tek: So how did you learn it then?

un2: I read some documentation at floach.pimpin.net.

Tek: So after that, I take it that you just started making themes right?

un2: Basically, but first I got my hands on a copy of PhotoShop, then I had to learn how to use it and get used to all of the tools. It took me a couple of weeks before I actually started to make themes.

Tek: So have you tried skinning anything else beside LiteStep and WinAmp?

un2: I’ve tried my hand at WindowBlinds skinning. I totally ditched WinAmp skinning at this point.

Tek: Why?

un2: In the end, it just really wasn’t worth a mediocre skinner like myself to do it since it took so much time to assemble.

Tek: What about now?

un2: Now? I still suck now so I still don’t do it. :P

Tek: I know that everyone that knows you, loves your wallpapers. How did you start that?

un2: I started making walls at first to give my first theme, “Incubus”, something to look forward to. It was something I didn’t know that I could do, but as soon as I did, it just clicked.

Tek: So what is your main system composed of, and what tools do you use on it to make all your skins and wallpapers?

Un2: The specs rundown of my system: Sony VAIO Digital Studio equipped with a geForce 2 Ultra, and as for the tools, I mostly use PhotoShop 5.5, and 3D Studio Max 4.

Tek: When should we expect to see http://un2.ls2k.org done?

un2: You should see un2.ls2k.org done when I think it’s done. I don’t really think I will even have a "website website", maybe just a couple of splashes and links to my wallpapers. If you want LiteStep themes, go to a skin site, you might see me u/l something there.

Tek: What do you do in your free time other than sit on your computer?

un2: In my spare time I do the daily grind. After that I sometimes work on my car, play guitar ,watch TV, go to the girlfriend's house (when I have one).

Tek: Speaking of which, how many girlfriends have you had in this year alone?

un2: This year..4.

Tek: Why so many?

un2: When I first meet them they seem to be everything I want in a girl, but then a couple of weeks pass, and they totally change and I see them for what they really are. I don’t know. I just can’t handle being lied to in the very beginning of a relationship.

Tek: Yeah, that’s wacky. Is that what inspires you?

un2: This is what part of what inspires me.

Tek: What are the other ingredients then?

un2: Everything that happens in my life, I basically try to put down in pixel.

Tek: Give me an example.

un2: I’d have to say my wallpaper “filter”. To the left, its dark, representing hard times for me, when I was going through a ton of stuff in life, and my friends not helping me out. In the end you are by yourself, but then time moves on, and you just realize that you just can’t be sobbing that your life sucks. You just got to bite the bullet and move on, which represents the right side, light.

Tek: So, does anything really inspire you to make LiteStep themes, or do those just come with how you wont your desktop to act? I know that when I’m feeling a bit down I like to have a darker theme.

un2: Yeah, different emotions give off different vibes. What you put down, is what comes out of that. If you just broke up with your girlfriend, lost a loved one, or just feel left out, it will always be a dark theme and vice versa with light themes.

Tek: So what color is the theme that you are using now?

un2: Right now, dark.

Tek: Why?

un2: I JUST broke up with my current girlfriend and I was feeling a bit low.

Tek: Is it a theme that you are working on currently, or someone else's?

un2: It is what I am currently working on. I never use someone else’s theme unless they’re yours.

Tek: Is it going to be a suite, or just a theme?

un2: I want it to be a suite, but I don’t really have that much time to slap it all together and make all those skins. Lately, it has been a habit that I never finish a theme.

Tek: So how many themes have you created, versus the amount that you have actually released?

un2: During the time that I have been with LiteStep I have had about 27 themes, but I have only released 6.

Tek: Where can the people see the themes that you have released to the public?

un2: There is incubus (litestep.com), Eva (litestep.net), accept (litestep.net), air (deviantart.com), FlightPath (deviantart.com), and filter (litestep.net).

Tek: With that said, what do you have in store for us in the future?

un2: More wallpapers. Possibly a collaboration site with Pageant (resident village idiot in #LiteStep), another theme release before the New Year, and a joint skin package with [morph] (look out for it). It is going to come with a free Nelly endorsed sausage and a “Jay-Z drinks yoo-hoo” t-shirt! Oh, and all the LiteStep distros suck! I am out of here.

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