so... who exactly is this 'ansgaros' person?
i am a hobbyist musician, and this was originally the only reason i made a website for myself; to distribute my music. in the physical realm i reside in Finland, Europe, and go by the name of Anssi Jääskeläinen. as you already know, i am known as ansgaros everywhere i go on the internet. that's right, all lowercase.
so, about the music then. i started playing/composing music when i took up the guitar in 1995. i never did get around to learning to read sheet music though, so i usually go by ear if i have to learn something. in 1997 i was introduced to tracking(external link) and with it, the fascinating world of computer-based music. i tracked more or less actively until 2002-2003 or so (check the news archive for reference), when my musical output in general took a nosedive.
i used to use a DAW(external link) program called Tracktion 3(external link) with some miscellaneous VST effects and instruments(external link) to create music, until in 2009 i finally got tired of Tracktion's bugs and lack of updates and switched to REAPER(external link). REAPER has served me very well once i got used to it.
all the while i've continued with the guitar. after all, guitar is my main instrument. i've been in a few bands since 1996-ish, most of which didn't last two months. the longest-living one of those bands, Antarktis Utopia, was founded in 1997, and was put to death in august 2009. nowadays my main band thing is Hateflesh(external link).
when i started consciously listening to music i began with techno and the like (this was early 90s). in mid-nineties i was introduced to punk rock and Metallica (Black album) and other guitar-driven "light" music (Nirvana, Offspring, can't remember). this was also about the time and reason when and why i picked up the guitar.
from there my taste in music got gradually heavier, though i still listened to some electronic stuff every once in a while as well. nowadays i'm not restricted by genres (though i don't think i ever was), i will listen to anything and everything that happens to sound good to me. as i see it, this is the only sensible way. even so, most of the music i listen to is some kind of metal.