[Part I: CurlyHaris]

[@CurlyHaris]: So normally, I'd ask how a person's year is going so far, but I think I already know the answer to that one! Do you want to tell me more for those who don't know what I'm referring to?

[@Swono]: Well actually I don't think a lot of you know me so let me just say that 2021 started really nicely for me, especially with the strong vibes that came with the community Discord's launch and a bunch of very fortunate events for me. I'm very grateful for the happiness I'm bathing in and the people I got to meet thanks to Genius. I eventually was promoted to Modеrator a week ago, mostly thanks to my contributions on the French side of Gеnius and the bridge I helped build between our community with the rest of the world. So yeah, definitely a lot of good vibes coming in from all sides!

[@CurlyHaris]: I would say you are well known and cherished within the community which is why you earned the coveted purple badge and title! Modesty is one of your key traits, and I want you to cast your mind back to when we discussed our roads to progression within Genius. You were almost 100% certain you wouldn't be a Moderator anytime soon and here we are! What part of the process has excited you the most - especially finding out in the middle of a community hangout with staff!

[@Swono]: Yeah that's exactly how it went hahah, good thing my feelings went along to believe I deserved it as much as you all did; I'm forever grateful for the support you all provided and you will know about it very soon (still writing my thanks message at the moment). It's true that the fact that I was promoted in the middle of a hangout, while taking notes in addition, was a very ecstatic moment for me; the moment when the proposal went live was also very thrilling for me because of how heartwarming the post was, and also because of all the kind messages that were delivered. I gotta say though, the moment I joined the editorial team in voicechat for a big round of celebration was definitely huge and you could read it in my tears! It has to be the best moment of my Genius career.

[@CurlyHaris]: It was certainly a very emotional moment for everyone who witnessed it and I cannot begin to express how proud as a fellow user and more importantly a friend I was! Your roadmap alone speaks for your accomplishments, but your approachability and willingness to help others stands out above all else! When you look back through your time on the site, what are some highlights of yours that you can recall?

[@Swono]: Well I always had the idea that I wanted to help with my contributions: I started with transcriptions of artists I found to be very underrated so that they'd gain recognition and then moved on to translations, which are exactly made to help people understand languages they're not familiar with. I was always very close to the users I chatted with, trying to provide tips as useful as possible with great courtesy. Because of how it's the symbol of how much I like accuracy and teaching, the promotion of my fellow French brother NoNameBoyy has to be a big landmark for me. It is the first time I felt like I lead someone to a level they thought they could never achieve, and it brought me (and still gives me) a big amount of joy.

[@CurlyHaris]: That's what it is about! Not only developing as individuals, but guiding others on their own journey to succeed on the site - that is something I feel you balance quite well. Thinking outside the box, you run the Genius translations yt channel for France, what gave you that idea and inspiration to start that and keep it going?

[@Swono]: Actually, credit where credit is due! The original idea was NoNameBoy's and we went on to develop it together. Coming up with ideas and standards to live up to, we quickly had a fair view of how we wanted it to look like. I taught him how to edit videos and thumbnails, came up with an interactive dashboard to handle it all and there we went! He's a very motivated man so it was never a problem working with him and I'm proud we keep it living! People leave comments and give us tracks or albums to translate for them too, so it's very stimulating and I think we're nailing it so far!

[@CurlyHaris]: Teamwork certainly makes the dreamwork as these success stories do tell! What are your thoughts on the community revamp where we see staff take more of an active role again, hopeful I imagine?

[@Swono]: Extremely hopeful! We all know that there are a lot of things we expect to see be sorted as soon as possible and restore a tight bond between us and the Staff which to me is very important. I'm very happy to see all those promotions happening, as much for them than for us! I've worked on guides a lot in the past so I'm very impatient for all this to happen!

[@CurlyHaris]: As am i, and it is very assuring that there are dedicated community members like you! This community is a special thing to be a part of and I truly believe the initiative taken so far will continue to improve with time! With your shiny new mod powers, will that change your approach to your impact on the site and the community do you think?

[@Swono]: Well actually keeping the same "help everybody" vibe, I think being available for even more tasks on the French and international sides were one of the main things that motivated me for more responsibilities. I want to be useful to as many people as I can and it really is my motto in and out of the site. So yes of course they will be useful to me and they are already, but I don't think I'll be the one to gain from it the most and that's for the better! It feel awesome to sport the purple swag and it feels even better to put it to use and see how happy people are that you helped them or sorted their issue.
[@CurlyHaris]: I think you've settled into the role amazingly and very much taken it in your stride! I like to give the opportunity to mention inspirations and role models on the site, and you've already mentioned @NoNameBoy, but is there anyone else you'd like to thank?

[@Swono]: Well, to keep it short unlike my promotion speech, noufi played a big part as a role model in the past so a definite shout-out to him. People that made me want to stick around to, like Ewok, Lockshores and other people like ScopeY helping me build my skills up. Furthermore, everyone's so friendly and adorable on the community Discord that you all mean a lot to me. It's the whole family that makes it so obvious how beneficial you all are to my Genius life and my life in general, to everyone's an inspiration to me to some extent.

[@CurlyHaris]: It's safe to say your name joins the list of some amazing individuals - past and present! Speaking of your name, what is the meaning behind Swono?

[@Swono]: I'm very honoured that you grant me that title hahah, I think I speak for the people if I say you're on that list too! For about my name I actually explained it and said I'd never tell it again in a Get Involved tate hahah. Long story short, the sw comes from my love for Switzerland and Sweden, and "ono" is a shortened version of my full gamer name "onohunt" and I'll let you find out the full story on there! I'm also very happy that there's this running gag around "Swoyes" since my promotion, which is yet another derivation of my username and suits even better my "spread good vibes" way of life.

[@CurlyHaris]: Thanks for some unique Swono/Yes lore! Finally, in true Swono fashion, I want to give you the opportunity to impart some wisdom to any whitehats or even Editors looking to follow in your footsteps... What did you wish you were told sooner?

[@Swono]: Believe in yourself, and remember you're not alone on this site! If you're looking for advice, there's always an Editor+ that will be there to help you and eventually mentor you! Remember that all the resource for your success on site is up for grabs and that Genius is a wonderful experience human-wise. There's so much more to it than lyrics and annotations, and I hope you will join us on this marvellous journey bathing in love and dope music! Remember we're here to enjoy our time and progress as human beings and all of a sudden contributing will become a way to meet extremely nice people!

[Part II: LGF]

[@LGF]: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the second part of Swono's interview. Before we start, I'd like to thank @CurlyHaris for letting me add a couple questions to his already great interview. Without further to do, I'd like to ask my first question. Ono, what do you think is the meaning of life?

[@Swono]: Hey everyone! Well, as a developer I'm tempted to answer "42" but I'll respect your question and actually say that it inherently means nothing in particular, it's us interpreters of reality who define its meaning!

[@LGF]: If it’s us who interpret its meaning, what meaning do you attribute to life?

[@Swono]: I think that the meaning of life is to treat one another in the most respecting and supporting manner so that humanity progresses as a species without neglecting its environment and peers.

[@LGF]: On the topic of social links, I've read somewhere that you particularly enjoy mentoring contributors. In his interview with @FatherArls, @NoNameBoy, one of your mentees, spoke about meeting you for the first time. How do you manage to transform an online mentor-mentee relationship into an actual friendship?

[@Swono]: I'm a "go with the flow" type of guy, I let things happen naturally. When I found out we shared several musical points of interests and played similar video games we went on to spend a lot of time together on Discord. As we eventually live in the same region of France, we decided to meet and eat lunch in Paris; we went on to meet again twice to play football since then! It's rare that I build a link so strong with Genius users but the mentoring process helped quickly build a student-teacher relationship that became a big/little brother relationship with time.
[@LGF]: Nowadays, we live in a society that is much stricter due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. How do you feel about France's COVID related policies?

[@Swono]: We're the clowns of Europe, really; if not of the world. The worst thing is it's mostly because of dumb people who don't respect the government's rules that everyone has to pay for. I hate injustice so of course I hate this situation but I have to wait for it to come to an end I guess; stoicism!

[@LGF]: You briefly touched upon your hatred for injustice, how much does justice mean to you?

[@Swono]: I don't really care about justice so much, but I hate it when someone suffers for someone else's mistakes or when unfortunate events lead someone to be in difficulty when they don't deserve it. I like to help people sort those situations and I have experienced some on various Discord servers so I'm guessing it feels even better that it's official now that I sport the purple diamond.

[@LGF]: You previously mentioned being a developer. How do you express your creativity outside of developing software?

[@Swono]: Well I actually happen to be someone that like to play with every subject I deem interesting; in the end, I investigated everything that my route led me to find. Drawing, writing, making music, manual skills and agility, level design and level creation in video games, exercising and learning the deepest useless fun facts about ridiculously precise subjects like quantum tunnelling; all that stimulate the knowledge maniac in me and I believe it has a big repercussion on my tates actually hahah. TL;DR: every way possible.

[@LGF]: Is there anything else you want to tell us before we conclude this interview?

[@Swono]: Just remember we were all Contributors in the beginning! I consider every user to be on the same level as me, and I think it's no coincidence if the yellow square and the purple diamond are in fine the same shape. We're all brothers and sisters around here, so let the family spirit guide us towards being a sublime collection of exemplary geniuses!

[@LGF]: Well this was the second part of the Ono Interview, thanks for reading (if you made it this far). Once again, big thanks to @CurlyHaris for letting add this part and thanks to my man Ono for answering the question. Have a nice day!

[@Swono]: Thank you so much for having me, have a nice one too!