INTERVIEW: HEATHCLIFF ( Punk Rock Holiday 2.5)

 Heathcliff is a skate punk, hard core band from Germany, or as they would say "90s skate punk flavoured with hard core and metal". Recently they announced that they are taking a break, but also that it is not an end and that they will be back! 

Well, YOU BETTER!

In the meantime, here is an interview I did with guys this summer at Punk Rock Holiday.

Can you please introduce yourself?

HEATHCLIFF: So hi guys, we're Heathcliff from Munich, Germany, and we're super happy that you're having us on your zine.

First time I saw you play was a few years ago when you opened the main stage here at PRH and it was so good that this year I decided to meet you and try and find out a little bit more about you.

HEATHCLIFF: Thank you so much.

Thank you for doing this interview. So, you are on the scene for like eight years?

HEATHCLIFF: We started like seven years ago. We all played in different bands before, but here we started seven years ago and since then we are up and running! Over the years we had some guitarist issues but...

You have a few albums out?

HEATHCLIFF: Yeah, three. The first one was "Chillout Radio", the second one was "Stay Posi" and the third one, the latest one is "Postcard From a ParaHell Universe".

What is the story behind that title? What does it mean?

HEATHCLIFF: Well, it's a bit tricky! We thought about the whole problem nowadays that everyone is just basically  living for social media like Instagram and everything has to be super shiny, super fine and glossy. And whenever you're on this sites you will just think that the world seems perfect and it's not, right?  That is why we decided to have this cover. While two people at the beach are doing selfies and looking super shiny at the same time the world behind them is burning. So yeah, that's the major message: please guys, focus on reality issues!

This album is excellent, a MUST LISTEN for me. It is a mix of every stile. Why?

HEATHCLIFF: Well, we always had some like reggae parts, and we do like reggae and ska, so we just figured out like "hey, why don't we try to build the new songs around the foundation that is skate punk, but then we just do what we want to do". And that is why you can hear different stuff on this one.

I read that you went on a tour in Japan. How did that happen and why Japan?

HEATHCLIFF: Japan for us was the first tour abroad. We always see bands tour there, and we were going there in 2019 but Covid happened and it was cancelled. So we had contact and finally this year we could make it. And if you ask why Japan - because Japan!!! (laughter) Because why not? I mean, it is Japan. It was an amazing experience! It was mind blowing!

Did they know the lyrics? Like, did you get the full sing-a-long experience and everything?

HEATHCLIFF: Yes! Yes they did. That was really great. We were already speechless after the first show, because the people, well, they sang along with every single song, and we looked at each other like we didn't experience that in Germany where we tend to play usually, like this was so cool. To be honest I was close to tears after the first show because that was just simply wow! They welcomed us with open arms, totally different culture but still, music speaks! One guest came up to us after the show with typed set list that we played and in the correct order. That means he actually knows all the songs and it was amazing. The thing is, you know, if we as a band go on tour, it is not just because we want to play music, but also we want to meet people. So in Japan, as a band, we could dig more deeper into the culture, we had more connections than just a tourist, because you have the connection through the music! So it was so much better experience than to be going as a tourist.

The punk scene is pretty strong there.

HEATHCLIFF: Yeah, alive and well! It is actually like the scene in Europe. It's a small scene, like everywhere, but... Basically, we played shows for fifty people, sometimes a bit more, but meeting people on the other side of the world who dig our music - that was amazing!

Have you ever played in Croatia?

HEATHCLIFF: Not yet! We'd love to play there. It is not to far from us (laughter).

Last time you played PRH you played at the main stage and this year you were on the beach stage. Is there really any difference and what is it? Is one better than the other?

HEATHCLIFF: We would not call it better or worse, we're just happy that we can play here. This year the beach stage was overwhelming because of all the people who were at our show, and you are by the river and you are actually playing at the beach... It is more personal on the beach stage. We get stronger connection with people. It's tough to get a real good connection going if you play main stage as a first band, even thou there was so many people there back then... So, I think we did quite well on both stages. It is like this: we play wherever Niko wants us to play! (laughter) But the sound was amazing on both stages!

What are your plans?

HEATHCLIFF: We'd love to tour more. This year was a bit passive due to family reasons, except the Japan tour, but than again, for us it is more a hobby because we are working and have normal life. We do try to play as much as possible. In 2023. we played the most, like 30 shows. So, it would be cool to play more. We agreed to do one tour a year, for like 10 days and the rest just weekends. We also had a Canada tour lined up, but because of the Covid it didn't go through. So we would love to do that one.

Where would you like to go and with who? Like on tour?

HEATHCLIFF: Oh, we'd love to go to Australia! We've also been asked if we would do a Thailand tour, so that sounds like an adventure. And Canada of course! And regarding with who, well, Mute! Super role models! It's actually difficult to pick one band, right? We would always tour with Drunktank again. There is a "band crush" between us, we love each other. But we would have to bring a whole festival with us. (laughter) And if we were to go bigger, than Satanic Surfers I guess. It's hard to pick just one.

If you could bring any musician who is no longer with us back to life, who would it be?

HEATHCLIFF: Ozzy! Hendrix! Cobain! Bradley from Sublime. He would be fun to hang out with and they were also a big influence to us.

This is my last question for you guys: Who are you looking forward seeing this year here at PRH?

HEATHCLIFF: Turbonegro and Zeke. Zebrahead for sure and our buddies from Munich - Straightline.

Thank you guys for your time. It was fun! Have fun the rest of the festival and I'll see you around.

HEATHCLIFF: Thanks for having us! Anytime! See you at the afterparty!

Written by I.