Berlin to Louder Than Life: Vianova’s Musical Journey, Passions, and Hobbies Explored

0:04 Hey, you're listening to The Adventure on W4CY Radio. This is the Pipe Man here on The Adventure's Pipe Man W4CY Radio, and I'm here with... Alex Ovianova. Poet. And Felix from Villanova. Welcome to Louder Than Life, man. And I'm so happy you're here with me right now because I think you've made it cool down a little bit. This is the coolest I've felt all day. So, man, it's been brutally hot here. Like, I always have been saying this all day.

0:46 My heart's out to artists and the dedication you have to play in this heat because it's kind of brutal to get out there and give it your all on stage. when it's this hot, so thank you for that, first of all. It was very hot indeed. Yeah, it's like, what did you say? He said it was very hot indeed, like how hot it is here. I agree. Kentucky sun, it's like, I don't know, it's like frying us. Don't know. And tell all the listeners where you guys are from. Where are you guys from? We're from Berlin, Germany. Yeah, Berlin, Germany based. It's much, much colder than here.

1:29 Same. I agree. Last time I was in Berlin, it was in January and it was cold. But I love that city. I think everybody should visit Berlin because we all have this image of what Berlin is because of what happened. And I went there. And it was nothing what I imagined. It was like one of the coolest towns on earth and the music scene is so cool there. Tell us how it all started for you guys to get into music. Like getting into music in general or like how the band started? Both. Let's do both. Both, okay. Um.

2:09 I think, like, this is, by the way, like, this is Paul. He's my brother. So we grew up together. Nice. And you still like each other? Nah. But we're professionals. You know. Now, we grew up in a household with a lot of music because our dad, he's a big... Big Beatles fan, Queen, Michael Jackson. So we've been surrounded with music most of the time, which, I don't know, is something you pick up at some point and be like, okay, what's that sound? What's that sound? I want to know what it is.

2:51 So I ended up playing the guitar. He ended up playing drums because I made him to. Because it's always the same. And at some point, like we grew up We didn't grow up in Berlin, we grew up in the southwest of Germany. A little village, nothing's going on there, no musicians. So I decided to move to Berlin. To make music. So I asked Paul, do you want to join me and play drums to start a band? Yeah, and he moved along with me and we kind of started from there in Berlin, just looking for musicians to join us.

3:46 They found me. And then they found you. And now we're playing Louder Than Life. And it's all thanks to him, right? Because you didn't play Louder Than Life until they found him. Yes, it's all thanks to me. Please thank me. Say thank you, Alex. Thanks. Yes. What was that first concert you went to that you were like, wow, that's my music? Can you say it again? What's the first concert you went to that you were like, wow, that's my music? I love that. Motorhead. Nice. There you go. For me, it was probably Die Erste.

4:26 It's a German band. Okay, cool. Schrei nach Liebe. It's so good. It's amazing. Yes, I think so. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I agree. Good song. No, I'd say... I actually... I mean, we've. Been to local shows, which is great, which is cool. But I can remember, like, I had this. Like... a bit unusual like in the metal space but I had this Mumford & Sons gig. And it's something that I. Haven't felt that before with like a live concert where I got like goosebumps all over my body where I was like I like the energy and I would like to transfer some energy like from our music to the crowd as well in that way so Yeah, that's, which is something, I mean, it's not considered metal in any way, but it's like, for me, it's been always about, like, energy. Yeah.

5:33 Like, especially, like, metal. And, yeah, so that's been a big, big. Concert for me, actually. What's ironic about that is the other Danny Wimmer Festival here at the same venue is Bourbon and Beyond. And Mumford & Sons is playing there. Like, so that's kind of wild that you said that. Yeah, it's kind of wild. What's happening right now? Can you feel it? I know, right? Danny Wimmer, let us play before Mumford. & Sons, please. Yeah, see, that's what we have to tell Danny. You should be playing both festivals. You know?

6:17 And then you'll go on tour with Mumford & Sons and, you know, there you go. So.... Tell me about what you have going on after Louder Than Life that people have to look out for and what they should check in your socials and new music and gigs that you're doing because you're here at Louder Than Life but you got a lot more coming out that I think people need to know about. People can still check out our album Hit It which is always available and there are always people who haven't heard it so check out the album. We're on tour with ERA right now so we will continuing the tour after Louder Than Life and we have like one headline show ahead of us on the East Coast on the Yes, no, West Coast, on the West Coast, on the West Coast.

7:23 And Aftershock Festival as well. Well, I'll get to see you there too. Yeah, and I think one thing that is important, there's no new music coming up right now, but maybe we try to... open up the brand a little bit, you know, start some live streams. I know that I would like to really show some other like hobbies of mine. Like I'm really big into hobby horsing, which is a big passion of mine. I would love to do some hobby horsing live streams. And I know that Paul also would like to start writing for his football magazine, but in German. So like look out for that for sure. Nice. So how did you get into the hobbies that you're into? Oh, it's just like, hobby horsing is like where you ride on a horse but you do it on a stick instead of a horse, and like a horse is very expensive, right? So like we didn't come up like that, we don't have that kind of money.

8:12 Right. Like, so, you know, you gotta find ways to live out your passion, express yourself differently than music, so like, you know? I agree. You'll find a way. I used to ride real horses. I'm not kidding, so I have no respect for this man. Doing hobby horsing. But I won't let that affect me to be fair. I'll just do myself and that's it. Well and you know to his point you know maybe he is the better one because he's not being a pain in the behind to the horse. So there you go. I'm more flexible. I can do it wherever. Exactly. He could go around louder than life on his hobby horse. He actually, he's so proud of it, he wanted to show how he does it, actually.

8:56 You should bring it on. You want to show the people how he does it? I don't have the hobby horse with me. It's in the trailer. Well, wait a minute, though. You should be using the hobby horse in your live shows. I think you have to keep it separate, you know what I mean? That's the thing, like, with music, it used to be a hobby, and now it's more of a job, and I really want, like, to keep some parts of my private life, like, sacred, so it's just, like, for my enjoyment, really. And so would you say if you were to pick your favorite hobby or passion, is it riding regular horses, or is there something else? Used to be riding regular horses um i think it's something else i'm actually i'm a world-class skateboarder i can do kickflips and.

9:45 Stuff now you're speaking my language. Um or like like handstand like with one hand on the board and stuff like this i'm yeah i'm i'm good with that. So i'll show it but like the the board is in the trailer right now so you can't do right now. I have three boards. I have my trick board. I have a long board and I also have a stick That is for it's like as if you're paddle boarding on the long board and it's a totally different workout Yeah, yeah, it's a totally different workout. Like it's a full body workout and then my newest one is is a surfskate, and that one is wild, because I surf, okay, and I got this thing, and I've been skateboarding since I'm like 12, and I never wear a helmet, I never wear pads, I got on it, and I ate shit, and I was talking at my door, I'm like, yeah, I think maybe for this board, I should wear a helmet and pads.

10:45 But we have to make sure kids don't wear helmets on skateboards. Don't. Never. I never did. Like, come on. But yeah, have you ridden a surfskate before? Actually, yeah, once. It's fun, though. It's fun, but it's different, right? Because the trucks, it's so easy to eat shit. It's a different type of balancing. But it's kind of cool that you don't have to kick at all, because if you do it right, you just pump on a surfboard and go. Where did you grow up surfing? So, I originally grew up in New York and New Jersey, but I moved it when I was 12 years old to California. That's where I got my first skateboard. That's when I first started surfing. And, like, if you didn't skateboard in L.A., you were made fun of. Okay? Like, that's what you did. I used to, I wouldn't do it now, but I used to jump off of roofs into the empty pools and Because we didn't have the bowls then, so we made our own bowl. And that was it. And I think about it now, I'm like, that was kind of stupid. But it was fun, you know?

12:02 I bet it was. I don't think I would do it now, but, you know, maybe. Might need a helmet this time. Who knows? And then that's also where I got so into music. Like, I was always into music. But I moved to L.A. in 1980. And what a time to move to L.A. for metal. Because I was at Slayer's first show ever, Metallica's first show ever. I saw Motley Crue before they even had an album. They were like horror punk. They weren't glam yet. And I fell in love with the whole metal scene. I did play drums for nine years and sucked. I played guitar. Sucked. Sang thrash metal, sucked. So now I'm here talking to you because this I'm better at.

12:53 We also suck. There you go. But you know what? It's just about having fun. It's about the passion of music. And it's the best therapy there is. When I come to these festivals, I don't even give a crap what's going on in the world. And I don't even think about it. And too many people obsess over all that shit. They just need to go to a metal show and fucking enjoy the music. That's it. That's what's up, bro. That's it. And they need to go to your show specifically. Because if they don't go to your shows, they can't listen to my music, my show. They will miss out, for sure. Absolutely. They're having FOMO right now. So anything else you want to tell the listeners we haven't covered already? Or he didn't tell us his passion outside of music. Soccer. Nice.

13:53 He paints too? Also. From time to time. And I never heard somebody from Europe call it soccer either. Sorry? I never heard anybody from Europe call it soccer either. Yeah, it's soccer, not football. It makes more sense though. Football. Foot to the ball. Soccer, I just think you're punching somebody in the face. That's what soccer should be. Yeah. I don't get it. I don't get it. I know, right? Well, you guys absolutely rock. I'm glad you're here at Lateran in Life. I can't wait to see you over at Aftershock. And thanks for being on the Adventures of Pipe Man.

14:37 Thank you so much. Thank you. Thanks. See you there. Thank you for listening to The Adventures of Pikeman on W4CY Radio.