H-Blockz at Wacken: Henning Talks Crowd Energy, Career Passion, and Equestrian Life

0:04 Hi, you have done to censure? Wow for you your This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c Y Radio and I'm here. With handing from h Box. Niceks for having me. Man, Oh my pleaciated. You're a vakin. I mean like you're on the howay ground, like even we I'm from America and this is like like all my media friends are jealous that I'm here. Yeah, I mean, is the play that's really something that you do that you can brag about all over the world.

0:46 Everybody knows VA. I mean everybody who's into uh guitar music pretty much a metal And this was pretty much the only festival that we haven't played yet, at least in Germany. And this is pretty much mostly the only festival I haven't done US coverage yet. This was the first time for me too. We're at virgin No No. Well, yeah, I got devirginated, so to say. But we had a blast of a time because I always like, you know, playing all these odd slots and we got on stage at like one forty five in the afternoon. It was like boiling on stage and like when we arrived at the stage, there was only a couple of hundred people in front of the stage, and I was going, Okay, this is going to be like in the early days. You know, you got to work the crowd and we'll do the best of it. But then yeah, it was showtime and there was I don't know, maybe fifty thousand people. It was like we were headliners.

1:36 That was sixty minutes of rock and roll feeding, I mean rockstarff feeding was I. Think you attracted them, is what happened. They're like, oh, well, we fucking. Miss let's go check them out. We haven't seen them in a while. And you know, we've been around for before, over thirty years now, but we never expected anything. Like this for our first time, I know, right, And I mean obviously it's a testament to your talent because listen, if you sucked, they wouldn't be there. Even if it is fucking I. Hope it is so yeah, and basically what it is, I think the first ten seconds is what matters. Yes, when the people feel that you mean it what you do, then they love you. And yeah we managed that.

2:17 Well. That's total key because like us, as the audience, we can look at you and we can tell if you're dialing it in or if you are really into it right. We want you to be really into it right, because how can we be into it if you're not? And that's what's cool about it. Yeah, it's all about the level of the game, you know, That's it. So they call you the Rage against the Machine of Germany. I don't know about that. How did that even happen? Like you did you have them as a major influencer? Is that just who you are? Well? To be honest, when we we have been around for about a year with our band in nineteen ninety one or two, I don't I can't remember when it was, and we were huge Suicidal Tendencies fans and we had tickets for a show close to our hometown for Suicide of Tendencies and Rage Against the Machine were opening up for them, and I remember that we came home and said what the fuck was that? I mean, that was life changing, and up to this day, Rage Against the Machine is just just next level. It's a it's another dimension because that's what it's all about. I Mean, these guys developed one kind of energy that I always thrive for.

3:36 But I would never ever compare any band with him. Well, and you know what's cool about it, and same for you is instead of just being on this, you blend genres that attracts everybody, not just a few groups of people. Well, to be honest, when we came out with our first album, which which was a surprise hit so to say, because it's sold like over a million times making copies in Germany and nobody expected that. But we come from so many different influences like pop, hip hop and metal and blues even that we couldn't really figure out which way to go. And we didn't have a DNA, a band DNA at all. And so after the first album, we thought, you know, we have to we have to hit a totally different track and try something out. So basically what we did was we tried out for thirty years and now after fourteen years without an album, we came up with an album where we thought, well, what that, Let's just do what we love, whatever comes out out of ourselves when we go into the studio, and that's what we did, and it's all fun and it's all for the love of the game.

4:46 It's the only way it should be. Like this industry is not fun if you're not having fun. Exactly, and you forget that once you have financial success, commercial success, then you think you know, you owe the industry or you owe the audience. You have to come up with something that sells, just like the record before. But you have to find your core where you really do what you love. And it doesn't matter what you're job. Did you say you have to you love? You have to do like he says something very intelligent. Well, you you have to love it for the audience to love it. Yeah, like it that you don't, that's it, you know, and we can tell we can. I've seen bands that I actually like, but then I look at them on stage. I'm like, Oh, they don't look like they're having much fun up there. And why are you in this industry if you're not having fun? Because the making music and playing music are the fun parts. If you're not having fun part with that the industry, that's a shit job. And I don't care what your job is.

5:45 If it's sweeping floors, you better wake up in the morning and love your job or else you're not going to be good at. It, Aimen, And that's with anything in life. And you know, I live on a farm. Uh. I have been living on a farm for for the past five years, and where we breed and train horses, nice jumping horse, show jumping horses. That's ironic. Everybody, everybody in the in the show jumping scene, they go, well, you know, weren't you the singer of this band h Blocks and everything? What are you doing with show jumping? And I said, well, it's basically the same. Why well, because you know, once you get in it, everybody surrounding you, your family, your friends, they go, well, you can't do that, you don't make any money out of it. And you spend insane hours on going to the stable or going to the rehearsal rooms because you do something that you love and you don't want to live without it. And that's basically ninety percent of the passion that I live for and that they live for it. And once you have this core and you have this well you know, you have this perspective of seeing life, that you want to do something twenty four hours a day that you love, that's all to it. And for us now after more than thirty years of existence, we come ourselves to if we don't have fun, we don't go out there.

7:03 Yeah, of course, and like it's so funny, you said, what you did because my radio studio for twenty years has been in the winter equestrian capital. Of the world. I yeah, Miami, it's Wellington, Wellington. I know all of our riders they go there. Yeah, the worse of course. Yeah. Like I used to bry, we gotta we gotta exchange numbers man, because that's crazy. I used to for years broadcast equestrian shows. They're all the hunter jumper shots. I don't believe you massage, you. Know, because we have a horse that's starting at the at the World Cup, at the World Championships next month.

7:43 Nice look at that. It was so wild when you were s because how how I don't believe connect from the United States to Germany to talk about hunter jumpers. Well, you got to come visit me because I have a podcast about where I interview people that that are really into horse riding, you know, professional horse riders, and it's not about the horse riding scene or whatever. It's basically it's about the h the way you look at your profession, what you do, and it's more of a mindset podcast than just anything. Yeah. I love that. Yeah, because Michael Mark Bullissimo and Michael Stone, I know, extremely well insane so you know those names, right, because.

8:29 When I you know, when I heard that we were going to do the interview, I said, well, I definitely want to do this. And then Tom or Toe manager, he said, well, either it's going to be the best interview he had in a long time or it's the the worst piece of ship that you can imagine. And I mean it was true, he was he was right. This is this is fate bringing us together. I know, it's so wide I can roll in horse riding. I mean, how many people is there in the world that these things no? Right? You know? And it's wild too because there's nobody really else in Germany that I would ever meet that would know Wellington Florida. Fuck, it's that's that's really crazy. And yeah, I mean we have this this one horse that's uh that was starting in Miami as well the Global champions Tour and she's she's competing in the World Cup as well. So yeah, we we've just been to Paris in Hong Kong and saw the tournaments there.

9:31 So I have a trivia question for you based on something you just said. Do you know what huge rock and roll person is always at those hunter jumper shows? How Springsteen. You got it. He lives right across the street from my studio, does he Yeah, my part of time because he lives in Jersey too. His daughter, his daughter is really big in CHOJN. Totally and I'm from Jersey and I lived near him in Jersey. And now actually Bruce Bruce's horses or his daughter's horses being treated by one of my really good friends. She's a chiropractect for horses, and she did Bill Gates's horses and Bruce's horses, and the guy that we that would collaborate with exclusively, he's selling horses to both of them as well.

10:21 Well. You know, it's funny because I remember when Bill Gates moved to Wellington first he wanted to test it out, so he rented a house for one hundred thousand a month. We're supposed to talk about a rock and roll man, I'm so jumping. This is crazy, Finte man. I love you know it's cool to combine both worlds. Yeah, and it's it's I mean, it's ninety percent the same thing. Seriously, when you say, kid, you can explain to nobody why you're into horse riding. Now can explain to nobody that you want to make a living out about being a musician. I've worked with musicians or whatever. Yeah, we used to have like all kinds of horse shows on our station because that's where we were. And you know, I have a funny story for you too, Like you know how there's love of the Argentinians in Wellington.

11:11 You know. So they had a show and they stood in my studio and one day they were they had some green stuff and they were doing something and then they said the word a word and I thought they said mota, which in Mexican's fetchion's marijuana, okay, But then I said you can't do that here and they laughed and they're like no, it's modee okay, yeah right yeaheah yeah, which obsessed with you know, they couldn't do their show without the made first I understand. You know they always have these fancy, these fancy cups where they have this this metal straw where they sit this mate all the time.

11:54 Oh yeah, totally on. You know that's so funny, you know, like because I know so many people in Wellington in that industry that the giusage, the polo, you know, all of it, you know, and it is amazing because, as you know, you have to be inside the club. That's why I had my studios where I did. I mean, I lived there. But there's two parts of Wellington. There's a question in Wellington, right, and then there's New Wellington. And if you're in New Wellington you're not in the club. It's like you have to be part of that club, which you know, you're part of the club. I'm part of the club. And this almost didn't happen because he might have thought it was.

12:38 The worst interview. Yeah, but you know what I think is so genius about horse riding. There's two ways to get in there in the club, which is either you have shitloads of money or you have the passion for horses for the game exactly. You can't fake it. Now, both you can't fake having money, and you can't fake the love for the for the horses and for the sport. And that's crazy, and especially horse riding. Same as music, you know, it combines from the people of the lowest social standards up to the to the high flying billionaires people. But in this situation, when when you watch a horse, or you ride a horse, or you make music or you talk about music, it's all.

13:22 The same, yeah, exactly. That's why I love it. And what's funny is my head engineer he passed away, but I'm sorry. Yeah, he was one of my best friends too, and he was a great engineer. Like he was like he used to go. We're like, he's saying he's hearing the sudden you hear that on the radio like thing. I'm like, no, he goes, we need to fix that. I'm like, okay, go ahead, you know, and so but he used to He's also a musician and he comes from a polo family. His father was a famous polo player. His brother in law's famous bolo player. But he would play around town. He would play barn parties. His gigs were barn party the equestrians.

14:09 So we do combine the music and the horse sutally. And as I said, it's it's like ninety percent of the same thing, just have a different expression. Unbelievable, Like it's even this is a great surprise for me too, because as you can see, it got me excited. And look at Vuckin'. I mean, you know, this is a. Village of about two three thousand people, right, and it's basically it's farming, you know, and these farmers they're very practical orientated. They you know, they either they love something, they love an idea and can't be too crazy and it can't be crazy enough. And this is the only reason why Vucking is so successful, because it was built from the ground up and not something that's that's you know, rich investors bought. I mean, it's commercially very successful, no doubt about it. But you can still feel the love on and off stage. And I just love I've said it all day.

15:02 I love the concept of the fact that people, these people started like this small little thing and built it to the biggest heavy metal festival in the world. I'm impressed. That's why it comes down. And it's the little things, you know, the catering or all these these pieces of art. I mean, you would never have that because it's too expensive to move them here and to move them back afterwards. Yeah, nobody would have would afford that because it's senseless. It doesn't make any money, right, That's what they underestimate is the feeding that makes the that makes the philosophy. Basically, well you probably get what I'm saying. Absolutely so anything else you want to tell the listeners about your music and how to connect with you, get your your latest album, get your merch all that good stuff.

15:51 Well, I was talking earlier about the how we discoverage rage against the machine, and it's always about you know, I've I feel like I'm not open minded enough to new music, and I have this trend of money. He always plays me with all these these tunes and I go, well, how the fuck did not didn't didn't. I see that? And we Uh. The first time we came to the United States was in nineteen ninety nine for the Vands Walk Tour, and we played with then very very unknown bands like the Black Eyed Piece, like eminem Blink one eighty two, Jimmy World, and we had we had a crazy time and we did the walk in him for a stone called Steve Austin.

16:36 So we had a small following of people, and I think there still are some people that know the band H Blocks. We just do more. Check us, right, just check us out. I mean, long before new metal was even around, we were there and thanks. For having us. We need just check it out. Just just listen to it. It's h Blox. Yeah, and I want to tell you one last thing. You got a fifteen minute more longer in you than Tom Morello. I interviewed Tom Morello. The tour manager said, you got a hard one minute, and I did it fifty nine seconds. I had that with at cheering ones. Nice. This manager gave us forty five minutes and we ended up five hours because I hosted a show as well.

17:18 Nice, I love it. Well, we'll have to talk about that too, because I own the whole podcasting network I'm partnered with. iHeart you know and help me. Thanks Love for having me. Hey, thanks for being here for that for fifteen minutes I know right, and thanks for being on the adventure. We got to change exchange addresses. We absolutely will. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Plateland. I'm w for CUI Radio.