HUB & HEUY
While some of us must wait months for a decent line-up to roll on past our town gates, certain boroughs have all the luck. Roermond, a picturesque town in the southern Netherlands, is one such location, having served as host to a great many of the concerts organized by the semi-legendary Dutch promoters Hub and Heuy. March 13th and 14th saw a return of their ‘Metalfest’ event, which definitely fulfilled its promise to be the most successful yet, with a stellar line-up including Taake, The Battalion, Urgehal, Vreid and a host of other treats.
Having converted to the Hub and Heuy way of life back in 2007, waving goodbye to sanity with more Jupilers than I can count when I attended Metalfest IV, I’ve been railing at my peers ever since to give up their yearly pilgrimage to some overpriced mega-field, and try out a few independent events instead, whether they be ‘home games’ such as the London Deathfest, or a jaunt further afield. With Europe being ridiculously easy to zip across with some bravado and a little internet research (would you believe the Dutch railway service can tell you what PLATFORM your train will leave from, weeks in advance? Read it and weep, Britain!) events like Hub and Heuy are far more accessible than some might think. The trick lies in knowing which are worth visiting, and as far as H&H is concerned, I have absolutely no qualms in recommending it, no matter how far you might be travelling.
Furthermore, the more we support honest and genuine promoters such as Hub and Heuy, who, despite their extensive links throughout the European extreme metal scene, still retain a strong ‘by the fans, for the fans’ attitude, the more we lift them above the money-grabbing and the untrustworthy. Again, my British compatriots can attest to the brilliant events that can result from loyalty to the little guys, with festivals such as Bloodstock and Damnation, once modest, now enormous, growing ever stronger but still retaining their specialness because of grass-roots support.
Soapbox rant over, I’d like to introduce a very special interview, which serves as preview and background for our in-depth report on the Metalfest, which we’ll bring you in Issue VII. The interviewees are none other than ‘Hub de Gallier’ and ‘Heuy’ themselves, whilst the interviewer is a dashing Dutch gentleman by the name of Neithan, whose stellar work at Lords of Metal, and previously Vampire Magazine, should need no preface. The text is enthusiastically shared with us by Hub and Neithan, with very gracious permission from the latter’s editor Horst. The interview first appeared on www.lordsofmetal.nl – if you haven’t ever read this webzine, which boggles my mind by appearing in both English and Dutch, I’m not sure how you ended up at Hierophant Nox, and you must amend your error immediately after you finish this piece!
Between them, these guys can explain far better than I can the qualities that make this intimate festival absolutely unique…
Neithan: First of all: who are Hub & Heuy? Please introduce yourself in a few words to our readers…
Hub: Hails Neithan! First of all thanks for the support!!! My name is Marcel though most people know me as Hub de Galliër (Hub the Gaul). I have my own distro/label called HDG-Distribution (www.hdgdistribution.com) through which I mostly sell Norwegian underground stuff. Besides that the last couple of years I’ve also been merchandiser/roadie for Enslaved, Vreid and Kampfar to mention a few. And of course together with Heuy I run the H&H Agency.
Heuy: HEUY!!!! Allright! Thanks Neithan for the interview! I am Xander, and because of my screaming at concert venues everybody started to call me Heuy. I have had to live with that for over ten years now. In my “normal” life I work at the Centre For Arts at Roermond and I work at the Azijnfabriek (Vinegar Factory) venue. Of course I manage to experience several tours and I make movies of a lot of bands, like Enslaved, The Batallion, Vreid, Urgehal and Dismember to name but a few.
Neithan: To give our reader an idea: any idea when you two started organizing concerts together, and how many concerts have you guys arranged so far?
Hub: I can’t tell you exactly when we started since there has been a certain number of beers between the time we were ‘founded’ and now. I suspect it was around 2000 when I myself, as vocalist for LOMP (which means rude in Dutch) havocked venues around. In that time, I already organized some small festivals with the name Monolith Of Knowledge Festival, where among others bands like Ancient Rites, Primordial, After Forever, Hades Almighty and Pentacle have performed. In those days I ran into Heuy in a local pub. We both had the same passion for music and alcohol and when I found out he too organized his own concerts and festivals the idea rose swiftly to continue together, as two can do more than one. Since then we have organized numerous of gigs, of which the majority was held at the Azijnfabriek. And in the meanwhile we have come to the sixth edition of Hub & Heuy Metalfest.
Heuy: Indeed, it was somewhere in 2000 that we go together. The first H&H Metalfest was with LOMP, Maggots, Defcon-One and Extreme Sickening Punishment. It just wasn’t called H&H Metalfest, so actually the coming edition is not the sixth but the fifth time. Before I met Hub, I put together some small gigs and a small metal fest called Thunderstruck Metalfest. The idea behind that festival was a great atmosphere, cheap beer and good bands. This is today still the objective of our festival. Besides putting up this Metalfest we have also organized several tours, including a mini tour with Dismember, Taake and Vreid to name but a few. Apart from that we book separate concerts at the Azijnfabriek in Roermond, among which there was the first show of the Russian band Arkona in the Netherlands. Another thing we frequently put together is Pitch Black in Germany.
Neithan: What was the trigger for you to start cooperating as concert promotors?
Hub: The scene is a tough little world with a lot of envy and competition; many times, people grudge the others the light of their eyes, and soon there is talk of jealousy and envy. That is why we wanted to continue as a duo, also because with two in stead of one you can stand a firmer ground. Apart from that, you can learn from the other as well and delegate some tasks which brings the pressure down. Added to that, we have the advantage that we live five hundred meters away from each other which makes it even easier.
Heuy: That is the business side of it indeed. Furthermore I would say our love for the music, beer and partying are the engines to our cooperation. Tell me in all honesty, a meeting in a bar with a decent pint of beer sure beats sitting down all alone in a dull office with a cup of coffee?
Neithan: Hub and Heuy are your nicknames which you have started to use for your promoter activities. Haven’t you ever considered changing that name because it sounds a bit too carnival-like perhaps?
Hub: As a matter of fact, some do not take us serious because of our nicknames and the use of it. But on the other side, it would be a sign of weakness to give in to general opinions and with that to give up our own nicknames. You don’t like it? Well, pity… We believe in ourselves and think/ hope that people, in the long run, will put their prejudices towards our names aside and just come over and party along at what we organize, because in the end that is all that matters: the festival itself with mostly exclusive bands, and not the name of it all!
Heuy: Indeed, we do live in the province of Limburg, among other things known for the carnival fest, yet that has nothing to do with our names. We could have used a trve cvlt evil name, but do you believe we will win a war just by using that? We are who we are, and no one can change us from being ourselves. At the time we had come up with some awful names and wrote them down on a beer-mat. Alas, the day after it could not be found anymore. Since we liked the sound of Hub & Heuy we continued with that. In the end it all comes down to the bands coming over and to change our name all of a sudden after all those years doesn’t add anything at all to our goals. The steady visitors of the festivals and the other shows we arrange know that this name stands for, and that is an intimate atmosphere, sociability and good bands.
Neithan: What is the most rumoured idea about you as promotors, apart from the fact that you can do a hell of an alternative version of the national Dutch anthem?
Heuy: You do confront me with the facts on this one. I don’t think it regards rumours, just the plain and hurting truth. It seems that people think that we like our alcoholic beverage: I can not confirm this, I think this is something you will have to judge for yourself when coming to one of our gigs. And to correct your question: our version of the ‘Wilhelmus’ (the national Dutch anthem – Neithan) is only the B-side of the version. Our own national anthem is still of course “First we gonna drink some beer today”.
Hub: Hahahaha… Well, it doesn’t concern rumors so much, but is generally known that the both of us can empty a considerable amount of beers which often results in hilarious situations. As some of those stories are rather extreme these go around pretty fast and before you know it, everybody has heard the stories already, hahaha.
Neithan: I think you guys have –at least for the low countries – a unique concept, as you create your own packages in stead of buying ready-made packages. On the one hand it means that your shows are rather unique yet on the other hand: you, and as a result the visitors, can not take profit from the economies of scale of such a package. How do you see that?
Heuy: It most certainly ain’t the easiest way, but who told you that life is easy? On the one hand we want to help bands to play over here, to learn about our city and to liven things up a bit. On the other hand we want to show the spectators bands that do not play say at least four times a year in the Netherlands. Apart from that, it is awesome to be able to pick your own bands, the bands you really want.
Hub: It is correct that we don’t go for the easiest way by picking an instant package, and maybe add a local band or something to give it a bit extra. We do want to distinguish ourselves by putting as many as possible bands on the stage that hardly ever play here, so that we have something unique which should appeal to fans of the genre. This way of organizing has its ‘pro’s’ and its ‘con’s’. Pro are the unique shows and exclusivity. The downside is that the total costs of organizing a concert are a bit higher than with the instant packages, and that it takes a lot of time extra regarding the logistics concerning a concert. But oh well, despite the difficulties coming from our way of working I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.
Neithan: And this brings us to Hub & Heuy Metalfest; how and when did the idea rise?
Hub: Like said in the beginning of our interview I used to organize the Monolith Of Knowledge Festival and Heuy did the Thunderstruck festival. After we decided to continue in the future as a duo a change of name was necessary. And since we could not come up with a suitable name after seriously emptying the bar contents, we decided to use our own names. Everybody around here knows our names and in a condition of being slightly under the influence we thought it was a well suited solution.
Heuy: Under the joy of Irish Red, Prawn chips and a bottle of Talisker (whisky) we, like mentioned earlier on, wrote down some names on a beer-mat. However, these names were so awful that we opted for using our own names. The idea was, and is, to offer a combination of both established and newcoming bands, so that these new acts can get stage experience with a bigger act. Furthermore, the bands we book are good friends of ours, which contributes to the intimate atmosphere of the festival.
Neithan: And where do you think do Hub & Heuy stand apart from all those other festivals?
Heuy: The bands often come for just one show to the region, the atmosphere which is really intimate and relaxed, bands who often are personal friends and who do not just play and sit backstage, but also often mingle with the audience to enjoy the party and continue to party after the shows are over based on the well developed musical taste of our regular H&H DJ’s, DJ Antihit & DJ Skinfather.
Hub: Personally I think that we book bands that are not common. Many times, you see bands on festivals that are a lot ‘in the picture’ at that time, for instance bands that have just released an album which needs to be promoted. Also there are a lot of festivals that put the same bands year after year, afraid to step aside from the path they know and so as standard these come up with the same old names. To us, it is essential to have bands we know in person, and out of all bands we had and have this year at least 90% can be regarded as personal good friends. Not only does this make a cooperation easier, but it also contributes to that intimate atmosphere which you encounter not so much at those regular festivals. Apart from that, bands often stay over at our homes in stead of staging them in a hotel where they are left to their own, something that emphasizes that personal bond. That is also a thing about which all bands so far were very pleased with and something we really want to maintain for the future.
Neithan: This weekend we have Hub & Heuy Metalfest VI: can you give a short summary of Hub & Heuy Metalfest I to V, and what were the special bands for you on those occasions?
Heuy: We started out at the “Het Muziekhoes” café in Roermond. That is the location where we held our first two issues, with amongst others Danse Macabre. Unfortunately we did not see that show ourselves, since we were kicked out that same night by the owner of Het Muziekhoes. He did suspect us of stealing money, which is of course ridiculous, because who is foolish enough to steal his own money? Well, the result was that the audience in Roermond got so pissed that Roermond was covered by a cloud of smoke. It did yield Danse Macabre some extra audience nevertheless, the local fire department to be specific, gheghe… In other words, after a cosy herd fire we were forced to look for another place. The third edition was in “JC De Metro” at Panningen. Among the performing acts here were Detonation and Callenish Circle. The fourth edition was back in Roermond with Heidevolk and an exclusive show from Dimension F3H. From the fifth edition on we went for a bigger approach. We went to Weert and had Dismember as headliner. To me it was dream come true, as it started all for me with that band: together with Dennis (Severe Torture) I sang ‘Indecent & Obscene’ in class, and for that reason we could not afford to miss Severe Torture on that day either. Furthermore, Urgehal and Gjenferdsel played over there who both came to the Netherlands especially for this one show.
Hub: As you can derive from Heuy’s answer our entire history has been one continuous learning process. A learning process that started slowly and very amateur-like and through ups and downs. We did not have any examples how to put something like this together and so we had to learn it the hard way. Slowly I am starting to see results of the massive amount of work from the past years and with every edition we learn more, so I am very confident about the future.
Neithan: How would you describe the essence of the Hub & Heuy Metalfests?
Hub: To me personally it is the most important to have a great party that people will remember for a long time. If all goes as planned there is nothing which beats a band and the audience having a great time, most certainly when you take into consideration that these bands have travelled to the Netherlands just for that show. Nowadays, we even have major bands coming over who love to play at our fest and who don’t even want to be paid for that, just because of the great atmosphere around our festival. I don’t think you can get a bigger compliment…
Heuy: The main essence is that we go for the same goal together with the bands: a great atmosphere for both bands and audience. I want our festival to have its own identity, no too large, yet big enough to make it possible to put great bands on stage. A place where bands can get in touch with fans and have a pint (or more) of beer together, and a festival where bands love to perform. I think that we succeeded pretty good at achieving this if you take into consideration that most bands play at our stage for a song (or to put it more detailed, a pizza and a bottle of Jack Daniels).
Neithan: And as such, we have come to this year’s edition. Several bands, yet can you point us out of which bands you say ‘these are unique for Holland’, and in which matter the chances are small of seeing them in the Netherlands through a regular promoter?
Heuy: Most definitely The Batallion is a band you can’t afford to miss out on. I have seen them for the first time at Festung Open Air as closing act after Enslaved. They blew everybody out of their boots that day, and at our place they will give their first performance in the Netherlands ever: ALLRIGHT!!! Furthermore, we have once more an exclusive Urgehal show on Friday night. On Saturday TrollfesT and Svarttjern will be that day’s surprises. And for the rest, pretty much all bands performing there will go for a party with band and audience.
Hub: TrollfesT is such a band you will hardly see on any stage at all, yet since I know John Espen (Mr. Seidel) and Eirik (Trollbank) a cooperation was realized quickly. Another band which has never played on a Dutch stage is The Batallion, featuring members and ex-members of Old Funeral, Grimfist, Taake, Deathcon etcetera. And of course I have to mention our mutual and close friends of Cutthroat, who will play their second show outside of Norway (their first show abroad happened to be at our stage as well, gheghe).
Neithan: A few eye-catching bands at Hub & Heuy Metalfest VI are the allstar band The Batallion from Bergen, Urgehal, Taake and Trollfest, all hailing from Norway. Apart from that you have two rather less known Norwegian bands: Cutthroat and Svarttjern. What can people expect from these two bands on stage?
Hub: Cutthroat is genuine brutal and hulking death metal and everybody who likes a good blasting job will certainly be entertained by this band, which is very solid on stage. They have plenty of stage experience, since some of its musicians also play in respected bands such as Trail of Tears, Dimension F3H and Sarcoma Inc. and other bands. Svarttjern is one of the most promising newer bands that uphold the style of true Norwegian black metal. Soon their debut will be released which will surprise all of you! Svarttjern’s vocalist nowadays also sings for the veterans from Ragnarok, so it is most certainly a band one should not miss!
Neithan: With all those Norwegian acts everybody will start thinking right away that it will be all extreme black metal: your reply to that..
Hub: All I have to say to those people is to get the shit out of their ears and do finally see that Norway has much more to offer than black metal only!!!! After that, my second line is to invite them to come over to Roermond on March 13th and 14th to be convinced of what more the Norwegian music scene has to offer!
Heuy: Perhaps this was the case in the nineties or so. Of course there are a lot of great extreme black metal bands coming from Norway, but the country has a lot more to offer. Not every Norwegian is born in corpse paint…
Neithan: Which bands are you personally looking forward to most?
Heuy: Of course we will not mention favorites since they are all friends. So we are looking forward to meeting all the musicians in person and to have a great metal party, which a lot of alcohol to grease it all.
Hub: I myself have more the feeling of a festival of reunion with bands we have worked with already…
Neithan: A lame excuse I often hear is ‘Yeah, great show, but Roermond is so far away from all major cities. Well, to put that to the test, five places in Holland and can you tell us how long it takes to get from that place to Roermond by train, and how many changes into other trains?
- A Amsterdam
- B Rotterdam
- C Eindhoven
- D Arnhem
- E Utrecht
Hub: Yep, we do hear on a regular basis that Roermond, and with it the province of Limburg, is such a corner off route in Holland: utter bullshit. But hey, I know that a lot of Dutch fans in general are too spoiled and whine at the least of things. Let’s be fair, what is one hour of travelling all about? In the surrounding countries fans have to travel for several hours, sometimes even one entire day, to participate at a gig. But okay, to get back to your answer, here it is.
First of all, there are three airports around: two in the south of the Netherlands and one just across the German border, and cheaper airports than for instance Schiphol Airport.
- A Amsterdam: two hours by train and one change of train. By car it is one-and-a-half hour…
- B Rotterdam one-and-a half hour by train or car, and one change when going by train…
- C Eindhoven: thirty minutes by a direct train and by car a bit over thirty minutes
- D Arnhem: one-and-a-half hours by train and one change of train. By car it is a bit more than an
hour…
- E Utrecht: one-and-a-half hour by a direct train, same time by car…
(Ellen: and if I may interrupt for my countrymen- 50 minutes for approximately as many pounds on a plane from most UK airports, and you don’t have to sully yourself with the likes of Ryanair: Hierophant Nox is flying KLM this time, and we’re the most broke-ass people we know!)
Neithan: And to go on on the transport issue: how far is it from the intercity train station of Roermond to the Azijnfabriek venue?
Hub: By foot you’ll be there in five minutes or so. And afterwards, when being drunk as hell, depending on how drunk you are, approximately twenty to thirty minutes crawling, including the wrong turns, hahaha…
Neithan: And the prices of alcohol?
Heuy: a bottle of fine Jupiler costs only € 1,60, so there is every reason to drink heavily, hahaha. I myself have gone over completely to Alfa beer. It costs 40 cents more, but you also get the experience along with it, so… With those prices I am pretty sure you will save plenty of money for a train ticket to Roermond…
Neithan: Can you give us three anecdotes of all those years Hub & Heuy, if possible linked to the Hub & Heuy Metalfest?
Heuy: I am pretty lousy at remembering anecdotes on a sober stomach, so I’ll tell them to you when I am enjoying a fine pint of beer. The best memories concern the Hub & Heuy afterparty with Dismember and Entombed after Hub & Heuy Metalfest V, and our weekend trip to Sogndal (Norway) for a surprise show of Windir last autumn. This because of seeing our close friends of Vreid in their place of birth, a splendid trip through Norway’s nature, a enormously hospitable reception and a hell of a party. And as a third memory I would say the party on the after party boat at the Rock Hard Festival.
Hub: Ehm, that is a tough question indeed,. Apart from Heuy just mentioned, I think the Hub & Heuy Metalfest V in Weert is worth mentioning. Why? Well, the guy responsible for the beer tickets at the venue (“Bosuil”) was rather generous in distributing beer tickets to Heuy and myself. The end result: sixty beer tickets per person. At the end of the evening, before Dismember was to start, Heuy and I were to announce Dismember on stage. I can confirm to you that with sixty beers this is not an easy task, and so only few things that made sense came out of our mouths, haha. Yet this year I want to approach it a bit different and so I will try not to be drunk as hell (although that promises to be a tough job with the guys from TrollfesT around, gheghe).
Neithan: You guys are already planning beyond Hub & Heuy Metalfest. I have even heard rumors that you are working on a huge outdoor festival in the Netherlands. Can you give us a clue perhaps?
Heuy: Well, organizing a big Open Air festival is most certainly one of my dreams I want to realize one day. At this moment we are indeed working on a basis to get this together and to organize a two day festival at the Meuse-river near Roermond. I cannot give you further details, as there are many obstacles to be overcome.
Hub: It would indeed be a dream coming true. As Heuy is saying, a lot still has to be dealt with, yet the basic idea has already been developed for a substantial part and so I am confident about the future of that idea. My suggestion: keep an eye on Hub & Heuy, because before you know you might be standing with your tent going out of your mind with great bands and a lot of booze, haha…
Neithan: Okay, the unavoidable question: which bands would you like to book and why?
Hub: There are still plenty of bands we want to bring over… and they all will come! At least I want to bring over Immortal, Einherjer, Aura Noir, Audiopain, Temnozor’ and Kroda. Apart from that there bands that we do have a special relationship with and you will run into them more when coming over to us. Not because of possible financial success coming with that but just because it is fun to see them again and to party all over again.
Heuy: Come over to my house, check my CD closet and you know which bands I still want to book. What I would love to book myself are amongst others Immortal, Einherjer, King Diamond and Bolt Thrower.
Neithan: What more interesting aces to our readers can we see coming out of your sleeves this year?
Hub: Well, for the time being a mini tour with Crest of Darkness from Norway in June. Furthermore I am working on a mini tour with Elite from Norway, a mini tour with Iscariah’s (ex-Immortal) Dead To This World and a mini tour with Norwegian Cor Scorpii. Furthermore we have an exclusive show with Russian Temnozor’ together with Kroda from the Ukraine and probably a lot more, yet that will all be revealed in due time!
Heuy: We are also negotiating with a German promoter to export the Hub & Heuy Metalfest to Germany, and on April 10th 2009 we have the first show of Russian Alkonost, together with Skyforger and Context.
Hub: Thanks for giving us a chance to introduce ourselves and our festival, and I hope I’ll be seeing a lot of you in March for a great festival: skål!!!!
Neithan: Haha, you got it: See you March 13th and 14th at the Azijnfabriek (and April 10th, I have to see Alkonost and the other bands): skål!
If you’ve missed out on the Hub & Heuy Metalfest this time around (and if you read this on the day of publication you’ve definitely still got time to get yourself down to the Azijnfabriek, especially if you are Netherlands-based), I can’t recommend strongly enough that you keep an eye open for the next one coming around.
There will be more H&H next issue, with a festival report and some very special interviews in the pipeline…
Many thanks again to Hub, Heuy, Neithan and Horst.
