Vladimir Harkonnen sounds like a finnish
romanian soloartist but it is a high octane rock
n roll band from Germany, here have Philipp
Wolter answered a lot of questions from me in
april 2020.
Please tell me a little bit history of the
group?
Philipp: Hi Peter, thanx for this opportunity!
We started out in 2006. When my former band
BONEHOUSE split up I received a phonecall if I
would be interested in joining forces with guys
from a punkband called 2ND ENGINE.
They broke up too in 2006. I was excited, cause
I knew the drummer Eric and the guitarist Zarc
since the eighties. They are brothers and they
played in a lot of good bands in our area in
Northern Germany like NUCLEAR TERROR (Thrash
Metal), GAINSAY (Hardcore/Punk), SPRAWL
(Hardcore/Punk) and 2ND ENGINE (Punkrock).
So that was the perfect timing to finally start
something together. 2ND ENGINE had a
second guitarist, Nils, and so the three of them
and I formed a new band. We played our first
show in 2006 without having decided for a
bandname. And we lacked a bassplayer. But on
that night Andi was already interested, a
bassplayer from a cool band we liked named
NUISANCE OF MAJORITY (still active – without
Andi though). He joined and after this we found
our name VLADIMIR HARKONNEN. Eric, Zarc, Andi
and me are together in VLADIMIR HARKONNEN for 14
years now. I mentioned a second guitar – after
Nils left the band, we had a good run with Tobi
on second guitar for 3,5 years. But he had to
leave due to limited time so we played with only
one guitarist, Zarc, which is a hell of a
guitarplayer. After three years we were lucky to
get Nico on second guitar, who joined in 2019.
Please tell me a little about every member in
the group right now, age, family, work,
interests and something bad about everyone?
Earlier bands? Other bands on the side?
Philipp: Let’s start with Nico: He plays not
only guitar, but drums and bassguitar too!
Fucker’s a total music maniac, he is working In
a music store and aside from hearing music,
making music and selling instruments he is a
total straight edge guy who doesn’t drink. And
like me has no smartphone and no car! He is with
Andi in a crustband called
MØRDER.
Very good band, very good! In
MØRDER
he plays drums, while in VLADIMIR HARKONNEN he
plays guitar (in case you forgot). Okay, let me
think about Andi’s dark secrets… Okay, here it
is: He played in a bikerrock band called
HIGHLANDER once. They forced him to wear a KILT
on stage (to look more Scottish). Andi is
working as a cooling technican, Eric as a social
worker/educator, Zarc as an hydro-company worker
/ linesman and I am a highschool teacher (with
subjects History and German Language). the only
with a kid right now is Zarc, who is married and
has a daughter. And Andi and his girlfriend are
going to be married next month!
Okay, Eric and Zarc are brothers. That’s a good
thing to have in a band. They are playing
together in bands since 35 years (!), so they
are really very fucking tight. Zarc is our
musical brain, cause he writes most of the
songs. Often it starts with first ideas that
Zarc works out with Eric. I mentioned their
earlier band above. Eric played in the German
punkband RASTA KNAST for some years.
I had my first band in 1986 – A.L.D.I. (Deutschpunk),
then I was in BONEHOUSE for 13 years (five
albums and some other stuff). This was a wild
Hardcore/Punk-ride. From 1994 to 1999 I was in a
Thrash Metal band called WALLCRAWLER, which
released a demo and an album.
I described that you have a little of the same
style as GBH but with another singer? What about
that? Favorites from the past?
Philipp: At first I was surprised, cause you are
the first to mention GBH. But of course they are
a band all uf us listened to. And there ARE some
similarities: They are fast, they play sharp
riffs in a heavy and aggressive way. And they
have catchy hooks that stick in your ears. I
think GBH and VLADIMIR HARKONNEN might have in
common, that there is a lot going on in the
music without being overly complex. Of course
the vocal style is totally different. I am
enjoying listening to GBH and they still kick
ass on stage as well.
Vladmir Harkonnen sounds like a finnish-romanian
soloartist …are you satisfied with the name? How
did it came up? You weren’t afraid that some
other band would be named like this? Which is
the best bandname you know?
Philipp: Haha, you might think this, a finnish
skijumper or something like that… But in fact it
is a fictional character created by Frank
Herbert for his book “Dune”. It is an evil guy,
very ugly too. When you think of it, there are
many bands named after fictional characters –
like AUDREY HORNE, COHEED & CAMBRIA, AHAB, URIAH
HEEP, BELLE AND SEBASTIAN, VERUCA SALT, GOGOL
BORDELLO, THE BOO RADLEYS and so on…
Yeah, we’re satisfied. It might not be easy to
remember when someone yells it to ya while
sitting in a bar. But in these shitty times of
the internet that doesn’t matter. We like it
cause we can play around with it like in the
title of our newest album “Vlad Smash!” or in
songtitles like “Reign In Vlad”. Actually there
WAS a russian EBM-guy named himself VLADIMIR
HARKONNEN too a few years ago, but it seems he
disappeared by now.
By the way I just heard that there will be a new
movie called “Dune” directed by Denis Villeneuve
coming to theaters this year (due to Corona
maybe later).
And the best bandname is of course SLAYER. Or
wait, maybe DEAD KENNEDYS!
What´s the best thing with playing live?
Philipp: Free drinks.
But to be serious: I love playing live and there
are several reasons for this. First thing is
that you’ll never know what happens. You can be
as good organized as you want, but you can’t
predict everything. The monitorsound can be very
bad so you have to play “blind”, people can be
going wild or just staring at you (there can be
no monitorsound and no people at all too…) And
I’m loving it! It’s not like going to a stupid
job where each day is the same. It’s exciting
and sometimes even dangerous (I was hospitalized
at least three times for doing dumb moves on
stage). Second thing is the energy of course.
The power you get back from a frenzy crowd. And
I like it when people are yelling words between
songs at us or at me. Last year there was a punk
suddenly yelling “Do you have a song against the
police?” (He said “Bullenschwein” to be exact.)
Our answer: “Every
song
from us is against the police!” It’s
these situations I live for, to exchange with
people.
And where is best to play? And the worst place?
Philipp: That’s hard to answer. Gimme a stage, I
will play. But I can say that I like the smaller
venues, the squats and D.I.Y.-clubs. It can be
nice to open for a huge band in a bigger venue
from time to time, but it’s not really our
world. A really bad feeling I had when we played
in a prison for women. In advance we thought
that this might be a good thing. But it was a
terrible experience.
How is to play this sort of music in Germany
right now?
Which types of bands do you have concerts
together with?
Philipp: We share the stage with totally
different bands. Right now we should have been
on tour with a Thrash/Hardcore/Punk band from
Hamburg called THRASHING PUMGUNS and a finnish
Thrashband called SLEDGE. So sometimes it’s more
Punk, sometimes it’s more in the Metal
direction. And to the first part of the
question: For underground bands it’s always the
same, nothing has changed. It’s great to play
and get beer and food and meeting freaks. You
have to like sleeping on the floor and getting
up with no sleep.
But of course a lot of things may have changed
when the pandemic is over. I fear the worst for
smaller venues and smaller agencies. They will
be eaten up by the bigger ones. On the other
hand the Punk/D.I.Y.-squats will surely survive,
cause (or if) they are not doing shows for a
living.
How would you describe your music in three
words?
Philipp: Thrash Flavoured HardcorePunk.
What does punk mean to you, is it only a word or
is it a lifestyle?
Philipp: For me it is a way to see things in a
critical point-of-view. Especially my
understanding of the term “Hardcore/Punk” is not
a “no future” way of thinking but a way of
trying to create a better future. There may be
limits for this, but everyone can try do a
little bit good in this shitty world. On the
other hand there are aspects in our lives that
some might not consider a “punk lifestyle” like
going to work. Or to face the fact that our band
is not a professional 24/7 thing. But maybe
that’s a good way of staying independent and to
do things our own way.
Which song/album or group was it who took you
into punk/hardcore?
Philipp: For me it was the German punkband SLIME
with their album “Alle gegen Alle” (-> “Everyone
against everyone”). This band had a tough
message with lyrics against police terror,
social injustice and other topics. And their
music hit me hard, cause it was rough but yet
melodic, aggressive but well-played in a tight
rocking way. Still loving this record (heard it
yesterday).
What shall a young guy do today to shock their
parents as the way we did when we were young?
They have already seen everything ;-)?
Philipp: Very good question. All forms of
protest are already been done. Or at least we
thought. But since Greta and “Fridays For
Future” there is new movement that gives hope.
It might be the most important thing to do to
achieve a change in climate politics for the
better. But it maybe is not really “shocking”
for parents… Some kids might do stupid things to
shock ‘em like spraying swastikas on walls or
stuff like that. One can only hope these kids
get out of this.
How is it to live in Germany right now?
Politically?
Fascists?
Philipp: The frightening development is that we
have a right-wing to far-right political party
called AfD (=Alternative for Germany) which
secured representation in nearly every German
state parliament. They are the largest
opposition party in our Bundestag. Just in march
this year the Federal Office for the Protection
of the Constitution classified the far-right
nationalistic faction “der Flügel” (-> “the
wing”)
as "a right-wing extremist endeavor against the
free democratic basic order" and as "not
compatible with the Basic Law" and therefore
placed it under intelligence surveillance.
It is frustrating to see that this party does
still exist even if there are means to shut them
down.
So this is one huge enemy for the punk movement.
And of course there are other disturbing facts
like the one that Germany is one of the biggest
exporteurs in weapons. There are more than 30
states getting weapons from Germany. That’s just
fucked-up!
So the whole capitalist bullshit is the same as
everywhere…
Is there any good bands from Germany right now?
Is the punkscene/metalscene/hardcorescene
big? How is it in your hometown?
Philipp: Yeah, I can recommend a lot of new
bands like BAD AFFAIR, MAKINA, THE PINPRICKS,
TOT, HOTEL KEMPAUSKI, MOMS DEMAND ACTION, ANGORA
CLUB, KRAKEN, NO SUGAR, GRAVEHAMMER, NECK
CEMETARY, SPIKER, WOLFSUIT, GRENDEL’S SYSTER,
GEWALTBEREIT, SCHAISZE, SKARDUS, NOWAR, KNUD
VOSS… These are very different bands from Punk
to Hardcore and Black Metal, a lot of them are
out of my hometown Kiel or out of this area. So
you can say that there is still a big scene
though regarding punk and hardcore it definitely
was bigger ten years ago. The metalscene seems
to grow more right now with a lot of young
people attracted to it. But as we all know that
can change very soon.
What do you know about Sweden?
Have you been here sometime?
Philipp: We know from DIE ÄRZTE: “Schweden ist
das beste Land der Welt!”
So there must be something to it.
It seems crazy how many bands your little
country is pouring out! And so many of them are
really good. Of course there is the factor that
Sweden is supporting young musicians, but I am
still in awe about this huge load of great punk
and metal albums coming from Sweden. And all
these young musicians seem to have class. It’s
as if you got a subject in school teaches young
people how to rock. And how to dress properly!
Yes, I’ve been to Stockholm with my band
BONEHOUSE.
We’ve recorded an album called “Steamroller” at
Sunlight Studio from December 29th 1998 to
January 8th 1999. (Produced by Jocke Petterson.
Mixed by Thomas Skogsberg and Jocke Petterson.
Mastered by Thomas Skogsberg at Polar Studio.)
Freezing cold winter it was. We didn’t know the
regular fuel would freeze so our bus went dead
suddenly. So we took the subway to the studio
and after coming back from the studio at night
we discovered the bus was broken and our liquor
was stolen. Good times though!
Have you heard any good bands from Sweden?
Philipp: Oooh, yes, my friend, I’ve got a lot of
Swedish albums in my collection, let’s have
look. BLACK UNIFORMS, SVART FRAMTID,
SHITLICKERS, ANTI CIMEX, TOTALITÄR,
WOLFPACK/WOLFBRIGADE, DISFEAR, DRILLER KILLER,
UNCURBED, AVSKUM, MOB 47, TOTÄLICKERS,
RIISTETYT, ASTA KASK (played with ASTA KASK just
last year). And so many good metalbands, I
better don’t start…
Your lyrics, who does them and what influences
you?
Not in any other than english?
Philipp: Most of the lyrics are done by me. It’s
the best way cause as the singer I can express
my feelings and thoughts and that might make a
small difference to lyrics coming from other
persons. They deal with political topics, some
take a stand against fascism („13 Minutes“ is
dedicated to Georg Elser), some against
dictators („Butcher Of Petrograd“ describes the
bloody defeat of the Kronstadt Rebellion by the
Red Army in 1921), some against transfigurers of
the past („In The Good Old Days It Used To Be
…Worse“), some against colonialism („White
Ghosts“) and other against Flat-Earth-Society
alu hat conspiracy believers („Flatties“). Yeah,
we use English lyrics, maybe cause we grew up
with records from bands singing in English as
well.
Is there any subject that you never will write
anything about? Or is it OK to write about
everything?
Philipp: Hmm, maybe not about monsters or gore
stuff. It’s not that I think it’s not okay – I
like a lot of Death Metal albums – but this
stuff is just not my cup of tea. I am more
inspired by books about history.
Politic and music, does it goes hand in hand?
Which is your most political song?
Is it important to get out your opinions
in music?
Philipp: For sure it does. It’s the roots of
Rock’n’Roll to protest against oppression. Of
course this can be done in just singing about
playing Rock’n’Roll and hiding an explicit
content. But in our time and our society I feel
it is right to protest against fascism and
dictatorshit. It’s not easy to say what might be
our MOST political song. We have a song like
”Blue Hell” which deals about the plastic
pollution in the water. Is this less political
than singing about killing fascists?
Best political band/artist?
Philipp: This is tough to decide. I say: Jello
Biafra and THE DEAD KENNEDYS. All of his stuff
is great! Very cynical and right to the point.
When he ran for mayor of San Francisco, his
portfolio said that administrators would wear
clown costumes if elected. Great!
Do you think that music(lyrics and so on) can
change anyones life, I mean people who listens
to music? Give me an example if you have some?
Philipp: The easy way out of this question might
be to just say that many people are inspired by
music to form an own band and that could be a
major change in their life… But I guess you are
thinking more in a way of political activity. It
don’t have to be a grindcoreband to get you in
politics, it could also happen from reading Karl
Marx. But I remember a friend who was into
IGNITE and they had these informations about
SeaWatch in one of their albums. And she really
was interested, got into it and joined SeaWatch.
So it is possible.
Your favorite recordcover alltime?
Who does your recordcovers?
And do you have any good recordstores in
your hometown?
Philipp: I love “Feel The Darkness” from POISON
IDEA. Also everything from Pushead! On our first
two albums the covers were done by Fritte. He
did the cover for a POISON IDEA-Tributealbum on
which my former band BONEHOUSE participated.
Great guy. I tell him our ideas and lyrics and
then his imagination goes wild. Loving his art!
We will ask him again in the future. The new
album “Vlad Smash!” has a cover done by Jeff
Gaither. Really sick art, perfect for punkrock!
Unfortunately our best record store for Punk,
Metal & Indie BLITZ RECORDS closed last year.
Their old lease contract was ending and new
conditions would have been bad. So they called
it quits. A very sad day for our hometown. We
even did a liveshow there a few years ago. Right
now there is just one store where you can buy
new records, several good second hand stores
though.
Is it important to get out physical records of
your stuff? Why or why not? Vinyl, CD, cassette,
what do you prefer if you could choose whatever
? Is JanML a good company? You have other too?
Philipp: I love hearing records. I think vinyl
is the best medium for music. It just offers the
best quality. Streaming – that’s something I
can’t relate to. And it can be erased with just
a click. Maybe tomorrow all these streaming
services are gone. So we wanna put out physical
records, yes. Cassettes and CDs are good too. I
am collecting Vinyl, CDs and cassettes since 35
years now. My home is looking like a fucking
record store.
Yes, JANML RECORDS / MAJA VON LOBECK is a good
company. They offer a good variety from Hardrock
to Punkrock. I can rely on their taste – if they
put something out – I’ll just buy it without
even listening in. You can trust JAN ML RECORDS.
Yeah, the repress of “Into Dreadnought Fever” is
put out by a collaboration of labels, aside from
JANML RECORDS / MAJA VON LOBECK there are POWER
IT UP, FRONTCORE and TOANOL RECORDS.
“Vlad Smash!” is on vinyl by POWER IT UP, on CD
by WANKER RECORDS and on cassette from
CARDIOPHONIC RECORDS.
Please tell me a funny thing which have happened
during your career and under some gig?
Philipp: We were playing with BONEHOUSE at a
place in France called “Le Hangar”. It was a
huge place, hundreds of raging punks. The show
was very intense. Suddenly I was feeling a
mighty BANG. Something has clashed right in my
face above my eyes. Might have been spikes from
someone jumping up while I was moving down.
There really was blood everywhere. But it was
not a bad or serious wound. So we went on with
the set and the people got even more excited.
After the show I was driven to a hospital to get
some stitches. It seemed like an endless
procedure. I got back to the place hours later -
it was dawning already. But to my surprise there
still were more than 300 people partying and
raging to some music. So we took part of the
party with me looking like a mummy.
How does your audience look like? Which people
do you miss on your concerts? Have any fan did
something really funny like a tattoo with your
bandname etc? Which is the biggest band you ever
have played together with?
Philipp: There are punks, metalheads and
Rock’n’Roll freaks, sometimes some skinheads
(used to be more skinheads, of couse no
right-wing idiots, I’m talking about the real
original skinheads). I’m not missing anyone, I
think. There are some people with tattoos from
BONEHOUSE and VLADIMIR HARKONNEN, not the
bandnames as far as I know, but things from our
covers.
We played with CANNIBAL COPRSE last year, maybe
that was the biggest band. Nice!
Please rank your five favoriterecords, five
favoriteconcerts and five most important things
in life?
Philipp: Okay, here we go:
Records:
- SLIME – “Alle gegen alle”
- POISON IDEA – „Feel The Darkness“
- SLAYER – “Show No Mercy”
- MOTÖRHEAD – “No Sleep ‘til Hammersmith”
- GBH – “City Baby Attacked By Rats”
Concerts:
- SLAYER – Hamburg “Reign In Blood”-Tour 1987
- WOLFPACK & DISFEAR – Berlin 1998
- RAMONES – Hamburg 1991
- AC/DC & OZZY – Monsters Of Rock 1984
- BLACK SABBATH – Dortmund 2013
Most important things in life
- Punkrock
- Heavy Metal
- Noise
- Destruction
- Darkness
First, last and most expensive record ever
bought? And the record that you´re most ashamed
of?
Philipp: Hmm, first might be THE BEATLES –
“Revolution” 7” (I still have it), last (for
now) is THE HEX DISPENSERS – “III” and the most
expensive was an original pressing of WARNING –
“Watching From A Distance”.
I can’t think of a record I am ashamed of. Maybe
that “Arschlecken Rasur” 7”…
Is it boring with interviews? Is it much
interviews? What do you prefer via mail,
telephone, live?
Philipp: No, I like to communicate with people!
For a little band like us it is not much, so
it’s always a pleasure. I like it this way via
mail, but via telephone and live is good too. It
can be very funny while sitting in a bar and
later the printed result is somewhat surprising.
Do you care about reviews? Which is the most
peculiar you ever had, with this band or any
other band you have been to?
Philipp: I try to read every review. It is
always interesting to hear other people’s
opinion. I am not angry when someone isn’t into
our music. We are not here to please everybody.
But it is fascinating to hear people describe
our music and their feelings towards our music.
I just was surprised by a review which compared
us to GANG GREEN.
Which bands do people compare you to, is it
boring that people compare you to other bands or
is it understandable? Have anyone said GBH
before?
Philipp: It is funny – people compare us very
seldom to other bands. Could be a good sign. I
think you are the first with GBH.
If you could choose five bands from the past and
the history and nowadays and both dead and
living bands to have a concert together with
your band. Which five have you been chosen?
Philipp: I smell a great festival! Image a
billing with RAMONES, ELVIS PRESLEY, MISFITS
(original line-up with young DANZIG), SEX
PISTOLS, PRINCE and VLADIMIR HARKONNEN…
Is music a good way to get out frustration and
become a nicer person outside the music??
Philipp: It must be. I scream a lot and everyone
says I’m nice.
Which is the most odd question you ever have got
in an interview?
Philipp: Someone asked me which tea I like most.
Which is the question you want to have but you
never get. Please ask it and answer it?
Philipp: Which is the question you want to have
but you never get. Please ask it and answer it?
Which is the question you want to have but you
never get. Please ask it and answer it?
Futureplans for the band?
Philipp: Yeah, it’s not easy to plan right now
but we try do our tour next year. There are some
clubs asking for earlier concerts but I doubt
that can happen in 2020. So now we are releasing
our new album and we will write new songs right
away.
For yourself?
Philipp: I miss going to concerts, but I can do
Home-Schooling. I think schools will open sooner
than other areas in our lives. I will try to
support other bands by buying their records and
merch. And to support the clubs I love.
Wisdomword?
Philipp: FIGHT EVERY –ISM! EXCEPT VLADIISM…
Something to add?
Philipp: Thanx for this interview, Peter! It was
a pleasure! Hope we’ll meet up someday.