The Heiko Page
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This was last saturday in Landstuhl. It was cool, after the show we had a lot of drinks (maybe to much) |
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| End of July we played open air in Zweibrücken. It was the Stadtfest, and we played for a lot of people who didn't know us before, but after the show they liked us. |
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The night of July 10th
was one of the best gigs I've seen these guys do!! And I've seen
a few. It was a Biker Party in Martinshohe, and I'll tell
you what, everyone loved them. 
They were dancing in the aisles and on the
tables!
When it was time for them to quit, it was almost impossible, they kept yelling what they yell in German (:->). (It must be a hard call, you know? Do we keep on or when do we quit?) It was awesome!
Here's Heiko last night,
certianly dressed for the part, in leather! 
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Heiko Haag is a
Power Rocker! Just wind him up and watch him
go. As such, it might surprise you to know that Arson's album Hot Donation also contains a lovely acoustic guitar solo called "Spanish O.N.S.", a piece of which you can hear on our Sound Page. No, he doesn't have a split personality. Rather he possesses a wide-ranging talent for musical expression. |
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Unlike Markus,
who interacts directly with the audience, Heiko is more
likely to disappear into his own little world while
playing. You'll see him close his eyes, smile, and then belt out some little bit of wailing magic, oblivious to everything except the back-beat supplied by Tom and Peter. |
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Concerts are busy
places, so its hard for a photographer to get all the
guys together for a good shot. I surprised Heiko a
bit. The smiles here are more at Heiko for being caught with his mouth full. Sorry about that. |
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They are really getting more popular, the crowds are getting bigger, they're getting well known!!!!! The two gigs at the Maulwharf were fantastic!!!! There was a little altercation - a fight broke out on the dance floor. Oh well, it's to be expected. I don't know what it was about, don't care - just glad nobody was hurt.
I finally got to sit down with Heiko and get all the good stuff from the greatest guitar player in Germany!!! We had a great time talking, and I'm really glad that Heiko likes to talk, it made my part in this a lot easier!
He told me, first of all, that he had just ordered a new guitar from the States over the Internet. It's an acoustic, which he says is kind of out of the ordinary for him - it's the kind of guitar he will have when he's old and gray sitting on his front porch playing to his grandkids. He has about 12 guitars, with Les Paul being his absolute favorite. His exact words were "Les Paul was my first guitar and it will be my last guitar". He loves the weight of the guitar and the way it fits his body perfectly, he also says there is nothing like the sound of a Les Paul. "This is perfect for me" he says.
Heiko has been playing for 20 years. He loves it. It has been an obsession for him. For the last 10 years he played 5 or 6 hours a day, and also gave lessons. Now he considers himself a normal person, it's down to one or two hours a day, with maybe a little more time spent on the weekends. For a while he was total Heavy Metal, but has mellowed. His great love has always been Rock & Roll. His favorite bands are Kiss, Metallica, Richie Sambora, Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, Oz, Motorhead, Gary Moore, The Scorpions, anything with lots of great guitar. He also likes Blues, (B.B. King especially) any kind of good music, really. His absolute favorite band though, is of course, ARSON!!!
Heiko has been with ARSON for about 13 years. He would play with different bands every once in a while, doing a gig here and there. He knew the drummer in ARSON which is how he got in. They were looking for a singer, Markus joined, then Tom came along, and the rest is history. He and Markus had known each other for about 20 years. Heiko says he and Markus have known each other for so long and know each other so well, it's almost like a marriage. They have fights and bad mouth each other (all in fun). Markus makes fun of Heiko's long hair and Heiko makes fun of Markus (hmmmmm) - but they always get back together and will be the best of friends, forever. Actually the whole band is like that. Well at least so far, Heiko, Markus and Tom (there was Tiger) But I'm sure the new drummer, Peter, will fit right in.
Heiko loves perfoming! He loves playing guitar. He says there is nothing in the world like being on stage making music, it's a total high for him. Having a few drinks is o.k., but he doesn't need that to get high from the music. A loud guitar will do just fine! His favorite show is when the stage is big enough for him to run and jump around, (picture David Lee Roth) he hates having to stand still, he loves to act! (Markus likes to run around on stage, too - and yes, they have run into each other up there). They always look like they're having a great time - Heiko says, "that's the most important thing to us, it doesn't matter if there are 4 or 5 people in the audience or 405 - we love playing" (As long as there are some American's out there) "And to be perfectly honest, one of the greatest things about playing is the girls! I mean, Rock and Roll and pretty girls go together, right?" "The more screaming female fans in the audience the better, it's really perfect". (he & Markus seem to have the same thoughts on this one!). But it's true - any of you female fans that come and see the band - please come up and let these guys know how great they are. They really are very friendly and want to get to know the people that come to see their shows.
One of his hobbies is checking out guitar stores, wheeling and dealing for new amps and guitars. He has probably only paid for one or two of his guitars. Every other week or so he's in a store adding (or subtracting) to his collection. Last year he bought (one) of his dream guitars: a 1956 Les Paul Special. His other dream guitar is a 1959 Flametop Les Paul Standard. (this would be really great, but the price for one is $29,000.00) ("This is killing me", he says). Take a look at some of the guitars Heiko plays, they're pretty colorful. Most of the time he's buys them like that, he loves colors - but the one that has been on the web page, the 'Green Monster' was painted with spray paint. (Original!)
Hieko likes to buy and sell used guitars, many he just wants to add to his growing collection. If you are interested, just drop us a line at our e-mail address
(or click right here)
