 Alright and we are back with Rock to War Live. I told you today we are coming back after every five minutes. So make sure you're staying tuned. I'm telling you we're going to be sending love your way, sending you shout outs. But one thing you can do for me is represent your hood. We want to know which hood has the most rockers in Kenya. And we cannot do that if you're not tuned. So make sure you stay on the hashtag RockTour254. That's correct. Which hood have the best rock fans after my hood? Come on, come on, come on. We have to do this. Okay, yeah. What's your hood? It's a good question. What's your hood? For spiritual reasons. My director tells me I don't know how to speak English. When you say you don't know how to speak English, brother. Open your mouth. But I don't know how to speak English. You know what I'm saying? I don't know how to speak English. But you are good at speaking English. You are good at speaking English. Yeah, it's good. But I don't know how to speak English. I don't know how to speak English. I don't know how to speak English. Alright, alright. Welcome back to the show. Now make sure you send out your shout outs. We'll be actually, you know, send your shout outs and we'll be reading them out. But right now it's time for another interview right here. I told you so many interviews like this. Yeah, stay 200 to the show. I didn't extend the level. I feel like we should go up to 7.30. Okay, let's do this. I'm at 8. No, but we gotta be there in time for the show. So 7.30 so that we have at least 30 minutes to Westies. Just here. So yeah, so 7.30. Yeah, we're here. We're not going anywhere. We are here for you. Now on to our next interview. Hi guys. Welcome to the show. How are you doing? Hello, hello. Hi. Doing quite good? Still excited? Yeah, we're super, super excited. Good to have you in the studio. Can you introduce yourself? I'm Chris, drummer of Heaven Shall Burn. First time in Kenya. First time in Africa. Yo. No, he is lying. Jumbo. We never say that here. No one says in Kenya how Kuna Matata. You've been misled. But I've seen it on t-shirts. A lot of people are having it. That's what they sell. The next part is just what you're working. It was a song. That's about Kuna Metal. Okay. Outside Kenya, that's what's sold most. But here, it's supposed to be how you say hi, but we never say that. Okay. One was the last time you said Kuna Matata. Me? Yeah. Was it when is it? When I was at Carnival? And why would you say that? Yeah, because some tourists. Yeah, see? And all that. For the tourists. Yeah. Kuna Matata. Yeah, Kuna Matata. Yeah. Just like I told in the event, you say Niaje and then you say poor. That's basically how you say hello, right? Yeah. But Riko has been in Kenya. Hello, guys. I'm Riko from the Hartquell Foundation. Yeah. Just another three more years is Kenya now. Yeah. My name is Kenyan name. Yeah. So I'm taking this question and then let's look. No, you know him better. So based on who he is, what Kenyan name suits him? We should give him right now. I knew he was in Nakur. No, that's the problem. So we can call him Jeroga or something. We can't say Jeroga. Nakur is more metropolitan. So we're still looking into that. Oh, we're still looking into that. Jeroga. Jeroga. Jeroga. We need the... If he loves money, does he love money a lot? If you love money a lot, you'll be a Jeroga. I love metal. Yeah, metal. Something metal. We're going to be looking for the name. Are you sure? Yeah. Okay, we're going to be looking for the name. We'll get you a Kenyan name. But in the meantime, can you introduce yourself to the guys at home who are seeing you for the first time? Hello, guys. I'm Riko from Hard Co. Health Foundation. I'm a charity from Germany. And we have a few projects. One of them is promoting the metal scene in Kenya. Right. And organizes from the Nairobi Metal Fest this weekend. Yes. Okay, we're going to be talking about that. But first things first. Let's talk about Hard Co. Health. How did that come about? That's quite a long time ago. In 2011, we started when the tsunami happened in Japan. Right? Yes. We started helping a school. And that kind of got bigger. In 2012, we started first projects also in Kenya. Oh. So how did you guys find yourselves in Kenya? And how long have you been active in Kenya? Because I know you're not just in Kenya alone. We're now active around seven years. Wow. Yes. So what do you guys actually deal with? Okay, apart from let's put metal aside. What is Hard Co. Health all about? I know it's an unprofit organization. But what do you deal with specifically? Well, Hard Co. Health Foundation was founded actually in this music community. Metal Hard Co. And it started with collecting merchandise. People can come to shows where we are with a boot. And the merchandise we sell and 100% of the sales goes into projects. And we have several projects. We're helping homeless people in Germany. We're helping a school in the Philippines. In Kenya, we're working with water companies or the maintenance companies who repair water wells. Also, we work together with an organization in Nakuro who's focusing on disability work. All right. We have a project where we collect wheelchairs in Germany. Oh. And we bring them to Kenya and then provide them to families who can afford a wheelchair. That's really amazing. Rico, now you as Rico, what got you involved there? What touched your heart? Like, how do you find yourself here? Now, the Hard Co. Health Foundation. You know, like, it's not just every day you find people doing, you know? Yeah, so the same question. The guys for I am Riven, which double visited. Exactly. At what point in your life do you decide, like, you know what, I'm just going to go up there, help people and just do this. Not to get paid, but just because I like doing it. What came, actually, it was never planned. It was actually a spontaneous idea. I've been working in factories or for companies more than 20 years and it's actually always the same. Boss tell you what to do and I don't know. Somehow I had hobbies, you know. So it's like, now it is. And I don't know. I had a hobby, booking shows, concerts, setting up a concert and I don't know, the tsunami happened and my friends were involved. I don't know what came up. Let's give something back for our friends and that worked out very well and that's why we keep doing it because it got some more meaning to give something back. That is actually a little bit how it started. To do something, to give something back. Yeah, to giving back to the community and not just in Germany. You've extended your now here in Kenya and in other countries. It is really dope, you know? And he is a rock star and a metalhead for that matter. You know? No, rockers aren't bad guys. People. Yeah, he's seeing what we do. And even he's not in Nairobi, in Nakuru. In Nakuru. Which is like, he is going beyond. You know he's best in Nairobi. You're best in Nairobi, yeah? No, I'm based in Germany. Oh, he's best in Germany but he helps people in Nakuru. Also, and Kitui. Oh, look at that. Beyond Nairobi. Kitui has a lot of water problems. It's very dry. That is very true. It's very humid. Very humid. All right, so before we come back to the guitarists when I talk to... Oh, it's a drama. Sorry, sorry. Just my name reminds me of a guitar. Yeah. All right, let me finish with Riko Faizan and we're going to be coming back to you. Riko, how do you know who to support genuinely? Because sometimes you find that there are these organizations that come up and then you actually give them funding but it doesn't get to the ground. It doesn't get to the people who actually need it. So how do you make sure the people that actually require those things you provide get to them? Well, I meet those people personally. I only work with organizations or with companies who I also know personally. I don't donate to any big organizations because I know they're probably lost in big administration costs. We work with very, very small charity and we work with very small organizational company who also, wherever I know, it goes directly to the people. Right. That is really dope. Now let's come back to music now. Okay. Metal. Back to the metal scene. What got you involved in the first place? Especially here in Kenya. This is Africa. This is Nairobi Metal first. And then this is Africa. Yeah. What happened? This year we didn't have it. What happened? I don't know. In 2015, I've been coming to Kenya for a few years then. And in 2015, coincidentally I found on the Facebook a band from Kenya last year's strategy, LIT. Yeah, LIT. Wow. How can that even happen? And I met up with these guys in my next trip and these guys were so awesome and we spent some time together and I don't know, we started talking about putting up a show and in 2016 we did a show in Marathon. Yeah. We had a few bands with parking lot grass, Rock of Ages and LIT. And that was, that was massive. That was so awesome. Yeah. I don't know. And I don't know. It was kind of cool to do it. To do it again and again. Yeah. But okay, so this year, at least we have Nairobi Metal first, but we don't have this in Africa. So will it be coming back? Maybe next year? Yeah. Africa first is going back. Oh, it's coming back. Because it's not easy to set up shows in Nairobi. Yeah. That is what Nairobi needs. Nairobi needs more clubs who understand metal and rock. Right. It's, that's why we always a little bit struggling to get, find the right clubs. Right. And we've been, we had shows before, but it didn't work out on a long term. Mostly because customers were complaining that the music was too loud. Yeah. So I don't know. I hope for the future that clubs in Nairobi are more open minded for rock music and metal. Because everyone comes to the shows and having a good time. Yeah. Exactly. That's why we're here. To take rock mainstream. We're going to play rock on TV until they get used to it. Yeah. You've got to listen. No, but anyway, not that way. When you put it that way, it's something awful. But it's actually good music. You know, people hate what they don't know. But the more we listen, the more we listen. But anyway, not that way. They don't know. But the moment they start to understand, you start attending shows, then you actually understand. Like rock is actually a good genre. It's just like any other music and it has its fine. Rocker is always a rocker. You know, he's like, yes, he's not pretending. Yeah. He tees the best. It is the founders. There's rocker and then this other kind of music. Okay. He said it. What he said. All right. So metal first, how do you even decide who's going to play and who's coming, who's not? I'm revenge. I just ask them if they want to come because there's a lot of bands in Europe who want to come too. Yeah. And bands who come to Kenya, they sponsor their trip themselves. You know, it's not that Harko Health Foundation found it. Bands who come here, they do their sales. And Okon, I asked him if he wants to come and he said, yeah, let's do it. And that's why I'm revenge. It's on the bill this year. Yeah. And it goes the same with previous bands all for nothing. Do you go straight from the pad? Yeah. They were really excited to hear that there's actually a scene here in Nairobi. In Nairobi, yeah. Because these bands are playing everywhere. Yeah. And they never get the chance to play in Africa or in Kenya, for example. Right. That is for a lot of bands. It's really interesting to know what is this, learn the culture, what is it about. That's cool. And so yeah, bands approached me and if it works out well, bands come to get on the bill. Actually. All right. That's amazing. Now we can go on to the drama. Finally. The drama with the name of a guitar. Yeah. Yeah. Bad. Bad. Okay. So. All right. So we've talked to Rico so much. Yeah. Maybe he should just re, I feel like he should reintroduce himself, right? Again. Yeah. I'm still Chris. Still drama of Heaven Shall Burn. Still the first time in Kenya. Still the first time in Africa. Yeah. And enjoying it since day one. Awesome. He's so grateful. Thank you so much for coming. Day one was a little bit forgot. Yeah. He was so excited. Yeah. He's true. But I have to say, I have to say it's a problem during my flight because I missed the connection flight. That's why the, that's why the drama workshop is tomorrow and didn't happen last Saturday. Actually, we were expecting you last Saturday. Yeah. And then, yeah, I arrived last Saturday, and so we had to reschedule the drama workshop. Right. But he's right. When I first arrived at the apartment, I was like, what's happening over here? The travel from the airport was just like, oh. Well, but here's a question like, I love to ask people like, it's your first time in Kenya and in Africa. What's the biggest misconception about Kenya out there? What did you have in mind? What did you picture Kenya like? I mean, when you got here, like, oh, it's not actually like that. What's the biggest misconception? Um, especially in Nairobi itself. Um, like, like I said, the ride from the airport to, to Roisambu, where we stay at the moment. Um, I expected it to be more like an huge international city. Like you go like, you have highways with like six, six lanes and, um, we drove by and it was like, so many people everywhere. It's like, they're burning stuff just around the corner, burning stuff everywhere and selling stuff and it was like, overwhelmed by, yeah, by all the people. Um, but, I had to learn after two or three days that everybody's really friendly and helping you around. But the first, the first view was, was like, wow. That's a lot, a lot today. All right. Welcome. Okay. But welcome to Nairobi. People are really nice. Nairobi, everybody loves everybody. I would love to imagine. That's just what I think. But don't go there thinking like, everybody's like that. I'm just saying, we are nice. At least here on the show, we are nice and our viewers at home are nice. Yeah. Oh, and Riko, Riko is nice. Riko is Kenyan, right? Riko is Kenyan, right? He has to get a national ID in 20, 23 years to work. You know, I'm moving to Kenya. Oh, look at that. My wife. Yeah. By the time you, okay, by the end of the night, we'll have a Kenyan name for you. Don't worry. That's the approach that you are talking about. All right. So, um, so, I'm so excited. Somebody laughing. Yeah, upstairs. I'm excited. Everybody's just super excited. Yeah, everybody's excited about it. But he's, he has a happy face. So, yeah, he's always smiling. All right. So, let's do this. Tell us about our, you are a drummer. Yeah. So, how do you even become, look, you know, like we're in a band, there's like a guitarist, and then there's, but drummers, I think that most times, they are underrated a little bit. Thank you. Just not a little bit. Like, so, about the guitarist a lot, and the vocalist, and then the drummer. You're a rocker. Yeah. Yeah, the guitar. Yeah. Who's, who's doing the beat, the drummer is. Yeah. You know, but yeah. So, what got you interested into that? How did you even get started? Um, I have a brother who's five years older than I am. Yeah. Who already played drums. Ah. So we already had a drum set in our basement. Oh. Yeah. Okay, quite easy. Yeah. And my best friend at that time had an older brother who was playing guitar. Oh. So we were meeting in our basement, because the guitar is easier to carry around. Yeah. Um, and as, the two of us already had one guitarist, I had to play drums. I wanted to play guitar as well. I, but I was the, the guy with the drum set, so I had to play drums. We started to cover bands like Danzig, tried to cover Slayer around that time, like Seasons in the Abyss, the slow, the slow songs. Um, then I got to my first band when I was around 12, 13, something like that. Um, just got, got asked by local guys if I want to join, because drummers have been quite raw about that time. Yeah. Yeah. Um, here I am playing drums for about 31 years now. Wow. That is a long time. Yeah. And you know, for vocalists, most of the time you're here, like you, did you go to music school, to study, like, you know, for you to get better, you need like a music teacher and stuff. So did you go to a drum school, your brother just taught you and you picked it up? Uh, neither, both of it. My brother was like, yeah, I show you something like on the pillows, like the first baby steps. Uh, but I'm, I just rehearsed a lot. Uh, when we, when we started with the first band, we rehearsed like twice or three times a week. Um, I had the drum set in the basement. So we, yeah, I always was listening to music, trying to cover it, trying to play the songs, learn the songs and get used to them. Right. Um, so that's basically it. I think I had like three, three drum lessons in my life. Around, around that from a guy in Berlin when I was like 35, 36. Um, and he got me to the, to the basics as well. And I felt like I played drums my first day, just trying the basics. I was like, I know how to play, play double bass. I know how to play like 250 BPM and something like that. But, and then, and then the basics were like, damn it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So, um, I know like just, just like guitars or even drums also different. So what kind of drums are you, like do you specifically play or drum sets? Are they called drum sets? Yeah. So drum set, what kind do you play? Over the years, I got used to a double bass drum kit with around five Toms. Um, got a sponsorship for a long time now. And, um, so I have to play that company. Um, so, um, yeah, it's basically, um, the type of music recommends to have a double bass kit, not only by the looks of it, some drummers just have a double bass kit for the look of it. Um, but I have to say, sound wise and playing wise, it really helps to have a double bass kit. Oh, and also one thing I understand that, um, especially rock bands mostly, they like, they like share, like probably maybe guitarists and drummers. Do you do that? Do you like maybe sometimes play for a different band that is into yours? Um, I did some studio jobs for some bands, some stand-in jobs for single shows, for tours over the years. Um, that's how I got into the band. Right. Uh, because I was a stand-in drummer for having to burn, uh, since 2006. Right. Um, when the original drummer started to have some, some issues, some personal issues, um, then I kept being a stand-in drummer until things didn't change. And I've been a full-time member since 2013 now. And in between, I always did different things. Always was like, I've been in Japan, recorded a record for a Japanese hardcore band, and they're doing some metal, some metal bands in Germany. Just got asked if I will do a tour in December for another band, because we are starting, uh, restarting with Heaven Shall Burn in March 2020. And in between, it's like doing things like this. Flying to Kenya, doing jobs for other bands, and travel. That's really amazing. But tell us a little bit about your band, Heaven Shall Burn. Tell us about that. Yeah. We are now around since 96, I guess. What? What? We just took two years off to do a new record that comes out in March 2020. We just talked about maybe playing here as well. That's why... We also maved here. That would be amazing. Yeah. That would be amazing. The thing is, we are now mixing and mastering the new record, just right now. Two guys of us are in Denmark mixing and mastering. So, we couldn't do it, and I'm like the guy who's checking out. How is it over here? Getting back to Rico. I know Rico about, I guess, 15 years now when he was doing local shows in Essen. When he started Hardcore Help Foundation, we started to meet more often at festivals, club shows somewhere, supporting each other on different occasions. And then, yeah, with Heaven Share Burn, we always tried to do something like supporting charities, like supporting also Sea Shepherd. Local soccer teams, the left-wing scene in Germany, Europe, doing all the political stuff and work on a lot of discussions, doing social activities and being active, being active bands. Oh, all right. That's the good thing about Heaven Share Burn that we have a common sense in the band about politics or our diet, everything, we stick together. Oh. All right. So, you are here for an event. Yeah. Tell us about the event and the venue and are there any charges? Nope. I don't know much about the venue because he booked it. Oh, all right. But maybe... The blues, the blues. Oh, the blues right here in town. Yeah. Buckley's Plaza. Yeah. It's a drum workshop. It's for free tomorrow. So if you are a drummer in Kenya and you have time tomorrow, come at 2 o'clock to the blues. Ah. And he will teach you some stuff. Some stuff, yeah. All right. Yeah, the reason why I'm doing it, we have been talking about this trip and he asked me, how long do you gonna stay? And it was like, yeah, maybe around two weeks, something like that. I'm sponsoring a kit in Nakuru as well that we met on Monday. So we went there as well. So I learned about the Matatu as well. That was kind of tough for me. And then we were talking, okay, what else are you supposed to do? Let's try to think of some stuff. And then he was like, yeah, you can do a DJ, a DJ set at Narobi Metal Fest as well that I will do tonight. Awesome. And then he was like, yeah, I'm a drummer of a metal band at a metal festival. So why not doing a drum workshop? And he was like, yeah, let's try to find a venue. Let's try to find a drum set. And he was like, okay, I did this before. I don't know what to expect. I don't know how many people will show up. Just hold that thought. We're going to take a very short commercial break just about now and we are coming back to why now. All right. Seems like we talked too much. No, no, no. It's seven and they have to run something. Why 254? Oh. All right. We are back. And just like that, we are back. Cool, cool, cool. All right. We are back just like that. Thank you so much for coming through, guys. Now before we let you go, Rico, where can people find your foundation if they're looking maybe to help you maybe with the funds or maybe to just come out and support some of your works? Easy to find on Facebook Hot Co-Health Foundation or Twitter, HHF or Instagram Hot Co-Health Foundation. Right. You can easily find us. All right. And Chris Bass. Same here. Just as the I Am Revenge guy said, Google Heaven Shall Burn always. Instagram Heaven Shall Burn official on Facebook. It's Heaven Shall Burn official. Yeah. Just have a look and try to find your social media account. You're also chairing and leaving us a message. All right. Let's do that, guys. Make sure you check them out. That is our head to chest. Right. And that is also Heaven Shall Burn. That's where you connect with them. Keep talking to them. And right here on the show, the hashtag is RockTour254 on Twitter and Facebook. We're going to take a very short musical break and we're coming back with more show. Stay here. We're not going anywhere, right? We're here until 7.30. So make sure you stay here.