The guitar riff sounds like the setting of the north face of the Eiger: hard, edgy, brutal. Plus the drums: like a thunderstorm in the mountains. Thomas Huber has closed his eyes, clutches the microphone in his sinewy hands – and sings in an amazingly bright voice: “There is a point of no return, just go ahead to mountains high.” There comes a point of no return – just keep going, to high mountains. A song line that came to mind at Cerro Torre, the mythical, cloud- and wind-swept granite mountain in Patagonia where the extreme climbing duo Huberbuam experienced some of their wildest adventures.
At the moment Huber Thomas is not looking at a thousand-meter-high wall somewhere in the Himalayas or in the Alps, but at a 2.50-meter-high wall in a former underground car park in Berchtesgaden. Plastic Surgery Disaster is written in black letters on a red background, the name of his band. There are beer bottles and an empty “Motörhead Iron Fist” whiskey bottle on the counter in the rehearsal room, and a poster of Lemmy Kilmister hangs on the wall. Huber’s hobby cellar group consists of five older gentlemen who play stoner rock in a way that is as concentrated as it is consistently loud: lots of oomph, lots of guitar, psychedelic elements, the continuation of the door with harsher means.
According to Thomas Huber, rock music is like mountaineering
The rhythmic noise is obviously fun for those involved. But they’re also pretty serious about it. “For me, music is something transcending,” says Thomas Huber, “you can let go for a moment and completely.” One thing better to avoid in extreme climbing. Mountaineering is Huber’s job, that’s what he’s known for, rock music is his hobby and balance. Nevertheless, he sees a lot in common: “Mountaineering has many parallels with music on a certain level”, he experiences freedom, flow and creativity in equal measure.
Plastic Surgery Disaster is named after an album by the punk rock group Dead Kennedys and after a climbing route on El Capitan in California’s Yosemite National Park. Thomas Huber met his musical comrade-in-arms Manfred Rödel a good 20 years ago in the “Cuckoo’s Nest”. This rock bar is a Berchtesgaden institution, in 2022 it looks exactly how it looks in photos from the 90s and the style of the bands that perform there hasn’t changed much either. It should be hard and loud, like in Plastic Surgery Disaster, whose other band members Peter Schweiger (guitar), Andi Brandner (bass) and Wolfgang Seiberl (drums) share Thomas Huber’s taste in music, but not necessarily their professional background. “When I sing ‘Mountain High’, I’m mentally in the Choktoi,” says Huber – in the Pakistani mountain range he managed a few first ascents on six and seven thousanders.
Thomas Huber is famous as the mountaineering duo “Die Huberbuam” together with his brother Alex, but not for extreme musical achievements, that remained private for a long time. Thomas and his siblings were born into a musical family. The father was a branch manager of a bank, loved classical music and sang tenor in the church choir. “It was a must that we make music,” says Thomas Huber, so he learned guitar and flute, Alex piano, sister Carina violin. The siblings sometimes made parlor music together, performed as a trio in hospitals and retirement homes, where the style was more civilized. “Now and then I felt like banging my guitar,” says Thomas Huber. He got his first electric guitar when he was in fifth grade.
Reviews of the album were mixed
He outlines his musical career as follows: classical music, Elvis, Spider Murphy Gang, kiss, Status quothen The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Cream and finally Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss. It goes without saying that Thomas Huber is the front man in the school band move on was. In the ski camp and on hiking tours, he played songs to sing along to in the hut on the guitar. When he joined the youth climbing team at the age of 16, he first came into contact with psychedelic rock music, which some of his comrades listened to. “I was interested in the mystery, the introverted and extroverted at the same time,” says Thomas Huber over a beer after the rehearsal. He began writing music himself, with psychedelic lyrics that he later describes as “very weird”.
At Huber’s home in Oberau near Berchtesgaden, it’s easy to see the connections between rock climbing and rock music. Thomas Huber lives here with his wife Marion and their children Elias, Amadeus and Philomea. Huber leads the visitor into his training, work and music room. The walls and ceilings of the training room are equipped with climbing holds, and Huber practices here in the dry when the weather is bad. From a standing position, he jumps to a handle and holds on with one hand, dangling in the room while talking. He is in great shape for his 55 years, despite all the injuries in recent years. He recently explored a new route on the Eiger North Face and completed an expedition in Patagonia.
border crossings? Not only knows Thomas Huber from extreme climbing.
(Photo: Titus Arnu)
An acoustic guitar is lying ready on the sofa, Huber strums a few chords and hums along a bit. The songs for Plastic Surgery Disaster are mostly created on the side, he comes up with the best lyrics on the way, while mountaineering and hiking. His band colleague Manfred Rödel then composed the music. “He’s clearly the most musical of us,” says Huber.
Stoner rock, their style of music, has nothing to do with stones and rocks, but rather with the English term “stoned”, i.e. stoned. The lyrics of the bands are often about crossing borders with LSD and marijuana. “But competitive sport saved me from drugs,” says Thomas Huber. “I’m more addicted to nature, I experience my transgressions when climbing.”
There is also a risk of falling in music, which is sometimes painful when you dare to go public. After many years as a hobby band, Plastic Surgery Disaster released their first album in 2013, called “Endless”, followed in 2018 by “Desire”. The reviews were mixed. “This debut shows real musical edge, but on the other hand does not appear particularly inviting,” the specialist journal judged metal hammer. “This impression also goes back to Thomas Huber’s singing, where you can tell the lack of routine, especially in the non-aggressive moments.”
Oh well. Thomas Huber has experienced harder things together with his brother Alex, he almost froze his fingers in the Antarctic, in Patagonia and in the Himalayas, he survived a tumor, he sustained a skull fracture in a crash in 2016 and two months later he is already there gone on an expedition again. A bad review of his musical work is not a bad thing. The band just keeps practicing, the goal: another great performance, maybe another album. When things are going well, Thomas Huber overcomes the fine line between hobby and art, between free climbing and rock music. “When performing, I often close my eyes, and when I get into a flow, I feel like I’m on a mountain – free and strong.”
No passion without accessories. Thomas Huber always has these items to hand when making music:
The guitar
Always ready to hand: the acoustic guitar – even if Thomas Huber doesn’t play it in the band.
(Photo: Titus Arnu)
“I bought this acoustic guitar in the USA. I don’t play the guitar in the band, I’m the singer. But at home I pick it up every now and then and play a few chords.”
The whisky
The bottle of the idol: The “Motörhead” whiskey has a place of honor in the rehearsal room.
(Photo: Titus Arnu)
“For me, the Godfather of Rock is Lemmy Kilmister. The music of Motorhead definitely influenced me, even though our band went in a slightly different direction than Motörhead. The Motörhead whiskey has pride of place in our rehearsal room, and there’s a poster of Lemmy on the wall.”
The climbing hold
For the music, he goes to the rehearsal room, Thomas Huber also practices climbing at home.
(Photo: Titus Arnu)
“My training room at home is equipped with climbing holds. Between the holds I have hung pictures of my personal idols, from Jim Morrison to Bob Marley to Che Guevara. That motivates me to practice.”