Heliophile

Heliophile is the alternative synthpop project of Gijs van Ouwerkerk and Maarten Vloon from the Twente region in The Netherlands.

The spirit of the 80s is strong in Heliophile's highly melodic and synth-dominated songs, but this sound is quite a natural culmination of influences and not an attempt to sound 'retro'. Some even claim to hear traces of Gijs' history as a death metal musician in the music! The lyrics have a depth not often heard in electronic music, with topics such as the demise of the Cathar heresy, the mystery of cosmic dark matter and the echo chamber effect in journalism.

Debut EP "Nebula", released in July 2013, was hailed by American music blog Eminent Domain as "some of the best German-influenced synthpop heard in years", followed by even greater reviews of 2014's follow-up EP "Downhill from Here". Their name continues to grow with a growing list of live shows, including an appearance at I-Synth III festival (in Lille, France) and Synthetic Orange in Karlsruhe, Germany. Heliophile also appeared on the Electropop 10 compilation CD by Conzoom Records. The band's full length debut album “Permeate” was released in September 2017 on ScentAir Records.

Gijs was also active as a live drummer, vocalist and remixer for established dark electro band Schwarzblut.