{"id":24669,"date":"2015-02-26T07:30:15","date_gmt":"2015-02-25T20:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=24669"},"modified":"2015-02-15T11:29:05","modified_gmt":"2015-02-15T00:29:05","slug":"mick-box-of-uriah-heep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2015\/02\/mick-box-of-uriah-heep\/","title":{"rendered":"Mick Box of Uriah Heep"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201cI think the essence of it all is that we\u2019ve still got the same passion and edge we\u2019ve had for our music and we\u2019re driven by that, and to be in the band at this juncture just to enjoy it, writing new songs, recording new songs, playing new songs and doing live shows, it\u2019s as simple as that really, we\u2019ve just got big love for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

From release: URIAH HEEP’s unique, progressive, hard sound has made them a mainstay of the rock circuit for four decades. Famed for their accomplished musical talents, diverse song writing and powerful live performances, the band has released some of the most popular and defining music of their genre. With a catalogue of 23 studio albums that includes \u2018Demons and Wizards’ (1972), \u2018Abominog’ (1982), and their most recent release, 2014\u2019s \u2018Outsider\u2019) it’s no surprise that the band has sold over 40 million records worldwide.<\/p>\n

In rainy England, we chatted to Mick Box of Uriah Heep about their upcoming Australian tour, new music, old music, plus more, and I have to tell you, this is a guy that LOVES what he does and it was a pleasure to chat to Mr Box\u2026<\/p>\n

You’re headed back to Australia in March for some shows, after over forty years and with so many albums, how hard is it to put a set together these days?<\/strong>
\nWell you know it\u2019s not that bad to be honest, we\u2019re lucky to have that wealth of material. We\u2019re a band that\u2019s very proud of our history, other bands seem to shun that but we love it, so we always go with the songs that were taken on universally and worldwide, we\u2019ll always do the \u2018July Morning\u2019, \u2018Easy Livin\u2019, \u2018Gypsy\u2019, \u2018Free Me\u2019, \u2018Lady in Black\u2019 and all that, we\u2019ll always do those songs as the core of our set and then with a new album out of course we\u2019ll put four or five tracks in from that and then we\u2019ll also go and visit some old classic tracks we either haven\u2019t played before or played in a long, long while and bring them into the set list. So really it ends up to be a real journey through our career.<\/p>\n

Now you’ve been coming to Australia longer than I’ve been alive, what are some of your fondest memories of touring Australia?<\/strong>
\nThe audience is fantastic, if they like you they show you which is wonderful, and I think because we\u2019re not often over there, we had a bit of a hiatus since the last time we were there and we always have two or three albums in the interim. So I think they\u2019re ready for us and we\u2019re certainly ready for them *laughs*<\/p>\n

You would\u2019ve seen generations of fans now come along to your shows, is this something you\u2019ve witnessed personally and how does it make you feel to see how much the music has allowed this to happen?<\/strong>
\nWell you know over in Europe I have to say that the fans are getting younger and younger and younger and I think that\u2019s just absolutely brilliant because they take it on face value with the present album, \u2018Outsider\u2019 or \u2018Into The Wild\u2019 or \u2018Wake The Sleeper\u2019 the last two or three studio albums and that\u2019s great. Then they find the history of the band and then it\u2019s just amazing and you see them turning up down the front and they\u2019re singing all the old songs too, it\u2019s absolutely amazing we just love it. Every sort of decade we seem to be getting new fans and it just keeps growing and growing and growing, we\u2019ve played in fifty eight countries around the world and there\u2019s no sign of it stopping and thank goodness for that.<\/p>\n

After twenty four albums, what do you still enjoy about making music in Uriah Heep?<\/strong>
\nI think the essence of it all is that we\u2019ve still got the same passion and edge we\u2019ve had for our music and we\u2019re driven by that, and to be in the band at this juncture just to enjoy it, writing new songs, recording new songs, playing new songs and doing live shows, it\u2019s as simple as that really, we\u2019ve just got big love for it.<\/p>\n

Obviously technology has changed over the years, what’s the biggest and most notable change you’ve witnessed in the way that Uriah Heep makes music?<\/strong>
\nWe still do it old school I\u2019m afraid *laughs* and thank goodness\u2026 we go into the studio as a band and we record backing tracks playing as a band, we don\u2019t do it piecemeal like others do and spend two weeks getting the drums and all that sort of stuff, we go in and get it fresh and get it right, what we do is work up a track until we\u2019re happy with the arrangement and everything else and we press the record button and in three takes we\u2019ve got it. You need to be on top of your game for that because if I make a mistake or someone makes a mistake while you\u2019re recording it goes on to the drum mics and all that sort of stuff, so that\u2019s the downside of it. The upside of it is when you get the take you want it\u2019s fresh, it\u2019s got vitality and it gives you the chills, it\u2019s great. In terms of technology now, pro-tools I guess would be a big one, home recording, where you can get some ideas together at home, we always used to do it on a little tape recorder didn\u2019t you. You can do it a bit more sophisticated now, but in terms of our albums, we just do it as a band, old school. The other thing is if you want to talk technology, Phil Lanzon our keyboard player and myself do most of the writing and occasionally we do that by Skype *laughs* if I can\u2019t get down to him and he can\u2019t get down to me we\u2019ll just Skype each other and run our ideas across to each other. Other than that we try to keep away from the digital world and try and keep it as analogue as possible, because you know digital is cold and analogue is nice and warm.<\/p>\n

As the primary song writer in the band, how do you feel your technique has evolved since your beginnings?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s pretty much the same you know? I have the same rule of thumb that I use all the time, the essence\u00a0 of writing is to capture it quickly, so if you\u2019ve got an idea no matter if you\u2019ve got someone to do it, stay and get the idea down, that can be just something on your iPhone, there\u2019s another part of technology we never used to have *laughs* put it on your iPhone and I do that when I\u2019m travelling around the world, in hotel rooms I have a practise guitar and I lay the ideas down and that\u2019s probably how most of this album \u2018Outsider\u2019 was written really with those ideas. I collect them all on my iPhone and when I get home I stick them up on my computer and I call it the washing up test\u2026 in the old days I used to not have the iPhone I put in on a Sony Walkman tape recorder and then what I used to do was do the washing up and I\u2019d put it on the sink and when I\u2019m washing up I\u2019d play all the ideas and the ones that stood out are the ones I worked on and became the best songs in the end. So I do very, very, very basic and if something sounds good at that level, it\u2019s always going to sound good. It\u2019s very easy to get an average idea and go onto a machine and make it sound good, by sounds and arrangements and all sorts, but it\u2019s much better to work on something that\u2019s strong.<\/p>\n

So some of your biggest songs may have been decided while washing the dishes?<\/strong>
\nYep *laughs* I\u2019m afraid so *laughs* and they all get written on acoustic guitar and end up electric and can become the most powerful song you\u2019ve ever written. There\u2019s no rule of thumb, as a writer you just have to have your antenna out at any given time. It\u2019s easy to walk around the world with blinkers, but have your antenna out and soak up ideas.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been around through all the musical trends, ups and downs of rock music, do you pay any attention to that kind of stuff?<\/strong>
\nNo. No to be honest, because as another trend comes in if you try and jump on that trend you\u2019re gonna be second best because they\u2019re doing it first you know? So I would never do that, no. I always say there\u2019s old wave, new wave and we\u2019re permanent wave.<\/p>\n

So what do you put the band’s longevity down to?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019d just say songs, it always comes down to good songs, even if you want to go back to what you just asked me about the trends that comes along, the only bands that last in any trend that comes along are the ones with good songs. You get the punk era, you get The Clash, The Sex Pistols , they\u2019re great songs and that\u2019s why they\u2019re still revered in that way. It\u2019s the same with any genre of music, it\u2019s all down to the songs and Uriah Heep have been lucky enough to have a lot of songs over the years that have stood the test of time that people still like hearing and that\u2019s did us well and that\u2019s the foundation of what we do and everything else is new around it.<\/p>\n

Now normally I do this for newer bands, but because you\u2019ve been doing this for so long, I’d love to get a bit of a quick fire insight into you with some questions if you don’t mind:<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, what band or artist made you want to be a rock star?<\/strong>
\nBuddy Holly, there was a few of them\u2026 Les Paul from the jazz field, Buddy Holly and probably Jeff Beck.<\/p>\n

What was the last album you bought?<\/strong>
\nFunny enough\u2026 The Tea Party, the new one. Actually I saw them in Sydney at a small venue when they released their first album and I thought they were absolutely dynamite. Then actually the one after Tea Party would be Opeth which is great.<\/p>\n

Is there a song throughout musical history that you wish you’d written?<\/strong>
\nToo many to mention *laughs* \u2018White Christmas\u2019 wouldn\u2019t be bad would it? \u2018Happy Birthday\u2019 wouldn\u2019t be bad, would it? *laughs* you\u2019d get a life in the sun then wouldn\u2019t you\u2026<\/p>\n

Is there a place in the world you haven\u2019t toured that you would still love to get to?<\/strong>
\nChina\u2026 never been there. Especially for a very, very tenuous link here but I\u2019m from the East end of London and we used to call a male, China, was my China plate mate, so you used to call your mate my old China\u2026 *laughs* but it\u2019s always stuck with me, so China yes. *laughs*<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s next for Uriah Heep?<\/strong>
\nWell, well, well just the start of this year is an explosion as well, we\u2019re going to Russia and from there we go to Israel, Tel Aviv, then we come back and we go to America, we start in Florida, we go on a rock cruise and go through the Bahamas with Alice Cooper, Doobie Brothers, Blue Oyster Cult, loads of other bands which is fantastic. Then when that docks we start an American tour going coast to coast starting in New York at B.B. Kings and going over to L.A. and then from L.A. we fly over to see you guys which will be great, then on to New Zealand and then back home and we do a U.K. tour\u2026 Then the whole of summer is the summer festivals and we do a whole lot of weekend work and home for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and out Friday, Saturday Sunday doing festivals around Europe. There\u2019s options for japan, Brazil and so much more *laughs*<\/p>\n

So there\u2019s absolutely no chance of you slowing down any time soon?<\/strong>
\nSlowing down is not anything we use, they\u2019re just two words that never come into our life I\u2019m afraid. Do you what? We love it, we\u2019ve got a passion for it and we enjoy it.<\/p>\n

Lastly, let’s predict the future, so finish this sentence, by the end of 2015, Uriah Heep will…<\/strong>
\nStill be recording, still be playing live shows and still be smiling\u2026 I\u2019ve always said a working band is a happy band and you\u2019ll see that from the smiles on our faces when we play out there *laughs*<\/p>\n

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Make sure you catch URIAH HEEP<\/strong> on their triumphant return to Australia on the following dates in March!<\/p>\n

Tickets on sale NOW from HERE<\/a>:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thu 19th \u2013 Sydney \u2013 Rooty Hill RSL <\/strong><\/p>\n

Fri 20th \u2013 Sydney \u2013 Metro Theatre cap. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sat 21st \u2013 Melbourne \u2013 Shoppingtown Hotel <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sun 22nd \u2013 Melbourne \u2013 Chelsea Heights <\/strong><\/p>\n

Tues 24th \u2013 Perth \u2013 Astor Theatre <\/strong><\/p>\n

Wed 25th \u2013 Adelaide \u2013 The Gov <\/strong><\/p>\n

Thu 26th \u2013 Brisbane \u2013 Eatons Hill <\/strong><\/p>\n

Presented by Metropolis Touring<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> London, England<\/p>\n

Band members: <\/strong>Mick Box \u2013 lead guitars, Phil Lanzon \u2013 keyboards, Bernie Shaw \u2013 lead vocals, Russell Gilbrook \u2013 drums, percussion, Davey Rimmer \u2013 bass<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong>\u00a0https:\/\/www.uriah-heep.com<\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong>\u00a0Outsider \u2013 (Out Now \u2013 Frontiers Records)<\/p>\n

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