By Jeb Wright

Classic Rock Revisited caught up with Uriah Heep’s Mick Box shortly after the band took part in the Rock Legends cruise. 

In the interview that follows Mr. Box tells us about sailing the seas, as well as the band’s upcoming album Living the Dream.  The band is offering fans some cool stuff as well. 

Check this out: https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/uriah-heep-living-the-dream

We also discuss Heep’s worldwide audience and how the USA stacks up. In addition, I hit Mick up for a few comments on some of my favorite Heep songs.

Enjoy this quick and lighthearted chat with one of the coolest cats in rock music!

Jeb: Rock Legends Cruise just happened. What it is like to go on one of those?

Mick: It’s a really cool experience. Each band gets to play three times, so the rock fans and the bands get the chance to check each other out. There is also a signing/photo session for each band, so the fans get to meet each band if they want to. One of the shows is on deck so this is a unique experience. Usually it is windy as hell but still a lot of fun.

Jeb: I know you've been asked this before...but did you ever imagine this gig would last this long?

Mick: Of course not. I became a musician for life, but little did I know it would be in Uriah Heep for so long. I have no complaints about that. It has been a hell of a journey and it continues to be which is just fantastic.

Jeb: There is a USA tour coming. I have to ask one HARD question. In the USA you play smaller venues compared to other locations where you literally play to tens of thousands a night. Why bother coming here when it costs more money and has smaller crowds? Why it is still cool to play here?

Mick: The Heep rock fans in the USA and Canada are fantastic. They are territories we really enjoy performing in. It is never about the money and all about the music, so we are hoping that our present tour will be a springboard for other tours to follow. The size of the audience does not even come into it, as the mighty Heep give 100% wherever, as that is our professional pride. We have the same passion and energy for our music that we have always had. 

Jeb: You see rock audiences around the globe. How does America stack up?

Mick: They do tend to be a little older, but saying that, a few of our shows on this tour have had a younger audience all singing the words to the songs old and new, which is great. The responses we have received thus far are just incredible and this drives us on.

Jeb: You also have been nearly everywhere in the world. What are the most awe inspiring places you've seen? Share with me some of the wonders of the world with this Kansas boy....

Mick: Too many to mention as we tour in over 61 countries. Dubai last year was the 61^st country and that was a unique experience and one we would like to repeat.

Jeb: This may be a silly question...but how do you keep coming up with ideas that are fresh and exciting when you have been playing the same seven notes all of these years?

Mick: That’s easy because as long as you have your creative antenna on, there are many wonderful subjects to inspire you around the world.

Jeb: What does the legacy of Uriah Heep mean to you? There have been so many great players in the past and in the present. How do you take five decades and define what and who Uriah Heep is?

Mick: Uriah Heep is a Classic Rock band that has a number of songs over the years that have stood the test of time that people still like hearing in the live arena. We have a good reputation for delivering a good honest rock show at our concerts, and that keeps people coming back for more. We developed a template for our sound that uses the Hammond Organ, Wah-Wah Guitar and our five-part harmonies. Couple this with good melodic songs and interesting lyrics and there you have it.

Jeb: Do you enjoy the business end of music? Booking...interviews...marketing...overseeing special projects.... Or do you just want to stay on stage?

Mick: We have to embrace it all with a positive attitude.

Jeb: Are you using crowdfunding for the album Living the Dream. How is it going? Does it give the band more freedom and do you think this will do away with record companies?

Mick: Our new album is not financed by Pledge. Our new album, Living the Dream, that will be released in September, is on Frontiers Records in Italy. We have, however, embraced the Pledge Campaign by offering our fans very exclusive things to get involved in, if they so wish, that was not on offer before.

Jeb: You offer fans the opportunity to play with Heep. Has anyone done this and what was it like?

Mick: On this tour we have had three drummers and one guitarist that got up to play “Easy Livin’” with us and it is a lot of fun. The feedback we receive after is fantastic, as they loved the experience. They get a chance to video it and to use it how they wish, along with us signing things and having lots of photos done with them onstage and backstage.

Jeb: You can also buy a guitar signed and played by you. 

Mick: Yes. I had Mike Carparelli the head of the guitar company Carparelli Guitars  www.carparelliguitars.com who are based in Toronto Canada, kindly make a one-off guitar that I could use on our new album Living the Dream. This was a beautiful guitar that was, after being used, then put on our Pledge Campaign to sell…and it sold very quickly.

Jeb: I love the videos Heep does for the fans. I think you even fix your dishwasher in one!

Mick: Yeah, they are a lot of fun. You get to see the band as they are in real life away from the stage.

Jeb: What will the sounds be like on Living the Dream? Give me a few exclusive tips!

Mick: It will be a natural extension of our last studio album Outsider. With our producer Jay Ruston, we feel we have something special.

Jeb: I gotta end like I always do...asking you to comment on some Heep tunes I love. We've done most of the huge songs....so I am going to pick ten...and if you have a comment....it would be my honor to have you share.... I will try to pick good ones!

Jeb: “The Other Side of Midnight”

Mick: Written mostly on a tour bus and my opening chord riff was the last piece of the puzzle.

Jeb: “Too Scared to Run”

Mick: Came together in a rehearsal room in London. It reflected the energy we wanted it too very well. It has a drum pattern we refer to as ‘donkey diddly.’

Jeb: “The Golden Palace”

Mick: This was written by Phil and I after we had played a five-week tour of Russia.

Jeb: “Stealin'”

Mick: This was banned on USA radio when it was first released for the line “He done the farmer’s daughter.”

Jeb: “Speed of Sound”

Mick: Another Phil and me track which ended up as the lead track of our Outsider album. It is a good opener and we opened with it on stage too.

Jeb: “Return to Fantasy”

Mick: This was a song that had the unique shuffle rhythm that Heep is known for.

Jeb: “Sweet Loraine”

Mick: A party song that resonated with America more than any other country.

Jeb: “Nail on the Head”

Mick: Phil and I wrote this. There is a saying in the UK that if you get something absolutely right you have “Hit the Nail on the Head.”

Jeb: “Tears of the World”

Mick: A Phil and Mick song reflecting the state of the world we are now living in due to our own behavior.

Jeb: And finally.... “Between Two Worlds”

Mick: This was written by Phil and Mick. Lyrically, it is saying how wonderful it would be if the real world and the spiritual world could meet somewhere in the middle and you could see that your lost ones are doing okay, and that, perhaps, there is better world waiting for us.

Jeb: Last one...Does Uriah Heep, or Mick Box, ever have discussion about hanging it up?

Mick: There is no reason to look any further than the next album and the next tour. We have a passion for what we do, and this fuels us with the energy required to carry on. As long as we have our health there is no reason to even think of stopping.

Jeb: Really... one more... You are a hero to me. Your music changed my life. Do you still like hearing that or is it is weird to hear that?

Mick: It is weird and wonderful in equal parts, Jeb.

http://www.mick-box.net/2015/
www.uriah-heep.com/
https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/uriah-heep-living-the-dream