Uriah Heep - Back to their very best

Wake The Sleeper is Uriah Heep's first studio album in almost ten years and the 21st studio album overall. The album sees Uriah Heep back to their very best and will undoubtedly become a future classic – sure to please their dedicated worldwide fan base and fans of progressive rock in general. Recorded in 2007 the album was produced by Mike Paxman (Status Quo), and has thus far received rave reviews. FURY! had the chance to sit with Mike Box, lead guitarist and founder.

Let me congratulate you on your 21st CD release Wake the Sleeper. Can you tell us the inspiration behind this CD?
Mick: ‘Actually the idea was very simple, we wanted to make a good solid rock CD that from note one, would show the passion and dedication that Uriah Heep still have. I think we achieved that very, very well and reactions across the waters seem to confirm it. We’re really pleased!’

The CD really has great mix of songs, progressive, classic rock, and a more mellowed track like What Kind Of God. Was that intentional?
‘We have always had that from day one. From the very first LP Very ‘eavy, Very ‘umbel, we always had a nice mix of rock and mellow songs.’

Why so long between Wake The Sleeper and Sonic Origami in 1998?
(Laughing) ‘Let me give you the shortened version! We played 53 counties in almost 2 years supporting Sonic Origami. The record company didn’t really support the CD, like purchasing ads in magazines, making posters for stores, and so on. We came off that tour really disillusioned not wanting to give them another CD since they messed up our lives for over 18 months. Then it took some time to get out of the contract and as we are doing this, the whole internet explosion is occurring around us. Eventually record companies consolidated and disappeared and we couldn’t find a home. We sat down and waited for all the dust to settle and toured, released a DVD, and did some acoustic shows. Sanctuary, who owned our back catalogue, one day called us up telling us they are looking to be a front line label and wanted us to make a CD. So we recorded the CD in 2007 and when it was about to be released, Sanctuary got taken over by Universal Music. We had to wait a year until they would release it. We knew we had the quality CD when Universal Music agreed to release it since they aren’t a rock label. And here we are today.’

I love the artwork of the CD, is there any significance between the title and the artwork? How does it tie together?
‘I was reading an article in a magazine about an artist, Ioannis. He has done a lot of album covers and in the article he mentioned that if there was any band he could work with, he would choose Uriah Heep. I liked his work and called him up to see if he was really interested. He was, so I told him we are working on an LP and gave him the title, Wake The Sleeper. (Which is actually a shortened version of the saying, wake the sleeping giant. The idea being that we are the sleeping giant who hasn’t had any new material in 10 years.) He came up with a few ideas, but the one we like the best was of the female Buddha in the meditative state. She is just coming awake and the glow in her hands is the glow of enlightenment. We loved it and went with it.’

How did the band approach writing and recording the CD?
‘That’s a funny story. Phil and I do most of the writing. We sat down with all the material we had put together over the last several years. We started go through it and scrapped all but one song, Ghosts Of The Ocean. At that point we decided to start fresh. The first 5 songs were probably written a few weeks before rehearsals. So we let all the pent up creativity comes out.’

It does have a fresh and modern sound to it.
‘The producer that came down to rehearsal for the first time was blown away by the songs. He said the only way to capture our energy was not to recorded piece meal but to play and record it live. We found a studio in the English countryside, which was an old chapel; we set up the gear and played most of it live. You really had to be top of your game when recording like that, because one mistake and you have to start all over again. The other great thing about Mike Paxman, to sing his praises, is that he is a producer that produces with his ears rather than looking at the graph on a computer screen. Most producers go into the studio, put it on Pro-Tools and spend the next 5 hours adjusting all the instruments’ sound. In the quest for perfection they loose all the magic that was there in the first place.’

Do you have any favorite tracks on the CD; my personal favorite is Book Of Lies?
‘That’s a good commercial one. If I have a favorite, (there all my babies), it would be What Kind Of God. It’s the one getting most of the attention and lyrically, we nailed it quite well.’

What is your favorite lead on the CD?
‘Once again, I will go with the fans and say, Tears Of The World and Shadow.’

What guitar gear did you use to record the CD?
‘I used a two Gibson Les Pauls, a black beauty and a sunburst. Both have similar sounds, but one has a little more on the back end and is warm, while the other is a little gutsier. I just did two guitar parts for each song and Mike Paxman was quite up with that. We found the more you put on, the smaller it gets and you loose the power. It’s a straight ahead honest approach.’

Can you tell us a little about your new signature guitar?
‘It’s just amazing; I wish I had them for the recording of the CD. I got them at the tail end of the recording sessions. They were being made while we were in the studio. They are made by a company called Shaft in Canada. The photographer who shot all the photos in the CD booklet sent me link to the guitar company. I called them up and they sent me over one to try out. I promised I would try it out on stage for a song and ended up playing with it for the entire show. I loved it. I ended up using the guitar on the entire tour. So we started talking about a signature guitar, and they made a model for me that’s superb. A company in Germany called Shadow, made the pick-ups. So now I’m a happy man. I have retired the Gibsons for now; they have been around the world.’

What has been your proudest achievement to date?
‘That we are still doing what we love. I have to say that I never thought that we would last 39-40 years. It’s unbelievable and we have been lucky enough to have some great songs that stood the test of time.’

What are your 2009 tour plans?
‘We are working on it right now. We plan to taking the Wake The Sleeper Tour through Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium and ending up in the UK. Then in Mid-January come to America. Maybe a House of Blues runs if they can piece that together. Once we have the America ticket in place we will expand to the rest of the world, hitting Australia, Brazil, India, Singapore and so on.’

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