As I am introducing you to my readers can you describe what you do - hopefully in a clearer way than ‘Ron Jeremy in a Kamikaze sex trap’
Haha, well that's the obviously answer! Heaven's Basement is an intravenous excitement injection...an energetic new take on old school rock and roll. It’s dangerously unpredictable and fresh -- in every sense of the word -- new and unapologetically in your face.
We're a rock and roll band from 4 different locations in England, we play and write songs with every ounce of energy and all the life we can possibly fit into it. Our home is the stage, we have the time of our lives every night on stage. Seeing people get off on our music is the best thing about being in a band bar none.
You’ve said that you aren’t really part of the current ‘scene’. Does this worry you at all, or are you pleased not to be lumped in with other bands in that way?
Being part of a scene is neither here or there for us, many 'scenes' do well so I'm never going to knock something that works. The flip side to that is there are bands that have been around for 20-50 years that always lived outside a scene, AC/DC, The Stones etc..they might have been part of something at the start but how many scenes have those bands lived through ? At the end of the day people will stand by good music, that's the true test for any band. Look at any great scene from the past 40 years, the ones still standing like AC/DC, The Stones etc are there for a reason. Slipknot are of one the last great nu-metal bands because they are the best and even though they broke up, Oasis are the biggest Brit-pop era band because they are the best.
We've not really been part of a scene so far because there doesn't seem to be many bands like Heaven's Basement. if that changes then great, we'll just aim to be the best in what ever scene that is. Our ambition is to stand the test of time like our idols. We'll carry on making the music we love regardless of what goes on around us.
You have been getting plays from Daniel P Carter and Kerrang! Radio in the last week. What are the common responses you are getting after the plays? Are they indicating the direction of things to come?
Yes, its was awesome to hear 'I am Electric' on the Daniel P Carter show. Whenever a dude like that gets behind your music it feels awesome! Our fan base has responded really well to the new material, we've been playing a few new tracks each night on the tour, it's a really refreshing edition to our set! Everyone knows what the meat and potatoes of Heaven's Basement's sound is, so they'll be no massive surprises with the album, but there is a good mix of dynamics on there - we didn't just want to make a one dimensional album.
You performed your first full on show at Download Festival this year. You sampled some of your new tracks. Did you get feel a good energy from the crowd in response?
Yes, an absolute killer day it was! It's always a fine line performing new songs before people know them but we couldn't resist putting some of the new songs into the set. It fucking kicked off, the 30 min set passed in the blink of eye for us.
If they hadn’t gone down well would you have taken another look at the songs and reconsider the album, or are you completely confident with the sound created on your debut?
We've had 3-4 years building up to this album so we've got a good idea of what works and what doesn't. Not everyone in the world is going to fall in love with every single song on the album, but if we get off on playing songs and feel a vibe when performing them, that alone is usually a good enough indication that we should see a song through to the end.
John Feldman has created some hugely successful US records, but has also become a go to go for a lot of UK rock bands in recent years. Was there a record on his discography that particularly convinced you he’d be a good choice?
Not really to be honest, we didn't even know much about John Feldmanns track record! We're a different animal to most of the other bands he's worked with. We were in LA to meet with different producers, on paper he wasn't the obvious choice, but once we got into a room with him we hit it off and that's all that mattered for us. I personally really enjoyed tracking my drums with Feldy, he really kept me on my toes and encouraged me to think out the box more.
He has a definite way of doing things and has a very strong, energetic personality. Some bands haven’t adapted well to his studio style. How did you find his way?
Whenever anyone comes into the band circle for the first time it always takes a moment for everyone to figure out each other in terms of personalities etc. Feldy has a strong personality, but so do we, it worked for us and that's all that matters. I don't know much about other bands experiences with John but I know he had to adapt to our style and approach, which took him out of his comfort zone too.
It was a roller-coaster at times, but that's fine because at the end of the day everyone was pushing in the same direction and we've come out with an album that we're really proud of. The actual recording process was very quick and impulsive and there was never a calendar or anything like that. We recorded very quickly around the clock and in a very short period of time.
LA can be a pretty distracting place. Did you use this to your advantage - inspiring lyrics, thriving off the energy of the place and its ability to change your mood?
A lot of the songs and ideas were already in place from England. There were riff ideas that Sid found scribbled in one of his school books the other day that have ended up on the album, so that's an example how far back some of the ideas go that have developed into songs! We actually wrote a few songs inspired by our time in LA as well, so it was all good. Originally we planned on doing the album in the UK, but once we hit it off with Feldy we just wanted to get into the studio and get it in the bag. Next album, who knows, maybe we'll do it in England.
It sounds like you managed to maintain focus then. I hear that through jamming you pretty much wrote a batch of coherent songs in 7 days....
Yes, following on from above. We didn't mess around too much. We tended to work in shifts, myself and Aaron during the day, Sid and Rob in the evenings. I don't think anyone tracked any more than 3 takes for a song, capturing energy was more important than perfection for us. A lot of the writing was done with us guys tracking ideas together in the live room.
I’ve heard that you are surprised people have stuck with you through all the line up changes. What do you think it is about what you do that maintains this loyalty?
I think most people always respect anything that shows unconditional loyalty to something. Rock fans are generally the most loyal fans out there so there is an instant connection and mutual feeling between the band and our fans. We've grown up as a band with a lot of our fans so it goes beyond Heaven's Basement just being a band they like. The line-up changes happened way before we got in the studio to do as our debut album, so as far as we're concerned it was the essential they happened when they did to end up in the position we're in now.
Our fans are awesome, the support they shown us when we were down to a three piece for a while was amazing, it gave us lot of encouragement.
How early on did you realize that the current band line up felt right, and that this may be the one to take you to the next level? What elements do you think are of primary importance in creating a good band dynamic?
I knew we were onto something after Aaron's first audition, but that was just the start, after that we spent 6 months with him living together, partying, writing and generally doing everything that band mates do to makesure it was going to work! The strange thing is the band has always felt right to me. Even when we were down to a three piece it still felt strong due to the connection and mutual level ambition between myself, Sid and Rob, so we really took our time in making sure Aaron was made of the same stuff - which of course it turned out he was.
We're just a rock 'n' roll band at the end of the day, it's not rocket science but it's not the easiest thing to find a group of people that click together. Beyond the obvious musical connection the main the elements that make a band work are mainly fundamental social skills you learn as a child haha. Being good friends helps. I've always been in a band with friends, so that's all I've known. I've personally never understood bands that travel separate, have separate dressing rooms etc. You've got to learn to accept that everyone has a different personalities. If you're the type of person that can't adapt to the surroundings or feels out of their comfort zone when things don't go to plan, then I don't think it'd work. I can think of a million examples - being on tour you're lucky to have six hours sleep a night, but it's the same for everyone else in the tour group, so nobody wants to hear someone get arsey about lacking sleep or missing a meal because everyone's in the same boat. Sure, certain things get on each other nerves but that happens in any walk of live from growing up with brothers or sisters, to working in a office with people. Spending 24/7 with a group of people on the road you quickly figure out what everyone is made of and what you're made of. it's just about not letting things get to you and generally taking a laid back approach. Some people can do that, others can't. If you understand that you're not the most important person in the world and have a great time, then what we do is the best thing in the world. Every night on stage is our Saturday night and we're lucky to be able to say that.
You are touring with Halestorm and Seether this A/W. Young Guns are currently out in the US with Seether, and getting some great radio play over there. Do you see that touring with bands like Seether might be a good way in to the US market perhaps?
We've never toured the States, it's something we're looking forward to for sure! Who we'll tour with over there ? We don't know yet. All we know is we love getting in front of audiences who are up for a high energy night, if that happens to be with a band like Seether, or a more mainstream band that people might not expect us to tour with then so be it! We've toured with a lot of U.S bands in Europe like Papa Roach, Shinedown, Halestorm , Buckcherry etc, so I'm sure we'll share the stage with some of those bands at some point.
Recently played on your Ipod?
Actually listening to Muse record right now! Big fan of their new single Madness!
Guilty pleasure?
Prince.
Dream tour?
Aerosmith or Black Sabbath..
Stage you’d most like to play?
I'd love to play Madison Square Gardens, also my home town Arena in Manchester. just from all the shows I've seen there as a kid.
Something that might surprise us about you?
We're actually from four different locations in England so there's a whole mix of accents going on!
Sell 'Filthy Empire' in one sentence...
Filthy Empire is the debut rock album you've been waiting for.
www.heavensbasement.com
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