Interview с H.E.A.T : DARKSIDE.ru

llo Eric!

1) I cannot but ask why did it take so long to make a show in Russia and what do you expect from it?

- That's a very good question. I guess it took us a few years to prepare our livers for all the vodka we will drink. I'm really looking forward to see some parts of Russia and to spend time with our Russian fans. I expect a party and a good time with you guys.

2) There’s much negativity towards Russia in mass media and accusations in different world problems, with even precautions about danger of visits to Russia. What do you think about it, have you been pre-warned about possible problems of coming to Russia?

- I agree that we hear a lot about Russia in mass media. All I can say is that I think it's a shame that there's a lot of prejudices and negativity in the world and I really look forward to visit your country.

3) Have you even interacted with Russian people before? What was the first impress? Did you hear Russian or even Soviet music? Do you remember any names/titles?
- We've had a few Russian fans at our shows in Europe and you always strike me as

thick-skinned bad ass party people.

4) “Into the Great Unknown ” is quite diverse and kind of unexpected in its sound – is there an explanation to such a stylistic difference? Weren’t you afraid of misunderstanding from you fans?
- Personally I would like to see Heat have the same diversity as Queen. They wrote opera songs, pop songs, rock anthem songs etc and I like to have that freedom when I'm being creative. I knew the fans would have something to say about this album because it's a bit different from our previous albums. It's not my favorite album with Heat but it's got some good stuff.

5) Who made decisions about the first song to come out of the album? Was it your choice or the record label rules the process?
- We always decide which songs to put on the album but if we can't reach a decision within the band, we let the record label have a say in the process. We like to include our partners in the process.

6) Sticking to the subject of stylistic variety on the latest album, what kind of music do the other members of the band listen to? Are there any musicians who inspire you and

colleagues?
- We all listen to a lot of different genres like jazz, blues, rock, pop. We all have our old heroes (mine is Freddie Mercury) but I think we don't really care which artist we are listening to as long as it's a good song.

7) You usually mention all the band member as authors of the recent album, but anyway, who does most of work?
- I would say that Jona Tee has always been very productive and comes up with most of the ideas even though we usually co-write it in the end.

8) There’re 10 songs at the album, but for the previous ones there were always some songs unreleased, which were presented later as bonus tracks. Are there any songs left from this session? How many songs do you usually work at?
- We write 25-30 songs before entering the studio and record 14-16 of those songs. After that we choose the songs we like best and put it on the album.

9) Sweden has given huge amount of known musicians of different genres. Do Swedish have a secret genome for creating beautiful melodies? 
- I guess it's just in our culture and we take a lot of pride in o

ur music heritage. We have a lot to thank etc. for.

10) Anyway, your native city Upplands Väsby, seemingly not that big for Europe, has given the world such stars as Europe, Yngwie Malmsteen, Candlemass, Therion and the others. What’s the secret – in the special atmosphere of the place or in quality work of the local municipality, aimed to help developing the talents?
- I'm not from Upplands Väsby so it's hard for me to answer that but I guess they've always been very generous in terms of helping bands out with rehearsal spaces and things like that. The artists you mention above showed that you can come from a small town as Upplands Väsby and achieve great things. I think that's a great inspiration for a lot of generations to come.

11) In 2013-2015 the festival Vasby Rock was held in your city, where you played twice. The festival was nice, but regretfully it’s been closed up in 2016. Do you know if there any plans about reviving the festival? Did you play in your city beside the festival and what did that mean for you?
- I have no idea about the plans for The Vasby Rock Festival. I think we've done

a few other shows in Upplands Väsby but for me it was just another show since I have no connection to Upplands Väsby.

12) There was a bar Jackpot in Upplands Väsby with your early posters on the walls and with beer Hadiraja in the bar cart. Did you play there or just its owner was your fan?

- The owner was and still is our friend so we spent a lot of time there and also had a release party there for Tearing Down The Walls.

13) After leaving of Kenny Leckremo you must have had a serious casting – were there many pretenders to this place? Did you know any of the band members or you first met them on casting?
- No they basically just asked me if I wanted to join the band and we had one meeting and then I joined.

14) Is any of the musicians still in touch with him or maybe you all hang out sometimes?
- I meet him from time to time at Dave's place.

15) In august it’ll 10 years since the debut album was released – did you plan to celebrate it somehow? Like having a special mini-tour with playing all songs from the album or inviting the

musicians from the very first lineup to play together?
- Nope. We realized that we missed our 10 year anniversay so we'll aim for a big party on our 20th anniversary instead.

16) You had two solo albums before H.E.A.T., Jona Tee was in live lineup of Jimi Jamison band и Treat, and you both took part in recording of the Sister album “Stand up forward march” But that’s all for the side projects. Why? Don’t you have enough time or there’s no interesting offers or you just don’t want to?
- I'm the manager of Sister so that's not a side project for me, rather something I take very serious. I try to spend my whole life doing what I like doing and that's why I have a lot of other things going on.

17) Could you elaborate on your participating in Sister – “Stand up forward march!” album recording? How did you get in there? Are you friends with Sister? Are you really their manager?
- Yes, I'm the manager of the band and we asked Jona to produce the album.

18) Is there any material you recorded for the band but it didn’t fit to its sound and those songs were saved in the archives for

a possible solo album? Who would you invite for its recording?
- If you mean material for Heat I guess we have a lot of material in the archives but if I ever do something solo it would probably not be any of those songs.

19) I know you took part in project Jesus Christ Superstar . What kind of show it was? What was the response?
- That was an amazing experience. I played Simon – one of the apostles in Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert which was aired live on NBC April 1 together with John Legend, Alice Cooper, Sara Barellies etc. I think the response after that has been great.

20) During your tour in 2014 you often came off stage to the audience and interacted with fans a lot. Do you still do this, should we expect it after you Moscow show?
- Yes, sometimes we do that. Too early to say if you can expect it in Moscow, depends on how much vodka you give us.

21) What kind of stages you prefer – festival or small venues? Which of the gigs made an impression on you?
- No preference – there's a charm to both festival and small venues. I really liked the show we did with Scorpions in Madrid, that was something special.

22) Do you remember your first show with the bands, what are the memories of it?
- Chaos.

Хаос!

23) After the show in Malmo you had a signing session and played a small acoustic set. How often such things happen? Don’t you plan to have a big acoustic show with its recording?
- Did we? I don't remember that so I guess it doesn't happen that often.

24) Your parents attended the gig on Copenhagen. How often do you invite your friends and relatives for the shows? How are they feeling about you choosing the path of musician?
- At first they were a bit sceptic and wanted me to study and get “a real job” (whatever that is) but after I won Swedish Idol and started buying expensive cars they stopped worrying. Friends and relatives are always welcome to join the shows.

Сначала они были весьма скептически настроены и хотели, чтобы я взялся за ум, стал учиться и получил “настоящую работу” (какой бы она не была), но после того, когда я победил на шведском Idol и начал покупать дорогие машины, они прекратили беспокоится. Друзья и семья всегда желанные гости на наших выступлениях.

25) Did you know that Tobias Sammet sang a song on the second H.E.A.T. album? Did you hear his opera Avantasia? If he invites you to record some music together and to touring, would you agree? - Yes I've heard that song and it sounds great. I haven't heard Avantasia and the tour offer would depend on the deal.

26) Have you decided already what to see in Moscow? What do the fans should expect from the show?
- We will only be there for a very short time so I guess I've got plans to see the airport and the venue. We will give the fans the best Heat show in Russia ever!

Thank you for the replies, hope to see you in summer!
9 июл 2018 the End