My name is Dmitriy Smirnov. I'm from Odessa, Ukraine. I represent "Magic Box Association", a local organisation, which aims to help young bands/musicians from Ukraine to perform here and away. We also organise a lot of gigs of famous bands here, and different master classes.

We were lucky enough to meet "Uriah Heep" in Odessa before their concert here, and conduct an interview in their bus! We also went to their gig in the evening 28/02/2006. That was amazing!

So, the interview... We've translated it into Russian and will publish it on our website shortly (www.magic-box.od.ua). The original version is here below.


Dmitriy Smirnov,
Magic Box Association
Odessa, Ukraine
www.magic-box.od.ua
+38 050 333 38 34

P.S. Please, pass our greetings to Mick, Bernie and others! That was pleasure for us to get acquainted with the legends!

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Uriah Heep interview
28th February, 2006

Magic Box: How long has your band existed for?

Bernie Shaw, Uriah Heep, lead vocalist: Started in 1970, so this year's our 36th anniversary.

MB: Do you usually celebrate significant dates, connected with your band?

Bernie:  We usually celebrate such events with recordings - studio recordings, live recordings. We did it on the 20th anniversary, and on the 30th anniversary as well. This year is a kind of starting a world tour on our 36th anniversary.

MB: You are in Ukraine for the third time now. How do you find Ukrainian fans, and also organisation of your concerts here?

Bernie: Organisation's a lot better than the first couple of times. It seems that every time when we come back it's a little better than during our previous visits. The fans have always been great to Uriah Heep. Every night so far in this tour we've had very full houses of people having a good time. Unfortunately, there's always a lot of security people in these venues and sometimes they take it upon themselves to try and keep the people down, whereas my job is to get the people UP. We want to let the people enjoy themselves. You know, they're not gonna go too crazy. Although there's one or two people who go crazy. But so far it's been very good.

MB: Well, but safety of the musicians is the first duty of organizers!

Bernie: Yeah, but sometimes they take their job a bit too literally. We don't need seventeen security people. One would do! (laughing).

MB: So, you wanna shake hands with your fans.

Bernie: Of course, and we do at the end!

MB: Back to your band. How long have you played together with the people who will come on stage in Odessa Sport Palace tonight? How many people are in Uriah Heep staff?

Bernie: We've played for twenty years together. Some people have been working in Uriah Heep a bit less than that. There are five people on stage and four behind the stage. That's our crew.

MB: And who's the leader of this legendary group?

Bernie: (pointing at the long-haired shy guy, sitting next to me) That's his band, he started it! And he's the leader.

Mick Box, Uriah Heep, guitar: Yeah, that's why I have a presidential suite (smiling).

MB: What instrument do you play?

Mick Box: Gibson Les Paul, Black Beauty, the best guitar in the world!

MB: How many concerts a year do you play?

Mick: Well, it varies every year. From sixty to two hundred. We do a lot of concerts every year.

MB: What about rehearsals?

Mick: We rehearse basically when we go to a studio to record a new album. Then we spend about two weeks at the rehearsal studio.

MB: All of your colleagues in Uriah Heep are from England. Is that true?

Mick: Not really. I'm from London. Bernie's from Canada, Lee (Lee Kerslake, drums) lives in Canarian  Islands, Phil (Phil Lanzon, keyboards) lives in South of England, and Trevor (Trevor Bolder, bass) is from Hull, it's in the North of England.

MB: All of your musicians are from different places! How come that you guys play together?

Mick: Travor came from audition, Lee came from audition, Bernie came from audition, and Phil+Phil also came from audition!

MB: And this crucial audition was initiated by Mick Box! Are you a songwriter as well?

Mick: I write with Phil, and Travor writes a lot of songs at the moment. We hope that everyone will contribute.

MB: A lot of Ukrainian musicians have sent us e-mails with their questions to Uriah Heep . One of them was,  What famous artists/bands do you communicate with?".

Bernie:  Nazareth",  Jet Rotal",   Scorpions". We played with Nazareth in St. Petersburg last week.

MB: So this tour includes Russian and Ukrainian cities.

Mick: In Russia - only St. Petersburg, in Ukraine - Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kiev, Kharkov, Kherson, Nikolaev, Odessa, Zaporozhie.

MB: And then - back to England where you presently live?

Mick: Yes, we base ourselves in England now.

MB: What studio do you basically use for your records?

Mick: Well, we change it every time. Depends on what studio's available at the time you want to make records.

MB: Which one you liked best?

Mick: They're all the same, really. I like studios, which have analog equipment rather than (as opposed to) digital one, cause I think it's more suited to our music.

Bernie: And a residential, where we can actually stay and live, rather than commute back from home every night. It's better when you stay at the studio 24 hours a day, so that you don't lose track.

MB: Do you feel yourself a star? Well of course, you do. But how do you cope with your fame?

Mick: You've got to be a star on stage. But lots of people, who are stars on stage, try to be stars off stage+ It's very easy to adjust, if you're not like that. If people come up to you and you stop and talk to them in the street, that's fine, there's nothing wrong with that! The thing is if you walk down with the big black glasses and four bodyguards with you, you're creating a problem!

MB: Apart from gigs, rehearsals, recordings, what else is your time for?

Mick: I go to a gym on weekends, I also go to watch football matches, and the most important - I have a five-year-old boy, my son!

MB: So now you try to spend as much time as possible with your family. True?

Mick: We've been away for already a month now, because before St. Petersburg and Ukraine we went to India, Indonesia, Thailand, then London for one night. When I get home after this tour I'll meet my boy and my wife there. And hopefully, they'll give me a big hug! You see, in your life you need a foundation, a real home. And for me family is the foundation.

MB: Have you, by chance, heard of any Ukrainian rock singers/bands?

Mick: Unfortunately, no. We've never got to see them, probably because they haven't appeared on an international level yet.

MB: Could you give a short advice to Ukrainian bands, who are planning to appear on your level and become famous like Uriah Heep?

Mick: You have to work hard on what you do. But I think the most important element is BELIEF. If you believe in yourself, then it will come good.

Bernie:  Belief, dedication, a lot of practice and a lot of luck!

MB: What do you expect from tonight's concert?

Mick: We expect everyone to go home with a big smile on their face!