Rock legends in focus 2012. URIAH HEEP’s Trevor Bolder talks to The Rockpit about touring, Heep’s latest album, Ziggy Stardust and more.
Shane:- How was last year’s touring?
Trevor:- Excellent, We did three weeks in The U.S., then we went off and did some shows in Europe, that was about two weeks which [were] brilliant and we’re very pleased with it.
Shane:- Then you hit, I think it was Scandinavia?
Trevor:- Holland, Belgium – we’re getting really tired now. We [had been] on the road for 6 months solid. I didn’t see my children. Then we [went] to Scandinavia, then to Venezuela to finish up the end of the year.
Shane:- I bet you were looking forward to that!
Trevor:- Yeah, we enjoy being out on the road [but it’s nice to get home]. And when we released the new album, we tried to do as many shows that are possible. We hadn’t been to Australia in over twenty years – we really do enjoy it there.
Shane :- We were disappointed you didn’t make it to Western Australia! Congratulations on the new album [Into The Wild, released 2011] its really, really cool, its one of the strongest albums from Heep in many years!!
Trevor:- We’re really pleased with it – we went into the studio just after [last] Christmas not knowing what we were going to record. We decided to just go in and record stuff. We had load of bits and pieces of songs and we were in the studio changing things and it turned out brilliant, and we just recorded it straight out. It was a sort of hands on thing and it turned out great.
Shane :- Yeah it has a real spark to it, a real energy!
Trevor:- I think that is because we did it the way we did – we just wanted to write songs there and then in the studio, finish them off, get them down as quickly as possible so the energy is there, and I think [drummer] Russell, he brings a lot to the table , with his playing as well he is a very aggressive drummer and he can play in every style as well, which helps.
Shane:-Are you playing any of the new songs live?
Trevor:-Yeah we are doing about 4 or 5
Shane:-How are they going down?
Trevor:-It’s good. Usually what you do, you look around the audience to see how many people are singing, and we get a lot of kids singing
Shane:-Great!! You seem really fired up – does this feel like almost a new chapter in the band history, since “Wake The Sleeper” [2008’s “comeback” album]?
Trevor :-Yeah yeah – “…Sleeper” was a great record. We basically got everything, we got new management and basically we decided we wanted to refresh the band and came out there with a bit of energy. If you get to see the band live it’s real energetic, it’s powerful and strong and takes a lot of effort and that’s the way we wanted to go, we wanted to go out with a refreshing look and everything about it ,and think we achieved that.
Shane:- Yeah very much so. Apart from Russell you guys have been together for 25 years now. Does that make the recording process easier knowing each other that well?
Trevor:- Yeah we are a family and [because of that the new album] is the best thing we have ever done. I think we have done some great albums in the past but this one – everyone really likes it.
Shane:- You have travelled the world as a rock musician for 40 years. Where is the one place you have always wanted to play but have never made it?
Trevor:- China (laughs)
Shane:- Big audience out there!
Trevor:-Yeah, I think that would be interesting! We went to Russia when it was communist which was quite a buzz to see that before it all changed. I think the one country we don’t go to enough is Australia, I really love Australia! I have been there a few times it’s just got something about it that’s very English (laughs)
Shane:- Your 2011 visit was pretty short…
Trevor:-Yeah we got there then the next day we played a show, I think it was Brisbane, then the next day we did Sydney, then the next day we did Melbourne then the next day we flew home – we were only there for a few days!
Shane:-Not exactly a holiday is it.
Trevor:- No not really (both laugh) We would like to come and do some more shows rather than just doing the three.
Shane:-What have been your career highlights and low point to date?
Trevor:-I think going to Russia was a big moment for us. As I said we went to Russia, we went to Moscow when we played the Olympic stadium – that was a big high with it still being Communist. The low I don’t really have any to be honest… I think maybe the lowest point that I had was actually when I left the band in ‘81 and I [just] had to get out. It was a bit of a low point really. But I had a great time with Wishbone Ash, they were a great band and great musicians to play with. Lucky enough I got the invitation to come back, like a family sort of thing, so that was great.
Shane:- COOL! Despite being a member of Uriah Heep for over 30 years and two stints with the band, many people will always remember you more as a pivotal member of David Bowie’s Spiders From Mars. How do you feel about the legacy of that period of your life?
Trevor:- That was a brilliant period of time. I went from being a local musician in a band from Hull [In North East England], to the heights of being in one of the worlds’ biggest bands. You can’t explain that, I mean it’s just the biggest thrill I ever had. Also the thing about Spiders, it was such a cult thing. People come up to me all the time and want to talk about Spiders!! It was a great time – it’s hard to explain what it felt like, to do what you always wanted to do. As a musician it was to be in a really big band and travel the world and do all that. For it to happen so fast was such a thrill. It was one of the big highlights of my life being in that band.
Shane:- You were also part of the Cybernauts, playing Bowie and Mick Ronson songs with Joe Elliot from Def Leppard and the Spiders From Mars’ Woody Woodmansey…
Trevor :- Yeah, Yeah, we did that. We put a band together to do a concert in Eden Hill and there were lots of people coming up and playing and we decided, we had done a few shows in England and we did one in Dublin. Joe lives in Dublin, so he brought out a mobile recording studio, and we decided to record the show and it sounded so good that we put it out in Japan then we sold it on the net as well. I mean, it’s a great album.
Shane :- Yeah, I like it, it’s really cool!!!
Trevor :- Yeah it’s a great modern sound
Shane :- It’s really modernised those old songs, I thought it brought a nice edge to it.
Trevor :- Yeah we have been talking about getting back together and doing another tour and maybe recording some more stuff. But we are all out on the road, all the time, we just haven’t had the time to do it. So, maybe in the future.
Shane :- You have played on some classic albums in your time. If there was one song or album throughout history that you could have been involved in the recording of, what would that be?
Trevor :- (laughs) Probably “Diamond Dogs“ with Bowie ‘cos that is such a great album. It would have been nice to have played on that one.
Shane:- What album would be the soundtrack on this part of your life?
Trevor :- I suppose this one, it’s what we are doing now, and what I am doing now is the future and it’s keeping me alive and it’s keeping me still playing. It‘s a gateway to the future with what’s going on.
Shane :- It’s a really positive and uplifting record – not just with the lyrical content but also with the energy.
Trevor :- Yeah, we are all in our 60’s – I am 61 now and I feel like an 18 year old kid up there. We put a lot of energy into it! So I suppose it has given us another push and another lease on life and stuff and we are really, really enjoy playing these songs – it’s just been endless. People are really interested!
Shane :-: Finally mate, we ask all our interviewees, for you what is the meaning of life?
Trevor:- I got a wife, children so family – and playing music.
Shane:- Awesome!!!! Thank you very much for your time today. And Good Luck with the album and the ongoing tour…
Trevor:- OK, Cheers and thanks. Hopefully we get to come down and see you.
Shane :- Well hopefully in 2012…
