H.E.A.T. has to be one of the best live Hard Rock bands around at the moment and they are bringing their live energy down under again this year for shows at Glam Fest Australia in Sydney and Melbourne this February 16th and 18th. Mark from The Rockpit caught up with Kenny to find out all about the new record and the excitement around returning to Australia for Glam Fest.

Mark: Hey, Kenny, how are you?

Kenny: Mark, how you doing? Are you alright?

Mark: Very good, thanks, mate. It’s great to see you coming back to Australia for the Glam Fest. Last time we met was upstairs at the Adelaide show last year.

Kenny: Yeah, that’s right, I remember that, that was a great time!

Mark: It was fantastic, it was great to finally see you, and it certainly lived up to all my expectations.

Kenny: You are too kind!

Mark: I’ve seen every band on the bill over the years except one, and looking forward to seeing them all again, it’s a great bill.

Kenny: How’s the weather down there?

Mark: Well, we are over in Western Australia, and it’s ridiculous at the moment, where are you right now?

Kenny: I’m in Stockholm.

Mark: So you must be well into the minus temperatures at the moment?

Kenny: Oh, yes!! We are kind of putting pieces together for what is to become a new album, so we’re working hard.

Mark: I was talking to Mats, from Cruel Intentions, the other day, and he said it was -21 degrees where he is!! Today, here, it’s 40 degrees!!

Kenny: What?!! Did you say 40 degrees?

Mark: Yep, 40 degrees, it should be cooler over east, but what gets you over there is the humidity sometimes. One of the things I was going to ask you was about new music, because we had Extra Force out, which tied up a few loose ends that were some new tracks, which I loved, “Will You Be” is probably one of my favourite H.E.A.T. ballads, and also “Freedom”, which is another great new track, a few re-records and then some live songs. What was the thought behind that? Was it just like a stop gap between the new record and the previous ones?

Kenny: I think it’s like most bands, they have like an album cycle, and so typically what happens is you go in for the recording sessions of an album and you end up recording almost like a little bit more than you need, almost always. And so I think the record company, and us, we both felt the same, we have these tracks and why not just share the music with people? We didn’t release them on Force Majeure”, but what’s the point of hanging on to tracks? We’ve recorded them, we as a band, as most fans of us will know, we are quite multi-faceted, we have a lot of different takes on Hard Rock, and even sometimes borderline Heavy Metal, and we love that, we love all kinds of different inspirations and styles. We had two tracks that we had, that never made it on to “Force Majeure” so why not just release them? and enjoy the music, and of course the fans and everyone else who listens to Heat, are going to enjoy it.

Mark: They were great songs, and it’s like a lot of bands say you always have a couple of songs that are similar and you can’t put them both on the album and so one of them gets held back.

Kenny: Yeah, exactly, I think it’s like a double edged sword, you want to create an album that has this solid listening experience, that we are all looking for, you’re looking for a solid package, this album is complete now, and everything completes itself in a way. I remember, and I’m sure you do as well, in the late 90’s people released albums that had 14/15 songs, because they could on a CD right? I’m not sure that makes for a better album, it makes it like an extended project or like a “best of” the last 2 or 3 years. I just prefer to put together an album that sort of sings and plays for itself and then you usually have a bunch of extra songs and you can do a lot of fun things with them, and then the record company pushed us to say why don’t we do something with this, and so we just put together “Extra Force’.

Mark: I think that sort of thinking fits in well with the resurgence of vinyl as well, because we can’t cram 14 tracks on to vinyl! And, to be honest by the end of the 90’s, 2000’s there weren’t that many really great 14 track albums!!

Kenny: No, that’s what I mean, and how is the average fan going to absorb 14/15 tracks, on one album, that’s a lot of minutes of music! It’s a difficult thing, but I would say I prefer, I wouldn’t say short albums, but I would say I prefer effective albums.

Mark: Sounds good to me! How far have you progressed with the new album?

Kenny: We are past the demo stage, I would say we are deep in there, we’re recording things. What’s really special now, I find is we’re experimenting a bit, we’re playing around, and we had a couple of sessions where we go through, a little bit more old school approach, and some parts are written on the spot, it’s exciting!

Mark: It must be lovely to be able to do that and play around, especially when the band’s all there.

Kenny: Of course, and I would have to give credit where credit is due, and that is to our record company, the fact that they stand behind us and support us in all this musical adventure, it’s quite rare today. I find I hear from people all the time, their record company just wants them to put together a demo list and pick the best handful of songs and just record them, making it fast, I think there’s a time for that, but I don’t think every album plays out that way.

Mark: Yes, they do seem supportive. A couple of bands I’ve spoken to on the same label as you, have said that as well, you must’ve found the right one. Let’s talk about creativity a bit, coming back to the band back in 2021 as you did, had things changed in your absence?

Kenny: I would say that there’s so much that hasn’t changed, and that has changed. Basically what they did was the band became an adult, that’s the best way I can describe it! I quit in 2010, and at that time we were all a bunch of young kids, in so many ways, and the music I would say was also in it’s infancy, which was great in many aspects, and of course we tried to recapture as much of that as was possible, especially now. But the band kind of really grew in to its own, with Eric, and that’s one of the things that I am so happy about, so thankful to be able to come back to the band, in to something that is much more grounded and more established. It’s like a young kid, their mind is spinning around and they don’t know what they want, and everything is upside down all the time, whereas when you grow up, as you get older, you’ve gone through all the experiences, and you can paint a better picture of what you want to do, and what you want to sound like especially as a band. When I came back to the band, I think Heat was much closer to being the final product, as it were, that we wanted to always aspire it to be, starting out. It’s very difficult when you’re a young kid and your musical journey has just begun, you’re taken by the latest inspiration always. So back in those days we’d been listening to a lot of Survivor, Toto, Giant, we’d just discovered all that turbo melodic A.O.R., but previous to that all of us were metal heads, we listened to Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, the classic Manowar, all of those kinds of bands.

Mark: That really comes across, there’s so much energy in the band, one of the things that really impressed me was the amount of energy you had on stage, how much you were giving to the audience, and how much in turn that affected the audience and they gave it back. I think that’s one of the best things about seeing a live band, is that energy that lights up the room!

Kenny: I completely agree.

Mark: So, as far as inspiration is concerned, what inspires you? You talk about some of your influences, what interests you as far as a lyric, or even just a few words, how do you put stuff together? Does it just come to you?

Kenny: I would say some things definitely just come to you, you talk about “lightening in a bottle” right, so sometimes you have those moments, and whether it’s lyrically or musically, usually they come and they go hand in hand, and you try to capture as much of that as is possible in the moment. But, I would say that it’s largely, a lot of the lyrics are based on things that are happening to us as a band, it could be different situations, it could be someone’s relationship, or it could be a best friend of somebody in the band, it could be your life, it could be someone that you have followed closely, it could be some kind of world event, it’s endless! You can tap in to so much, I find as a band right now we are inspired by a lot of different things, we are kind of limitless in that regard, so it’s very freeing, and right now I think we’re just like soaking up all kinds of ideas and inspirations, of course other bands and other kinds of music inspire you as well. I would say that we are really inspired by things that happen in and around us, things that are part of life in one way or another.

Mark: It brings it all to life.

Kenny: Just as an example every now and again you write about something a little more personal. You take a private situation and turn it into what is almost like a public statement, where everyone can sympathize in one way or another. Most people have had their hearts broken you know at one point, or everyone’s gone through a really shitty situation that really beats you down. On “Force Majeure” for example there are a few songs that are just like that. I wrote about my own life in “Tainted Blood” for example, and there a lot of examples where we used that to our advantage.

Mark: It’s a fantastic album and now that I’ve had a couple of years of listening I do think it’s one of my favourite H.E.A.T. records.

Kenny: That’s really cool!

Mark: It’s not often you can say that to a band with such a great catalogue already.

Kenny: And we are a few years in as well! (laughs)

Mark: Well, I make it that you’re 17 this year, almost old enough to drink and vote!

Kenny: Yes almost! We’re getting there! (Laughs)

Mark: One thing I’ve been asking a lot lately and getting some very varied answers is: what do you do to keep your voice in shape? Since you came back to the band you’re sounding stronger than ever! I know that you keep yourself physically fit and do a lot of running and things like that…

Kenny: Yes

Mark: But how do you keep that voice in shape? Are you one of those lucky few who do not need to do anything, or is there a secret you can share?

Kenny: Well, I don’t know. I wouldn’t say that I am particularly lucky, though of course anyone who has a band and is able to travel to Australia to play a music festival from Europe has to be considered lucky! (Laughs) But I just sing, and it comes, no pun intended, straight from the heart. I sing with my whole body and of course one day I may be a bit more on and one day a bot more off, it depends a bit. But I don’t take it all for granted as I used to. When I was a bit younger it was like ‘pedal to the metal and don’t give a shit.’ But now I think I treat myself a little bit more cautiously. I know that in order to be in shape to play a show I have to potentially warm up a little bit or sing in advance, so I don’t shock my system. I think staying physically fit helps me to sing as well, but it’s not just that, it’s also like you said before, we put on quite a physical show now and when you run around and shout and sing the songs and jump at the same time: all that stuff. I demand a lot from my body so I have to put in the work to make sure I maintain that, you know. So what you eat is kinda important and you have to get good sleep. But I do all of that so that I can be a bit more relaxed, and if I wanna party, if we had a good show, I can do that, it’s not really an issue. But in terms of vocals performance, I do a little bit of warm-up once n a while before shows, but I should probably spend more time looking into these things, but I just don’t because I am such a, I don’t know what you would call it, I’m just a passionate singer. I’m driven by passion – I’m not so much of a technician! (Laughs)

Mark: I think some like John Waite and Glenn Hughes who both tell me they do nothing really are just lucky and sound as good as ever decades in.

Kenny: I know what you mean but I think it’s one thing to say that, but what happens in actuality is maybe something that you might not even think about. You establish your own routines, you know, you have your own little tricks, and I think if you go in depth with anyone who sings for a living I think most of them will have their own little tricks, you know. Things that they do that they probably don’t even think about, they just do it! (Laughs)

Mark: And you know in yourself when you have to hold back and when to let fly, when you can let fly!

Kenny: Yeah, oh yeah! Definitely. You wake up one day and you think “Oh shit, maybe I’m coming down with something, maybe I’ve got a cold coming or whatever.” And you now already by then that you have to respect that your body needs to rest a little bit more, and you need to think about what you’re doing because you might have another four, five days of shows back to back. But it also depends on the kind of music that you sing of course. I would say that the kind of songs that we do are not the easiest songs you could be singing. No disrespect, and there’s an art to any style of music, but there’s a big difference to singing as we talk right now (Kenny sings with plenty in reserve) and ‘giving it the beans!’ (Laughs)

Mark: (Laughs) I’ve also been asked if you will be bringing any merch over, I’m guessing not for such a short run?

Kenny: Yeah, as most people are aware travelling huge distances as we are and bringing production items is very difficult for us. But we were working on solutions, so hopefully we will have something available but I can’t really guarantee anything right now. But we’ll see when we get there.

Mark: So I’ll have to bring my vinyl reissues for you to sign then! (Laughs) I love those reissues – the first album and “Freedom Rock” they came out beautifully!

Kenny: Of course we will! That’s really cool – you got the first two! We are really stoked at having the opportunity to release those two and basically giving the songs a little bit of a fresh take, a bit of new life.

Mark: They were both on the old label “StormVox”.

Kenny: That’s right. That was such a difficult time for us, we had a bunch of people involved and I’m not going to disrespect what we did at the time because when we were originally working on the albums we were really happy with them. But there were a few things sonically that maybe didn’t live up to our ambition when we released them originally. So now we had the opportunity to go in, listen to all the original stuff and just bring it to where we wanted it. And the other thing I have to mention too is those re-releases – everything you hear – nothing has been re-recorded or touched up. It all comes from the same sessions, the same recordings.

Mark: But you’re right it does sound fresher somehow, a glorious new life!

Kenny: Yes!

Mark: Now here’s a little aside, last time you came over did you realise, and this is something I only saw when I got home from the show, is that the tour T-shirt mis-spelled Australia?

Kenny: (Laughs) I didn’t know that! Oh man that has to be one of those one off things like a mis-pressed CD! That’s kinda funny! But it’s also a collectors item! (Laughs)

Mark: I shall wear it and show you when you get over for Glam Fest!

Kenny: Do it!

Mark: There are a lot of us Western Australians coming over to see you at the Brisbane (Now cancelled) and Sydney and Melbourne shows – that’s a five-and-a-half-hour flight. A bit like doing a U.K. Tour with one date in Moscow!

Kenny: (Laughs) That’s a good analogy of what it must be for you guys! It’s a huge difference right. Just travelling in one state is huge. I remember arriving in Sydney and now fully being aware of the distances. I had this thought in the back of my mind that if shit hits the fan and flights aren’t working as they should, then we just jump in a car right? Just like everywhere else right? Because when you’re European that’s how it goes! You can drive just about anywhere! No issue – especially if it’s in the same country. But I was shocked at the distances in Australia!

Mark: I remember as a kid in the U.K. getting in a car then a ferry and in a few hours you could be in France or Italy of Portugal!

Kenny: That’s what I mean! (Laughs) That’s what we are used to! That’s all we know!

Mark: Thank you so much my friend it will be fantastic to see you again.

Kenny: It’s gonna be great Mark! Thank you so much, I can’t wait, last time was fantastic and Danny is such a cool guy as well. The fact that he’s managed to get all these cool bands down to Australia is crazy! It really is crazy!

Mark: Take care my friend thanks Kenny! See you at Glam Fest!

Kenny: You too! See you later! Bye!