Mick Gives It Heaps

Rip It Up, Issue 82, 1 May 1984, Page 4

Mick Gives It Heaps

Uriah Heep hit New Zealand near the end of a nine month global tour. The only respite during that time was a brief break over Christmas ("to check into the hospital”) but guitarist Mick Box doesn’t seem the least bit tired of the road. "I love it. It might seem a bit odd to some people but to us it’s just our way of life. We’ve visited 17 countries so far on this tour and some of them have been pretty bizarre. In Indonesia they went apeshit they hadn't had a rock band there for about a decade. "Of course we had to play in front of the censors there, just to make sure we weren’t polluting the kids’ minds or something. So they came along to the soundcheck and we turned off the PA completely and just played thru our back line and did one of our softer songs, at about half volume. They thought that was alright so they went away and on the night we turned it up and everyone loved it.” You’ve been in heavy metal ever since it was born as a genre do you think it’s continuing to change? “It’s changing but it’ll always keep its fundamentals. You can’t come out as a heavy metal or hard rock band and then start veering off in another direction, because you start to lose identity and all the people who like what you're about in the first place, you’ll lose.” What about metal guitar specifically? Is it progressing? “I think it’s very much progressing. Someone like Van Halen came along and shook up the world for a bit. He came along as a very dynamic player, very versatile, he had every trick in the book. He was like a fresh guitar hero. I'm more of the old school myself. I’ve noticed that even in places like holiday inn bars in America, every night there's an Eddie Van Halen clone. I don’t sway that way. I like to keep my own identity.” So how would you differ from him? "Technically, we’re both as

proficient. I think he goes for a bit more sensationalism in his playing. Upfront tricks all the time, in every song. When I heard Michael Jackson's ‘Beat It’ I immediately knew It was Eddie Van Halen playing on it.” You use wah-wah both live

and in the studio. I can't think of anyone else who uses it much these days. “Yeah. I started using it back in the 70s, then dropped it for a little while then started using it again on Head First. I enjoyed using it again all the tones you can get, you can open up, make it talk. I like it because you can be playing along or doing a solo and you just kick