Interview with H.E.A.T.

So, I was thinking about your last tour. YAM covers a lot of music and events in Asia, and many Swedish bands have a big fan base in Asia, like Europe, Roxette, Yngwie Malmsten and so on. Europe’s music is kind of similar to your music. By the way, have you been working with them?

Jona: Hm, no not really. We haven’t been working with them.

Ok, so even though they play very similar music and originate from the same town (Upplands Väsby) as you guys?

Jimmy: It is pretty easy to believe that we should be working with them, but no. We have met them a bunch of times, and we are signed to the same label as them (GAIN), and under the same management. But we have never worked with them.

Dave: Yeah, but still, as we grew up they were always a source of inspiration.

Jona: It has always been cool, that Europe is from Väsby like us. And it might have worked as a motivation to start playing in a band someday.

Dave: Exactly. Europe showed us that it is possible for a band like us to make it, and that motivated us I guess.

Jimmy: The stories about Europe, that they went to the same school as you and then became one of the biggest bands in the world of their time makes everything feel a lot closer and easier to absorb. You feel that, “Yeah, that can also be me”.

Like I mentioned before, bands like Europe and many other Swedish rock bands have made it big in Asia. One of my questions that I wrote down before I came here was why do you think that Swedish music works in Asia? But now I realize that it might be pretty hard to answer that… or is it?

Jimmy: I believe that it is also a question of why they become so big. Is it because they are from Sweden, or is it based merely on the type of music those bands were playing? The Swedish musical inheritance is very strong with bands like Abba and Roxette and that might have affected Asia’s view of Swedish music.

Dave: It might also have been that European music was very restricted to Asian countries before the 80s and when it finally reached Asia, the people became interested in the new sound and embraced it more easily. It’s hard to say.

Yeah possibly. But anyhow, H.E.A.T. changed their label company recently, from StormVox to GAIN and Sony. How did that feel?

Jona: It feels great. Sony is more professional and more genuine compared to StormVox, without trash talking StormVox.

Jimmy: Yeah, but it also feels that Sony can succeed where the other labels don’t because they are as big as a label company. The people at Sony have that experience and routine that makes every decision easier to take because they know if they can make it or not.

Dave: It’s easier for us now, to get our ideas into action. We could do that with StormVox, but is at a whole different level with Sony.

Ok, last question guys. What happens in the future for H.E.A.T.? What’s the situation ten years from now?

Eric G: We want to take it as far as possible, and take all opportunities we can get. But we also believe in keeping it slow and steady, one gig at a time. So in ten years might be the time when we hit our peak.

Crash: It can take time, and I think that everybody is fine with that. We will do our thing and maybe in ten years, people will understand what the hell we are doing. [All laugh]

Jimmy: Yeah, but I think that we will never feel that this is where we want to have reached. We will always keep wanting more and reach higher.

Jona: That might be the case for every band. There is never one goal, just milestones to be reached.

All right, thanks a lot guys!

All: Thank you!

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By Peter Andersson