Heaven's Basement are not only popping their Soundwave cherry this year, but this is their first official time on Aussie soil. We spoke to them about all things Soundwave, and learned a few quirky things about the band along the way... Check it out!
How did you guys come about? Is there a story behind the forming of Heaven's Basement?
Basically me and Sid, the guitar player, met in 2006 when we were parts of a different banda, but those bandw didn’t work out so in late 2007 we started Heaven's Basement with a few other guys. Then over time a few guys had come and gone until we met Rob in 2009 and Aaron in 2010. Then the band was cemented. It was really just a case of the four of us meeting over the years and it’s about the band getting to know each other on the road and stuff like that, because the UK is such a small place you soon get to know all of the bands that are doing the same things you are.
So 'Filthy Empire' is your very first album, how do you feel you did with it? Do you feel you accomplished what you wanted?
Yeah, definitely, I mean we were really happy with it when it came out and when we were doing the album we put everything into it and we were just really happy with the results. All that you can hope for is that people feel the same. People are starting to enjoy it and it’s been great.
How do you feel your fans are receiving it? Me personally, I had a listen to it last night and went, 'I actually have to buy this!' so it actually has quite a sever impact.
Oh really, nice, brilliant, yeah our fans have been waiting for it for a long time. A couple of years really so it was really nice to actually say to them that we have an album coming out. It was a big thing for us.
What was the recording process like?
It was very quick and spontaneous really, we recorded the album in the States, we actually went over there to meet a few people and we didn’t plan on doing it at the time. We actually got the album done in ten or less days because we actually had to come back to England for a festival, so we just got the songs finished very, very quickly, tracked them very quick, it was a 24 hour process really. We captured as much of us as we could in that short amount of time.
Was there a concept behind it?
Not really, the only concept was what do we want to show people about Heaven's Basement with our first album, which was an old school rock'n'roll band with a modern sound of course. We also have different sides to our sound, we’re not just about playing heavy riffs all the time, we are about playing lighter songs as well, so the album kind of shows all of the different sides of Heaven's Basement really. So come the next album people wont get surprised when we go do an acoustic song or a really heavy song because of what we have in the first album.
I noticed too that this album has a couple of heavier songs on it than what you have on your EP, what made you swing this way?
Just natural development really, the way our writing has maybe grown over the last few years, we write a lot of songs together, things like that so… there’s always a lot to choose from. We just recorded whatever we got most excited about whether it would be a heavy song or a light song it didn’t really effect our decision it was just purely based on what we felt most excited about. To be honest we don’t really over think it to much, it’s just if it feels right, it feels right, you know?
Do you always find yourself re-inventing things in your band between yourselves to stay with or attract new fans?
Not really, not consciously anyway but because we are always on tour I’m sure our live show is a lot different now than it was a year ago, or two years ago or three years ago, just doing it every night. But there is nothing we have consciously sat down and tried to re-invent.
Is there any meaning behind your band name?
It was one of the first names we actually came up with to be honest. The meaning behind the name is like every organization or everything in the world whatever it might be is the dark and seedy corner where with dirty deals are done. Bad things happen, so Heaven's Basement is about that place where whatever establishment it may be in the world… there is always a place where young people have to go to get their kicks so that’s what Heaven's Basement kind of is.
I have so much respect for creative music videos like 'Fire Fire'. how did it come about?
We picked a desert place, we decided to put all of these explosions in there, things like that and all sorts of carnage, it just kind of fit with the song and the energy of the sound but again we didn’t really over think it to much.
How do you feel about playing Soundwave this year?
Yeah, we are really excited, we have heard very good things about the festival, this will be our very first time to Australia so it's going to be a good time.
Is there a particular way that your prepare for a show? Or do things begin to become mechanical for you?
Ah, well it doesn’t really become mechanical, but we don’t really prepare but you know, it’s all a bit different every night. Every show is a bit different as well; we change around the set list. Actual preparation before the show is kind of just us hanging out, we will just listen to some music and then go on and unleash the carnage.
What can fans actually expect from your show at Soundwave this year?
Expect the unpredictable really, like I said every night is a bit different, we are just a live rock'n'roll band really, we don’t really stick to a script as such. You know things will break, things will fall over, maybe the crowd will jump on stage with us, so if people are into that kind of thing they should definitely come along and see our set.
Do you ever find tours difficult?
You know what, honestly we kind of love it all of the time. You do get in a routine a bit you know, it’s a lot of travelling and playing different places for the first time but it’s amazing that we get flown around the world to play our own music when that’s all we ever wanted. It does feel at home to us to be honest, its how we grew up.
Is there a particular experience you’ve had in your music career that really sticks out to you?
Ah, yeah there’s quite a few to be honest. Obviously getting the first album done and released, that was an achievement for us. Also playing a festival this summer, we played the second stage which was the highest spot we’d ever played on a festival so there was about 25,000 people that came up to see us.
Where would you like to see Heaven's Basement in the future?
Always stepping up, you know, going one step further and the next album we want to make better and the next show we want to make better than the last one. We are never really happy or settled with what we have done, we always want to do more and achieve more. That’s what we aim to do, we want to take on as much as we can really, that’s why this year's started with us going out on tour.
If you could make one wish, what would it be?
One wish….to be that band that plays in space for the first time *laughs*.
I think Muse have been trying to do it and I think Lady GaGa has been talking about doing it as well. It sounds like we are going to be a few years too early for that unfortunately… if we going take a bit of a step into the future and play on a different planet that would be good.
Interview by Shannen Murphy
It was one of the first names we actually came up with to be honest. The meaning behind the name is like every organization or everything in the world whatever it might be is the dark and seedy corner where with dirty deals are done. Bad things happen, so Heaven's Basement is about that place where whatever establishment it may be in the world… there is always a place where young people have to go to get their kicks so that’s what Heaven's Basement kind of is.
I have so much respect for creative music videos like 'Fire Fire'. how did it come about?
We picked a desert place, we decided to put all of these explosions in there, things like that and all sorts of carnage, it just kind of fit with the song and the energy of the sound but again we didn’t really over think it to much.
How do you feel about playing Soundwave this year?
Yeah, we are really excited, we have heard very good things about the festival, this will be our very first time to Australia so it's going to be a good time.
Is there a particular way that your prepare for a show? Or do things begin to become mechanical for you?
Ah, well it doesn’t really become mechanical, but we don’t really prepare but you know, it’s all a bit different every night. Every show is a bit different as well; we change around the set list. Actual preparation before the show is kind of just us hanging out, we will just listen to some music and then go on and unleash the carnage.
What can fans actually expect from your show at Soundwave this year?
Expect the unpredictable really, like I said every night is a bit different, we are just a live rock'n'roll band really, we don’t really stick to a script as such. You know things will break, things will fall over, maybe the crowd will jump on stage with us, so if people are into that kind of thing they should definitely come along and see our set.
Do you ever find tours difficult?
You know what, honestly we kind of love it all of the time. You do get in a routine a bit you know, it’s a lot of travelling and playing different places for the first time but it’s amazing that we get flown around the world to play our own music when that’s all we ever wanted. It does feel at home to us to be honest, its how we grew up.
Is there a particular experience you’ve had in your music career that really sticks out to you?
Ah, yeah there’s quite a few to be honest. Obviously getting the first album done and released, that was an achievement for us. Also playing a festival this summer, we played the second stage which was the highest spot we’d ever played on a festival so there was about 25,000 people that came up to see us.
Where would you like to see Heaven's Basement in the future?
Always stepping up, you know, going one step further and the next album we want to make better and the next show we want to make better than the last one. We are never really happy or settled with what we have done, we always want to do more and achieve more. That’s what we aim to do, we want to take on as much as we can really, that’s why this year's started with us going out on tour.
If you could make one wish, what would it be?
One wish….to be that band that plays in space for the first time *laughs*.
I think Muse have been trying to do it and I think Lady GaGa has been talking about doing it as well. It sounds like we are going to be a few years too early for that unfortunately… if we going take a bit of a step into the future and play on a different planet that would be good.
Interview by Shannen Murphy
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