H.e.a.T. (Eric Rivers) -Interview (2015)
Eric Rivers: Guitar
Jimmy Jay: Bass
Erik Grönwall: Lead vocals
Crash: Drums
Jona Tee: Keys

 

 

H.e.a.T.
Freedom Rock
Address The Nation
Tearing Down The Walls
Live In London
Release Year: 2008
Release Year: 2010
Release Year: 2012
Release Year: 2014
Release Year: 2015

Band's Website: www.heatsweden.com
Band's Facebook: www.facebook.com/heatsweden

Interview taken from Eric Rivers.

 

GEORGE: Welcome to BeRock Radio Eric, the most melodic place! I am George, please make yourself comfortable!
We’re glad to have you back on BeRock since the Interview of 2013, and it’s our pleasure to meet again!
Before we talk about “Live In London”, let’s resume from where we left off…It appears you’ve made the right decision
not to cover Dave’s absence with another guitarist, but continue with you as the sole one. How difficult is this for you,
has it helped you improve as a guitarist?

ERIC: Hi, thanks for having me back! When Dave left we did discuss if we should bring in another guitar player, but I wanted
to try to be the only one, and it worked out. Jona had to fill in with a bit more organ and Jimmy had to play that bass a bit harder.
It certainly made me improve as a guitar player, I had to step up my game. If I fuck up now everyone will notice.
So the biggest change is the amount of beers I can drink before a show, haha.

GEORGE: The past two years have been very productive for the band, with the release of the amazing live album “Live In London”
being the pinnacle of your productivity. We’re talking about an amazing quality release, a task difficult to pull off when it comes to
live albums. What made you decide to release such an album?

ERIC: For us it was a very simple process, we just played the show.
Then Tobias Lindell did a great job in mixing the album and making us sound good.

GEORGE: As I previously said, the album is an excellent production. The last time I can recall that an album had left such a huge
impression on me was 35 years ago, the incredible “Live in the Heart of the City”, released 1980 by the one and only
David Coverdale with Whitesnake. How does it feel to have released something so big?

ERIC: Wow, I dont know. This release is a bit weird for us since we haven’t been that involved in it.
Usually when we release an album we write songs for two years and then spend a month in the studio really getting
in to the songs and working on them. But now we just played a show and released the album.

GEORGE: Along with the album, you’ve released videos, which have so many views they’re at risk of blacking out
YouTube’s servers! (laughs!!) How easy or difficult is it for young guys such as yourselves to handle such great success,
what expectations and responsibilities does this success bring for an equally good follow-up?

ERIC: For us it’s just fun that people wanna listen to us and see our videos.
We just do what we do and don’t think too much about how people will react to it.
We just have fun.

GEORGE: As a band, in the few last years, you’ve done a lot of things, including experimenting around a lot with your style and
sound in “Tearing Down The Walls”, with great results. After that came your lives and the release of “Live In London”,
what should we expect from you now? You’ve spoiled us and we want more!

ERIC: That’s the fun part, we don’t know whats next! We write what we feel and we always try to take this band to the next level,
whatever that level is. I think it’s important to take on new challenges as a band and not just do what you’re good at.
Of course we won’t change style from every album but we try to have one foot in the past and one foot in the unknown.

GEORGE: Last time, I asked you if there’s anything in the water in Sweden, something that gives us amazing bands and incredible
artists, to which you replied “Nah…it’s probably the beer!” (laughs!!) As of recently, lots of great bands have showed up from
Sweden, such as Nubian Rose, Strong, Reach, Streamline, and you are the influence and stand as an example to many of them.
What do you have to say to these guys, as the guitarist of H.e.a.T.?¨

ERIC: Keep doing what you love and good things will come.

GEORGE: From 2008 to now, what do you think of your career and what would you like in the future?

ERIC: Of course you dream of playing in front of a sold out Wembley and you can feel a bit of frustration that you’re not doing that,
but when you look at it from the outside and see what you’ve accomplished so far, I would say things are looking good!
You just gotta keep working hard and playing lots of shows and slowly you’re working your way towards Wembley.

GEORGE: Have you and the rest of the guys discussed when you’ll start working on the next album?

ERIC: Hopefully start recording sometime this year!

GEORGE: What are your plans for the rest of 2015?

ERIC: We have alot of good festivals booked this summer.
Write new kick ass songs and as I mentioned before, record a new album.

GEORGE: Will you ever tell us what the name H.e.a.T. stands for?

ERIC: Nope.

GEORGE: How much does it help a band to have for management such a serious company like Hagenburg,
so that it has freedom with its music without the management getting in the way and creating problems?

ERIC: When you choose a management and a record company, you have to be sure that it’s the right company for you.
We’ve had our problems with our previous record company and management and we learned alot from that.
You just have to respect each other and compromise.

GEORGE: Thank you for your time, I wish you all the best for the future!
The last words are yours for this interview. Feel free to say whatever you want to all BeRock Radio readers!

ERIC: Thank you for having me!
Keep supporting hard working rock n roll bands and go to the shows and have a beer with us!

Special thanks to Sophia Clara Lender for her help with the interview!


George "Snaki" Lane
For BeRock Radio MiniZine (2015)
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