Every so often a new band comes along that from out of nowhere releases a debut album that completely knocks you off your feet!  Back in 2008, that band was H.E.A.T from Sweden who released an album that for me personally captured everything I love about music in a way that very few other bands have.  Musically, lyrically, visually...it was an album that delivered on all counts. 

Since 2008 H.E.A.T have taken the melodic rock world by storm, with tours all over Europe and the UK and major festival appearances at the likes of Sweden Rock, Firefest in the UK and even Loud Park in Japan.  Not to mention even trying their hand at representing Sweden in the iconic Eurovision Song Contest and whilst they were unsuccessful in being chosen as Sweden’s representative, the band ended up with a massive hit single ‘1000 Miles’ as a result.

Now here in 2010, H.E.A.T are back with their follow up album ‘Freedom Rock’ which features 13 tracks of sheer melodic bliss!  With a weight of expectations on their shoulders as a result of their classic debut, the band have certainly delivered and prove that they are a legitimate force to be reckoned with and are certainly one of the worlds brightest hopes of bringing melodic rock back to the mainstream. 

Guitarist Eric Rivers checked in and gave us an insight into the making of ‘Freedom Rock’....

Firstly Eric, congratulations on the awesome new album Freedom Rock, which I see is currently sitting in the Swedish Charts at Number 15, even higher than the new SLASH album!!  It must be a great feeling given how well the album is being received so far around the world?

Oh yeah, it’s the best feeling! That something you’ve fought for and spent lots of time creating is appreciated by so many…

You were just out on the road playing some shows in the UK and have also recently been out touring with Treat and The Poodles for a Swedish onslaught.  How did these tours go and what new songs did you really enjoy playing live?

Most of these shows were amazing! Both Treat and Poodles are great guys, so everything worked out good. The song that was the most fun to play live would be Black Night. It has a perfect groove for the crowd to jump, and a jumping audience is something special! Beg Beg Beg is also really, really fun to play live, pure rock n roll, you feel like Angus Young playing that song.

Your first album is regarded by many as one of the finest debut albums in the last decade or two...did you feel the pressure of high expectations going into the writing and recording of Freedom Rock?

We tried not to think about that, but of course the question came up a few times. We said that, “let’s do it as we did the first record, music from the heart”. As long as we write exactly what we want, hopefully the world will see that and like it. And it turned out OK, right?

As with your first album, all members of H.E.A.T contribute to the songwriting process.  Given that a few of the songs on your first album came from your bands prior to H.E.A.T, did you do anything different during the songwriting process for the new album?

Well, this time around it was a lot more stressful. Before the first album we had 5-6 years of songs, this time we had barely nothing, and we wrote like half of the songs two weeks before entering the studio. That’s a big lesson learned right there. As soon as we came home from the studio this time, we started writing for the new album!

You once again used the services of Michael Vail Blum for production/mixing the album.  Did you have any specific ideas of how you wanted the sound to be different on the new album from the first album?

Well, we wanted a bit different sound than the one that was actually released. We recorded the album in Sweden with Swedish producers, but the record label wasn’t 100% happy with the result. They wanted a bit different mix, with louder guitars. So we contacted Michael Blum again, who made a mix in LA and produced it from there, and apparently the record

label liked it this time!

"Freedom Rock" first was released in Japan, featuring a few bonus tracks and a different song order to the version released in Sweden/Europe...and is that even a different mix I hear?  Apart from being a great collectors item, what were the reasons for releasing the different versions of the album?

Since we have different record  labels around the world, everyone wanted to have an opinion on how the record should sound, which isn’t weird, but it can become a bit messy. So in the end we had like 3-4 different mixes of the album, and each record label chose their favorite. But I don’t think that the mixes are very different, there might be some guitar licks or vocal ad libs that are different on the Japanese vs the European. The biggest difference is the album cover!

What were some of the biggest things you learnt from the experience of recording your first album, that you changed during the recording "Freedom Rock"?

Lock Dave in a cage and put a gagball in his mouth! The guy has TOO many ideas! Most of them are great, but unfortunately if we would try all of Dave’s ideas, we still would have been in the studio recording the first track, haha. We tried to speed things up a bit and tried to get good first tracks of everything. On the first album we were like “Lets not do that again, we can fix it in the mix”. This time we tried to get great sounds from the beginning, so that the mixing part would be really easy. A bit back to the roots I guess.

As one of the most exciting melodic rock/AOR bands in the world today, for the release of "Freedom Rock", was there much interest shown from other record labels around the world to release it?

Well, there was, and we have a new label (Edel) that will release the album in Europe now! The first album  was just released in 5-10 countries in Europe, now, both albums will be released in the entire Europe with this new label. Now it’s just America and Australia left until world domination!

Tobias Sammet features on the song "Black Knight" and he invited H.E.A.T to

tour with Edguy last year.  How did this association with Tobias come about?

The first time he heard about us was at Sweden Rock 2008, where he got a CD from our agent. Of course he got drunk and lost the CD but he remembered our band name because he thought that it sounded so cheesy, haha. So he checked us out on Myspace and was blown away. He instantly got an account on iTunes to download the album, and he thought it was the best album released in the last 10 years. So he e-mailed us via our agent, and

a few months later we were on tour with Edguy! He was also the guy who recommended us to the Japanese label who signed us. And now he sings on our album. So we have A LOT to thank Tobi for, he’s an awesome guy and a fantastic singer and musician!

For me personally, equally as much as i love the music of H.E.A.T, it's the imagery of sunsets, palm trees and themes of positivity, time and space that you convey that appeals just as much as the music. Is this something that as a band you have spent a lot of time developing?

Well, not really. All those things kind of came natural with the music. We love the 80’s (duh), and the cheesiness too it. Even though we were born in the 80’s, everything seemed to be pretty easygoing then. We are very easygoing guys who enjoy the little things in life and believe that it’s better to write music that’s inspiring and happy, instead of writing deep

lyrics about how everything sucks (damn you Kurt Cobain!). And in these times with the financial crisis and earthquakes etc, I think that people need good, happy inspiring music to keep them going!

Over the last few years you have toured all over Europe, the UK and Japan, even playing with some of your all time musical heroes.  What are some of your favourite memories from all this travel?

Almost every show has a special moment… But if I would mention some, I would say that the Edguy tour was extremely fun and a great learning experience (learning how to drink everyday without getting hung over, haha). Playing in Japan, a country we had just dreamed of visiting was extreme. We entered the stage at 11.30 in the morning, and we had 10.000

crazy fans in the crowd! It truly felt like a dream. And Sweden Rock 2009 was also like a dream. The Swedish summer, the sun setting, 10.000 people in the crowd knowing most of the words to every song… And of course our first big gig playing with our heroes Toto, only 6 months after we formed the band. I have to stop here, there are too many great memories, and hopefully a lot more to come!

By the end of 2010, H.E.A.T will have....

1. toured the world with Rolling Stones and Aerosmith opening for us.  Bruce Dickinson will be our pilot and Steve Vai will be our guitar roadie.  Lady Gaga will be our private masseuse and Beyonce will drive our tour bus and Gordon Ramsey will cook us food every day. And of course Scotty Rock is gonna introduce us each night… “You wanted the best, but they didn’t

fucking make it…”

2. lost our virginities.

3. hopefully written most of the next album to enter the studio once again for more FREEDOM ROCK!

Thanks for your time and may the freedom rock be with you for the rest of 2010!

Thank you Scotty, always a pleasure!

Read our review of ‘Freedom Rock’ by clicking here!