Mick Box

Uriah Heep mainman Mick Box on a good year for the band and looking forward to plenty more.

Mick Box is one of rock’s great lifers. The East Londoner has been the guitarist and driving force behind Uriah Heep for nearly 50 years, but his enthusiasm and energy remain undepleted even after all this time. “’Appy days” isn’t so much a catchphrase for the 71-year-old as a mantra for life. “It’s ridiculous to think I’m still doing it after all this time,” he says. “But then I still love it, or I would have done something else years ago.”

How has 2018 treated you?

It’s gone great, mate. We recorded an album, Living The Dream, back in January, which went really well. It seems to have had the right kind of reaction from media and fans alike, which is good.

Don’t you get that all the time with your albums, though?

We do, but for some reason this seems to be a bit more ‘up’. There’s an air of excitement to it. And the band is on fire. It’s all going good.

You’re not getting any younger. How do you still manage to play a hundred and fifty-plus shows a year?

If you’ve got a passion for it, that gives the energy to just drive through. We’ve still got the same passion we’ve always had. None of us are jaded, and there’s a great camaraderie. The thing I always say to the guys before we go on tour is: “Make sure the first thing that goes in your suitcase is your sense of humour – you’re going to need it.”

What’s made you laugh the most this year? Just the silly things that happen on a day-to-day basis. Getting the wrong directions, going to the wrong places. Spinal Tap stuff. You can’t get upset with any of it. You just laugh and get on with it.

You supported your old mates Judas Priest at one show this year. Do you sit down with Rob Halford and reminisce about the old days? Well, we were in our dressing room and he came walking in with the rest of the boys and said: “We’ve got nearly a hundred years of music between us, let’s get a picture and document it.” And that’s what we did. Lovely guy.

There’s a photo of you with Kris Kristofferson on your Instagram page. How did that meeting come about?

That was a while ago, actually. Quite a while ago. We did a festival in Austria and he was playing. He heard our sound-check and he said: “You guys really rock,” all that stuff. We had a nice chat with him. He was a lovely guy. He came up to watch half the set. He had to go away, but he left this beautiful note saying: “You’ve now got another great fan.” I’ve got that hanging up in the wall in my office.

You’re a football fan. Was England’s performance at this year’s World Cup the start of a new era, or a false dawn?

I think [England manager] Gareth Southgate did a brilliant job of uniting a lot of factions that weren’t united. He didn’t beat about the bush in interviews, he told the truth – it was always going to be about building things, and any success beyond that would be gratefully received. But yeah,

I think it was absolutely the start of something. He brought the love of wearing the England shirt that was missing.

Did you buy a Southgatestyle waistcoat on the back of it?

[Laughing] Mate, I left waistcoats behind in about 1973.

You took your teenage son out on the road with you for a couple of shows. Did he pitch in and help out?

Oh yeah. He came along to do work experience at a couple of shows. I said to my guitar tech:

“Work him to death. Let him know what a day’s work is.” He stood up to it well. He could be part of a crew any time, he’s got that mentality. And then there’s all the amber nectar that goes down his neck.

It’s the fitieth anniversary of Uriah Heep’s first album in a couple of years. How are you going to mark it?

We’re so immersed in the Living The Dream tour that we haven’t had time to think about it. Everything happens in a natural way, it’s never premeditated. Somebody will go: “What about this”, “Shall we do that?” And then we just throw it over to management to see if they can put it together. We’ll just let it unravel as it unravels. Black Sabbath and Rush have retired, Kiss and Lynyrd Skynyrd are retiring next year. Has the thought ever crossed your mind?

Not at all, mate. As long as we’ve got our health we’re going to be out there doing it. This what we do, this is what we love. Retiring is something you do to your tyres when the snow comes.

This year is twenty years since Classic Rock was launched. How has the magazine changed things for bands like Uriah Heep?

I’ve always said this from day one: Classic Rock magazine is the Bible as far as this kind of music goes. It’s as simple as that. You want to know anything, you read that magazine. You don’t need to go anywhere else. And long may it continue.