Q&A
Mick Box
The Uriah Heep founder on domestic duties, dog woes, ’appiness and half a century of staying ’umble.
To borrow Mick Box’s catchphrase, these are ’appy days indeed. Well, in certain respects anyway. As co-founder of the Essex band that became Uriah Heep in 1970 – and set out to “do something original” – the guitarist has led his band through a half-century of essential British heavy prog and on to 45 million album sales. Not everyone has made it to this year’s 50th anniversary, but as the 72-year-old readies plans for a UK tour, it’s clear that his passion and purpose – not to mention his hair and humour – remain intact. If there’s a blot on Box’s horizon, it’s the spread of the Covid-19 (we spoke to him just before lockdown took hold) in Heep’s big year of hard-core touring – and the prospect of a hefty vet’s bill.
You’re just back from the Rock Legends Cruise, aren’t you? Yeah. You come home, you take your rock’n’ roll hat off, put your family hat on. When I’m not rocking out on stage I have to do all the mundane things – put the bins out and all the rest of it. Today, unfortunately we’re having a bit of trouble with our dog. He had an operation yesterday. I was up all night waiting by my phone. It cuts you up when you see those doleful eyes looking back at you. After this I’ll go up to the hospital and see how he’s doing.
How does it feel for Heep to reach their fiftieth anniversary? Absolutely amazing. You expect a couple of years in a band. We were doing 10,000-seaters all across America, flew by Lear Jet, had whole floors of hotels, bodyguards outside each room, all that business. But all my family still used to say to my mother: “When’s Mick going to get a proper job?” Then we got a gig at the Albert Hall – and that shut them up, basically. Playing Wembley didn’t mean a thing. But the Albert Hall, to them, that was the pinnacle.
You’re planning to tour this year to mark the milestone, but aren’t you concerned about the coronavirus? It’s a worry for everybody, the way it’s spreading. It’s funny that lots of people now are not shaking hands, they’re doing elbow-to-elbow and foot-to-foot. In fact the first person I saw doing the elbow thing was Ian Anderson, back in the seventies. He would never shake anyone’s hand, because sometimes fans get overzealous and crush your hand – and of course he had to play the flute. Me? I’m a hugger, mate. But I do wash my hands.
Might you get some former Heep members involved? I mean, it’s well-documented that Ken Hensley was never friends with anyone in the band, it was purely a professional relationship. So why go that route and bring him back, y’know? Even though he wrote some fantastic songs. But looking back? No. We want to look forward.
You must have played some strange gigs over the years? In America once, I remember this guy sitting there in the front row with an urn on his lap. We finished and invited him back, and he said: “Well, my father was the biggest Uriah Heep fan ever. But he passed away before he could get to see you.” And it was his ashes in the urn. But, y’know, fair play.
One of the strangest countries was South Korea. It was like we were The Beatles, because they screamed through everything, and we’re not used to that. I was looking to see if my flies were undone.
Is the band better live now than it was in the seventies? Right now the band is tight, powerful and the chemistry is correct. We can hold our own with anyone. And we always felt that back in the old days, but I think right now it’s more on it. Don’t forget, it’s a different world now. Back in those days we used to have go out, Ken would give us a note on the organ, and we’d be tuning up on stage. There weren’t tuners, there were tuning forks!
Don’t you worry about your carbon footprint? Until we can beam ourselves up, I don’t think we’ve got much choice about that!
Your long-running catchphrase is ‘’Appy days’. Don’t you ever get pissed off? I do look at the positive side of things. But yeah, when you’re trying to sort out a bill that’s gone wrong or whatever, and you’re on the phone to somebody who has not a clue what you’re talking about. Or when you ring up and they give you five options, you choose one, then they give you another five. Then it cuts off! Those are the things that rankle me somewhat. But it’s not long before my pissed-off part finishes and I say ‘’appy days’ again.
Do you find society is more tolerant of long hair now than it was in 1970? Oh, absolutely. Back in the seventies we wouldn’t be served in restaurants. Y’know, “long-haired hippies”, all that business. There was quite a big taboo about it… Is it a problem that I’m so recognisable? Why would that be a problem? When it stops, that’s when it’s a problem [laughs].
What’s next for you – become owner of your beloved Tottenham Hotspur? Owner? I haven’t got enough in the bank to buy a shirt, mate!
Haven’t you ever made any outlandish rock-star purchases? I did have a house in America that had a marble guitar in the floor, with white marble all around it. Which was cringeable. I hated it. I’m not into that side of things at all. But it was done for me, so I had to say: “Oh, that’s nice.”
Even after all those album sales, do you still feel working class? Yes. Music is everything. My motivation was never money and glory. My motivation was to make music. If the money and glory came or went, that’s fine too. And quite often, on the money side it went! But as long as I’m playing, I’m happy and I feel whole. It’d take an awful lot for us to stop.
Uriah Heep’s UK tour is due to begin on November 1. See www. myticket.co.uk and www.uriah-heep.com for details and tickets.
“My motivation was never money and glory. My motiv was to make music”