Heavenly
Skyboud Warriors

04.12.2007

France has never been the birthplace of many heavy metal heroes. On the contrary, just a handful of French bands have managed to make it big on the international arena. When they appeared, the interest in them was quite varied, but I still remember how Heavenly hi the scene back in 2000. Their debut album “Coming From The Sky” appeared on the peak of interest in power metal, and even though the CD was very close to what Helloween, Gamma Ray, Stratovarius and many others have done before, it was welcomed by both the public and many metal magazines, especially German ones. With their optimistic and energetic songs, Heavenly seemed to be doing their best to make it clear that power metal was here to stay. The band has indeed stayed around for seven years since that, going through a lot of turmoil and many line-up changes, but singer Ben Sotto and his men have never stepped away from the path they chose. We got Ben to tell us what is Heavenly up to at  the present time.

What is the band up to at the moment? I saw announcements of several shows on your web site, but then they were cancelled. How much have you toured in support of “Virus” so far?

This year, we did some gigs in France as headliner, we also supported Scorpions on stage and then we played at a French festival with Dream Theater, Slayer, Megadeth, Within Temptation and many others. In Germany we played at the Magic Circle Festival with Gamma Ray and Manowar, where we filmed two songs for the Festival DVD, which is out soon. It was a real pleasure to open for such bands, we spent a great moment. Unfortunately, two shows in Slovakia and the Czech Republic have been cancelled. Well, it was a pity but we’ll play there as soon as possible. Now we are working on new material, writing songs for it. We do really hope to enter the studio before the end of 2008.

I have also seen your video for the song “Blood Spill On Fire”. Where was it shot? Was it a real building you were in, or was it all a montage? Why is the video shot in such dark, gloomy colors?

We recorded this video clip in firemen’s barracks, we did the shots over a whole day, it was very amazing and a great experience because it was our first video clip. The biggest part of the video was done in post production, all effects and colors…. We wanted a dark atmosphere because we needed to stick to the theme and the lyrics of the song “Spill Blood On Fire” which deal with all wounds that human beings accumulated through the ages, on and on - war, poverty, terrorism, racism, pollutions - and the strange thing is that we haven’t learned our past lessons. So according to this we didn’t want to use clear and fun colours and atmosphere.

You are the only founding member of the band right now. Why did Heavenly have so many line-up changes in the past? And what keeps you going all these years?

In a band, like in real life, it's hard to find a group of people who want exactly the same things, who are going in the same direction, taking the same decisions, etc. All over the years, certain members decided to stop the story because they wanted to carry on in another direction with another music style. In Heavenly, I'm still the main writer and all members who carried on the story through the years wanted all the same destiny for the band. That's why, Heavenly didn't change their sound. Fortunately, there is an evolution in our music but the essential is here, what we call "Heavenly", I think the only thing which keeps me going on all these years is this passion for the music and specially for this band.

What was the story behind Pilo’s, Pelisson’s and Leclercq’s departure from the band in 2004?

As I’ve just said, we didn’t totally agree on the musical direction we had to take. And at the first gig of the Dust to Dust Tour, they told Charley and me that they wanted to leave the band.
It was a hard moment to live, but it was honest from them to say that. Actually, the band is now recomposed and ready to go further than before….

How did you end up signing with AFM? What are your impressions from cooperation with Noise Records?

At the end of 2005, the activities of Noise Records were declining and the label broke its deals with a lots of bands, and Heavenly was one of those. So we had to find another record company. At that moment, we recorded a demo of three new songs and sent it to a lot of labels. We got several positive answers from labels but AFM Records (for Europe) and Locomotive (for the USA) made the best proposals. This is something very new for us, it is our first album with those labels. We are glad to deal with them, we totally trust in them, we're not disappointed and I hope we'll never be... We'll work together as long as both sides are satisfied with our work.

How was the “Virus” album accepted by the fans and press? Do critics’ opinions mean much to you?

The responses were unbelievable from both listeners and press. I think we had 98 % of good reviews all around the world! “Virus” was a real success, thanks to this album we realized that real Heavenly fans do exist. “Virus” was like a rebirth for the band after the departure of three members, we rebuilt the unity of the band, and now the positive response is the best reward.

Can you say a few words about the songwriting process in the band? What comes first – music or lyrics? What are your lyrics inspired by?

I am the main writer in the band and I write almost all parts of keyboards, drums and rhythm guitars, but I’m really open to criticism. Charley and Olivier rearranged rhythm guitars when necessary, but generally the guys said that I did it well. Matthieu and Thomas did the same with their bass and drum parts. Everyone can bring his own ideas, I always listen to their opinion. In that way, each member is important during the writing process.

You have guest vocalists on “Virus” again – Tanja, Kevin Codfert and Tony Kakko. It seems to become a tradition for Heavenly to have guests on the records. Who are Tanja and Kevin Codfert? These are unknown names for me, but it’s interesting why did you decide to work with them.

Sonata Arctica is a band that I like particularly because, for me, it's a new breathing for heavy metal. They're young and they succeeded in imposing their own style with their first four albums. We met Tony a few years ago and we found him really fun and friendly. We wanted a guest on "Wasted Time" and we knew that Tony's voice was appropriate. So we asked him, he accepted and did a "kick-ass" interpretation. For the cover of Jermaine Jackson’s "When The Rain Begins To Fall", we needed a female voice like the original version. A few years ago, Heavenly did a tour with Finnish band Lullacry, and so the two bands got to know each other. Charley asked Tanja to sing on this cover and she was immediatly O.K.. Kevin Codfert is the keyboard player of a French metal band called Adagio, a very talented guy. We are really happy to have worked with Tony, Kevin and Tanja because we really appreciate these three persons and their respective bands.

Over the years you also worked with Kai Hansen and Piet Sielck. Do you have any “dream-guests”, the musicians that you would like to participate in future Heavenly records?

Of course, it’ll be a dream to have guests like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth or Judas Priest on our albums, but it’s not a finality. Having a guest on an album is like a fantasy, a fun collaboration. At this time, the more important is to take pleasure and have fun…

It’s not a secret that Heavenly are often called followers of such power metal gods as Helloween and Gamma Ray. What is your reaction to such comparisons?

I grew up listening Helloween and then Gamma Ray and I'm still a fan of this music. So I can't deny that you can hear my influences in Heavenly, especially on the first three albums. Now I think that Heavenly tries to develop its own style with album after album. But you can still compare our music with bands like Gamma Ray or Stratovarius. Well, I don't have a problem with this because they are the pioneers of this kind of music and it’s a real honour for us

In 2001, you received the “Best French Band” award from the Hard Rock Magazine. What did it mean for you then? And what’s the situation with power metal in France now?

This award is a great souvenir for the band because it was directly Hard Rock magazine readers who voted for this and nothing is better than a direct election from the audience for the rank of “The Best French Band”. We are very proud of it. Now, French metal is still alive. Of course, France is not the country of metal music, the most popular music styles here are hip hop, pop rock or French traditional music, and metal in general is not really broadcasted. Only a few metal bands succeed in exporting their music. But we've got an underground metalheads community which supports French metal bands.

What are your occupations outside Heavenly? What’s your ‘normal’ job if you have one?

We live a normal life, you know, probably like you. I live like everyone but I like playing and writing music. My hobbies are vast: practicing sports, playing poker, horse-races, going to the beach... anyway having fun. Almost all Heavenly members are teaching music. It's a hard question because we are typical guys except that we’re musicians passionate for the music.

Heavenly have toured with a lot of bands. What are the most memorable moments from those tours? Which of those bands you would like to be on tour with once more?

I think this year was very important for us because it was full of memorable moments. We opened for Scorpions and a few weeks later played with Megadeth, Dream Theater and many others. Well, all those moments were very intense and full of emotion. It’ll be a pleasure to be on tour with Iron Maiden or Metallica.

In the beginning, according to your website, your influences were Guns N’Roses, Helloween, Stratovarius, Angra, and Rhapsody. Are there any bands that you consider your influences at the present time?

These bands were a big part of our influences because we grew up listening to their music. Now it’s a bit different, we try to step back from metal music to develop our own personality, even if it’s always hard. So we listen less and less to these bands.

How much do you listen to the music of other artists nowadays? What has been the last album that you listened to in your I-pod/stereo?

As I’ve just said, we listen to less heavy metal than before. But I still listen to Queen, classical music or, ok, of course, heavy metal masterpieces. For example, I really like the two latest albums of Nightwish.

What are Heavenly’s plans for 2008? Do you already have any ideas for the next record, or shall we once again expect three or four years for its release?

We’ll try to play some shows before entering in studio for our fifth album. We hope it’ll be out at the end of 2008 or in the beginning of the next year. It’s our priority…

Special thanks to Irina Ivanova (CD-Maximum) for arranging this interview

Heavenly on the Internet: http://www.heavenly.fr

Anna Babicheva
November 19, 2007
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