Rob caught up with Heavens Basement on the opening show of their tour supporting Halestorm to talk about their forthcoming album and general plans for the future.

We last interviewed you back in May 2011, what have you been up to since then?
We have been busy recording an album called Filthy Empire, We've been in America for quite sometime, about 3 months working with various producers and we got to meet a guy called John Feldmann, it was only supposed to be for a week or so and we fucking hit it off with him and it was like right lets do this , we spent a few weeks with him and we wrote some material that we really liked and we got to the last week and are we gonna gonna record this so we blitzed it in 8 days, we were doing 24 hour shifts on everyone of the 8 days.

You are now signed with Red Bull Records, how did this come about?
About 3 years ago they showed interest in the band, they came to a few shows, met us and we developed a relationship but it was quite a long thing because we have been playing live a lot and making a lot of noise for ourselves. They came down and they were into it, they loved our vision of the band and what we thought we could do but at the time we didn't feel we were in a position to sign a record deal or that we could benefit for getting one, then a few line up changes happened and they stuck with us through all that. At one point there were only 3 members in the band, and they were like yeah whenever find a singer and lets go. That was one of the real stand out points, We had a 40 minute chat at sonisphere, we got on with them as people.

I also understand you have been busy working on your début album, what can you tell us about it and when can we expect it to be released?
Its not a concept album but just a collection of songs we wrote very quickly in 8 days, its a combination of the history of Heavens Basement working up till that point, so some songs we recorded on the day we wrote them. Its hopefully going to be out in January next year.

How have you found working on the album compared to your previous EP’s?
With the EP's, we did them our selves, in a day, we hired and set up in a room, placed the mics and played it live, with the album we had the luxury of 8 days, it was different as it gave us time to deal with the tracks, so we could rough out the track then fiddle with parts of it and experiment and develop the tracks, its a luxury we have never had before and to make sure it's right.

Tonight is your first show of supporting Halestorm in the UK, how did this come about and how much are you looking forward to embarking on the rest of the tour?
We've known the Halestorm guys for about 2 years now, we toured with them in Europe once, had an excellent time, this was before sorting the line up out, so we went out as a package, we stayed in touch and they offered us this tour.

Once the UK leg of the tour comes to an end you head out to mainland Europe with Halestorm and then you play a couple of shows with Ugly Kid Joe and Duff McKagens Loaded before then touring with Seether, how did these back to back amazing opportunities come about?
The more you play live and the harder you work, the more these opportunities tend to present themselves. We have played with duff a few times. The more work you put in the more you get out. Were looking forward to playing with Halestorm, its healthy competition we want to be as good as Halestorm. Were really looking forward to playing with all these bands really.

What would you say your biggest high and lows points as a band have been so far?
Today was a high moment as I Turned on the radio on and I heard Johnny Rotten mention our name, fucking hell that's bad ass. Chris's low point was playing a bass solo drunk in Finland. We've got the album now so that's taking us on to the next level to where we want to be,

What’s your opinion on the whole anti piracy laws going on at the moment and how it will affect the music industry and how do you think it will affect you personally as a band?
I think if your music is good enough people will go out and buy it, some people still like to have something physical in their hand, of course its affected everyone, its really good for exposure but its a bad thing in the purpose of sales. We didn't grow up in an age of massive record sales, so it doesn't bother us, were digital age kids, that's all we know so we have never felt the sting of it. I'm all for it, but the problem is now, that music is so available now that you have to be really good, people are saying that there's no record sales what I think is that you cant put out any old shit and expect people to buy it, you have to be really good.

Where do you hope to see Heavens Basement in a year’s time?
We want to headline the main Academy, or play in the old Academy. We want to get out there and play to as many people as we can.

One last random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a zebra or Giraffe which one would you be and why?
Were all going with zebra because it has a better paint job and there's safety in numbers!

Thanks for your time is there a message for your fans reading this?
Thanks for being so patient with us and check out our new single Fire Fire that's up on our facebook, there's new music coming soon and check out Filthy Empire when it comes out next year.

Interview by Robert Lawrence