URIAH HEEP Legend KEN HENSLEY

URIAH HEEP Legend KEN HENSLEY: "It Was Inevitable That Some Apparently Harmless 'Dabbling' Would Lead Me Into Full-Blown Addiction"

AntiMusic.com recently caught up with former URIAH HEEP Legend KEN HENSLEY in which they discuss his new album Blood On The Highway. The following is an excerpt from the interview:

www.AntiMusic.com: Why do you think it was necessary to tell your story at this time?

Ken Hensley: "I had just completed what I refer to as a 'life cycle' in which I was fully reconciled to both the life behind me and the life ahead so it seemed that this peace would allow me to tell the story both in words and music."

www.AntiMusic.com: When did you first think about doing a record in this style (autobiographical)?

Ken Hensley: "After the head of my record company read the first edition of my book and suggested that we should cover the musical side of it on a CD."

www.AntiMusic.com: How long did the record take to put together? Were there things that you wanted to put in there but lyrically were hard to get down on paper? Or hard to find the music to convey the proper mood of the lyrics?

Ken Hensley: "About seven months from start to finish. The main reason for this was that I was writing 'on the fly' whereas I normally finish the songs before I start recording. This was an interesting process and not an impediment at all. The songs themselves came quickly though, because the concept was defined and so were the individual topics. I always write lyrics first and find the rhythms and melodies in them."

www.AntiMusic.com: Your story sounds like a common story in rock history. You start off a new band, get some success, money, drugs, and women before hitting some potholes in life. Would you change any of your experiences or do you chalk it up to the experiences you had to go through?

Ken Hensley: "Well first let me say that music doesn't force you to make bad choices, we are all individually responsible for the consequences of the decisions and choices we make and it is the drug thing that I would change if I could. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with money, success and women, though they can all cause problems, but I have always had an addictive personality so it was inevitable that some apparently harmless 'dabbling' would lead me into full-blown addiction."

www.AntiMusic.com: Since this is a personal story, why did you select guest vocalists rather than telling the story yourself?

Ken Hensley: "Well, it is a personal story but I was trying to get the message across that there were a lot of us out there and I wanted the various voices to add different colours at different times whilst realistically capturing the spirit of the time. I am not a great rock singer either, so I definitely needed Jorn's (Lande, ex-MASTERPLAN) voice as well as John Lawton's."

www.AntiMusic.com: How did you go about selecting each vocalist?

Ken Hensley: "As I finished each song I began to think about who would be best to sing it. It wasn't difficult really. I knew Jorn because my touring band is from Norway and he had jammed with us before and I was introduced to Eve Gallagher by a friend in Switzerland where she now lives."

To read the interview in its entirety, head to this location.