Uriah Heep’s Mick Box to Guitarists: ‘Throw Away All Your Scales’

“I’ve never done any of that stuff in my life; I only use my ears,” Mick says.

During a recent conversation with Music Radar, Uriah Heep guitarist Mick Box was asked for the “main secret” behind his guitar approach, to which he replied:

“Throw away all your scales. I’ve never done any of that stuff in my life; I only use my ears.

“I’ve also got smallish hands, I can’t do the spreads other guitarists do. You look at a guy like Paul Gilbert – he has longer fingers than I have legs! So I have to embrace my own abilities to find my style; that’s what makes me distinct, I think.

“I try to stay away from the scales and just go with my heart. You go with what fits the song, and I hear so many guitar solos these days that don’t fit the music underneath – where the guitarist isn’t listening to anything else that’s going on.

“I find that very frustrating because the song should always be the most important thing. Personally, I just noodle around until something fits, and then I shelve it until we are in the studio with the tape running. I try to keep it loose.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever received any advice. People probably tend to look at us and think we’re doing alright! But if I was to give advice, I would say find the individuality in what you do.

“Going back to the old days – I didn’t play like Blackmore, he didn’t play like Iommi… all the musicians were very individual. The sum of those parts gave each band their own flavor and sound.

“Nowadays, people go to a music college and come out two years later playing fantastically, but all sounding the same. There’s no attention to the individual characteristics, and I’m afraid there aren’t many individuals around these days.

“You can pick Paul Kossoff from Free a mile away, same with Blackmore or Page. Nowadays, a lot of players seem to have followed the same path… I find that’s missing in today’s music.

“The same goes for vocalists – Ronnie James Dio had an amazing voice while Ozzy didn’t have the greatest voice but you always knew it was him. Sometimes that’s worth more than a great voice. It suited the music and was his own vehicle.”

“As long as we have our health, we’ll be out there doing it. This is our love, our passion and where we want to be. I’ve always said a working band is a happy band, and doing 150 shows a year across 61 countries… this is definitely a happy band. We’re doing what we love and we have no reason to stop.

“There’s an amazing amount of touring to do when the new album comes out – from Europe to the US and Australia, Japan, South America.

“Also, of course, we’re only a few years off our 50th anniversary, which will be a real milestone for us, so there’s all of that to look forward to. And a lot to be thankful for… and yes, we are living the dream!”

Uriah Heep are set to release their 25th studio album “Living the Dream” on September 14. You can check out the latest single “Take Away My Soul” in the embedded player below.