URIAH HEEP's MICK BOX Says Ongoing 'Farewell' Tour Is 'More Of A Slowdown Rather Than An Absolute 'Finish Finish''

In a new interview with Metal Mayhem ROC, URIAH HEEP guitarist Mick Box spoke about the band's September 2024 announcement that the British progressive rock legends would embark on a farewell tour, dubbed "The Magician's Farewell", beginning early 2025. Asked to clarify if "The Magician's Farewell" is "truly a final tour or just another chapter in the road or a long goodbye", Box said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's gonna take two or three years to get round to all the territories that we normally... We play, like, 64 countries, so we have to get out there in the world and do it. But I think, yeah, it's a slow wind-down, because things have changed in the world, , as you all know, with flights and buses and everything else, after COVID, and especially in our political world over here [in the U.K.], we left Europe. Brexit, they call it. And that's caused us — well, certainly in the musical world, no end of problems, because we've got carnets [international customs and temporary export-import documents] we have to have everywhere, with all our equipment that travel in and out countries. There's all sorts of tax problems. The buses are triple prices. Flights, I'll give you an example, the one month, we were flying everywhere, but we had four flights canceled. And so now you write that into the equation, so you go in the day before now rather than the day of the gig and stuff like that, just to compensate for any of those problems. So it's getting very difficult out there to do the long, long, long tours that we used to do. So we're kind of winding it down, slowing it down gradually. But we're never gonna stop. We'll still do the festival. If festivals are coming up and ask us to play. What we gonna say? Yes. [Laughs] Because it's in our DNA. It's what we do. So, it's more of a slowdown rather than an absolute 'finish finish.'"

Asked about the possibility of URIAH HEEP making a follow-up to the band's 25th studio album, "Chaos & Colour", which was released in January 2023 via Silver Lining Music, Box said: "Yeah, I'm sure. Well, it's in my DNA to write. I mean, I write every day; I write something. So, yeah, we will. We will. We'll find a spot somewhere along the line to put the brakes on and go in the studio, for sure. It's just something we love doing. So, yeah, that's definitely on the cards."

In November 2023, Box was asked by Metallerium how he and his URIAH HEEP bandmates have managed to retain their trademark sound despite having gone through so many lineup changes over the years. He responded: "Well, I think, I think, basically, as long as I'm there, the band's gonna sound like URIAH HEEP. Because we created a template on how we sounded back in 1970 with our first album, '...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble'. So, we've continued with that all the way along the line. And I think a lot of the credit must go to Jay Ruston, our producer, because he understood where we come from, what we're all about, but he managed to make the album sound really fresh and today, and I think that's a marvelous achievement. So really, as long as we keep playing and writing good songs and doing good performances, and we get someone like Jay Ruston recording it, I think it will always sound fresh and exciting."

Regarding what has kept URIAH HEEP going for so long, Mick said: "I think the only thing that drives us on, it's only one word — it's called passion. And if you've got passion for what you do, then eventually you'll achieve it."

"Chaos & Colour" was recorded during the summer of 2021 at Chapel Studios in London with the aforementioned Jay Ruston (ANTHRAX, COREY TAYLOR, BLACK STAR RIDERS) at the helm.

"Jay was completely on board with what we are trying to achieve in the studio," Box previously said. "We're a band that has a fantastic heritage and to carry on that tradition it was vitally important that the band recorded in the studio all playing at the same time. Jay understood that and he pulled out the best of us as a band, as well as individual players, while getting us some amazing sounds."

URIAH HEEP's current lineup includes Box, frontman Bernie Shaw, bassist Dave Rimmer, drummer Russell Gilbrook and keyboardist Phil Lanzon.

URIAH HEEP debuted in 1970 with the release of one of hard rock's milestones, "Very 'Eavy, Very 'Umble", and has since sold in excess of 40 million albums worldwide. They have constantly toured the world, playing up to 125 shows a year to more than 500,000 fans. The band's live set features the classic tracks from the '70s and is a musical journey from the band's beginnings to the present day.