Classic Rock Revisited founder Jeb Wright recently spoke to URIAH HEEP guitarist Mick Box about the band's new album, Wake The Sleeper. The following is an excerpt from the interview.

Jeb: This is first album with Russell Gilbrook on drums. You don’t just go out and replace a legend like Lee Kerslake.

Mick: "I thought Lee and I would be in the same band until we died with our boots on but it wasn’t meant to be. We had done a long, acoustic tour that went right through Scandinavia and Germany and I sat down with Lee and said, 'I think we need to assess a few things. If you haven’t got your health, then you haven’t got anything.' I told him that he needed time to get a few things in order. To be honest with you, he agreed. It was almost like a big weight was taken off his shoulders. I told him, 'We are going to take some time and start writing for the new album and then we are going to go on an 18-month tour. You really need to get a few things in your life in order.' It is not just one thing or another; there were other things as well, but my concern was his health. If he were to continue like this then who knows what could have happened. Having made that decision, which was very difficult, we had always said that we were mates first and musicians second. I ring him up every week to see how he is doing. He is in a good head space now; he is brighter and more vibrant than he has been for a long while."

Jeb: A lot of people look at Uriah Heep as Mick Box’s band. But this lineup, apart from Russell has been together for twenty years.

Mick: "A lot of that comes from the fact that I was also managing the band and being the tour manager. Previous to me taking over that role, we were very unhappy with management because you get ripped off on all sorts of things. With me doing it, my heart and soul were in the right place. When other people were making the decisions, this was not always so. I made a vow halfway down my career that I would only work with people that I really liked — including crew members, agents and everything. I have stuck to that and it has worked really well for us. Everyone likes being in the band and everyone wants to be in the band."

Go to this location for the complete interview.