Heavens Edge frontman Mark Evans recalls trying to write songs that were a little “grungy” with Reggie Wu

Heavens Edge frontman Mark Evans recalls trying to write songs that were a little “grungy” with Reggie Wu

Heavens Edge lead vocalist Mark Evans was recently interviewed by Shannon Wilks for Rockin’ Interviews. Evans was promoting Heavens Edge‘s upcoming new studio album Get It Right, which will be released via Frontiers Music Srl on May 12, 2023.

On why Heavens Edge have elected to release a new album at this point, Evans indicated (as provided by Rockin’ Interviews with slight edits): “Until 2012, we weren’t a band. I left the band in ’92. In 2012, we were asked to do a festival in England called Firefest. We didn’t even know if we were going to sound good. We got more offers after that to continue playing shows. Reggie (Wu) and I had always kept in touch and continued writing but not at the pace where we could do an album. We’d do an occasional new song at some of the shows we were doing but we never expected to do an album until we got a message from Frontiers Records. They were interested in doing a three-record deal with us.”

In terms of working with producer Jacob Bunton, Evans stated: “For us, he made all the difference in the world. It’s strange because as a musician and a songwriter, you can convince yourself that you don’t need a producer and that you know what you’re doing, until a producer comes in and makes those little changes. If the chemistry is right, what can come out of it is huge. We had really strong chemistry with Neil Kernon and we had the opportunity to work with Jacob. When Reggie and I put the band together, the two of us got together to write and it just clicked. In all 37 years since we started the band, we’ve never felt that same connection with anybody we’ve worked with. With Jacob, we had never met him and the bulk of our interaction was over the phone or over email. He fit in with Reggie and I like Reggie so we fit with each other.”

With respect to Heavens Edge‘s breaking up back in the early ’90s, Evans indicated: “I left the band in ’92. Music was changing and that affected many bands like us. We all still wanted to do music for a living and we had all these opportunities we had to make it work. Reggie and I tried writing all these songs that were a little more grungy and it just wasn’t us. It started feeling desperate. The industry that we were in with our genre was dying so quickly. I remember we did a show up in New England and it was the last show of the tour and I just knew that I was done. I can’t go that direction, it’s just not me and it would be fake. On the drive home, I just told them that I was done. I already had two kids at home and I was missing time with them and I came to the realization that the end was near and I might as well try to start a new beginning.”

You can listen to the interview with Mark Evans via Spotify.