Brian Carter (The Heavils) Interview

The Heavils are a unique band. They actually build their own guitars, called Meanies, and use them to record and play live. Their sophomore album, Heavilution is a bit harder than their debut. The album was produced by Devin Townsend and contains a cover version of Cheap Trick's "Just Got Back." They even got Cheap Trick's Rick Neilsen to play guitar on the track and his son Miles added vocals. I recently interviewed Brian Carter, the lead vocalist and guitarist for The Heavils.

Chad Bowar: How does Heavilution compare sound wise to the last record? Brian Carter: Well, the first one we went into it with the demo mentality, then later remixed to the final release, but on the new CD we had more of a chance to take our time and get the sound we wanted, spend more time on each person till it was right.

How did you decide to bring aboard Devin Townsend?

He is an old friend of Mossy's and he made the offered to work with us. He was pretty excited to get onboard the Heavilution.

What was he like to work with?

We hung out for a month it was very laid back, just like we were all lost friends that just got back together. We are both psycho so it worked for me.

How did you decide to cover "Just Got Back," and how did you get Rick Nielsen aboard?

We are from the same town as Cheap Trick so it just made sense to pay homage to them no one else has in this town. Mossy & I both know Rick, & we are good friends with Miles, one of his sons. He sang parts on the cover too.

What are your touring plans for the summer?

World Heavilution! We want to tour overseas this year.

How and why did you start building and playing your own instruments?

I wanted to play something different than the same old guitar so I went and bought an $8 toilet seat at the hardware store and away we go. I made another one every month or so out of anything I could find. Music can come from every place if you look hard enough.

How did you get started in music and how did the band start?

My first start in music was at 10 years old, a $5 acoustic guitar from a garage sale. Many attempts in other bands later Mossy & I wanted to try together to make something new so we played around till we came up The Heavil sound, which is controlled chaos at best, and no limits. Why be like everything else we just work well together and it is fun? So we will take over the world now. And, make everyone smile, I hope.

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