Kenny Leckremo is a person with no ‘off’ change. H.E.A.T’s ebullient frontman arrived solely seconds in the past, but right here he’s, beaming a thousand-watt smile. “Let me do away with this jacket, I’m burning up,” he says, shrugging off his leather-based with out breaking his verbal stride.
He’s at present on the street as a part of his aspect hustle as visitor singer with energy metallers Avantasia, however at this time his enthusiasm is targeted on his common band’s gleaming new album Welcome To The Future, his second document with the Swedish laborious rock champions since rejoining in 2020 after the departure of Erik Grönwall, who changed him a decade earlier.
The album is named Welcome To The Future. What does the long run appear to be via H.E.A.T’s eyes?
We known as it that as a result of this album doesn’t actually care what got here earlier than it. Drive Majeure [Leckremo’s first album since rejoining] was a fantastic album, but it surely needed to dwell as much as [Erik Gronwall’s 2019 swansong] H.E.A.T. II, whereas this one is unapologetic. It doesn’t give a shit. That is how we’re shifting ahead.
Ghost are principally a hair-metal band nowadays. Are you a bit jealous that they’ve stolen your thunder?
Ach, I left jealousy behind a very long time in the past. Right now, the extra noise we are able to make as a group, the higher. I don’t care if a band will get on this radio station or will get this many hundreds of individuals to their gigs. What issues is that we get the message to youthful generations who don’t even know what rock’n’roll music is. I’ll go to the fitness center and put some music on, and somebody will come as much as me and say: “What the hell is that this?’’ And I’m like: “What are you speaking about? It’s Survivor! How do you not know this?!”
H.E.A.T, Ghost, Europe, ABBA, Max Martin – why are Swedes so good at writing huge tunes?
It’s the climate. For a lot of the yr, it’s gray, it’s chilly, it’s snowing, it’s darkish. You’re loath to go exterior. So what do you do? You shack up inside and write music to cheer your self up and make you’re feeling good. I guess you most of these songs had been written at midnight.
Have rock bands grow to be too apologetic and forgotten methods to write tunes nowadays?
It’s not simply in rock, it’s in each style. I assume individuals affiliate it with a ‘retro’ fashion of music. In H.E.A.T we’re not apologetic or retro, we love that form of music. We’re not going to do some type of hip-hop or EDM track for the sake of pushing boundaries. All of the old-school bands we regarded as much as knew precisely who they had been.
Is it robust to get seen as a straight-ahead laborious rock band in 2025?
Rock is unquestionably somewhat bit underground at this second. It’s positively not the centre of consideration. You’re all the time going to have AC/DC and Iron Maiden and Springsteen, however common rock bands aren’t gonna have the identical area within the media as your Taylor Swifts. Nevertheless it’s thrilling proper now. There are a number of nice fucking bands simply ready to succeed in that huge viewers. And there’s a huge viewers for rock music, it’s nearly reaching via the noise.
What would you say to somebody who thinks H.E.A.T are tacky?
I really like cheese! It’s nice on a sandwich. And perhaps on a speaker system too. No, it’s a bit bizarre when any person says they don’t like such and such a band cos they’re tacky. No matter. Simply take heed to the music and are available see us fucking dwell after which inform me it’s tacky.
One of many causes you initially left H.E.A.T was since you had been recognized with a coronary heart situation. Is that also a think about your life?
It’s all up to now. I used to be born with a situation known as Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, which didn’t actually present itself in a foul means till I acquired older. It’s a uncommon situation, however you get it operated on and get it fastened, and you must hope it doesn’t come again.
Whenever you had been out of the band, had been there instances once you thought you may rejoin?
In fact. I’m not gonna lie, a couple of years after I left, I assumed it could be superb to work with the blokes once more, whether or not it was in H.E.A.T or one thing else. After which Erik was, like: “I’ve had sufficient of this.” The blokes instructed me: “We’re gonna ask Kenny if he desires to come back again, and if he doesn’t then perhaps we are saying fuck this shit”.
Have you ever ever met Erik?
Yeah, and there’s nothing however love and respect there. If any bizarre vibes existed between us, it could have been after we had been a lot youthful and we didn’t get the chance to get to know one another. He’s a fantastic fucking man, and he’s a part of this band for ever, whether or not he likes it or not. He was within the band for ten years. You possibly can’t simply erase that shit.
So when do you and Erik staff up for a track collectively?
You possibly can by no means say by no means. I’m an enormous fan of what he does, and he thinks what I do is fairly good as properly. So yeah, it’s one thing that would occur sooner or later.
You had been a boxer once you had been youthful. Do you continue to field?
That was a really small share of my sporting profession. I solely boxed for a short while. I used to be really an ice hockey participant. Can I nonetheless play? I feel I might nonetheless work some magic on the ice.
H.E.A.T have one of the best hair in rock at this time. But when certainly one of you went bald, would you kick the man out, or make him put on a wig?
No, you may look nevertheless you wish to, man. Personally, if it began going tits-up right here [points to luxuriant barnet] I’d simply shave it off. Is there room for bald individuals in H.E.A.T? Fuck yeah!
Welcome To The Future is out now through earMUSIC.