Hi !
Many thanks for answering our questions.

First of all, I want to congratulate you for Blind Fire, a wonderful record I play quite often at home.

Tuomas Heikkinen : Thanks a lot. Glad you like it.

Do you have a feedback on the sales ? Are they satisfying?

TH: No reports from elsewhere than Finland yet. We’ve been on the Top 40 chart here for 4 consecutive weeks now and the first edition is sold out, so that has been good news.

For the promotion, Frontiers Rec. introduce you as the heirs of Rainbow, Magnum and Stratovarius. I personally find it difficult to perceive these in your music. What do you think of that?

TH: Rainbow means a lot to me. That Magnum comparison puzzles me, I really haven’t heard their music, but I guess some people find similarities in Pekka’s voice or so; as far as the mighty Stratovarius goes, I really appreciate the band’s achievements, but again have never really listened to them closely. All that is just me, I am sure you can hear the influences of all members of the band in our music, even if I’ve written the most of it.

Tides in 2006, Follow Down That River (EP) in 2007, Blind Fire in January 2008, haven’t you taken any rest since the birth of the band ?!

TH: We want to work hard on this thing. This band is a long time dream come true for me, great musicians and people, so as long as it just flows without forcing it it’s great to make music as much as you can.

Why an EP in 2007 ? I personally regret that Follow Down That River was not taken again on the new album. For me, it is one of your best songs!

TH: Well, the song is from Tides, and the only thing on the EP that isn’t a part of Tides reissue is the live version of Stranger.

Coming out from nowhere in 2006, LEVERAGE has already the image of a high quality Melodic hard rock band. And you deserve it. To your opinion, where does it come from?

TH: We’re all experienced players and we had the opportunity to make the best effort we ever could already for the debut, so I guess that is where we were able to ‘shortcut’ a bit compared to many other newcomer bands.

Pekka is now part of the high quality singers in the world, due to its wonderful performance on the LEVERAGE albums as well as on BROTHER FIRETRIBE ones, though the styles are slightly different. What does he prefer ? Melodic hard rock, AOR, FM ?

Pekka Heino : Thanks for those kind words. I´m a huge fan of classic melodic heavy rock and AOR, all in all my tastes is music vary a lot, I tend to listen to all kinds of music, but I grew up listening to all those classic heavy rock bands from the 80´s so I guess that´s closest to my heart.

In your records, I have the feeling that you want to grant us with wonderful melodies, either with the instruments or with the voice. Is that your aim?

TH: It is indeed, and it’s great to hear that you feel that way. The way I’d like a Leverage song work is that you can take it and play and sing it with just an acoustic guitar, or a piano, and still have a song. That goes for themes, riffs some of the solos etc. too, I’d like them to be memorable (and who wouldn’t, actually) the point being melody over flashy stuff. I’m not sure how flashy I can play, Torsti (guitar, also) sure can.

To your opinion, have you given the fans the records they could await from you after the high quality of Tides and the tantalizing EP ?
TH: I believe so. We’re very happy with Blind Fire, and it seems to have grown on people with more spins, which is what we aimed at.

We can feel an evolution between the two albums. Does it come from experiences or maturity?
TH: We’re tighter as a band now and maybe more in touch with what we want Leverage to be musically right now than we were at the time of recording Tides. Making Tides paved the way for Blind Fire, many of the basic sound structure and other technical decisions were tried and proven back then, so this time around we had a pretty easy time with all that and were able to just push the best out of the songs we could.

I found different moods in Blind Fire . Some parts rather “prog’”, others more AOR with keyboards and sharp guitars without trying to show up. A very nice alchemy, indeed. Is this the reflect of your influences?

TH: I’ve listend to guitar driven, mostly melodic, heavy rock and some a bit more AOR stuff pretty much my whole life. So have the others in the band with of course some variety in likings. The blend we have just originates from that history, and the band is very open for experimenting with whatever anyone of us comes up with. For example, I brought Hellhorn in as a demo that already had the final keyboard intro and all, and said that OK fellows, this one is pretty damn heavy at parts, hope you’ll dig it anyway, and they did.

Are you satisfied with the production, as for me, it gives each instrument and the voice the right place ? What do you think of that?

TH: The credit for that goes to Torsti, he is a great producer as well as a superb musician. We did discuss these things a lot at the beginning, and decided to go for a live-type sound with no rhythm guitar overdubs or a million layers of keyboards. It is very hard to fit everything in the world into one sonic picture, and we’ve tried to include the necessary and make sure that what is on the track can also be heard.

Who are your influences ?

TH: The Beatles when I was really young, straight from mother’s milk from my parents’ records. Then, Ritchie Blackmore, he was like God to me. Kiss, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Dio, Iron Maiden, all these old school heavy rockers. I still think that Blackmore and Van Halen have been the two biggest influences on me trying to learn the guitar.

Tides was successful in Finland and Japan. With Blind Fire, and the deal with Frontiers Rec., Europe can be conquered. Is the next step the US and Australia? Would a worldwide fame be one of your objectives?

TH: It is all hard work playing in unknown band like we are. We hope to gain ground and new listeners, but I don’t think it would be realistic to set some huge goals and then be disappointed if they don’t materialize. It is great to make and play music with Leverage, and we try to do our best at that. We’ll keep pushing hard and see where it takes us.

Let’s talk about the Internet. MySpace is now an evident tool for promotion. It is a kind of presentation where it is possible for the audience to listen to some of your tracks. How do you perceive this? Is it a constraint for you or a wonderful media that can reach a lot of people?

TH: Things like MySpace alone are a blessing. I can’t see anything wrong with the Internet music wasn’t the shadow of piracy cast over it. It is really wonderful that unknown and unsigned artists can make very decent recordings and have them heard over the Internet with a very low cost with modern technology, possibly reaching people all over the world. I mean, who would have thought, say, 20 years ago.

It is also an excellent way for the fans to get in touch directly with the musicians, as I did with you. Do you perceive a big demand?

TH: That is also true. We’ve had our share of writing to different people over the last couple of months, and that is all good. And it is also great to be in a direct touch with people who just like our music to point of writing us about it.

What a webzine like www.hardrock80.com can bring to you ?

TH: Probably a lot, if I only knew any French… In general, webzines are a great modern vehicle of music, they can move and react fast and work a lot in the same good way that for instance MySpace does.

Now you have two records. Do you plan to tour in Europe? And can we hope to see you in France?

TH: All plans of touring outside of Finland are still at a very early stage. We’d be more than happy to play all over, it is a matter of good planning and plenty of footwork to make it happen. We’d come to France in a heartbeat given the chance.

Metal scene is going on fairly well in Scandinavia and Finland is well placed. In your home country charts, what is the rate of our music?

TH: Heavy rock is pretty big in Finland these days, you see a lot of albums by bands of this genre (widely, from Children Of Bodom to Ari Koivunen) on the charts.

To end up, I let you conclude to our readers.

TH: Thank you for your support! Hope to see you one day. Keep Rocking!

Many thanks and I wish Blind Fire to be a great success.