An Interview with Bill Leverty by Kara Uhrlen

What Goes Into a Song?

When it comes to writing, Leverty also says that they have to follow their hearts…

"We're not going to do any thing that we don't really like, because we're the guys that have to get up there and play it 365 days a year, and if it's something you don't like, it turns into more of a job. It is work. But, it's not really a job because we're actually playing.

I can't really write anything that I don't really feel comes from my heart. I can't really write a song that's kind of like a lot of the music that's out there today…it's just not me. I think some of it's really good, but it's just not me. And when it comes to art, I think that if you are an artist you really have to write or create things that come from inside you instead of trying to be something that you're not and we've all made a commitment to try to be a melodic rock band and make good records…"

That commitment began more than a decade ago when Leverty and drummer Michael Foster joined forces with vocalist CJ Snare and bassist Perry Richardson under the title White Heat. When the band performed a title search shortly after signing a deal with Epic Records, they found that the name was already taken, and switched to Firehouse, a name that Foster had thought up.

Leverty says that during that time, the band had released a single for the song "Helpless," which eventually made it on to their first album, but the track on the b-side, "Crashing Through the Wall," has actually never been re-released. Though he says he has seen them on e-Bay from time to time, the band had only pressed up 1,000 of the singles.

While the unreleased track has never been introduced to Firehouse fans, he still really likes the song because it was one that he and CJ had written together, and because he found the story behind it very interesting. Leverty explained that he had read a newspaper article about a man who worked as a truck driver in Germany, and prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the man actually drove his family through the wall to freedom, and after sharing the story with the band's vocalist, the song was written.

The Transition

As most are well aware, it is not common for a band to maintain its sound and its original members for many years...

A History Lesson

When asked how they had initially succeeded to win double-platinum success with their first album, Leverty said...

Life On The Road
"One of the things that's real frustrating, when you're out on the road, a lot of these radio stations will...

Conclusion
Before concluding the interview, Leverty wanted to extend a special thanks to the band's fans...

For more information about Firehouse visit their official site at www.firehousemusic.com,  and also check out Bill Leverty's personal site at www.leverty.com.

Live photos were taken by Kara Uhrlen and are property of The Pure Rock Shop.

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