Having achieved major success with Fair Warning, especially in Japan, it came as a shock to just about everyone when Tommy Heart up and left, joining forces with ex-Bonfire bassist Joerg Deisinger to form the more hard rocking Soul Doctor. Kieran Dargan chats with Tommy to get to the Heart of the matter.

Hi Tommy. I’ve been trying to get hold of you for a while now, however you have been very evasive.

"Hahahah…….no, not really. Well, maybe a little. To be honest I didn’t want to do interviews or anything until the album was released and everybody had the chance to hear it. Until now I, or we didn’t really have much to say."

I guess the first question everybody would like answered is why did you leave Fair Warning, especially considering how successful they were?

"I am a band guy and by that I mean I am not a solo artist but I want to be a part of a band where everybody is fighting for the same thing and it wasn’t like that anymore."

So who exactly was to blame for that?

"Well nobody really. It actually started a few years ago. I started to feel really uneasy, especially when CC left the band. I was very close with CC and it affected me but I decided to carry on so then Andy decided to leave after ‘Four’. I had decided that I had enough and I was going to leave. So I think it was a combination of things rather than one particular incident but I felt we weren’t doing things together anymore and I wasn’t happy with that."

So how come you stayed in the band and sang on the ‘Four’ album?

"I had already made up my mind to leave but I didn’t want to just go and leave them with nothing, no singer and maybe no deal, so I decided once the album was out I would then leave."

Seems like a very brave or very silly decision to leave a band that was doing so well, sell out tours in Japan, every album selling in excess of 100,000 copies and above all, in this day and age, a band situation that offered financial security?

"Well it wasn’t about money, it never was. I’m a rock and roll singer and I love playing live but with Fair Warning we only played about seven shows a year and that’s not enough. I want to play at least sixty shows every year, in fact we have already played almost twenty five shows on our tour with Kingdom Come and it was great. Sure it’s always great to sell a lot of records and have people hear your music but if we toured more we could have maybe sold even more."

So was it down to the fact that you didn’t play live often enough that finally made you say 'That’s it. I’ve had enough' or was there something else?

"Well yes, it played a part. I wanted to play live all the time, everywhere, and the others didn’t want to do that. Also we had lost that feeling of brothers, you know...all for one, one for all. I had been writing songs as well but everything I had written was rejected by Helge and Ule who I have to say are much better song writers than me, but it got to the stage that I decided that’s it, I have to leave. I had no other choice."

"From the live albums Fair Warning recorded, and the large amount of live bootlegs I have, you seemed like a really good band live. Why do you think the others didn’t want to play live as much as you did?

"Perhaps they are too old. They are older than me and they have done it before with Zeno where as I am younger. I am only 33 and I wanted to get out and play rock and roll every night. I don’t know really, perhaps you had better ask them."

Why do you think your songs were rejected by the others? Was it anything to do with the large publishing cheque they receive for each album or were the songs in a different style than Fair Warning?

"Hahahaha…..I don’t know about that, you would have to ask them. Maybe some of the songs were a little more straight forward rock and roll than what we played with Fair Warning but I don’t think they even gave my songs serious consideration, and I was hurt by that. I felt I had a lot to offer but they kept pushing me aside so I bought some studio equipment and began recording demos with my long time friend Chris Lyne, who at that time gave me lots of encouragement and we got on really well together both on a personal level and song writing wise. He gave me the confidence I needed to keep writing so we went from there."

So how did they take your decision to leave the band?

"We spoke about it and I told them my reasons for leaving as I have told you already and I think they were a little mad at me...well maybe more than a little, hahaha, but I think after a while they accepted my decision. I spoke to Helge on the telephone a few weeks ago which was nice and I think he now understands I had to do it. We had a good conversation and he’s not mad at me any more. Well maybe not as much, hahahaha."

Do you know if they intend to carry on as Fair Warning, maybe get a new singer?

"I don’t know, it is possible . Helge didn’t say but he has a new band and he seems to be very happy now."

So, Soul Doctor...how did you all get together?

"Well after the ‘Four’ album was done, I met Joerg who wasn’t very happy with his own situation with Paul Sabu. We then got together and wrote and demoed some songs with Chris and it felt great, it felt like a real band even though it wasn’t at that time. I then asked Zacky, our drummer, to come in and help us out so it grew from there...the birth of Soul Doctor."

How would you describe the Soul Doctor ‘sound’?

"Hmmmmmm, that’s difficult because in my mind we don’t sound like anybody else . I would say we are definitely a hard rock band with good songs, the kind to make people get up and enjoy themselves, but I don’t know if we actually sound like anybody else."

I thought you sounded like a mixture of Thunder, Bad Company, Rainbow and AC/DC, with a little hint of your previous outfit Fair Warning.

"Wow! Wow, thanks, it’s an honour to be compared to some of those bands. I grew up listening to some of them and now my work is being compared to them...amazing. As for the Fair Warning comparisons, well yes I suppose maybe a little because it is my voice but musically I think we are more straightforward rock and roll...heavier, harder edged and not as …..pop!"

I know Fireworks received one of the first promo copies of the album. Now that it’s actually out on the street how is it doing?

"I’m amazed. In Japan we are on Marquee Avalon and they are very, very happy with the initial first six weeks sales. In Europe we are signed to Massacare.The album is coming out in Europe next week but so far the press reaction to it has been really good. I’m doing far more interviews for European magazines than I have ever done in the past with Fair Warning…it’s great and I hope it continues. It was always difficult for us [Fair Warning] to get coverage in Europe but that seems to be changing...very positive reaction so far."

You are a star in Japan. Does the 'Big in Japan' tag ever bother you, especially as some magazines and web sites tend to use that as a derogatory comment?

"No, not at all. I’m grateful to all my fans in Japan, and all over the world for their love and support for the last fifteen years. If an artist is bigger in one country than another what’s the problem? I know several bands who are ‘big’ in Japan and are by no means as successful at home. The Japanese fans are extremely loyal and have good musical taste. They are not influenced that much by trends and they support artists that make music that they enjoy. If you make music that people enjoy and they buy it, making you a a big name. Is that wrong? I don’t think so. Perhaps it’s jealousy on the parts of others who are not as successful or who are jealous of your success."

It seems you are going back to basics with Soul Doctor, a small club tour with Kingdom Come gigging everywhere and anywhere in support of the new record.

"Yes, it is going back to basics. I...no, WE want to play everywhere we can...small clubs, theatre’s, stadiums, anywhere with electricity. It is so important to me to be in a band situation with three other people I can trust. We don’t want to be overnight sensations, we want to make a record every year and tour it, build things up from the ground. Things like that make a real band...on a tourbus, playing live, doing things as a big family. That is so important to not only me, but to the others also. In fact it is so important to Zacky that he is moving from Hamburg and into our band house in Munich ….that’s the type of commitment to Soul Doctor that we are talking about. We have a band house in Munich in which we live, write, rehearse and do everything together just like one big family and it shows. We are very happy with the set up, so much so in fact that we have already started working on material for the next Soul Doctor album, which we hope to have out next year."

So what are the plans for Soul Doctor for the remainder of the year?

"We hope to be able to play live a lot more. We are playing Wacken in the summer and we hope to be able to do other festivals also. We would love to play the UK also. I did play there with my old band V2 a long time ago, but never with Fair Warning so maybe we’ll get the chance, who knows. If there is a promoter out there willing to get us over for some shows then please get in touch. We’d love to do it."

Finally Tommy, is there anything that you would like to say to all your fans out there?

"Thank you for everything . Thank you for your support during my time with Fair Warning and I hope you will take the time to check out the new Soul Doctor album …it’s a rocker ..hahahahahaha, and most of all I hope to see everybody on tour in the future."