It's been a bit of a boom time for Harem Scarem fans of late. Hot on the heels of one of the albums of last year, 'Weight Of The World', came the Gods appearance and subsequent 'Live At The Gods' DVD & CD. Now within the space of two months there's the excellent new Harry Hess album 'Just Another Day' and a proper re-mix of early Harem Scarem demos called 'Early Years'. We thought it was about time we found out how things are in the Harem Scarem camp, and caught up with a very busy Harry Hess to get the lowdown on his latest projects.

With the release of 'Just Another Day' a few days away on Now & Then/Frontiers, why has Harry chosen to make a modern pop-rock album and what does he hope to achieve with this release?

"I really just wanted to make it for myself," Harry explains, "but obviously I hope that people like it and it does well."

But with the band maybe not as popular in Japan as they were, why has he waited so long to do this now, as opposed to, say ten years ago?

Harry is thoughtful…. "I felt it was the right time" he begins "and Harem Scarem is now making 'rock' records again, while this material is a little more laid back".

The albums features his partner-in-crime Pete Lesperance on guitar, as well as current HS drummer Creighton Doane, and former drummer Darren Smith, but his most high-profile guest is Eric Martin. I wondered if he'd only met Eric at last years Gods, or if the two had crossed paths before during their time as the two most exploited bands in Japan.

He casts his mind back…"I first met Eric in Malaysia back in 1996, when Mr.Big was touring and I was working with a local artist. I've also run into him and Billy a few times in Japan. I've always been a big fan of Eric's voice and I asked him if he would like to do some backing vocals on my record when I saw him again at the Gods."

The album also features amongst others, ex-Our Lady Peace man Mike Turner, and ex-Honeymoon Suite keyboard player Ray Coburn, how did Harry come to choose the musicians he wanted on the record?

"They're all just friends of mine that I like to work with," he explains. "I wanted a very casual vibe and not to over think it too much."

One thing a lot of people have been asking is why did Harry feel the need to re-record the Scarem classic 'Sentimental Boulevard', and does Harry think that this version is different enough from the original, especially as Darren Smith's harmony vocals are on there. Harry is as always brutally honest...

"I was looking for a more traditional 'rock' track to put on the record and this is a song that I wrote and thought was a great addition to showcase me as an artist/singer/songwriter." He goes on to explain that the version isn't quite as new as people may think. "I found these tapes while putting together the 'Early Years' stuff and thought it would be cool to include it. It's actually tracks from the original demo and new stuff integrated together to make a 2003 version. Darren and I sang all the backing vocals that you hear about six months before 'Moodswings' was ever recorded, and I had already mixed them together so they could not be separated. It certainly gives it that original vibe."

While we're on the subject of Harry's Harem Scarem colleagues, I wondered why he chose to work with some of the same players when the style of music is so different from what they do best?

"The songs are treated differently," he says thoughtfully "and also the players are so versatile that they could make a big rock record one day and something completely different the next. Left to my own direction I tend to do stuff in this vein."

The album seems to be picking up some great reviews, probably even better than the Rubber albums did. It seems a great mix of catchy pop and some rockier moments that wouldn't have been out of place on 'Weight Of The World'. Harry, on the other hand, seems to prefer the slower songs, "I like 'Just Another Day', 'Look Right Through Me' and 'Two Ways' for their laid back easy going feel." Yet again some of the lyrics are a little out-there, and I asked him if it's some sort of game to try to fit in the oddest words he can think of, like he did with 'apropo' in 'Who-Buddy'.

"Depending on the mood I'm going for I've always gravitated towards some unique and strange lyrics," he admits "but I think I can also do the straight forward one's too. They're equally as hard. 'Voice of Reason' and 'Big Bang Theory' have some pretty outside lyrics on them which lend well to the music."

In addition to 'Just Another Day' there's also the 'Early Years' release, a collection of some of the demos that have been big business on the tape trading scene, as well as being plundered for the Fiore albums and released as bootlegs in Japan. Some of the demos were released by the band in cassette form well before the debut album, it was a limited edition and copies are now like gold dust among avid collectors. I wondered whose idea it was to dust off the tapes and release them?

"Andrew McNiece at melodicrock.com pointed out to me that a collector was selling a copy of our first demo on the internet for $995.00 U.S." he says incredulously. "I thought we should make this available to people at a reasonable price, and it went on from there."

It must have been a strange experience listening to those tapes again after all this time, I wondered if Harry found any of it particularly cringeworthy?

"I had the greatest time listening to that stuff and I couldn't even remember writing and recording some of it. We were really bad in the beginning," he recalls "and came a long way quickly when we made our first record. But yeah I did a lot of cringing."

One of the things you notice when you listen to it is that some snippets of songs were used later on in other songs. I wondered if these sound as odd to him today as they do to us?

"Yeah, especially when you've completely forgotten that you did it and where it originally came from. There is one pre-chorus in particular that was in about four songs until we got it right. I've always been big on cutting and pasting ideas."

Apart from the last couple of songs on the disc, one of which is 'End Of Time' - the Japanese bonus track for 'Weight Of The World' - I'd assumed that all the other songs came from before the self-titled album. Not so.

"No," he affirms, "they span from our first recordings ever as a band, to songs that didn't make it onto Moodswings."

Already knowing the answer to this one I mention the many bonus tracks on the Japanese albums and 'Best Of….' releases, I ask if everything the band has ever recorded is out there on official releases yet, the answer is a simple

"No. there's more."

A point he doesn't seem keen to elaborate on or simply doesn't want to give anything away. Either way, it's surprising that Warner Bros. in Japan have never tried to prise these songs away from them. Surely it would have been another opportunity to fleece the Japanese fans by adding them a few at a time to more compilations, however Harry insists that

"The label didn't even know about them."

After the Gods the band followed up with another four dates in Europe, three in Germany and one in Spain, the odd thing being that despite the size of the crowd and the reception they got, the band thought it was the worst gig they'd played on the tour. Not because of the crowd, or even the venue which they admitted was the best, but because they thought they played badly?? Hopefully this experience hasn't put them off playing in the UK.

"It was great! I'd love to come and do it again. We're always up for it but it's extremely expensive for us to do. That's really the only thing that's stopping us."

As if he didn't have enough on his plate, he's now been enlisted to appear on the forthcoming Gary Hughes 'King Arthur' project, in fact he's already done his parts, so what was his involvement?

"I believe I am the narrator. It was fun to do because it's not everyday you get a chance to sing something so different from the regular rock thing."

I wondered how Harry saw all this myths and magic stuff, especially being a guy whose lyrics deal exclusively with down-to-earth feelings and emotions.

"I have two different approaches to writing," he begins. "For Harem Scarem songs the lyrics get a little more 'Cloak and Dagger' if you will. The other songs I try to keep simple, easy to understand and sing along to."

The whole reason why there's no Harem Scarem, or the originally planned solo Harry Hess performance happening at the Gods this year was because the band are currently recording, Harry's comments on this were particularly encouraging.

"We're in the middle of the new Scarem record right now and it's going very well. We're spending an enormous time on the songs and hope to have it finished in a few months."

And the style? Harry says,

"If you're a fan of the old stuff nothing has ever been this close. We're finally getting good at it."