Feature Photo courtesy of Mark Evans
Sometimes, in life and music, you have all the pieces in place, needed ingredients, and talent in the world, but for whatever reason, things don’t go according to plan.
And with Heavens Edge, a Philly-born, bred, and based glam rock outfit formed in 1987 by Mark Evans (vocals), and Reggie Wu (guitars), who were later joined by Steve Parry (guitars), Dave Rath (drums), and George “G.G.” Guidotti (bass), that’s certainly the case.
Heavens Edge had talent in spades, a rocking stage show, and anthemic songs. After building a massive local following on the Philly and New Jersey club scene, the fivesome scored a deal with Columbia Records, leading to the recording of their debut, 1990’s Heavens Edge.
On the strength of songs like “Play Dirty,” “Skin to Skin,” and “Can’t Catch Me,” Heavens Edge represented the blending of Evans’s monster vocals, Wu’s blazing shred heroics, and the duo’s deep bond via songwriting. Sadly, despite “Skin to Skin” being popular with the MTV Headbangers Ball crowd, Heavens Edge stalled at No.141 on the Billboard 200 chart, leaving Evans and company with a hard decision in the face of the impending grunge Armageddon.
Despite demos for a second record being recorded and a second album still on the table for Columbia, Evans departed Heavens Edge in 1992, leaving the band’s second record, Some Other Place, Some Other Time, to be shelved until 1998, but it did little as nu-metal, and teen pop reigned supreme by then.
Evans laid low through the ’90s and 2000s, giving little thought to the music business. And even when Heavens Edge saddled up again in 2012 for now and again live shows, the general idea was that Heavens Edge would never record again. But that all changed when Frontiers Records came calling in 2021, leading to Heavens Edge’s first new record, 2023’s Get it Right, in over 30 years.
These days, Heavens Edge is stronger than ever. Global success wasn’t in the cards, but for Mark Evans, that’s alright. Still flanked by his old friend Reggie Wu, along with Steve Parry, Dave Rath, and Jaron Gulino on bass, who replaced G.G. Guidotti after his death from lung cancer in 2019, Evans is prepared to ride Heavens Edge’s journey out, no matter where it takes them from here.
During a break, Mark Evans dialed in with ClassicRockHistory.com to dig into the history of Heaven’s Edge, its reformation, and where he goes from here.
Mark Evans of Heavens Edge: The ClassicRockHistory.com Interview
Photo courtesy of Mark Evans of Heavens Edge
What did the music scene you were exposed to growing up look like?
The music scene I was exposed to growing up in the Philly area back then was amazing because there was a little of an original scene around here when I first started. There was an incredibly huge and popular cover-band scene where you could make a living as a musician and hone your craft five or six nights a week doing that. It was an amazing time to be a musician in the Philly area.
Who influenced you most as a singer, guitarist, and songwriter?
As for a singer and guitar player, there are quite a few singers: Steven Tyler, Robert Plant, Steve Perry, and Paul Rogers were huge influences. For guitar playing, I loved Scott Gorham and some of the different combinations of guitar players that came into Thin Lizzy. And Ace Frehley was a huge influence as I grew up in the ’70s.
Songwriting is a tough one; I wasn’t thinking of songwriting when I was younger because I played in cover bands. Once I did start writing, I was into the more melodic stuff, like Journey and Thin Lizzy.
Before Heavens Edge there was Alien and Network. What can you tell us about those bands?
Before Heavens Edge, I joined Alien full time, which was a Doors tribute band and a cover band back in the summer of 1980. I was with them for about five years. I learned a lot; they were veteran musicians.
The guys in Alien were probably about ten years older than I was, so I learned a lot about what it means to be a musician in a band from them. And then, Network started, and was just a very talented band, but it also had musicians with very strong opinions. So, it didn’t flesh out for me as creatively as I hoped.
How did you meet Reggie Wu and subsequently form Heavens Edge?
Reggie and I met for the first time when he was in Whitefoxx and I was still in Network; we did a show together in Cherry Hill, NJ, and got to meet for the first time. It was some time after he contacted my girlfriend, and now wife, after he saw her at The Galaxy and asked if she thought I might be interested in calling and riding with him, which ended up working out quite well.
From there, how did Steve, Dave, and G.G. enter the picture?
Once Reggie and I decided to make a band out of this, we started holding auditions and had Steve [Parry] and Dave [Rath] in the band. At first, I was still considering playing bass and singing, but then that was voted down. We all knew George [Guidotti], and we got him into the band, completing the picture.
How did Heavens Edge hone its stage show and persona during its early gigs?
The early gigs back then were cool because I was in Network, a high-profile band in the area. Reggie was in Whitefoxx, which was also a very high profile in the area, so it helped get some decent crowds for the early shows. The buzz in the Philly and South Jersey areas because of the success of Cinderella and Britny Fox made it even more exciting in the area at the time.
The East Coast had a ton of talent back then, but it seems like it received less attention than the West Coast. Why is that?
The East Coast never got the same level of attention as the West Coast, probably because the West Coast started sooner. I think they began signing bands out of L.A. and off the Sunset Strip sooner than they discovered the talent that was on the East Coast.
Did Heavens Edge consider leaving the East Coast for L.A. like Poison?
We never considered leaving the East Coast and heading to L.A. because the scene around here was so hot then, so there was no need to leave. Maybe we would have considered that if we had gotten together a few years earlier.
You and Reggie formed a strong songwriting partnership. What made that bond special from the jump?
When it comes to Reggie and I writing together, the bond that we have is very special because Reggie and I have worked with a ton of musicians over our lives and our careers. There has never been the feeling that the two of us have when we get together and work on writing and being creative. We always come up with something, even if it’s not that good, but we always come up with something.
As things were picking up, George was shot at The Empire Rock Club. What impact did it have on Heavens Edge?
When George got shot, it did impact the band a lot because we decided to take the time to allow George to heal so that he could actually play on the record. In hindsight, it was probably not the best decision, considering I was also a bass player. I could have easily just played the parts, and the album could have come out sooner. But hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it?
What led to Heavens Edge signing with Columbia Records?
Our signing with Columbia was pretty much decided by Tommy Mottola, who was the head of CBS/Sony overtop of Columbia Records and Epic Records. We were leaning towards them because he seemed to really get the band.
Unfortunately, he decided we would be better off with Don Lenner and Columbia Records than going to Epic Records. Donnie Lenner was the one who ended up squashing everything in the long run, so it was not the best decision.
Once in the studio with Neil Kernon, what were the sessions for Heavens Edge like? Did anyone have red light fever?
I don’t think anybody had red light fever. It was a little intimidating at first, but I didn’t have to sing for quite a while until we finished recording the rhythm tracks and a lot of the other stuff. I had time to get to know Neil and be less intimidated by the time I was ready to start singing for the first record.
It was intimidating for me as a singer when you look at the list of other singers he’s produced. We’re talking Darryl Hall to Jeff Tate, Don Dokken, John Anderson, Michael Bolton, and so many great singers for whom I have a ton of respect. I was a little worried about being able to make my mark.
Did the record come together quickly, or was it challenging?
When it comes to recording the first record, it wasn’t that fast of a process; things were different back then; it wasn’t digital, and everything was on tape, making the recording process much slower than it is today. It’s been a while, so I can’t remember which ones would have been the hardest or the quickest.
I’m sure the Philly community rallied around the band. But what about Columbia and the rest of the world?
The Philadelphia community definitely rallied behind us, along with the local radio stations with WMMR. Colombia initially kind of rallied around the band, but then that interest waned fairly quickly, which then, in turn, the interest around the rest of the world kind of went away.
The tour that followed was popular, but things tapered off from there. Do you blame grunge? The label?
It was an odd time because we were pretty much on top of the world or felt that way. Then, the rug got pulled out from underneath us, which was unexpected. Once that happened, and we finally got released from Columbia Records, it was just so much of an uphill climb at that point with the fact that music had changed. Grunge was becoming popular, and it was just too steep a hill to climb.
Is that why you left Heavens Edge?
At that point, I think that’s pretty much why we just let things go; I was the first one to leave because I just knew the style of music that was becoming popular was not something that I was into enjoying. I knew I couldn’t write like that and that if I did, I would just be faking it, which people would see through that.
What about the demos for the second record, which came out as Some Other Place, Some Other Time in 1998?
As for the second album, I don’t even remember who I was in contact with that label back then; it must’ve been through phone or email, I guess. We had a decent grouping of demos that were done for the second record, some better than others. Eventually, it came out it really didn’t mean anything for us to get together again as a band, but it was nice to get the music out there.
How did you ride out the ’90s while away from Heavens Edge?
Once I left the band, I started a cover band for a little while to try to help financially. Besides that, I spent most of the ’90s just being a dad, raising my kids, and being a husband. When we got back together again back in 2012, the expectation was never to put out a new record; we didn’t have any expectations. We hoped maybe to get a couple of good shows in and have some fun, and then figure that would be the end of it. We never expected the different festivals and the Monsters of Rock cruise.
So then, what brought Heavens Edge to a point where you could record 2023’s Get it Right? Are there more records in the works?
Frontiers Records reaching out to us was definitely surprising, but it was one hell of a fun process. We’re really proud of the record, and people seem to enjoy it. We’re working on the second one, slowly but surely. Hopefully, we’ll be back in the studio next summer [2024] for the next one.
What’s changed most for the band in terms of mindset and outlook?
I think everything has slowed down for us nowadays, and we get to sit back and enjoy it and appreciate it a lot more now than we did back in the day.
And what are you most proud of when you look back?
When I look back, the fact that we’re all still together, and we all still love each other. The fact that we lost George was brutal, but the fact that we lost him, and we could go through it together, definitely helped, and the feeling that he is looking down on us and enjoying this and laughing with us gives us some peace.
How do you view Heavens Edge’s legacy overall?
If we actually have a legacy—and I don’t know if we do—it was a band that always appreciated what we got to do. That always was there to try and bring people along for the ride so that we were all in it for the same thing. We were all at the show to have a good time together, and when we got a chance to get up on stage and look out and see people smiling and laughing and dancing around and singing and enjoying themselves with us, that meant the world to us.
Hopefully, we get to do that for a bit longer as we’re all getting older. But trust me—we truly appreciate every single time we get to do it now, and we will appreciate every single time we get to do it until we can’t do it anymore. So, thank you to all the fans who have supported and remembered us after all these years.
Photo courtesy of Mark Evans of Heavens Edge
