Collaborating with the original creators on your own cover is heaven, and for The Scarlet Opera, heaven is a place on earth.

The rising Los Angeles band, beloved for their glam rock attitude and frontman Luka Bazulka’s powerhouse vocals, had the recent pleasure of working with Rick Nowels, the original producer and co-writer of Belinda Carlisle’s 1987 classic, “Heaven Is a Place On Earth.” Their new version, polished and revamped for 2025, still packs a massive punch — and arrives today with an equally nostalgic music video.

The visual features all five members in a lo-fi haze, as if it were lifted from an old VHS tape from decades past. Bazulka is pictured alone in heaven, surrounded by glittery clouds and wearing angel wings, as he lifts his bandmates from the flames of hell. Directed by Alexa Cha and edited by Justin Moon, The Scarlet Opera’s “Heaven Is a Place On Earth” has everything from campy choreography to dramatic guitar solos.

“The goal was simple, to have a very good time,” Bazulka says of the release. “I think at first we tossed around the idea of having a little glass menagerie of the boys for me to break in this elaborate set, but the budget permitted us puppets and a green screen instead — and thank goodness.”

“Heaven Is a Place on Earth” follows The Scarlet Opera’s Mirror Mirror EP, released earlier this year. Bazulka is joined by Colin Kenrick (keyboard), Daniel Zuker (bass), Justin Siegal (drums) and Chance Taylor (guitar). Together, they deliver an arena-sized sound that brings a theatrical sensibility to contemporary pop-rock. From the urgent “Catch Me If You Can” to the tongue-in-cheek “Slutty” and anthemic “What Good Is Love,” Mirror Mirror was a real standout this year.

Below, PAPER chats with The Scarlet Opera’s Luka Bazulka about telling Belinda Carlisle’s story to a new generation and championing the “wonderful and enticing delusion” of glam rock.

What initially attracted you to cover this song?

We had been slowing down some of these bouncy ’80s powerhouse records, and really chewing on the words and heart of the songs, mostly to find a new cover for tour. This particular song felt like that scene in Angels In America when the Angel (in this case, Belinda Carlisle) breaks through the wall to share one of life’s most humbling truths: that true love doesn’t send you spiraling obsessively, it calls you home. We were swept away by the good news and needed to sing it for ourselves. A short snippet of me wailing in the garage got the attention of the original producer, Rick Nowels, and Belinda too. It was Rick’s idea to recut and rerelease the record, and when Belinda sent her blessing, it was off to the races.

Are you inspired by this era of music, the late ’80s?

We’re inspired by what was at the core of ’80s music, yearning. That decade gets a bad rap sometimes for being too indulgent, cheesy — and it was so dramatic, but there was always good reason. There’s something so hot and too easily dismissed about caring.

How did you approach bringing your own perspective to this?

When we sat with Rick to build this out, we had already been touring our rendition of the song and had a closeness to it that Rick wanted to maintain. The choice to not begin with the hook (as the original does) gave us the chance to set the scene on our stage every night before taking the audience right up to the pearly gates themselves (as the original does). An eerie lamenting guitar shuffles in the first lyric, “When the night falls down, I wait for you.” We wanted to tell Belinda’s story in a way that maybe felt a bit more fatal instead of reassuring.

In what ways is this release reflective of The Scarlet Opera and your original music?

It’s larger than life, sweeping and romantic. It’s absolutely ridiculous, really, all of our favorite things. This record demands your attention and so do we.

Creatively, how did you approach bringing the cover to life in a music video? Who were some of your collaborators and how did you all work together?

We love Alexa Cha in this house. Hailing from 1824, we’ve been lucky enough to work with her before on a few visual projects. She seems to have a better idea of what we need than we do most times. The benefit of leaning on her (or any other visual artists you trust) is that you get an objective, egoless take on the work you’ve created. The goal was simple: to have a very good time. I think at first we tossed around the idea of having a little glass menagerie of the boys for me to break in this elaborate set, but the budget permitted us puppets and a green screen instead — and thank god.

In what ways are you influenced by glam rock and theater, and how do you see that building as you move into the future?

Glam rock is a genre born out of classical theater, genderless expression and a great fuckin’ time. Decades later, what’s its use? We think about that a lot. We see some carbon copies of the old aesthetic. Attempts to nudge us in that direction have been made, as well. We get it, it’s familiar. It’s safe. You want to believe that Queen 2.0 is here, but they aren’t and besides, Queen was never safe. There’s a desire for honesty from the world at large, the raw naked truth. I want to talk more about growing up in rural Pennsylvania and the magic of my childhood. I want to talk about my sisters going to war and how I’d try on their dresses when I missed them. I think glam rock will be to us what it has always been to the world: a delusion, a very wonderful and enticing delusion.

What does 2025 look like for The Scarlet Opera?

If I may be so bold, I think the theatrical ticking time bomb that is this band will really be set off this next year. Transparently, we’ve been through some personal shit in 2024, it was fuckin’ rough and weird. I’m sure it’ll reveal itself in due time through the music. We are, now more than ever, hyper focused on the preservation of joy. We intend to stay whimsical and elegant and kind.

There’s a desire for honesty from the world at large, the raw naked truth.

Photography: Brian Ziff