| "FROM SOMEWHERE OUT IN SPACE, TO ANYWHERE IN THE GALAXY, GERMANY'S
POWER METAL PIONEERS READY THEIR LATEST ASSAULT ON THE HEAVY METAL UNIVERSE" Kai Hansen, guitarist, vocalist and self-proclaimed heavy metal workaholic can currently be found sitting back proudly upon the completion of his band Gamma Ray's anxiously awaited conceptual new release "Power Plant," which shall soon be bombarding listeners with a lethal dosage of their latest metal diffusion at any moment. The former Helloween founder and frontman sheds some light on this newest project hailed by many as the band's finest hour, as well as addressing past issues, current events and future predictions as the band nears its tenth year and sixth full album of existence while entering a critical juncture in their careers. Back home with the label that gave them their start, Noise Records, Kai talks optimistically about the improving conditions for the once fledgling entity that was heavy metal and the promise of a brighter future the second time around-something of a beast ready to again rear its ugly head and pounce on a new generation of tired listeners. Our interview begins in conversational format before the metal inquisition gets underway: The publicity's been all too lacking here in the states (for European power metal acts). Kai: Definitely. There was not much happening with the last record company efforts. F.A.D.? Kai: Right. You've just released "Power Plant" which I've recently finished listening to and of course it's terrific. It's everything we've come to expect from Gamma Ray and then some. It's actually been billed as your finest work to date and you know how most bands react upon their latest release where they'll always boast about their latest album as being their best Kai: Right. I would claim that. I am really serious with saying "Power Plant" is the best Gamma Ray album, but of course I know every artist says that about the latest album so I better shut up and leave that to the others. (Laughs) Well actually now that we're on the subject, what is it about this album that makes this the best one? Is it more technically advanced? Is the musicianship perhaps a step above your past work? Kai: I think it has something to do with chemistry with the band. very good songs and the production. But in the end, of course a good production is only a little part of having a good album. There are so many great albums that sound like shit but still they're great albums. It has something to do with chemistry in the band and the overall feel and the songs. I agree. I listened to it and reviewed it last night. and of course gave you a good review! Kai: Cool. Well if you listen to it like two or three times or even five or six, it digs down deeper-that's what other people told me. The first few it's good but then if you get to listen more and more, there's a kind of addictive thing about this album. That's not my words, that's what others have said and I like it. I still listen to it even being in the whole producing process--being involved and having heard the songs a million times. But now I really enjoy the final result. For an artist, that's pretty cool. I'm reserving judgment before calling it your best work compared to your past efforts for that reason. I haven't gotten to listen to it a number of times over yet. And I've really liked some of your earlier titles as well like "Somewhere Out in Space," and "Land of the Free." I do think this one's right up there with those. But one thing that really interested me right off on "Power Plant" was when I got the four-song advance and it said "contains the radio hit 'It's a Sin'" and I had no idea that was a cover of The Pet Shop Boys until I heard the song. Then of course it was unmistakable. So what gave you the idea to do something like that? Kai: Well actually I always had heard the song on the radio and every time I heard it, I kind of felt, even though The Pet Shop Boys version is like real gay, British 80's pop-band version, there was a buzz in the song. I had a feeling this could be a real heavy song. Like when you hear the chorus, "It's a Sin." It kind of felt heavy and we just had to do that. Plus, we thought it might be something different than doing the obvious 80's heavy metal era cover version which at the moment, everybody does.and we have done our share of that. But we definitely wanted to do something different-transfer a song that hasn't anything to do with heavy metal into a metal song. For instance, Judas Priest once did it with "Diamonds & Rust." In the end, "It's a Sin" was planned to be a bonus track, but we liked it so much that we said it's going to be a regular album track. And it actually has been getting some airplay out in Europe for you? Kai: Definitely, it did. There are not so many official radio stations that actually play a heavy metal band no matter what they do. Even if it's the "poppiest" ballad, as long as it is a heavy metal band, they don't play it! But there are some rock stations and hard rock shows around that played it and we got a lot of play in the rock discos and stuff. I guess there's always a fear though, and I'll use Saxon as an example, when they covered "Ride Like the Wind" several years ago and really nobody cared. So you've got to be a little apprehensive about what you're going to touch upon and where it fits into your musical schedule. But I think your version totally rocks! Kai: Yeah right, it turned out to be like a real Gamma Ray song in a way. Now you're handling vocals for the third consecutive album, where as you had Ralf (Scheepers) for the material prior. How do you feel towards singing at this point? Is it something you've grown comfortable and satisfied with and will stick to in the future? Kai: I plan to stick with it. We don't have anything in mind to take in an extra singer as long as not a "Mr. Universe" comes along. If suddenly there would be a guy who was a killer vocalist, somebody who really fits and he can create great melodies and has this kind of real individual expression on him. because that's what I miss on men singers. They sound like everybody else or they don't sound so special like the big guys as a Freddie Mercury or Rob Halford. They've got something about them-maybe it's because they're gay (laughs), I don't know. But as long as it doesn't come to that point, we don't consider it because I think we're doing quite well with my vocals and I'm comfortable with it. And I feel there's a big development in my singing since I started on "Land of the Free." So I would now consider the Gamma Ray history split into two parts: It's like Mark-1 with Ralf and Mark-2 with me, and since Mark-2, this is our third album, so this is a kind of make or break time for the band. So far looks like a "make it" album. I think the advance press you're doing is definitely building good momentum for the band. You need to do that any way you can especially with a label now in Noise that's willing to get behind you. Even Helloween, maybe you've heard of them, they or their representation, were building up "Better than Raw" at the end of last year and next thing you know, we're getting called up and told "so and so" is visiting and would you like to speak with them, and it's like "whoa." where'd that come from? Kai: Yeah. and it's a pretty cool album I would say. Just to quickly allude back to the vocal thing, in terms of translating live, what Ralf sang in the past, do you steer clear of some of that material and stick more with your own? Kai: There are some things I would refrain from singing because they're not really my strong parts but most of the stuff can be done because I developed mainly all the vocal melodies and the lines and lyrics on these songs, and I used to sing them in the rehearsal room sometimes or on the demos for the albums. So I'm very familiar with the stuff. But still, there's some stuff I definitely wrote for Ralf's voice and it's different and it's got another ability. Regarding that, there is some material that doesn't really fit me. so I stay away from doing it. I'm just curious about this and I don't know that you're still in contact with any of your former friends or band members. Kai: Oh yes, we still are. Just like four weeks ago, Ralf and I spoke. We're on the phone from time to time checking out what the other is doing and saying "hello" and so he told me like four weeks ago that he's about to do a new Primal Fear album-his new band-and he has written one song that the others neglected because they said it sounds too much like a Gamma Ray song. So Ralf and me agreed on maybe recording it together later on. I know you did work together for a track on the Priest Tribute a while back. Kai: We did on Part 1, "Victim of Changes" with Gamma Ray, and on Part 2, we did "Exciter" which was like Gamma Ray plus Ralf. "Power Plant" is your seventh full-length album. Kai: I think it's the sixth. There's one live album in between, but I don't count that. "Alive in '95." Kai: Exactly. It's not a studio album and I only count the studio albums, so it's number six. I was reading something in the press release that got me a little surprised. What it was referring to was you were in a sense, being considered a "new" band jumping on the recent bandwagon of the latest surge of power metal acts. Obviously this couldn't be further from the truth, but from a marketing standpoint, what if you are being billed as an up and coming "new" band? Assuming enough people out there don't know much about your history, do you think this hurts you in light of your past accomplishments or does it maybe put you on a new level or in a better position to succeed right now? Kai: I don't know exactly. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Being one of the long-term runners and being there for a while offers having the name, some experience and historical background. On the other hand, being treated as a "new" band is maybe for some people, offering more interest because it's new and that's what the rock scene is sometimes about, having fresh faces or just new band names even though the music might not be very different. But sometimes that's what's needed. I don't basically care about that. of course somehow I prefer new people getting into Gamma Ray and maybe learn about the history. Or if they know about the history still, even though we've been around for a while, still accept it or still like it. It's almost like a double-edged sword in that regard. People who weren't familiar with your past work, there's always going to be those who are and who enjoy what you do, but the one's that aren't, they find out this band's been around for ten years or fifteen years and right away you might be dismissed as "old news" or "outdated." Kai: Yeah, I hope they don't see it that way. I hope it only leads to a point where they just get to be interested in the older albums too. I know from my musical history with a band like Judas Priest, who's been around since the '70's, I got familiar with them like during the time of the NWOBHM stuff and maybe "Unleashed in the East" was the first thing from them I heard. And then there was "British Steel." Then later on I found out about the older albums that had a different sound but I was interested in the band and I bought them and I didn't actually think at all that these must be "old farts." I like the old stuff. Everyone's got different viewpoints and it would be wishful thinking that most people could be open-minded like that. Kai: Considering that we are not old. we are still young enough to be there. We don't look ridiculous on stage. No, no, you're holding up pretty well! (Laughs) And. you're not afraid to call it "metal!" Kai: No, absolutely not. I mean, more than ever, we say, "Okay, we are heavy metal. You got a problem with that? Fuck you!" That's it. You've been involved in several projects over the years between originally founding Helloween, and now of course more recently with Gamma Ray and Iron Savior on the side. You're like a fountain of raw energy! Kai: Well, when it comes down to making music, especially metal, I'm a workaholic. I can't stop it. I like joining in on other projects and doing other things. And so what if like, say a Rock 'N Rolf, who's basically known for continuously bringing in new studio musicians with every record, were to ask you to fill a guitar slot? Would you be interested? Kai: You mean if I play guest role on a Running Wild album? I have no problem with that. One of my dreams is to get all of the cool guys from this scene together and like exchange CO-work. Like maybe I might write a song together with Rock 'N Rolf and it's going to be played with the guys from Rage or maybe Blind Guardian's going to write a song together with the guys from Edguy and make an album with all these mixed up things. That's the cool thing about the German scene, is somehow we have a healthy competition. It's not like.throwing rocks at each other. We try to help each other out whenever we can because we know we're all standing for the same kind of music. We want to make this music strong. So it doesn't help if we shoot at each other. There's a unity that seems to exist, at least from an outsider's viewpoint, between bands as you were saying, that's almost interchangeable-this guy played in this band and that guy was with them before. Kai: Yeah right, sometimes it can really give you a kick, you know? Is Hamburg the happening place out in Germany? Kai: Not only. It's one of the happening places but there are others as well. There's no real heavy metal center in Germany. It's spread all over I would say. So Kai, considering this flexibility that exists between many of the bands and you especially, being as active as you are, do you ever go through those periods where you feel you're falling short of ideas when it comes to writing or simply burned out. Kai: Sure, yes. I have places where I think: "Okay that was it. Your creative pool is empty. that's it; I have no more ideas. Everything else will come out as just a bad copy of your past." Or there's absolutely nothing new, and then I have to take it easy for a while and just don't work or just go ahead. Sometimes it works as well. Meanwhile, I have to develop that confidence where I know it's going to change because I have a feeling the creative pool is endless. Even after these phases, there's new inspiration sometimes, and it just came out of nowhere. Is writing today more of a collaborative process for you more so than maybe in the past? Do you enlist the aid of, not necessarily outside writers, but of other band members that you'll be currently working with? Kai: When I work on songs, I do it basically on my own first. But then there's the final painting, which is when I like to work with others together. Plus if you have other song writers in the band that write strong and good songs, you influence each other and you give creative input that the other can use or keeps you going further. or makes you feel stronger about what you're doing. So I like collaborating with others. I'm not a solo artist type. I want to go back a little into the history briefly, addressing again the point I referred to about the advance press before and how Helloween just recently played in the states for the first time in ten years, which is hard to believe. They did a pretty small but popular place, which was packed with fans, proving at least that there are still plenty of metal fans in existence over here, starving for something they just haven't been getting. Knowing that Helloween may have opened the entranceway somewhat to some of the other bands of your caliber overseas to follow through, do you get a feeling that there are possibilities, however small, that are presenting themselves now, maybe more so than in several years for a band like Gamma Ray to show their stuff in America? Kai: Absolutely. The last time I played the states was with Helloween back in '87 I think. And it was a tour with Grim Reaper and Armored Saint. Since then, I haven't played in the states with Gamma Ray and I absolutely would like to do it but in recent years there was no good chance to go over and play for some people because the metal scene. the promoters weren't there. Nobody was really interested. Now there seems to be a change. It seems like the big high in Europe about heavy metal.the wave is going to America. Again the old fans are still there but they had gone underground. There were no official media and no big magazines; there was just some "fanzines." Now it's becoming more and more and more and somehow I think that the bigger industry is kind of getting a little interested in there and some more radio. It's like creeping up like a little monster out of the sewage again.like a virus infecting more and more people and I think that heavy metal could be the alternative to what was being called the alternative. That's what I bill my radio show as actually. Kai: Oh cool! (Laughs) I've got to get you a tape man, you'll totally dig it! So now you've toured extensively throughout Europe and obviously making enough of a living to keep at this rock & roll thing. Kai: Actually we've also gone to Japan and done festivals in South America. Here in the states, we're getting a little more conscious of the festival-like events for heavy rock artists. Like recently we had the March Metal Meltdown which seemed to go over really well. Kai: Right, that kind of was a starting point again, I would say to open up a door for more happenings like that. And as far as I heard, you had very old, traditional bands there like Anvil and Riot. It was a good mix of old and new and differing styles of heavy music all under the same bill. And they were even able to dig up some of the original NWOBHM bands. Kai: And if, let's say, there would be a chance to do a festival with a new generation like Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray or Stratovarius, it would be really cool I think. I suspect you're not alone in that suggestion. But I think something like that has got to happen to make it worth the while for bands such as yours to cross over to the states-or any as yet "uncharted" territory for that matter. Put some kind of tour package together to at least bring forth the largest number we can-sort of like what you guys have out there in Europe. Give the fans four or five of these really talented bands and get them together and let's see what kind of trickle down effect it might have on those bands individually later on. Kai: Sure, it's more like an event, not like one band laying a heavy metal concert. More like a real event and much more worth it to go there and check out all the bands instead of just seeing a one-off concert. I think also it would be a good starting point to let people see you guys live, sharing the stage with a bunch of those other groups and let it work as something of a springboard for you. The fans in a sense can pick and choose or can decide any and all of you would be worth seeing again even without the big production.kind of light a fire so to speak. So who would you be interested in touring with anyway if it were to come together here? Kai: Well let's see. Lately we had an offer maybe to jump on an Iced Earth tour in America, but if I'm talking the more festival-character bands from Europe, I'm talking about Blind Guardian, I'm talking about Hammerfall, Stratovarius.maybe bands like Rage. Like-minded bands along the same lines in style of course. Kai: Or maybe put in Helloween...that would be cool! I also heard something where if you did a tour you might have Iron Savior as an opening act and so you would kind of double for both bands. Kai: Sure, well I wouldn't want to do a tour like that. We once did a tour in Sweden with Iron Savior before, and then Gamma Ray, and I played both shows and if I did a tour I'd be dead after a week I think! Because it is pretty heavy to do that. If we come over with both bands, it might be Iron Savior would go onstage without me and maybe join them in the end for a song or two and then we go into Gamma Ray or something like that. Or at the end of the whole show, we go into something like a medley together. And on the subject of what appears to be as endless possibilities, are you still in contact with any of your old bandmates from Helloween and have you ever considered working with any of them again? Maybe CO-writing or contributing something for a future project? Kai: I actually did work on Michael Kiske's first solo album, which was pretty cool. But now he's changed his direction and musical style doing something totally different. But at the moment, we are not working together. But I'm good friends with him still. As for the rest of the band, we see each other from time to time because we're running around in Hamburg in the same clubs and see each other, and our other guitarist, Henjo, is very good friends with Weiki and so on, so we know each other pretty well and we see each other. So there's a chance in the future, and I'm assuming that fans would be receptive to the idea, where you guys might collaborate again together or make guest appearances. Kai: Oh sure, yeah, things are open. You know they've had a very progressive direction over the years particularly the time right after you left, and now with the latest singer Andi, they have a bit more commercial appeal maybe than in the past. But obviously when you go back and listen to "Walls of Jericho" or something, it has you written all over it. So let's say you never had left Helloween. What might they sound like today? Kai: We had a change when Michael first joined in. We had "Keepers. 1&2" that were really successful but of course there was a little change in the music and after I got out, Helloween suffered from like a lack of identity. They didn't even know where to go or which kind of direction they should go and that resulted in albums that were really not what people wanted to listen to from them. And what people did not expect. So finally now after having a pretty stable lineup, they returned to like they're "new" style of Helloween; It's different from Helloween of the past of course, but it's a band that's got its own identity and its own sound. I think so. Seeing them live for the first time, they really jammed and had a sure sense of direction in what they were presenting to fans. And thankfully, for the most part, even though they do have a few softer songs befitting of Andi's voice, we're not hearing the same junk we heard on "Chameleon." Kai: Right. (Laughs) Exactly. So they learned from that maybe. I don't know what Helloween would've gone through if I stayed in the band but I think it would've been different of course, but I don't know if it would've been better anyway. But it probably wouldn't have gotten to the point where they lost their identity as you mentioned before, or direction as it was after the "Keepers." albums. Kai: Maybe not. I would've avoided that definitely. When you say Michael (Kiske) kind of changed direction, I think we could see it coming over the course of time around when you left. Kai: Sure, there was a reason behind it and it showed in the music in the end. What about Michael Kiske? Did you ever consider asking him to do vocals when you were out looking for a new singer when Ralf was preparing to leave? Could there have been a return to his.earlier form? Kai: No, not really. I mean, when he did some guest vocals on "Land of the Free," we had the brief thought about how maybe there was a possibility of Michael being in Gamma Ray. Commercially, it would have been a great move, but on the other hand, we knew that we had a real different view on the music direction of this band. It wouldn't have worked out. Well, he is a better singer than you. (Laughs) Kai: Thanks! (Laughs) Seriously though, you're not exactly hurting yourself by doing your own vocals. Kai: No, not really. Which song did he actually participate in on "Land of the Free?" Kai: It was a song called "Time to Break Free," and then he did an extra appearance on the song "Land of the Free." He sung the high voice on the chorus. Fans already familiar with Gamma Ray know what you're about. How you'll always stay heavy and never disappoint with your consistent output album after album whether this one is billed as something different from the past or better. What would you say this new album offers fans to hope for.you said earlier that this could be a make or break record? What does "Power Plant" possess to bring this band to the next level of success-for you to "make" it? Kai: If you look back on the history of Gamma Ray, every album sounded different. Every album had a different approach. It was not like repeating the same album over and over and over again with just different song titles. So on this album, I think it sums up all the best parts of Gamma Ray in a way. It's the most aggressive album I would say. It's the most compact album.you can like all the songs without any exceptions. It still has a good variety of songs, but no song leads kind of a "red line." It's just strong through the entire album. It has its share of longer pieces but on the other hand, there are more of those that are shorter and to the point, maybe to a larger degree than in the past, which maybe you're referring to in terms of its "compact" nature. I don't want to say it's easy to listen to, or "easier," but. Kai: I think it is easier to listen through and it's up to the sound because the sound is like our band sound where it's not different for every song. There's the same sound all over with some extras added, but it's based on the band's live sound somehow. And that makes it more compact. It has a live-in-studio feel to it. Kai: Yeah. You had Derek Riggs, who's prominently famous in metal circles for doing the artwork on the Iron Maiden albums over the years and now he's done yours for "Power Plant." As expected, the illustration came out terrific.but don't you feel maybe you left Andreas Marschall feeling a little insulted? Kai: (Laughs) Marschall, yes, we definitely didn't want to have Marschall. He's doing the covers for every German band and we kind of said we wanted to have somebody different and we always thought Derek was the man.the guy who fits perfectly to our musical style and could actually put the vision to our music and make it visually perceptible. Both artists are great actually and though you don't notice a lot of distinction between the two, you can definitely tell this is Derek's handiwork. Maybe we'll be seeing a lot more of "him" now that Maiden's reunited. Kai: He will I guess, as far as I've heard, yes. And now that Maiden has reunited and planned a summer tour of the U.S., how about trying to latch on with them? Kai: There might be a possibility but I'm not so sure. We already thought about it, but of course we are not on the same management as Iron Maiden. I'm not on Smallwood/Taylor anymore like we used to be with Helloween. Therefore, I guess they would prefer to put on a band that is with them. Even though we already have done some shows in Germany together with Helloween and Maiden and it was very cool. It went down very well. I have to get back to their management and talk with them about it. Especially now that we have real good reviews in Europe. We got a lot of the front page titles in many of the magazines and we got number one sound check reviews and all that kind of stuff. So our position is pretty good and pretty strong. So they might be interested to have another band that sums up the bill to something cool! |