Rock Overdose and Zisis Petkanas had a thorough discussion with KAI HANSEN (Gamma Ray / Unisonic) on the occasion of the show together with Helloween, in Greece. Kai, being in a good mood, opened himself and spoke literally for everything! For the reason why he left Helloween, the possibility of returning to the band, his collaboration with Michael Kiske and revealed with a world exclusive statement, the title of the new GAMMA RAY album! You may listen to the chat below, as well as read the whole interview…
RockOverdose.gr: Kai welcome to RockOverdose.gr. How are you these days?
Kai: Very well. A bit busy but well.
RockOverdose.gr: I hope that being that busy is good for you.
Kai: Yeah that's for sure!
RockOverdose.gr: I would like to congratulate you for the release of "Master Of Confusion". Both new tracks are very strong and classic, within the GAMMA RAY style. Will you include these two songs in your future albums?
Kai: Yes definitely. That’s why we wrote them. We just wanted to release this EP before the album, so that we can tour including these tracks and give an idea to our fans of how the album will sound, when it comes out. And I think that these songs show the path that we follow now.
RockOverdose.gr: The 2 new approaches to a SWEET and a HOLOCAUST song are very good. How did you decide to play these 2 songs?
Kai: In the past we had done a remake from a HOLOCAUST song, "Heavy Metal Mania" if you happen to remember that. I had the chance to listen again to this album and I think it's still classic British heavy metal (NWOBHM) with a really classic style. I love this song and I think it also deserves our respect. The same applies to the song of SWEET. They were my heroes as a band when I was younger. I admired them very much and they were the ones that made me want to play music. I totally respect them.
RockOverdose.gr: Both of them are very classic bands.
Kai: Yes definitely.
RockOverdose.gr: The new album is planned to be released at the end of the year?
Kai: It will be released at the end of this year or within January next year. We wanted to release it earlier, but if you think in a logical way with all this touring this year, we wanted some time to do a good work.
RockOverdose.gr: We have the time to wait. Have you decided on the title?
Kai: Yes, the album will be called "Empire Of The Undead". The title track is already in the EP.
RockOverdose.gr: Do you want to give us some details about the sound, direction, or perhaps some titles?
Kai: It's too early to talk about something. The direction, however, the album will have, is quite clear if you listen to the 2 new tracks of the EP. Certainly we would not be GAMMA RAY if it was so simple. It has twists and changes and perhaps some experimentation, but nothing outside our metal. We will make a strong and fast album.
RockOverdose.gr: Are all the tracks fast-paced or you are also planning to record a ballad-like song for example?
Kai: I think Dirk (Schlachter, guitar / keyboards / bass) is working on a ballad, but I have not heard it yet, and it will surprise me the same, especially if proves to be good.
RockOverdose.gr: Let's just go to the new drummer, Michael Ehre. How did he influence the band with his coming?
Kai: He has a very nice style of playing. He is very strong, technically incredible, but is somewhat more relaxed than Dan (Zimmermann, former drummer). Dan is a "hammer". Michael plays with more finesse if I can say so. He is very very good in groovy situations and personally I think that he brought some fresh air at the band and like every new member, he must come close to everyone. He has already begun writing songs for the band and the ideas that he has brought so far are very good within the classic style of the band. I personally think that he is sticking very well with the band. We have the same sense of humor, he is very professional and we think he was a very good choice.
RockOverdose.gr: He also has experience of other great bands.
Kai: Yes he is well-known. He is in the business and has done many great things.
RockOverdose.gr: It's the first album after the "To The Metal" of 2010 and the first without Dan Zimmermann since 1997. Do you want to tell us your thoughts and maybe what happened with Dan?
Kai: For sure when Dan told us that he wanted to leave, we were all very upset and shocked. I immediately thought that we would never find someone to replace him, which of course is impossible. Dan is Dan and he is unique. Despite this fact, he brought the band to a low point, in a hole. Personally I was busy with UNISONIC, but I felt the need to keep the band united and strong and not let it brake and scatter. For Henjo (Richter, guitar / keys) and Dirk it was an insecure situation with me leaving on tour with UNISONIC, with Dan leaving at the same time...Both of them were fearing that GAMMA RAY will fall apart. I was always telling them that I will not let this happen and that I will not disappoint them and it was something sincere. Plus when we rehearsed with Michael about the new material, we saw that something good was coming out. Dan did not want to go on such long tours; he wanted to stay more at his “base”. He lives 700 miles from Hamburg. He did not want to rehearse all the time. He no longer wanted to go to Japan due to the radiation there and all this led him to the point to tell us that he no longer has the motivation to do so. He was absolutely honest by leaving, before leading us to dead-end situations.
RockOverdose.gr: Yes he was very sincere indeed. The tour with HELLOWEEN is starting this month (28 February). The last time we saw you in Greece it was truly a memorable occasion.
Kai: I really could not see anything because of the sun! It was also very warm. I remember that Michael got sun-burned. Still it was fun. We enjoyed it.
RockOverdose.gr: It was good, and the fact that your Greek fans welcomed you in a very warm way.
Kai: Yeah, we knew that people would welcome us so.
RockOverdose.gr: Is there any chance to see you back at HELLOWEEN?
Kai: No. I have GAMMA RAY and I'm very happy about that. I have no intention whatsoever to change that. I do not know if at some point the old members of HELLOWEEN will meet for fun, but there is still a problem, since they lack Ingo (Schwichtenberg, the first drummer of HELLOWEEN) and it will never be the same. It is very difficult to imagine such a thing.
RockOverdose.gr: Maybe an anniversary show with all of you together?
Kai: Yes, this is likely to happen. Now that we're on tour together we do some jamming at the end of the concert. That's always nice, but there's nothing preplanned in order to show that the old line-up of the band is back together. I do not know how we can try it. There will be 3 singers with me ... I do not know whether it is feasible.
RockOverdose.gr: For me it would be perfect to have at least a gig with all of them.
Kai: That would be nice; I am not saying it can’t happen. It could… Why not indeed?
RockOverdose.gr: You haven’t talked yet with the other members about something, have you?
Kai: Not yet.
RockOverdose.gr: What are your memories of the old days with HELLOWEEN?
Kai: They were some incredible moments and we had fun. We were creating amazing music and it was all very well until everything began to collapse due to the involvement of management etc. Fortunately I managed to get my ass out of there before things start to become strange. But I look back now and say that everything is well.
RockOverdose.gr: In March we expect both of you for two concerts in Athens and Thessaloniki. What should we expect? Many pieces from the "Walls Of Jericho" perhaps?
Kai: Maybe ... it could ... we will definitely have some surprises for the end. Naturally GAMMA RAY will play new material in combination with the old of course. Surely there will be songs that people would expect to hear, and some others that certainly no one will expect to hear. We have made good choices.
RockOverdose.gr: So we should expect this evening to come.
Kai: Exactly.
RockOverdose.gr: Are you going to jam with HELLOWEEN;
Kai: Yes, of course this will happen.
RockOverdose.gr: About UNISONIC now. Michael (Kiske, singer, ex-HELLOWEEN) said that the new album will be heavier than its predecessor.
Kai: Yes, maybe. During the pre-production and tour, he opened himself again to fast tracks and the heavier side of music, which is very good. He lost all his scruples regarding metal. He admitted that metal is not a bad thing. He had taken a rather unattractive way, but now he has returned to his previous good self and we had many experiences on tour. I too am curious about how this will go on.
RockOverdose.gr: Do you think we will have to wait a lot until the release of the album?
Kai: I have no idea. First of all we should do the tour, so I'm busy with GAMMA RAY for this year. When we get our new album later than January, I can take a breath and begin to write material for UNISONIC. With all this, yes it will take a while.
RockOverdose.gr: We read that Michael told you that if you want to write songs like "March Of Time", then do it. Is this true?
Kai: Yes, basically he said just that. When we started writing the first songs for UNISONIC, he told me that he doesn’t want speed tracks, so in that album we had heavier songs. With that being said though, maybe in the next we will have faster material.
RockOverdose.gr: We are looking forward to the next step. How do you feel about playing again with Michael?
Kai: It's very nice. It brings back memories, but it's a new chapter. If someone had told me about this a few years ago, I would say that I do not think so, but you never know how things come. We are together again, we have a band together ... it's nice.
RockOverdose.gr: And you did your fans, including me, very happy.
Kai: I had many good comments about it.
RockOverdose.gr: For me, Michael is one of the best voices on stage.
Kai: He was just voted the best metal singer in Japan and this shows that he has made his own school.
RockOverdose.gr: Is there anything else you would like to tell us about the next steps of GAMMA RAY?
Kai: We are now concentrating at the tour, looking forward to play in Greece of course. The last time it was with UNISONIC and I cannot wait to come back with HELLOWEEN and GAMMA RAY. After that, we are going to work on the next album and we will make it a killer album, hoping that people will enjoy it.
RockOverdose.gr: Are you sure then that the next album will be very strong, aren’t you?
Kai: I'm pretty sure.
RockOverdose.gr: Kai, thank you very much for the interview. Is there something you want to say to the Greek fans?
Kai: Stay heavy until we get to become one together.
RockOverdose.gr: Thank you very much. We are looking forward to seeing you live this month.
Kai: Thank you very much! See you then!
Editing - transcript: Nick Yngve
Questions: Dimitris Bakulas
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