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“I think
I’ve got something you’ll like,” said Mr. Cummings. “How would you
like to interview Helloween next week?” “Dur, “said I,” I think I
can fit that into my hectic schedule.” During the period that Steve
was manning the merch stall at Firefest I received a number of phone
calls and e-mails from Helloween’s UK publicist until it was
resolved that Sascha Gerstner, Helloween’s ex-Freedom Call guitarist
would be in touch on Tuesday at 19:30 hours. As we all know,
stereotypically Germans are a model of efficiency – would he be on
time? 19:32 hours and the phone rings, “Hello Simon, it's Michael
Weikath from Helloween.” Uh oh, “You were supposed to speak with
Sascha but now you’ve got me!” OK, fair enough, I’m a skilled
professional and I can deal with that.
Michael
Weikath
I
ascertained that Michael was speaking from near Nuremberg where the
band are in rehearsals and that he was of the opinion that the UK
release was a month behind the rest of Europe and that he is able to
be understood in Manchester unlike, in his experience, some Scottish
people! He continued:-
Michael Weikath – The interviews come together right now in the
middle of rehearsals. In the early hours I sleep and then we
rehearse and usually I ask to speak to people at ten o’clock at
night but usually that’s too late. I’ve just finished and crawled
into my sweatshirt and called you.
It’s been a busy year for Helloween has it not, with the live
CD/DVD and the new album?
Michael Weikath – There was just a little time in between, a period
of about two months but then the record company said we want a new
record – obviously that wasn’t about to happen immediately but we
started writing new songs. For the new CD we used virtual
production, we were able to stay and home and send each other songs.
That must be very different than when you started out ...?
Michael Weikath – Different but cool, yes.
How does Gambling with the Devil fit into the Helloween legacy?
Michael Weikath – Well, it is very different from the last Legacy
CD. There are a few American influences on there. We noticed a lot
of bands being noisy and making loud noises and we thought, “why not
us?” Some of the songs came along at the last second but I think
that we manage to add more melody than other bands.
I notice
that Biff Byford narrates the first track. I love his narrative work
with Freedom Call. How did Biff become involved?
Michael Weikath – The guy who worked on Legacy got cancer I think so
we didn’t want to disturb him but Biff has done a lot of voice overs.
We got him through our producer Charlie (Bauerfeind). It was all
done via e-mail but it arrived very late.
You’ve made a video for the lead single As Long as I Fall. What
can you tell us about that?
Michael Weikath – We used the same gut who did Light the Universe.
He’s one of those directors who knows exactly what he’s doing so he
doesn’t waste any time, sometimes working on a video can be very
tiring but with this one he helped by knowing exactly what he wanted
to start with.
Yeah, when you speak to bands, most of them say that making a
video is boring and hard work.
Michael Weikath – Yes it is and I have to tell you that after
standing on a stage for eight hours I was very tired and could
hardly feel my legs but it came out well. We shot it very quickly
and the fans got to see it very quickly. It is on the EPK
(electronic press kit) for anybody who wants to see it and is on the
special edition of the album. I think that it is coming out in about
a month in the UK.
Actually it came out yesterday, the 29th. I have actually held it
in a shop.
Michael Weikath – Really? I didn’t know that. The UK is usually a
month behind but I’m glad to hear it!
My review copy was just the single disc. Still though, you have a
tour beginning shortly with Gamma Ray and Axxis don’t you?
Michael Weikath – A joint tour has been one of Kai Hansen’s ideas
for a long time since but we haven’t been able to get our schedules
together until now. If we were going to do it we were going to do it
right.
At this point Michael had a chat in German with Sascha Gerstner
and says that he only has five minutes left. No problem, you were
saying about the Gamma Ray situation?
Michael Weikath – Listen, there has been no bad blood between myself
and Kai for many years now. We have talked over the past.
You’re only playing London in the UK this time. Last time round
you hit the provinces. Why?
Michael Weikath – I don’t know. Sometimes you get different
promoters who don’t know the situation. We have always done great
concerts in the UK.
Indeed, we enjoyed your gig at Bradford Rio’s last time out. That
venue has now closed.
Michael Weikath – Really? We count ourselves as being very fortunate
as we’ve had some great concerts in the UK and not many German bands
can say that.
How do UK
audiences compare to the rest of Europe?
Michael Weikath – They are the classic rock audience. Classic Rock
was invented in the UK!
We’re nearly out of time, I was wondering what do you listen to
when you’re listening for your own pleasure?
Michael Weikath – At the moment I am solely listening to Muse. They
are they apparition we needed at this point in time. I’m delighted
at their level of success. Apart from that I don’t listen to much
modern stuff at all. I still listen to the Beatles, ELO, Queen and
Heep. I have no time for bands like Nickelback or Coldplay.
I really hate Coldplay.
Michael Weikath – I have no time for bands like that. They’re so …
(makes funny noise.)
As always, we like to ask if you have any final words for the
readers of HardRockHouse or indeed the whole of the UK!
Michael Weikath – (laughs) We’d just like to thank the fans in all
of the UK, not just England but Scotland, Ireland and Wales. We
always get a warm welcome in the UK and as I said that’s not common
for German bands so thank you.
Thanks Michael, it’s been good to talk with you.
Michael Weikath – And with you as well, Simon.
There you have it then, not the Helloween member advertised
though but I have to say the sometimes musicians can come across as
a bit arsey and very much give the impression that they’d rather be
anywhere else than doing an interview – Michael Weikath was anything
BUT that.
Helloween's
new album, Gambling With The Devil is out now through SPV and you
can check out the HRH review via
this link. To find out
more about Helloween then you can visit there website @
www.helloween.org
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