San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: How has it been for you to get back out there on stage again after nearly two decades?
Kiske: In the beginning, there was a lot of pressure. I didn't know if I'd be capable of doing it or how the fans would react. And we started with a festival in front of 30,000 people! Sure, we did two or three warm-up shows, but the first real concert we did was at Sweden Rock. I have to say, it turned out really nice. The audience was so beautiful, and I was overwhelmed with the warmth of the audience. After the gig, we did a signing session, and the people were in a huge line all the way around. They had all kinds of CDs that I had done. Now, I feel very comfortable on stage. It was almost like riding a bike as a little kid. You get back on after 20 years, and you never forget how to do it.
San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: What is your most memorable moment from your time in HELLOWEEN?
Kiske: The first tours we did. "Keeper 1", "Keeper 2". People might say that I say that because I'm back together with Kai [Hansen, former HELLOWEEN and current UNISONIC guitarist], but it's just a fact. When he was in the band, the band was totally functioning. When he wasn't in anymore, it stopped functioning, and it turned into a nightmare, especially for me. There was one special thing in France in a very little village around the "Keeper 1" time. We were very successful in France, and we went there to do a show. But the promoter who did the show didn't advertise it, so people didn't know we were there. We played for about 80 people. But it was the most fun we ever had. It was more like a Monty Python thing than a concert.
San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: It was often documented that you and Helloween split because some in the media here said that you hated heavy metal.
Kiske: That's bullshit.
San Antonio Metal Music Examiner: In America, we may wonder more than any other metal fans what happened to you after HELLOWEEN because it's been so long since we've seen you or the current edition of HELLOWEEN play live in this country. With UNISONIC, it's obvious that you don't hate metal or hard rock. So can you clarify what happened after that and why you disappeared, so to speak, for so many years?
Kiske: It had nothing to do with the music. I grew up with that music. There was a lot of anger in me toward the metal scene, especially in Germany. But I always love my MAIDEN records and JUDAS PRIEST records. I'm actually honest with you now, OK? (HELLOWEEN guitarist) Michael Weikath was very jealous of individual people in the band. He was working against me when Kai left the band and doing it behind my back. He was trying to get Andi Deris in the band, and after awhile, I got sick of it. I said toward (Hansen's replacement) Roland (Grapow), "I'm thinking of leaving the band." Fans were disappointed. They (media) tried to twist it that "Michael hated metal." But I've always loved metal. But I was pissed then, and I was getting a lot of bullshit when I did a record. If it didn't sound like HELLOWEEN, it was enough for (critics) to destroy it.
I'm the lost one chasing colors to the sun
Colors bleed but never fade
Kiske peut bien dire tout le mal qu'il voudra sur son passé avec Helloween, ce n'est pas Weikath qu'il l'a forcé par la suite à enregistrer de la merde pendant les 20 ans qui ont suivi son départ.
Je le trouve pas très gentleman d'essayer de remuer la merde du passé comme il le fait aujourd'hui sous prétexte qu'il retravaille à nouveau avec Kai Hansen, surtout que de leur coté, ça fait bien longtemps qu'Helloween est passé à autre chose et que Weikath ne dit plus de mal des anciens membres.
Ah non je suis fan je l'ai en tête à force
Même s'il a un côté un peu débile ouais, c'est pas le seul d'ailleurs.
Nan mais je trouve l'album trop inégal mais pas déplaisant pour autant. Il manque un peu d'identité et d'ambition, ils ont les moyens de faire bien mieux que ça, mais déjà je retiens 4 ou 5 chansons bien catchy et fun à défaut d'être uniques ("Unisonic", "Souls Alive", "King for a Day", "Sanctuary"). Je trouve aussi la ballade bonus clin d'oeil évident à Rainbow ("Over the Rainbow") largement meilleure que l'insipide composée par Kiske à la fin du disque ("No One Ever Sees Me").
I'm the lost one chasing colors to the sun
Colors bleed but never fade
Je dois dire qu'à force d'écouter le disque, il commence franchement à me plaire en fait, alors que je le trouvais tout juste quelconque, voire carrément passable au départ.
Et si par insupportable t'entends que tu te surprends à chanter le refrain sur un coup de tête, alors oui je suis d'accord, mais pareil, je trouve que le morceau-titre a ses qualités (en dehors d'être outrageusement entêtant).
Sinon je suis devenu complètement fan d'"I've Tried" et son refrain aigu ultra-accrocheur, on retrouve le Kiske de la grande époque !
En tout cas j'ai trouvé que ça déménageait bien en concert, Kiske avait l'air heureux d'être là et Hansen semblait se faire plaisir, dommage qu'ils accompagnent pas Gotthard sur la tournée française...
When you're this gig, they call you...
...But you can't find the time
Je dis peut-être une connerie mais il me semble que lorsqu'il était dans Helloween, il reprenait parfois Elvis durant les intermèdes improvisés du groupe.
Et plus récemment, cette reprise en bonus de son dernier album solo :
I'm the lost one chasing colors to the sun
Colors bleed but never fade
Everflow a écrit :Je dis peut-être une connerie mais il me semble que lorsqu'il était dans Helloween, il reprenait parfois Elvis durant les intermèdes improvisés du groupe.
Non tu as raison ça s'entend même sur le live in the UK...
Dante : Hey, what you rent ?
Dante : Best of Both Worlds ?
Randall : Hermaphroditic Porn, starlets with both organs.Beautiful chicks with dicks that put mine to shame !
Dante : You rented this ?
Randall : I like to expand my horizons.
Une interview assez étrange où Dennis Ward et Mandy Meyer sont un peu secs envers leurs 2 célèbres "coéquipiers", et expliquent qu'il ne veulent pas jouer de metal, et que le groupe ne jouera plus "March of Time" à l'avenir. Les questions relatives à Helloween semblent les énerver.
HHH: With Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen, this is almost a HELLOWEEN reunion.
Mandy: "It's okay to use some popularity of Kiske and Hansen, but it is also important not to play too many old songs since Helloween and GAMMA RAY always play the same old songs as well."
Dennis. "We don't want to do speed metal. We want to sound different from Gamma Ray and Helloween."
HHH: About the first Unisonic album: it starts quite heavy and then it is really less heavy for the following songs.
Dennis: "I will not do heavier stuff in the future. I don't want this. If Michael and Kai want to do a metal record, we are definitely the wrong people for it. They can do it with better people. We have nothing to do with metal. I can play a Helloween song, that is not a problem, but this is not my world. Only to earn some more money, I don't want to do heavy metal, I never did. I would be fooling myself. I want to do rock music."
Mandy: "If you have two bands with Gamma Ray and Unisonic, you need to have a difference in the music."
I'm the lost one chasing colors to the sun
Colors bleed but never fade
2013 will be a more silent year for Unisonic. Besides working with our other bands & projects, be sure that we will use the time to write and record a new Unisonic album! Touring together for the first time and your overwhelming reactions glued us together as a band, and we can´t wait to canalize all these impressions into a powerful and melodic metal album to be released in early 2014!
Plus que 1 an pour une suite!
Prochains concerts: Pyrenean Warriors Opean Air / Rising Fest / Iron Maiden 2021? (Goteborg-Paris-Zurich-Stuttgart-Barcelone)
