Post by Alinne on Mar 1, 2005 14:33:23 GMT -5
his is the full and original version of the interview [published in Alive #3(17)] without Alive's editorial corrections and abridgements.
The famous hand was flying… no, not over strings of a Les Paul, but over a sheet of paper. Kind, a bit tired fathomless azure eyes gazed at me from the unshaven face through the puffs of “Prince”-smoke. It was a few hours before the beginning of the gig, and it seemed everyone was in want of the guitarist of Helloween. And Michael almost forgot about his lunch and his colleagues and was signing a lot of stuff for some metalhead. The autographs and funny pumpkins were appearing one by one from a black felt-tip pen. I couldn’t wait the end of this process to ask questions that had already been born in my sleepy mind. Finally, I asked them all and Michael answered to me with a great patience despite of my drowsiness (the after-effects of the long trip and the rainy weather).
> ALIVE: I guess, as a public person you always should be an example for the other people, do you care about it? Do you try to be a good example for your fans in your private life?
WEIKATH: I try to live my private life as good as I can. Now, for instance I could have gone to the bar and I might have said "Oh! I'm here, and please can I order something to eat?". And I couldn't do that so far because we are sitting here and he wants to have his autographs, and so I have no way of making those people [waiters - Alive] aware that I'm here... that's private life… and I'd probably be gonna miss my food or I have to have my food in a rush because we need to finish it at 5, you know, and so that's always the way of this, you don't even have the possibility of being a good example for people because you're always in a rush. Normally people can go somewhere and do what they want because no questions are being asked, and as a public figure you more or less get misunderstood all the time. By the way, I'm not so public because they don't f**king react! Uuuuhhh! [to a waiter - Alive].
> ALIVE: Yeah, you have a really crazy life, how do you stand it? What about Tenerife, do you have such a crazy life there or this is only on tours?
WEIKATH: No, that's more or less on tour. It's very rare that people recognize you in Tenerife. There’re few heavy metal fans in Tenerife as well but maybe they don't like Helloween, probably they like other bands. In Tenerife it's a different thing because you're clearly not a Canarian so that they look upon you as an outsider anyways, but many people know that we live there and they've accepted it, and they are happy with it. So, it's an extraordinary situation anyway. Well, basically it's very nice because you can actually be at home at every place and sometimes you even can have some good friends somewhere you can't know where, so that's quite practical on the other hand because you are never alone anywhere.
> ALIVE: May I ask you my questions while eating? Or should I stop now?
WEIKATH: Why? Sure, you can ask, if you still understand my answers! 'Cos I thought that we could do the interview during the meal. Because I can keep talking during the meal anyway.
> ALIVE: That's not good for the health maybe.
WEIKATH: Nothing is good for the health!
> ALIVE: As far as I know you’re recording your albums on the island now… So where is the main place for the band to gather?
WEIKATH: We’ve just rehearsed for this tour in Tenerife. We borrowed a rehearsal room from a local band. So now when we stop rehearsing, they can do it or they do the rehearsing, then we get in. And that's very nice because the climate, the weather are a bit better there and also you don't have to pay so much for a rehearsal room in Tenerife as in Hamburg, in Hamburg everything is very very expensive meanwhile. Right now we have a rise of prices of 150 percent, no, actually 200 percent in comparison with the last year. And it's actually easier to fly to Tenerife and to rehearse there.
> ALIVE: But some band-members still live in Germany and it seems you are not so close, only during the tours, the rehearsals and the studio work. Is it good for the band?
WEIKATH: Yes, but you said 'only', and this is a long time actually! So only for the recording we will be together for two or three months, and for the making, the arranging and everything before the album we'll also be together for 3 months or something, in one place.
> ALIVE: Victor Smolski has said once that it's better for the relations in a band not to be very close to each other every day…
WEIKATH: That's not bad what he said. For some people it's not so good though... But it's really good because that way everybody can do what he wants. We are never so close, Andi and me, on the island. He does what he wants to do and we occasionally meet once a week or two. And on tour and during the band business you can more or less never do what you want. There are discussions about things that need to be thought about, and we always have to have an open mind for everything that happens during the little time we have. And that's absolutely okay because we have the abilities and we know each other quite well. Victor has a very good point. He's a very busy guy, he's a very creative guy and he's doing a lot of things in his hometown. Peavy lives somewhere in South Germany, and Mike Terrana is from Hamburg... It’s all possible because they're professionals. It's not so special to live in one town and rehearse every day and to know each other by 150%, that's not so extraordinary, but actually it is a different quality. And if you don’t live together in one town then you all get different ideas, different approach, and the whole thing tends to be a lot more important than if you see each other all the time. This story is not so bad.
> ALIVE: What's the best definition of Helloween? Is it a good business company or is it a creative musical project?
WEIKATH: Both... but in order to succeed in the business process you have to have somebody who manages the band. That person or those persons are to take care of the business side and not to inflict it onto the creative way of the band, because that's very annoying. If you always have to deal with business nuts, you don't have a free mind for good music, you come up with something stressful and not so good.
The famous hand was flying… no, not over strings of a Les Paul, but over a sheet of paper. Kind, a bit tired fathomless azure eyes gazed at me from the unshaven face through the puffs of “Prince”-smoke. It was a few hours before the beginning of the gig, and it seemed everyone was in want of the guitarist of Helloween. And Michael almost forgot about his lunch and his colleagues and was signing a lot of stuff for some metalhead. The autographs and funny pumpkins were appearing one by one from a black felt-tip pen. I couldn’t wait the end of this process to ask questions that had already been born in my sleepy mind. Finally, I asked them all and Michael answered to me with a great patience despite of my drowsiness (the after-effects of the long trip and the rainy weather).
> ALIVE: I guess, as a public person you always should be an example for the other people, do you care about it? Do you try to be a good example for your fans in your private life?
WEIKATH: I try to live my private life as good as I can. Now, for instance I could have gone to the bar and I might have said "Oh! I'm here, and please can I order something to eat?". And I couldn't do that so far because we are sitting here and he wants to have his autographs, and so I have no way of making those people [waiters - Alive] aware that I'm here... that's private life… and I'd probably be gonna miss my food or I have to have my food in a rush because we need to finish it at 5, you know, and so that's always the way of this, you don't even have the possibility of being a good example for people because you're always in a rush. Normally people can go somewhere and do what they want because no questions are being asked, and as a public figure you more or less get misunderstood all the time. By the way, I'm not so public because they don't f**king react! Uuuuhhh! [to a waiter - Alive].
> ALIVE: Yeah, you have a really crazy life, how do you stand it? What about Tenerife, do you have such a crazy life there or this is only on tours?
WEIKATH: No, that's more or less on tour. It's very rare that people recognize you in Tenerife. There’re few heavy metal fans in Tenerife as well but maybe they don't like Helloween, probably they like other bands. In Tenerife it's a different thing because you're clearly not a Canarian so that they look upon you as an outsider anyways, but many people know that we live there and they've accepted it, and they are happy with it. So, it's an extraordinary situation anyway. Well, basically it's very nice because you can actually be at home at every place and sometimes you even can have some good friends somewhere you can't know where, so that's quite practical on the other hand because you are never alone anywhere.
> ALIVE: May I ask you my questions while eating? Or should I stop now?
WEIKATH: Why? Sure, you can ask, if you still understand my answers! 'Cos I thought that we could do the interview during the meal. Because I can keep talking during the meal anyway.
> ALIVE: That's not good for the health maybe.
WEIKATH: Nothing is good for the health!
> ALIVE: As far as I know you’re recording your albums on the island now… So where is the main place for the band to gather?
WEIKATH: We’ve just rehearsed for this tour in Tenerife. We borrowed a rehearsal room from a local band. So now when we stop rehearsing, they can do it or they do the rehearsing, then we get in. And that's very nice because the climate, the weather are a bit better there and also you don't have to pay so much for a rehearsal room in Tenerife as in Hamburg, in Hamburg everything is very very expensive meanwhile. Right now we have a rise of prices of 150 percent, no, actually 200 percent in comparison with the last year. And it's actually easier to fly to Tenerife and to rehearse there.
> ALIVE: But some band-members still live in Germany and it seems you are not so close, only during the tours, the rehearsals and the studio work. Is it good for the band?
WEIKATH: Yes, but you said 'only', and this is a long time actually! So only for the recording we will be together for two or three months, and for the making, the arranging and everything before the album we'll also be together for 3 months or something, in one place.
> ALIVE: Victor Smolski has said once that it's better for the relations in a band not to be very close to each other every day…
WEIKATH: That's not bad what he said. For some people it's not so good though... But it's really good because that way everybody can do what he wants. We are never so close, Andi and me, on the island. He does what he wants to do and we occasionally meet once a week or two. And on tour and during the band business you can more or less never do what you want. There are discussions about things that need to be thought about, and we always have to have an open mind for everything that happens during the little time we have. And that's absolutely okay because we have the abilities and we know each other quite well. Victor has a very good point. He's a very busy guy, he's a very creative guy and he's doing a lot of things in his hometown. Peavy lives somewhere in South Germany, and Mike Terrana is from Hamburg... It’s all possible because they're professionals. It's not so special to live in one town and rehearse every day and to know each other by 150%, that's not so extraordinary, but actually it is a different quality. And if you don’t live together in one town then you all get different ideas, different approach, and the whole thing tends to be a lot more important than if you see each other all the time. This story is not so bad.
> ALIVE: What's the best definition of Helloween? Is it a good business company or is it a creative musical project?
WEIKATH: Both... but in order to succeed in the business process you have to have somebody who manages the band. That person or those persons are to take care of the business side and not to inflict it onto the creative way of the band, because that's very annoying. If you always have to deal with business nuts, you don't have a free mind for good music, you come up with something stressful and not so good.