by Mark Kadzielawa

Gamma Ray reached its adulthood. After 21 years of existence, this German heavy metal band shows no signs of slowing down. In Fact, their latest album is appropriately titled "To The Metal."

Lead by singer/guitar player, Kai Hansen, Gamma Ray reached many heights in its two decades of existence, and released some landmark albums. Kai Hansen first came onto the scene as a founding member of Helloween. It was in Helloween, we first heard Hansen's distinctive vocals, and melodic riffing. After an EP and three full length albums ("Helloween," "Walls of Jericho," "Keeper of The Seven Keys pt. 1," and "Keeper of The Seven Keys pt. 2,") Hansen left Helloween to pursue other musical options. He quickly started Gamma Ray with vocalist Ralph Scheepers. Gamma Ray immediately made waves in the metal world, and were taking no prisoners with a string of successful releases. In 1994 Scheepers (now in Primal Fear) left the band, and Hansen took over the singing duties, a post he's been at to this day. The line up continued to develop and change, but for the last 13 years years Gamma Ray consists of Henjo Richter on guitar, Dirk Schlachter on bass, and Dan Zimmerman on drums.

While successful in Europe and Asia, Gamma Ray still has to leave its mark in America. The band enjoys a healthy following on this side of the Atlantic, but certainly needs to be represented more on the live front. The two tours Gamma Ray completed were quite successful, and one could only hope for more to come. Either way, the band continues to strive, and grow on musical level, even after two decades under its belt. The band is soon to release its first unplugged album titled "Skeletons and Majesties."

Gamma Ray's founder, Kai Hansen, talks about bringing this project to life, and the continued expectations for the band.

When you started working on the Gamma Ray project back in the late 80s, did you expect it to become a real working band like it did?
Kai Hansen: I hoped. I didn’t want to do a solo project because I never liked them. I wanted it to have a chance to turn into a band. The record label wanted me to call this Hansen, or whatever. And I said “I want a band name to give it a chance to grow.” I’ve had musicians I wanted to play with, but of course you never know how things will go. Especially when you start something new. Will it last? Will you stay together? I didn’t want to wipe out the chance from the very beginning, so I stuck to have a band name. And something that is not related to my last name.
When the band began to function, what was your main objective?
The main objective was to play and write music, and see what comes out.
When you left Helloween, the band was on the verge of making it big, yet you wanted to create your own entity. What was going through your head back then?
That’s right. Everybody said I was crazy and nuts to do that. Many people would tell me, “you only get one chance in life, and it never comes back, why are you doing it?” And my motto was always: love it, change it, or leave it. I couldn’t love Helloween as it was at the time when I left it, and I couldn’t change it either, there were too many obstacles in the way. So, I had to change something. And of course I didn’t feel like changing the band, but I didn’t want to get in the way of other players. They were still Helloween, and all that. Even though Helloween was my baby. I’ve decided to leave it, and I was confident to say “I’m good enough to do something, and still write music, and play it.” The record company supported me right from the start. They told me they would buy whatever I decided to do. Having that support made me feel very confident, and they did help me a lot. There was still this uncertainty, but I had to stick to my guns, and my inner self. It didn’t feel right to do what I was doing, so I had to change it.
You started Gamma Ray with another singer, and even towards the end of your time in Helloween, Michael Kiske took over the vocals. I felt your vocals were always great and very distinctive sounding. But the two above mentioned examples make me wonder if you ever doubted your vocal abilities?
Yeah, I always doubt it. I’ve never considered myself a singer, especially in the early times. I was a shouter, and I spoke my heart out. That was good maybe, but I felt very restricted. I saw myself more as a guitar player, and we wanted to do more intricate stuff on the guitars while the vocals were running. I couldn’t really fulfill that because it was of this, and half of that. We always wanted to have somebody like Rob Halford, or Geoff Tate, one of those guys. And we found one in Michael (Kiske,) and it was really great with him. When I left Helloween, I was used to work with a singer. Even though I sang on all of the demos, and I thought they were pretty good, I never considered the idea that I would be the singer on the record. That seemed at the times like a burden too much. The first guy that came into my mind was Ralph Scheepers, so I called him. Ralph was actually the guy we wanted to have in Helloween before Michael was even anywhere near us. I called Ralph, and he was free at that time, so we did the record together.



When you examine the first Gamma Ray line up, it was certainly a different phase as opposed to what the band is today.
I think the first line up that did the recording for “Heading For Tomorrow,” was a great band. It was the drummer, the bass player, and me. And Ralph would join us later to record the album. All of the rehearsals were done as a trio. And there was a real strong chemistry between us three, and a real good vibe. But, in the end, the drummer found the professional aspects of being in the band difficult to deal with. Things like photo sessions, being here or there for an appointments or appearances. It was too much for him, and he was not the type of guy to do things like that. He was a great drummer, and he had a great spirit, but he just couldn’t continue with the band anymore. Then we brought in another drummer, and an additional guitar player. The guitar player was actually a bass player when I met him, but he switched to guitar to be in the band. And once again, that was good line up too. It was bunch of young guys getting together, and playing great music. Of course I held up the leader flag, but very much on a low level. I was happy to find good musicians to play with.
Are you still faithful to the same influences you had when you began to write music?
I am, I think. I don’t think it really changed. You always find new stuff that you start to like, and start to weave into your music. You put it through your own filter, digest it, and basically you shit it out your own way. And at that point, it becomes something that you do. I don’t think it will ever change. I still find new things. I’m not restricted to Uriah Heep, or whatever else I liked when I was growing up. I’m open to new music, and new inspirations. I try to look beyond my own horizons at times. I think the songwriting changes a little bit with each new album.



And if we look at the current album, “To The Metal,” what new elements do you think it brings into big picture?
You’ll never know that before you hear the actual finished record. But, if we were to repeat everything we’ve done before, it would be getting boring for ourselves, at least for me. Whenever I start with a new phase of songwriting, and after the album is done, I stop and reflect on it. Then we go on tour, and afterwards, I refill my batteries, and digest the impressions of music, and what happens around me. And then suddenly there is the need to put down something. I have ideas, melodies, some lines, whatever. And then I switch to my internal home-computer, and start recording music. That’s where it starts. And from that point on you’ll never know, but it always changes, and it’s never the same.
It took you a quite a long time to make it to the United States with Gamma Ray. How do you view the market here, and the fan base?
United States is like a question mark that never can get to be answered. We’re unsure of the answer. I know we made it up to a very nice level with Helloween. And then there was silence. When I started Gamma Ray, we released the albums in the United States, and they did pretty good. Not so bad. We never toured because there was no scene. The promoters didn’t want to bring a German band over here in the early 90s. And then the whole grunge movement kind of destroyed the power metal, or classic metal scene. Everybody went alternative, and they didn’t really reinvent the wheel. they did old style music in a new dress. There was no way for us to really tour here.



When I visit various web sites or forums that discuss your music, I notice the fans often complain about liking or not liking certain record of yours, or the fact the current album is not like the old album or vice versa. Do you see these complaints, and do they affect you in any way?
We hear these things. And I do take them seriously in one way, but in another way I have to say creating music is something very selfish, or egoistic. That’s the way I see it, and that’s the way I do it. I have to be happy first. That’s my first objective. Satisfy myself, and be happy with what I’m doing because it’s what I do. I don’t set out to make this and that person happy with the new album. If I did that, I wouldn’t be true to myself. Sometimes I do get a bit internally upset over something I hear or read. If somebody has a real criticism, and says “I don’t like that album because of this and that, and I prefer that.” I have no problem with that. I’m a fan of the music myself, and I pick my favorite albums based on certain things. And I know why I like this album much better than the other. And I can say this album was the weakest because of this and that. But it’s all a matter of taste in the end. But if somebody claims to be objective, and says “this album sucks,” that makes me mad because that’s not fair. It may not be to your taste, and to your satisfaction, but we’re dealing on a level where what we do we do it good. And if you don’t like it, I have no problem with that. Listen to another record, another band. Tell us you don’t like it, we accept it, but don’t tell us “it sucks,” because that sucks to hear it.



As far as your songwriting is concerned, do you think you've reached your peak, or is it something that is still on the horizon?
You'll never know. I always find my highlights with the songwriting as in every phase. There are things that I would consider good, maybe average, still good enough for me to have fun with. And there are those special songs I wrote that make me go "wow." I'm a fan myself of what I do, and I think that's very important.

Links:
www.gammaray.org