"I'm a miserable acoustic guitarist!"

Helloween's leader Michael Weikath confesses that he's a "miserable acoustic guitarist", and discusses Ritchie Blackmore, Candice Night and, of course, the punpkins' new DVD, "Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy World Tour 2005/2006: Live on 3 Continents".

Vassil Varbanov: Hello Michael, how are you?

Michael Weikath: I'm fine.

V. V.: You sound like you're having a rest, am I right?

M. W.: In fact, I have to come up with a few new good ideas very soon, because in the end of May we'll all meet and discuss them. Actually, we have a meeting with the band tomorrow, just for sorting out basic ideas and everything. We'll start recording in May or June, so we all have to get into work very intensively, because there's not so much time in between.
We've been doing the DVD a few months ago, too, and right now we have a good momentum, so it would be nice to catch it. That's the way it always runs, you know, and because everything's been so great recently, we're all in a very good mood.

V. V.: You mentioned the good momentum. What's so special right now for you guys as a band?

M. W.: It's because we have a great line-up (Michael Weikath [guitar] and Markus Grosskopf [bass], vocalist Andi Deris, and the younger additions Sascha Gerstner [guitar] and Dani Loeble [drums]), and it's all a very good feel the way we are now. This was usually the case in the old times as well, but sometimes things change, so we are pretty happy with the way things are right now.
The fans' resposne is also quite good, so what can we complain about? Everybody in the band is happy that we've got this great surrounding, because even the new members have had different things going on and know what it is to have trouble with someone in the band who's like a major person or wants to become one... All this kindergarten crap we all have had one or the other way, and we're pretty happy this is not going on now.

V. V.: We've got to mention that your new DVDВ  "Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy World Tour 2005/2006: Live on 3 Continents" also features stuff shot at your show in Bulgaria in 2006.

M. W.: From the first time we were there, the response was so great. I remember we had such aВ magnificent show in Sofia back then. It was a real surprise, because we'd never been there before.
The second time we went there we were completely aware that we'll have to film and record the concert. It was the same venue and probably the same people, so it was really worth doing it, because there are wild fans in South America and on other places in the world, too, but Sofia was really a special occasion.

V. V.: Please, tell us now something more about this song of yours, "Light the Universe", that features Ritchie Blackmore's wife Candice Night.

M. W.: Yeah, isn't she cute? Isn't she singing well?

V. V.: Yes, she is! Do you think that if you hang around with this lady for two or three more songs, you'll stop playing heavy metal and start doing some Rennaisance stuff as well?

M. W.: No, I don't think so. She's doing that stuff because she likes this old Rennaisance music. Blackmore's Night are stuck in that kind of music, and Ritchie knows exactly why he's doing it... He always liked that stuff, even in the past, and now they seem to be happy with what they do, and their sales are pretty good. From what I've heard, you know, he sells more of this stuff than duing Rainbow times, so for me it's quite understandable that he doesn't wanna change whatever he's into. There might be not that much aggression as it was in Deep Purple, for example, but we shouldn't forget his age where he can pick things and say, "No, I dont' wanna do this, I'd rather do that."
You know, I'm a miserable acoustic guitarist, so I personally would never do anything like that, because it would be too difficult for my fingers... I'm just a rock'n'roll guy.

V. V.: What about the recordings of that song - you did everything in the studio, and then Candice just came along and sang her vocals, or...?

M. W.: SheВ  didn't come at all. She did the recordings in her own studio, somewhere in America. When the recorded files were finished, her management just sent them over. It fit well and she liked the end result, so we met her at the video shoot. It was just one day, but it was a real pleasure. Our time schedule is also very tight, so I think everyone was happy to do something as extraordinary as that.

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