Kai Hansen is, simply put, one of the Godfathers of "Europower" He has contributed not only a style of songwriting and playing but some distinctive stage moves as well! In short, he is a legend of the genre. Gamma Ray's new album ‘Land of the Free Part II' is now on the shelves and as the name implies they have looked back in order to go forward. With fresh energy but a sense of continuity, the main man was eager to share his thoughts on the album, a new label, the "Hellish Rock Tour" and forthcoming DVD entitled ‘Hell Yeah! The Awesome Foursome (And The Finnish Keyboarder Who Didn't Want To Wear His Donald Duck Costume) Live in Montreal' a multi-camera recording of the band's May 6, 2006 show at Medley in Montreal, Quebec with loads of extras.

Things are looking good for Gamma Ray with the release of a new album and the tour with Helloween and Axxis beginning soon. How do you feel as "kick off" approaches?

Well, we are very excited because the tour kicks off on the same day as the album is released, so we expect the fans won't be too familiar with the songs for the first shows, so we will try to keep the set list a bit more related to the older stuff. Of course it's a big tour, and as we've teamed up with Helloween it'll be good venues, so I'm very excited. It's the first time we will be on tour where it coincides with the album release, so we are looking forward to getting some feedback directly from the fans.

What are your feelings about being on the road for such a long period of time?

Well, there are some breaks, so it won't be too heavy in the end, it's not like we're on the road for half a year. We have time to come back in between stints. The first block lasts until close to Christmas, so we're home for Christmas and a few days in January, then we're back on tour for 2 or 3 weeks, so it's pretty cool.

How are you guys getting on together these days?

It's great. I think there were some things in the past shadowing our relationship a bit. Of course in the beginning it wasn't so easy to get together. No real hard feelings but some strange unsorted things. But it's been 20 years since, and some things just need time to settle. So we've played quite a few festivals together in recent times and we've always met up and had time for a chat and sitting together in the evening and getting into the same old silly jokes thing we had in the past, so we're still the same idiots, and we've had time to sort out things that happened in the past, so it's very, very good.

I have to ask the obvious question; will you be joining Helloween on stage at all?

Yes, of course, and not only me, but a few of the other guys as well, and it will change from day to day. It's obvious they are playing old Helloween songs, and as you might know in Gamma Ray we've been playing a lot of songs that I wrote while in Helloween, so the guys are familiar with the stuff and have kind of adopted it. So it's a big family thing that will happen there.

I read somewhere that you're not a great fan of touring and it takes a lot out of you. Have you had to get in shape for this?

Well, you know, it's not that I'm not a fan of touring, I love touring, but I don't like to be on extensive tours that take you all around the world without being able to come home regularly and take part in your normal life for a while, see friends, family, girlfriend or whatever, and not being a complete alien when you come back home. In my experience anything that is over 4 weeks makes you a kind of alien to yourself and to the people that are still at home, because their life has carried on, but your life is at a standstill in a way because you are doing the same thing every day. After four weeks it doesn't really matter any more, so I always feel kind of ripped out of my roots, and it's not too healthy for me, actually.

I know that you're a smoker, and wondered how you protect your voice on such a long jaunt?

Yes, I still smoke, I have a few drinks here and there and of course I don't go partying every night. I take things on a bit more lower level to keep myself going, but of course if the ‘flu hits you, you are pretty much helpless. Of course, I could separate myself completely from the rest of the guys on the tour, have my own bus or whatever, or fly while everyone else is on the bus, but the fun would be gone, I guess, so I take the risk and hope that I get through. Sometimes you need some disinfectant to get rid of all the bacteria that are around. I recommend Jack Daniels, myself.

What can we expect in the Gamma Ray set? Will there be much from ‘Land Of The Free II'?

We're rehearsing quite a few from the new album at the moment. Of course we can't play the whole album, that's for sure, so we have to jump in the fire and see because so far there is no feedback from fans about which are the favourite songs from the album, so that leaves the choice up to us, and we are rehearsing quite a few songs. During the tour we will change the set – with the older songs also. We're not only referring to Land of the Free one and two, we're playing stuff from pretty much every album, and even then we are rehearsing many more songs than we actually need to be able to switch the set list or change things to our liking, so we don't get bored with ourselves and other people won't get bored with us. There might be people who will see more than one show, I'm sure.

What have the reviews been like so far?

Well, let's just say I can put a big smile on my face.

A promo of the album has been quite famously "leaked" on the internet. Are you angry about this or was it part of a stealthy marketing strategy?

No, it was definitely not a marketing strategy. These days it just happens, and you can't avoid it. We're not too happy about it, and it's not just because it might affect the sales. The thing that we regret about it is that the surprise is gone. In the old days it was completely different. When the album was out, it was the moment it was to be heard, so you would run into the record store without knowing what it would be like. Maybe you would ask the guy at the counter to play a few tracks for a listen, or if it was your favourite band you didn't question anything, you just bought it. Then when you got home it was all about unfolding the package and seeing what's in it. It's too bad that this kind of experience is gone.

I believe the DVD release is also now on schedule for January. Other than the full live show from Montreal, what other material can fans expect to find on there?

It's going to be out in 2008, but we couldn't release it before the album, so we had to postpone it. It'll be out either before or after summer. So it's not going to be January, unfortunately. It's been ready for quite a while now, and we feel very sorry for all the fans that have been waiting for it for such a long time. We wanted it to be released, but it didn't happen somehow. However, the good news is that when it will be released, it will be upgraded with footage from the Hellish Rock tour, which I guess makes it even more interesting and more up to date at the time it will be released, and I think the long wait might be worth it.

What's the story with the Finnish keyboarder and his Donald Duck costume? I assume this refers to Eero Kaukomies?

That whole title consists of things that were happenings or words that we heard on the American tour. Hell Yeah is something that typical American guys say. "Hell Yeah, your music kicks ass" and stuff like this. So that became something that we always make jokes about internally. It's the same thing with the Awesome Foursome because we saw a sign announcing some show band somewhere in America, so we picked up on it and said "yeah, that's us". The Finnish keyboarder who didn't want to wear his Donald Duck costume is Eero. We were walking down the street one day and he was walking in front of us. Henjo brought it up, remarking that he walked a bit like Donald Duck. Of course we all picked up on this, and somebody came up with the idea that maybe from now on he should wear a Donald Duck costume on stage. Of course we always make jokes about it, asking him where is his costume, and he'd say "I'm not wearing a fucking costume" so it became a running gag in a way. That's why we included it in the title.

You have enlisted the talents of Alessio Gori (Flashback of Anger) on keys for the forthcoming tour. How did you hook up with him?

Well, Eero had to finish studying. He'd gotten so far, that it was important for him to finish, and not blow your chances of finishing because of a tour. We first had the idea of doing it like many bands do nowadays by not taking a keyboarder, instead take the cheap version by taking a computer and playing with a click track. But we don't like this idea because it takes away a lot of the spontaneity of the live show because you always have to play on time, and always have the same feel in the songs. Maybe for some people that might be good, but we consider ourselves more of a rock and roll band where things might happen as we feel, how we play the songs, how fast we want to play them and stuff, so we said we'd take a keyboarder. Fortunately Dirk was doing some production with the Italian band Flashback of Anger where the lead singer also plays keyboard. He also had time, so when Dirk asked him if he would be able to do it he said no problem, so that's how we ended up with him.

Onto the new album: What led you to feel that the time was right for a follow up to the original ‘Land Of The Free'?

After all the touring for Majestic we sat down together and talked generally about the next album; where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do next. I said I wanted something really strong for the next album, to have the songwriting more focussed and not too diverse. With Gamma Ray I think we have a good variety and I would say our borders are pretty wide in our range. We all agreed that we should do an album that is more optimistic, more positive, with a very strong energy. To sum it all up the name ‘Land of the Free' was dropped a few times while talking about this direction, because maybe it is the Gamma Ray album that best describes this direction. So we said why not write Land of the Free II to see if we can live up to our own expectations, and if it would be worth having the title. If it is, we will name it Land of the Free II and if not, we choose a different title. So we started with this premise and things were just going to well all the way through that there were never any doubts about it, and we didn't have to force ourselves to do it, it just came out. We were sitting in the studio half way through the production listening to the songs and we looked at each other and the big question came up, is this Land of the Free II or not, and we all agreed that it was. So here we are.

Did you use a similar songwriting process as before, where you write the majority of the material and usually start quite early on?

Yes, especially with the recent albums, it's always the same. I think I am always the first to start with the songwriting and come up with the first ideas and first demos. Then the others get into it. Whatever happens we take all the songs that are available, and all the other ideas into the rehearsal room. There the whole band plays them together and we fix the final arrangements and try out variations of parts of things and see where it leads to. This has worked out pretty well in the past and I think it's the way we work best.

Why did you feel the need to recruit Tommy Newton into the production chair?

Well, the recent productions were done by ourselves, and we are absolutely able to do the job and get creative with the sound and all that, but on this occasion we said we'd like to hear something different, and have someone else take the burden of doing the mix. We always go crazy when we mix ourselves. Dirk and I get so much into it that we fight for millimetres and stuff, so we wanted to get that off our backs, so we let Tommy do the mix under supervision somehow. So I was driving back and forth to his studio frequently to have a check on what he had been mixing and maybe do some changes, but anyhow, he took the whole thing and worked on it. The other thing we wanted him to do was record the drums. That's another thing I like, because the moment you record the drums is when you have finally fixed the arrangement for the song, and you know that is the way it is going to be. When we do sound at the same time, take care of the bass drum sound and whatever, of course it takes away your attention towards the actual songs, and I wanted to have a free mind to just take care of the music itself and be free to walk out, then walk back in later and listen back. It's different to sitting there and checking things all the time. It's better sometimes to see things from a distant point of view. With this, it was exactly what we achieved.

There is a concept behind both albums. Can you explain it for us and how part 2 follows on from the original?

The original had more storyboard to it, with the exception of some songs. It was open in a way but very much like a story, like one guy searching for freedom. This time it is more open. It is all songs about freedom seen from different points of view. Of course there are connections to the first part, and these songs themselves have some connection internally here and there, but it is not like a story starting from A and ending with Z. It's pretty open and leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Various points of view are reflected on this album.

In terms of the sound of the new album, it's very "classic metal". ‘From The Ashes' and ‘Rising Again' for example, have quite ‘Maiden' vibe to them? What was your ambition for the sound and feel of the album?

Definitely it is melodic, positive, but still energetic and heavy. I think that was the direction we wanted to follow. Of course the melodic parts contain harmony guitars and melodic vocals. But ever since I started there has always been some relationship with Iron Maiden. When we did Walls of Jericho, they called it Iron Maiden on speed. I am a fan of Iron Maiden, and of course they were an influence in former days, and maybe still are, so I guess that explains it.

I came across a review for the album that almost directly accuses you of "borrowing" extensively from other classic metal riffs – Iron Maiden and Stratovarius for example. What is your reaction to that?

Well, we come up with something that sounds similar to something about our past and our influences. I always come up with things that sound like stuff that has already been done by Helloween, but, hey, big deal. Then of course there is the other thing where it can be seen more clearly, for example where you can say in some way it's similar to an Iron Maiden album or song or whatever. When we feel that ourselves, we always consider if it is a rip off or if it is ok to do it. We don't give that much attention to it, actually. As long as it's good, we've had fun, and it's still our own, then fine.

To the future: Is the proposed project with yourself Roland Grapow and Michael Kiske still on track to become reality?

Good question, which I cannot really answer because it is still somehow in the pipeline, but at the moment it is at a complete standstill because obviously there is no time. We need some time for it to do it properly, and Roland and I have to come up with songs that are beyond classical metal, and that are to Michael's liking but still to ours too. That's a tough challenge, but a good challenge too. But we will have to see if it is ever going to happen.

Do you think the acoustic "experiment" that you did with Henjo in Japan is something you might re-visit for European fans?

Well, it might happen, but at the moment we don't have any plans to include it in our set. It might be something to be included in a live show that is a Gamma Ray complete headline show or a special show or something. We never considered ourselves as a band that likes to do unplugged things, even though we were sort of forced to do it in Japan, and we said we'd try to come up with something. We found that it was kind of fun, and that these songs can be played acoustically – it's a totally different feel. It's interesting, definitely, but mainly I like to have some Marshall cabinets behind me and turn them up.

Did you play on the new Avantasia or was it all down to Henjo (and producer Sascha Paeth)?

I had the time to do some guitar playing on it, but no vocals this time. I guess the dwarf is dead, unless there is a new dwarf for me to play. I just played some guitar and it was fine. (At this point we digressed into some Spinal Tap territory – the part where the Stonehenge monument gets crushed by a dwarf, and agree that this would be good to include in Avantasia's live set as it sits well with both Tobi and Kai's sense of humour.)

I am delighted that you have managed to include the UK on your schedule, but I know there will be many who are disappointed that the tour didn't include any dates other than London. Do have any message for your UK fans?

Well, it's only one date this time, but I hope, hope, HOPE that there will be some more, because it has been such a long time since I, especially with Gamma Ray, have done any kind of real UK tour. For a while there was complete silence, and of course it was for a reason – the UK metal scene didn't seem to like our kind of music, but now it's kind of back.

Are you more settled now that you've signed with SPV/Steamhammer?

I guess I am, really. Sanctuary was more like a sinking ship in the end, and the take over by Universal just offered us a chance to leave and find someone else. Now we are back with a German company, and SPV seems to be doing a really good job on this one, so we are happy we are rolling again.

Since this interview the "Hellish Rock Tour" came, saw and conquered the Shepherds Bush Empire. Gamma Ray played an absolute blinder and reminded the UK that this was the band that put the Power in Power Metal. Catch up with them at: www.gamma-ray.com.