Helloween’s Michael Weikath and ex-singer Michael Kiske didn’t speak to each other for about 20 years

Helloween’s Michael Weikath and ex-singer Michael Kiske didn’t speak to each other for about 20 years

In an interview with Spanish website Metal Journal transcribed by Blabbermouth, Helloween original member Michael Weikath advised that it took him over 20 years to speak again to former singer Michael Kiske after the latter’s departure following the controversial Chameleon album released in 1993.

The following are excerpts from the Metal Journal interview as transcribed by Blabbermouth (with slight edits):

On who was the first to suggest the idea of a tour like “Pumpkins United“:

Weikath: “That was always Kai Hansen who said so — always. And usually then Markus [Grosskopf] and me, we would reject the idea before, because we had different managements, we had different schedules. And also the whole thing needed to be talked about and trust needed to be created. And so it took that process of blah blah blah and whatever, and then to cut things short, a few years later, after we had the ‘Hellish Rock‘ tour, with Gamma Ray and Kai Hansen, one got a little bit closer and found where the things in common are. And then I had that talk with Michael Kiske at a metal [festival] in France a few years ago. As I keep telling in interviews, I had one whisky in the other hand and I was pouring myself another whisky and I had a cigarette in the hand and I had another cigarette in the mouth when I talked to him, because I was kind of excited to meet that guy again after all this time. I always thought I should call him on the phone, but I never did it, because I thought maybe he feels disturbed or maybe he doesn’t have the time.

Only because Weiki feels he could call Kiske on the phone, going, ‘Hey, how are you?’ ‘Yeah, right now I’m kind of busy.’ And so that’s actually why I never, never, never, never called him. And then there was that opportunity, and I said to him, basically, ‘You shouldn’t be too angry. You just must understand me. Back at that time, I saw myself as the one to put things into the right direction in Helloween, and the fact was nobody wanted to record another record with you, so I had to find a solution, or an opinion, and I had to state it to you, and this is how things came about back then. And I hope you can maybe forgive me about that, if I tell you this. Just try to understand me, what was going on back then.’ And he said, ‘Maybe I’ve already forgiven you. I don’t know. But it’s better if we talk when you are more sober and not so drunk.’ I wasn’t really that drunk; I was just really excited. Ever since, we just had meetings with the whole band and Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen about how to do things, because what Kai Hansen had been proposing was only picked up by the management, and they were going, ‘Yeah, we think that’s a very cool idea, and we should do this.’ And then everybody was asking, ‘How do we do it?'”

On how long he went without talking to Michael Kiske before they reconnected at the aforementioned French festival:

Weikath: “Ever since [he left the band], after [1993’s] ‘Chameleon‘ (album). ‘Cause we didn’t know how to touch that subject and whatever, and you could see from the press and his comments that there was understandable discrepancy in our relationship. It was always, like, ‘Kai Hansen has said this about you, Weiki, and Michael Kiske has said this about you, Weiki. And what do you say?’ And so I was always firing back. And that’s not necessary anymore if we have these talks going nad everything. And, basically, there’s a time to be a little bit adult and grown up about things. Because so much time passed, there can’t possibly be much more trouble, because everyone involved has more or less proven what he is capable of on his own and what he would be. Michael Kiske has been doing the solo records as they are, he’s been involved in projects as they are and as they were, we’ve been doing the Helloween thing, and Kai Hansen has been doing his stuff. So everybody presented to the public what everyone was capable of. And so that’s the history, that’s all behind that whole thing. And what is there to quarrel or worry or fight about? There’s nothing.”

On the possibility of the “Pumpkins United” lineup of Helloween recording new music:

Weikath: “There’s an idea for doing at least one track — at least. Personally, I think we should do more; we should do something like an EP or so. But first of all, we have lots of stuff to run and to check out and to try in order to get the schedule until [the fall] when the first show is going to take place in Mexico City. And to crank all that, if we wanted to come up with one new track as the ‘Pumpkins United‘, I think there’s going to be lots of work to do. And so what’s in the planning is, for now, just one track.”

You can read the entire interview at Metal Journal in Spanish and the rest of the transcribed portions of the interview at Blabbermouth.

Helloween‘s Pumpkins United World Tour 2017-18:

HELLOWEEN – PUMPKINS UNITED World Tour 2017 / 2018

STOP! DROP EVERYTHING – here comes the sensation for all HELLOWEEN fans: PUMPKINS UNITED World Tour 2017 / 2018!!!