Very good. Well, actually at the moment I’m home. We made a Christmas break but in the New Year we will continue. The tour has been going great so far. Beyond expectations because we already thought that it’s going to be a big thing but it’s even better.

Was Santa Claus good to you?

I don’t know if he did that but if so I wouldn’t mind.

You’re on tour with Helloween. What’s it like hooking back up with those guys in a way?

Absolutely grand. I think it’s just like we’re on the road as a big family. It’s more like a big band feeling than two different bands. It’s pretty strange.

I can imagine it is. You guys just released Land Of The Free - Part II. I understand we’ll be getting that here in the U.S. in January.

January 15th I think.

How has the record been doing so far for the lucky people who have it?

As far as I know and as I’ve heard, the sales have gone pretty well so the first issue is long gone and they’re already reprinting. I think we can’t complain.

I was reading somewhere that it had gotten leaked on the Internet.

Well, that’s just natural. It always happens. This is something that we stopped really minding about. You can’t avoid it. It’s just normal.

I hate it when people do shit like that. That’s not very cool.

Well, you know of course it takes away the surprise. That’s it. It’s up to everybody to decide if he wants to have a present or not. Maybe we should not deal with these things too much as musicians because otherwise we might think “ah, shit.” It’s better to not mind.

It sucks in a way because I got to review the Iced Earth CD and every five minutes this guy comes on and says “hi, this is Jon Schaeffer and I hope you’re enjoying the new CD.” Well, I would be if you weren’t doing a voiceover.

They put out an edited version. That has been very popular for a while but we didn’t do that this time. No matter what you do, if you cut some things in between, either you have a problem with a journalist saying “no, we can’t accept this. We want the full album.” There’s always something. If you put some hidden beats on the album somebody can count them out so fuck it.

I totally agree with that sentiment. What was the story behind Land Of The Free - Part I? I didn’t get to talk to you about that one so we can talk about them both.

Land Of The Free - Part I, first of all this was a special album for some reasons. First of all, I took over the vocals again. Second, we did it at a time when especially this kind of metal was proclaimed to be completely dead.

That’s so stupid when people say that. Music will never fucking die no matter what kind it is.

Sure, I know that but people didn’t understand that. We made a statement, our statement, and it worked out pretty well. Of course it was the album that gave Gamma Ray the final acceptance as being a band, not a side project of some guy who was once in Helloween. It was a special album. Land Of The Free - Part II just came naturally because we talked about the direction for the next album after the touring from Majestic. We all agreed that it should be something more positive with a cheerful spirit uplifting energy, straightforward, a bit more naïve. Not too much art. Just go for it and we always mentioned Land Of The Free as an example for an album like that. We said then let’s write Land Of The Free - Part II and we met with a wink in the eye. We said if we think it’s too different or something else, we will try to find a different title. Anyhow, if we can achieve it or think it’s good enough we will just do it. Finally we did.

You guys have been around for 20 years or so haven’t you?

Good question. Gamma Ray started in 1990 so it’s not yet 20 years.

You were saying that Land Of The Free kind of validated the fact that Gamma Ray was a real band instead of just some guy who was in Helloween. I think it’s silly at this point in time to sit there and say “ah, that’s just some guy’s side project.” To me you guys have been a band for a long fucking time.,p> Oh yeah, that’s true. Absolutely. Land Of The Free was 1995 so it’s been a while. At that time Land Of The Free was the fourth release of Gamma Ray and still it was like people eyeing it and thinking that this is not a band, this is just a project. We were happy to see that there was an acceptance of people saying “well…, it turned out to be a band.” Something to be reckoned with.

They’re a little more serious about it now. I’ve noticed that when people leave a band and they go on to do something else, my favorite example is Bruce Kulick. When he left KISS he formed a band called Union. And everybody was bitching about how Union didn’t sound anything like KISS and I’m thinking well, it’s not supposed to. It’s something else. KISS sounds like KISS and this band is supposed to sound like this band.

Yeah, right. That’s always the problem you get and therefore I’m pretty happy with what happened to Gamma Ray. You could call it an identity crisis because to leave a well-known band and do something new, there aren’t too many people actually that have a really long term success with it. I could mention maybe Ritchie Blackmore or Dave Mustaine. There are people that built up a new band that was successful and lasted for quite a while. That’s the same with Gamma Ray and I think we can just be happy about that.

When you first got Gamma Ray started, did you encounter that sort of resistance?

Well, sure. I never thought that I was going to leave this big band and do something new and it’s going to be as successful as the thing before. I thought I had a good standing and had a great album but still that doesn’t mean anything. If people don’t want to accept it then they don’t. I was very well aware about the risks but hey, no risk no fun.

That’s true. If you never take that chance, you never get anywhere. I think people are so fucking silly though. People are like “oh my God, this guy left this band and now he’s doing this and it’s just not the same.” I’m like god damn, how old are you people? Five? These are grown people acting like this.

Well, people always expect something from you. We had the same problem with Gamma Ray in the beginning to come back to what was said before. It’s like this identity crisis. People on one hand expect you to sound kind of the same but if you do sound the same, they complain “hey, this sounds like his original band so why did he do it?” If you sound too different, then they’re like “well, he’s denying his roots” or “he’s getting away from his own making.” It’s like whatever you do, you’re always wrong. In the end you can just ignore all that and do what you feel like and see where you end and that’s it. Fuck what everybody thinks. You can’t just listen to it.

Part of what I enjoy doing is reviewing people’s CDs. I see that as an honor that someone wants my fucking opinion about this. Sometimes I sit there and read other people’s reviews and when it comes right down to it, whether it’s a music review or a movie review, I’m either going to go pick the disc up or go see the movie myself. Just because some fucking asshole says that something sucks or something is wonderful doesn’t always mean it will turn out to be that way.

Oh, definitely not. It’s crucial to make up your own mind and build your own opinion. You cannot do this, I always tell people, how can you build up your opinion on life, in books maybe? You can read books, fine but don’t just read them and say “all right, this is true. I believe that.” You can even buy a newspaper and read the headline and say “oh yeah, this is it.” Hey, bullshit. Look around, it’s your own thoughts that count and not what everybody else thinks. The same with an album of music. Listen to it. If you think it’s shit, all right. Fine. If you think it’s good, it’s good. No matter what anyone else says. Of course we all know that opinion differs. It’s something you could read and be interested or not. Sometimes I wonder if I read the magazines with reviews to say “yeah, what does that tell me now?”

Yeah, it’s funny. I actually get to review stuff but at the same time I never really pay attention to people’s reviews. I either take that chance and plunk down the money or I don’t.

Of course, there are people who may have the same taste as you. If they recommend an album you can be sure that you’ll like it too. Sure we have some people out here in the magazines, different editors and there’s maybe one editor who essentially likes power metal and everybody knows that. If he writes a good review about a power metal album, people can be pretty sure that it is a good album. On the other hand, if somebody who likes Korn or stuff like that writes a review about our album, I wouldn’t count on it.

I’ve read reviews like that. “I don’t really listen to this type of music.” Why the fuck are you reviewing it then?

Exactly, that’s what I think sometimes.

You guys signed with SPV. How is that going so far?

We’re absolutely happy with the company. They’ve been doing a great job and everything has been going very smooth for us. I think we ended up on the right end.

I think those guys are so awesome. They have the most awesome bands on their label. I can’t say that they have anybody on their label that sucks.

No, they make very good choices. They don’t do the overload thing. They don’t sign up anything that can hold a guitar and throw it against the wall and wait for it to stick which I think is very cool. They rely on bands mostly that are already somewhere and have made their way through plus a few newcomers and that really does conform with how I think things should be handled.

You go through their entire roster and it has bands that you already know. There are some awesome bands. They also try to keep them in the same vein. It’s mostly power metal stuff and some rock bands. They don’t vary it too awfully much. I was reading that you’re going to be working with Roland Grapow and Michael Kiske somewhere in the future.

So far there have been plans to do that but now at the moment it’s completely on ice because we’re all busy with our own stuff. Roland with Masterplan and Michael with his stuff and me with Gamma Ray so it has been put on ice for a while. Let’s see whenever this thing here now is done with the touring and everything for this album. We’ll see how it will proceed.

I hope you guys do something together because those dudes are so talented.

Oh, it’s definitely going to be an interesting thing that’s for sure. We’re all different characters again. Especially Michael and his very own ways of seeing things music wise. Roland and me are more like the metalheads. Let’s see how far we can push Michael.

He’s so awesome. I got to chat on the phone with him. We must have talked for two hours. He’s so intelligent and opinionated but in a really good way. Hopefully you guys can push him pretty far.

Well, let’s see.

I understand SPV finally got your MySpace up and running.

Yeah, that’s true.

MySpace is so cool in that it helps bands connect with their fans. It’s more intimate in a way.

Well, definitely. It’s very good. Before I didn’t really know what this was all about, the MySpace thing. They asked me if I had a MySpace site and I said no, we don’t. They said it could be important and it could be good. Check it out. I checked it out and I thought that’s interesting and fun. You always get linked to something you might like and that’s cool.

It’s an awesome promotional tool. I think the Internet has hurt music a bit but it’s also helped musicians a bit with promotion.

Yeah, it changes things. It makes it more direct. If you want information you can get it. That’s the thing. That was different before.

Is there any chance you guys will be coming over to the United States?

We’re working on that. So far there have been contacts with our booking agency to promote us in the U.S. and we just hope for the best that everything turns out fine and everything works out and then we’re coming over.

Do you guys think you’ll be coming over with Helloween?

That’s what we aim at, yes. That will be great fun.

That would be awesome because the last time I saw Helloween was years ago so it would be great to have them and you guys play here.

Yeah, it’s going to be cool. So far on the European bit everything has been great with both bands together and I think it would be a nice idea to carry this on in the States.

Are you touring any other countries outside of Europe and hopefully the States?

Yeah, we’re going to play together in Japan and Korea and South America is already confirmed. We’re working on Canada as well and of course the U.S. so there’s still a lot to do.

I definitely hope all that works out. Any other thoughts or comments?