Ok.. The next interview was transcripted by myself, and even though I can understand
most of what Mike is saying, there are still a couple of words that are impossible for
me to comprehend, so you'll have to figure them out by yourselves.  Sorry for this inconvenience :P

INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL WEIKATH
Michael Weikath



Introducing Michael Weikath

So hello, this is uh, Michael Weikath, from Helloween, and eh...  I hope you are well...
Uhn...  I just wanna say thank you to everyone in Japan for the nice success.  And uh,
this is about time to say that.  Thank you!


About his songwriting

It varies.  Try to think of who eh, I would actually do a song for, you know?  So like uh,
I kind of seem to know what Japanese people like, and I would also try if for instance I
think this might be a good one for French people, for instance I would try to make it
more French for those people to, to like it that much.  And, well, if for instance as the
people and as the countries like it, is well then.  But this to me is always like uhm, a
task then.  I have a certain idea of what I do, and I would always try to make it that way
then.  To, to even enhance as the uh, basic idea of something.
And well, then, various categories of, of what I can do and uh, I just kept back on the
experimental stuff recently, a little, because uh, there uh, were lots of gaps to fill from
the past and all that.  And so I'm gonna be concentrated on, on the stuff people would
more or less expect from me right now.  And it will maybe change in the future or maybe
not, but right now I don't exactly feel (???).  To really uh, try something completely out
of this world, you know.  I don't wanna mix anyone up now, right now.  And it's, it's
always uh, really a drag to come over something (real?) in you, you always have to
spend like, a lot of efforts to do that.  And was all the stuff we've been doing recently.
It's, it's very hard to achieve that and then always had tra, tracks line and like uh, the
(fault?) of someone, and they are growing over the years and, and eventually I would
always put them out then, later.


His favorite Helloween song

Oh, that's very hard to say, from all the ones.  I mean, I, I, I would say that, up to that
point maybe that Eagle Fly Free sing was like this is the most uh, well done one, so to
say.  And, even though, well, How Many Tears is something and so many as a track uh,
is very hard to decide actually.  And, even the Giants one on the very Chameleon, I
like very much all that.  Number One thing was one I've written when I was nineteen.
But I'd say like, from the musical balance and everything and, and mostly interesting to
me was that Eagle thing up to that very point.  You know, I was very proud of it and
then you go and, and see what else you can do.  Yeah, but...  Yeah, basically I was
proud of everything I've done.


How they got to know Tommy Hansen

It was basically by uh, uh, it was Karl Walterbach.  And we approached him because we
said, "We've heard you know this Tommy Hansen from somewhere," because we heard
that Pretty Maids album that uh, "Red, Hot, and Heavy," and we also heard the first one
and the sounds in Berlin.  There was a disco where we used to go by that time, and it
was a hard rock disco sometimes and so, they played the Pretty Maids stuff there as well,
and Karl Walterback just told us that, that he's actually working with that Tommy Hansen
for future productions and uh, it'd be very easy to introduce us to him.  And to, to us it
was the hero by that time that we saw, wow, what a guy.  And yes, he really created a
new song by that time.  And so, we've gotten together for the Keeper 1.  And first, it was
a little critical because he worked together with Tommy Newton of uhm, Victor.  And the
Victor Records we didn't exactly like that much sound was.  Uhm, some material was very
good, but we had a different opinion of how these songs should be achieved.