Artist: Michael Kiske   

Date: 16 September 2010   

Having run out of time during our earlier interview we re-scheduled a second interview with Michael in what would turn out to be an epic discussion where we cover all things Michael Kiske, including his new band Unisonic, Place Vendome and a few other things as well! 

MM - Hi Michael how are you doing this evening?
Michael - I’m doing fine actually. 

MM - I was doing an interview with Amanda last night and she’s very excited about the release of the new album.
Michael - Oh yes, that’s nice.  We have a very good chemistry together, not only when we sing together but also when we are doing interviews and hanging around together and stuff. 

MM - You’re doing the album release party at Rockfabrik together.
Michael -Yes. 

MM - Amanda said it was going to be more you and her just hanging out and doing a meet and greet sort of thing?
Michael -Yeh.  It's one of those things.  I don’t really like that sort of thing, I mean being in a venue with thousands of people.  They said that they are expecting something like two thousand people to turn up. Then they put us right in the middle, as you say the centre of attention.  It's not like when we’re on stage.  I don’t really like this sort of thing but it has to be done. You don’t know, maybe I will be surprised, I haven’t done that sort of thing for such a long time. 

MM - I thought that that would be the perfect opportunity for you both to get on stage with a band a do a couple of songs from the album. 
Michael -Yeh, but that’s not going to happen.  It's more about signing autographs and having photo’s taken with the fans. 

MM - When I was talking to Amanda we touched on how you'll both appearing together on the Avantasia tour.  Are you looking forward to it?  I know it's been a long time since you were asked to do it the first time round.   Back then you just appeared on the album and never went on the live tour. 
Michael -Yes I wasn’t ready for that the first time round, but now I’ve done a few shows with Unisonic I feel ready for it.  They asked me the first time, but I didn’t feel like it at the time. 

MM - Will you be using the Ernie moniker this time?
Michael -That was around '89 when I was really having an in and out time with the whole Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal scene.  They kind of persuaded me.  I didn’t want to do it in the first place but Tobias phoned me up and talked me round. 

MM - The whole Avantasia thing has grown into quite a phenomena, I don’t think anyone realised just how big the whole thing would grow.
Michael - It was quite unique at the time to have all these different musicians and singers and artists all together on the one stage. And they like the fact that there are so many things going on at the same time. 

MM - It’s a good concept, I don’t think there is perhaps as much pressure on the singers as there would normally be with a live show.  It's more a case of you sing your song and get a break while someone else sings a song, rather than having to sing in a straight row.
Michael - It's good for all of us.  You're only on stage for a matter of minutes, you do a little bit here, a little bit there ... This will be the first time I’ve been on stage with Kai Hansen for over twenty years. 

MM - Have you remained in contact with Kai over the years?
Michael - Oh yes, we've always kept in touch.  He was here at Christmas time.  We talked about me singing on one of his Gamma Ray tracks, we talked about Classical Music, we had a very interesting conversation about that. 
MM - It’s nice to get away from a subject you’re both known for and find something else in common.  

MM - You touched earlier on the Unisonic thing.  You’ve got back together with Dennis Ward, Kosta and this time Mandy Myers has been brought into the fold.  I must say you seem to have attracted the crème de la crème of musicians around you once again Michael. 
Michael - It's awesome.  Mandy I didn’t really know but I liked the band he was involved with.  I was into Krokus in the 80’s but I didn’t know him.   Then when we were talking about guitar players Dennis suggested Mandy and that was it.  I totally agree with him now that I know him.  He’s a great melodic guitar player and a really nice guy.  Very down to earth. 

MM - So what was the idea of putting Unisonic together?  Was it a vehicle to get yourself back on the road and back on stage?
Michael -The first thing was Kosta as part of a management team.  He said to me, Michael I don’t think you’ve been managed properly over the years and I replied that I haven’t been managed at all.  After Helloween I was still being managed my Rob Smallwood, nice guy, but he didn’t know how to handle someone like me. So this whole thing started when we were throwing ideas about and I said let's make a whole new band.  

For me, Dennis is the main element because I know what he is capable of doing.  I know he can do things I can't and what I have to offer is something they have a use for.  For example I offered them a very nice song and Dennis took it worked on the arrangement, did a few things different here and there, it's still the same song but now it's better than before.

I am a songwriter but I haven’t been doing that many songs like he has. He’s good with the arrangements and finding the instruments for you.  He does things I can't imagine doing.  I’m the kind of rough songwriter, I come up with the raw ideas.  I mean the sort of songs I’d do for a solo album are kept very simple, the way I would play a song to someone, but for me being in a band with someone like Dennis, now I'm able to give him a song and he adds this quality to it, it's just awesome. 

MM - I know what you mean, he does seem to have this Midas touch with everything he’s involved with.  There is that certain touch of class in everything he does. 
Michael -That’s the right word for it, he has ‘CLASS’, but he is also very talented musically, he can even play guitar better than me.  I know he plays bass too, but he’s a musical all rounder and that was the main reason I was really interested in doing this, I knew they were also looking for someone like me too.

For me it’s the best thing I could have done, because not only am I in a band where I like everybody very much I have a new manager who looks after business now. I don’t have to deal with that side, I just pass it on. 

MM - I’ve read that you’ve actually put around nine songs together for Unisonic. 
Michael - We’ve got a lot of songs but at this stage we are being very over critical.  What we’ve done now is a decent demo with five songs that we are sending to the record labels that were interested in us.  We’ve actually had a big label asked for demo’s and also Serifino is very interested which was beautiful. 

MM - Yes with the line-up you’ve got I’m sure you’d be right up Serifino’s alley.
Michael - I ’m sure we’ll have no problem getting it released, but we want a label that will do something for us, with the likes of, you know video production, promotion and tour support.  If we were to go out on tour, say in the US to support the likes of Nickelback, that would take a lot of money and we want a label that would support us in that.  So we are looking at all our options. 

MM - I’m really looking forward to hearing something from the band just based on the line-up alone.
Michael -Yes it’s going to be cool.  I already know of course a lot of the songs and they are all very musical.  When I write a song it sounds one way.  When Mandy writes a song it sounds a different way and when Dennis writes a song it sounds a different way again.  So we have all those three colours coming together and of course we have Dennis doing the production.  With all his skills and he’s also very open about things, if any of us don’t agree on something it's all very open, which is good.  This certainly isn’t going to be a boring record. 

MM - So what is happening on the Place Vendome side of things? 
Michael -That’s been put on ice.  To my management and to Unisonic it is history, but I never say never.  You never know after three records or long touring when we take a break and maybe I'll go back to it.  You never know.  At the moment there is no time. 

MM - Personally I loved the two albums you did with Place Vendome. 
Michael - With Unisonic we're not trying to sound to 80’s like Place Vendome.  That was supposed to be a bit of a tribute to the 80’s AOR and the songs turned out really good, especially with my voice as I don’t have a typical AOR voice.   But for some reason it worked and they were very interesting albums.  If someone like the vocalist from Survivor had sung those songs then it definitely would have sounded very 80’s AOR, because I don’t have that voice, that’s what made them interesting.  I’m not trying to blow my own trumpet here but I’m just saying I was surprised at how they turned out and how well they worked. 

MM - While talking to Amanda I commented on the fact that both your vocal styles are so different and  that’s the reason I think the album works so well.  Amanda summed it up nicely by comparing the two vocals to the colours red and blue, that when mixed produce purple. 
Michael - Absolutely!  With me and Amanda I had the benefits of singing my parts while Amanda was already there.  When we were supposed to sing a chorus together I had to sing on top of her, it didn’t work, because her rhythms were so different to mine.  I sounded so stiff when I tried sing the harmonies, so I stopped trying and sang the part as a lead voice instead and it worked. 

MM - The Kiske / Somerville album is the album of the year for me and it’s gonna take one hell of an album to make me think otherwise. 
Michael - You know that’s exactly the same thing I said to the guys from Unisonic.  We got to do some real work.  This is a good piece of music. That’s what makes these things so interesting. 

MM - I've already asked Amanda and now I'm going to ask you, will there be a second Kiske / Somerville album?   
Michael - Of course it will depend on how it is received and sales and that sort of thing, but I’m sure we can top this record now we know each other.  We didn’t know each other that well on this album but now we’ve gotten to know each other I think we can better it next time. 

MM - I know Amanda is very interested in doing more song writing on the second album. 
Michael - Yeh sure, she’s a damn good songwriter.  I might even consider her doing some lyrics for me when I do another solo album.  I’m German, I’m ok with the street talk, but in German I can express myself very well.  I’ve become quite educated over the last 13 years.  I’ve educated myself.  I’ve read a lot of books on philosophy.  I’ve spent over 30.000 Euros on books, I was really into the German philosophers.  I can express anything in German now, but my English is not as rich as my German is, so to have someone like her who can express things better in English would be great, because I think she writes very good lyrics. 

MM - With Amanda being based in Germany now something like that would be a lot easier to do. 
Michael - I could even write my lyrics in German and she could put them into English because her German is very good. 

Did I tell you that when I first met her I didn’t realise it was her?  Because she spoke to me in German and she didn’t have an accent.  You know when Germans speak English they have an accent and when Americans and the English speak German they have an accent also, but she didn’t, she just sounded completely German.  She’s been living here for 11 years and her German is better than some German's German! (laughs). 

MM - When I spoke to Amanda she came across as being very knowledgeable and very passionate about what she does, a bit like yourself. 
Michael - We have a lot in common, we really understand each other.  It would have been a shame if when we finished the album we didn’t get along.  It kind of helps that you like the other person you're working with. 

MM - It comes across on the album as a very genuine thing, especially when you’re singing something like a love ballad.
Michael - Absolutely, things are on a very personal level.  Maybe that’s what people are feeling when they are listening to the record.  I’ve done quite a few interviews now for this record and everybody has said the chemistry between us is something that everyone has noted upon.  I was surprised people were actually listening to the album so thoroughly. 

MM - So what have you got lined-up apart from the Avantasia thing? 
Michael - With Avantasia this year is pretty much wound up.  I still think I should get my ass together and write another couple more songs for Unisonic, I think it needs it to add some more colour to it.  With the combination of Dennis working on the songs I’ve written it works so well, but I would really like a few more and see what happens with them.

I still have to prepare for the Avantasia stuff.  I still don’t know what songs I’m going to be singing and then there will be the recording of the Unisonic album.  I have a lot to do over the next couple of months. 

MM - You seem to have given yourself quite a busy schedule there. 
Michael - I love it, it’s better than just hanging around here. 

MM - It's getting your name around a lot, ever since Frontiers took you up for the Kiske album your name seems to pop up a lot more now. 
Michael - I like to do that.  Over the last couple years I've just been living my own little shell and that has its benefits, but I’ve done it enough now, hopefully I’m opening up to the world again. 

MM - After talking to you last week, before I did this second part of the interview, people were saying to me ... "Oh, you interviewed Michael Kiske!  He has a bit of a reputation" ... and I said that’s not the guy I was talking to last week. 
Michael - I’m always nice! (laughs), I just express my anger when I’m angry about something.  I would never be nasty to someone in an interview or have no respect.  I have that reputation because I speak out if something angers me. 

MM - Yeh that’s your right, if you want to speak your mind you do that.  I don’t want to go down the Star Search road again, even though you're on the same wave length as me about the whole fifteen minutes of fame thing. (laughs)
Michael - I pissed the whole German metal scene off, with the comments I made about it being false and people just kissing ass, but that’s just me having a different understanding about true music. Musicians have the right to express themselves, I’m not saying that every band should change their styles of music from one record to another, say making a metal album then a country album, then a pop album, that would be stupid.  If you stop your creativity just because you have concerns that your audience won't understand you, then that’s wrong. As I said earlier I disagree with the satanic thing and that alone got me a reputation. 

MM - Yeh that’s the label the whole metal community got associated with back when Metal was in its early years. 
Michael -Thank God it’s not that way now because the better bands are different. 

MM - People find it difficult to get their heads around Heavy Metal and Rock fans because we like a wide spectrum of bands.  You can like Metallica and Slayer but still like the softer edged rock.  We like to see different bands with different styles of music.  
Michael - Yes that’s how I always was back in my metal days.  I was really into Iron Maiden and Judas Priest when I was a teenager.  I got into them with the 'Number of the Beast' album from Maiden and 'Screaming for Vengeance' from Priest.  They are still great albums, but at the same time I was listening to U2, Eurythmics, Pat Benetar, Kate Bush, even Simon and Garfunkel! ... you can't get any softer than that.   

I forgot Elvis Presley and The Beatles.  I grew up with the Beatles playing them on an acoustic guitar, they were a major part of my life I couldn’t live without it. 

MM - There are some styles of music I won’t listen too, electro dance, that’s a big no no, techno and all that.
Michael - Rap music drives me nuts, I just don’t get it, rhythmically talking. 

MM - So Michael it’s been an absolute pleasure, I want to wish you all the best with the Unisonic thing. 
Michael - I have the feeling that it's going to be an album you’ll have to give a couple of listens to.  I’ve thought about that with a couple of songs we’ve done already, which is usually a good thing.  Some people will only review it after one listen and make a snap judgment. 

MM - Yeh I’m all for listening to an album a few times to really get the feel for it.  I know you can't like every album that comes through the door but you have to give each one an equal airing.
Michael - We aren’t trying to reinvent music, we have our own style and that’s something that excites us.  We have our own elements and we're just trying to do the best we can with the instruments that we have, and that should be enough. 

MM - I’m really looking forward to hearing it, whatever label you release it on I'll try my best to get hold of it.
Michael - I hope people support us when it comes out because everything depends on the record sales, although record sales aren’t as important as they used to be when it comes to financial existence as a band, that comes through live performances now.  But the initial record sales is where a band really gets noticed and that’s important for a band, for people to buy the music and not steal it through downloading. 

MM - That goes for any band or music you like, the best way of supporting any band is to buy the albums and go to the live shows.
Michael - All of us, we all have jobs to do.  You get up and go to work from nine till five and it would seem strange if you didn’t get paid at the end of the month and that’s what its like for a musician or someone who writes computer programs, why shouldn’t they get paid for it?  And stealing takes that away from them and people lose their jobs.   

I haven’t even mentioned record stores or graphic designers, the music industry is a huge industry, people should be aware that it's anti-social to steal music, why not pay for it. 

MM - Yeh.  Plus why download one song?  Why don’t you want to listen to a whole album?  Bands work hard in the studio to put ten to twelve tracks out on an album, so why not buy the whole album? 
Michael - Band put twelve good tracks on an album, not just the hit single and some nine or eleven fillers.  Yes there are those bands but bands like us and other Rock bands write a good whole record.  We don’t just write singles, we think about writing a whole record.

It is possible to change this, wherever and whenever this interview is published you should mention this. I cannot change the whole music business but I can tell people like you and you can help spread the word.  If you share something in public you can have a big influence of people. 

MM - Well Michael once again it’s been an absolute pleasure talking to you.
Michael - I’m sure we’ll be talking again very soon.

MM - Yes as soon as you get the Unisonic album underway I’ll be back in touch! (laughs). 
Michael - It would be great to play back in England again. 

MM - Thanks again Michael and all the best with all your endeavors, the next time I call you I'll look forward to talking about the success of Unisonic. 
Michael -Thank you. 

At the end of each year we give you our pick of the best new bands, best albums, best live shows etc, but we've never done best interview before.  However this year we will be including this category and without a doubt, this year the best interview will go undoubtedly to Michael Kiske.  A really nice guy, a man passionate about what he does and what he believes in and someone I could talk to time and time again and would never get tired of listening to his views on modern day life and music.

All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated.