Pic courtesy of: Gamma Ray "The fans in South and Central America are excellent and everywhere we go we get a warm welcome. The shows are very energetic and the fans push us to the limit every time"

CR: Gamma Ray is preparing its self for a big tour, through Europe, U.S.A, Canada and some festivals line up. This is part of the promotion for your new album Majestic, are you guys going to play many of the songs from that album, or are you going to mix it up a little with some of your older material?
Daniel Zimmermann: So far we are in the middle of the big “Majestic World Tour”. Parts of Europe, Asia and South America are already done. Scandinavia, Russia, US and Canada are up to come. The set list is a good mix of new songs and Gamma Ray classics. It’s a 100 minutes set. We do 3 to 4 songs from the Majestic album. After 8 studio albums it gets harder and harder to choose and to satisfy everyone. We tried our best to make an interesting set.

CR: How did the fans over in South America threat you?
Daniel Zimmermann: Very good, the fans in South and Central America are excellent and everywhere we go we get a warm welcome. The shows are very energetic and the fans push us to the limit every time.

CR: Lets talk a little about Majestic, your latest release, I have been reading lately in many online magazines that it has reached the top 10 and top 20 albums of 2005, are you guys satisfied with the response of the public to your material?
Daniel Zimmermann: Many people like this album and we are satisfied with the response though the promotion was not as good as in 2001. The most important thing for us is that the fans like it.

CR: Many critics have said about Majestic that is some sort of return to your past, powerful and melodic roots, comparing this record with Land of the Free and Somewhere Out In Space, do you think that a comparison like that is fair for you guys? what exactly did you wanted to accomplished with this record?
Daniel Zimmermann: Well, I do not agree. Majestic is darker and more progressive than Somewhere or Land, especially the lyrics. They express our emotions about the shit that is going on in the world nowadays, about the presents of all evil. Some of them are very political.

CR: I heard that you guys had some problems before recording Majestic, something related with the studio where you guys wanted to record it, what happened? Or is it just gossip?
Daniel Zimmermann: Well, we had to leave the place where our studio was right after the production was finished. The bunker was sold and the new owner had different plans with it, so all the bands which were rehearsing or recording there for years had to leave within 3 month. But we soon found a new place with good conditions to built a new studio.

CR: Any ideas in how many copies does Majestic have sell? Does your record company have a certain amount of copies that they want to sell, any goals about the album that they share with you guys?
Daniel Zimmermann: Well, I guess our record company wants to sell as much copies as they can. But so far I don’t know how many copies we sold.

CR: What can you tell us about the album cover, does it have any particular meaning?
Daniel Zimmermann: Evil rules this world

CR: Your web site is very interactive, with rating systems and stuff like that; do you think that something like that helps you guys get closer to your fans?
Daniel Zimmermann: Our homepage is a good platform to communicate effectively with our fans, to get to know what they want, what their taste is about and to get their opinion about our work in general.

CR: If you could (hope you can) resume the career of Gamma Ray in some specific moments that you think were the ones that made the band what it is today, what would they be?
Daniel Zimmermann: It’s all the great songs, the true emotions the band always transfers to the fans with their music live and in studio during all the years. The band was and is always in touch with the fans.

	Pic courtesy of: Gamma Ray "Kai Hansen is a Metal icon, because he was, together with the other original Helloween members the creator of Melodic Speed Metal. I feel that the respect on him is very big in the world’s Metal scene"

CR: Do your albums have specific topics or they are just ideas and inspirations printed on tape?
Daniel Zimmermann: Every Gamma Ray album has his special flair and is full of emotions. It always reflects the mood the band was in at the time they did the album. Some of the albums have a concept behind, for instance “New world order” is based on a book about the illuminati written by Mark Brauneis. The title is “Seven”. Some albums have just a red line, regarding the lyrics and the arrangements, for instance Majestic with progressive arrangements and political lyrics.

CR: How’s the creating and writing of the songs process to you, what do you do, and how do you do it?
Daniel Zimmermann: Well, first everybody makes his ideas listenable to the others, e.g. everybody makes demos. We meet and listen to the songs together. We go to the rehearsing room to work on arrangements. As soon as we are satisfied with the material we start the production.

CR: Do you feel like you are in one of the bands that projects more respect and professionalism in the metal scene, could you say that maybe one day Gamma Ray will be or already is a metal icon? Any specific feelings about it
Daniel Zimmermann: Kai Hansen is a Metal icon, because he was, together with the other original Helloween members the creator of Melodic Speed Metal. I feel that the respect on him is very big in the world’s Metal scene.

CR: Many fans and not really fans but people that listen to metal really respect the fact that Gamma Ray has find a way to grow as a band but maintaining their original heavy or power metal roots intact, how do you guys do it, aren’t you seduced by many of the new “fashions” in music today, like looking cleaner (not saying you look dirty) playing a more easy listening metal, hope you know what I’m talking about, how can you stay true to your selves?
Daniel Zimmermann: The answer is easy. We just do what we want, what we can and what we love to play and we will always do it like this. We take our freedom to give the albums different directions, but in the end it is still Gamma Ray as always.

CR: Gamma Ray has two videos I think for sale, are you guys considering recording a brand new DVD for your fans?
Daniel Zimmermann: The are plans now to record a DVD in Montreal / Canada during the North American tour in May.

CR: How do you see the metal movement these days? Do you think it is growing or just an illusion created by the record companies to sell more?
Daniel Zimmermann: Metal is true and it is alive and it will always be. There will be good and bad days, ups and downs for this kind of music.

CR: Any particular release of 2005 (other than Majestic and The Circle of Life) that you would recommend to our readers, or that you just happened to like?
Daniel Zimmermann: Savage Circus, great album

CR: Any memories from the gig Gamma Ray played here in Costa Rica?
Daniel Zimmermann: Nice country, a good tattoo studio and great fans!

CR: Well, thanks for the time, hope Gamma Ray and Freedom Call keep doing so good, we’ll be listening to every single one of your albums. If you would like to add something else please do.
Daniel Zimmermann: Well, cheerz to you out there. We hope you all like the Majestic album and we will make it to Costa Rica again one day. Please be patient.