HELLOWEEN - The Hellride Is Over... Page 3
By Martin Popoff

Another non-band personality involved in the making of the album was Motorhead wiseacre Mikkey Dee, who was parachuted in to replace the ailing Mark Cross. I asked Weiki if Dee's famous sense of humour (topped only by that of bandmate and Welsh nutter Phil Campbell!) surfaced during the sessions.

"Oh, well, the most we laughed was actually when he mentioned a band he called Couchful Of Cacas. And we don't know who is the original band and what's the right name (laughs), but on the other hand we don't want to convey that right here. But there must have been a reason why he came up with that idea. And actually he told us too many excerpts and really funny stories, because he's an entertainer. You probably know him, by person. So I mean, when he wants to take a break from the drumming he goes out and in order to catch some breath, he tells stories. But what I like about him, is that he's always pretty serious about things and he's 100% honest. And I think if more people in this business were like Mikkey Dee is, there wouldn't be as many rumours. I always try to be the straight way as well and it always gives me a lot of trouble because people are always trying to throw a lot of shit at me. But I just try to be honest; that's all I do. So Mikkey, he possibly knows. If you make up stories and you're not being direct and honest, and you circumvent things by being more of a neutral guy, you get in a lot more trouble. You have to eat a lot more shit because later on you can't remember the wrong story you made up!"

Tentative plans are in place for the 'weenies to make it to our shores and in fact, many shores. "Yep. We're going to do some South American shows and then we go to Mexico and then we're going to be in the states for eight to 10 shows, depending on the local promoters, whether they think it's worth us being in their town or not. I hope this SARS thing doesn't spread too much. And look what's happening right now. We're going to do a full-scale Asian tour, as headliners. We want to go to Hong Kong, Shanghai, everything. And look what's happening right now! It's Rabbit Don't Come Easy, I tell you."

Finally, with so much power metal out there, I asked Weikath what he thinks distinguishes Helloween from the also-rans, other than the fact that the 'weenies are in fact, the godfathers of it all... to a point, as Weiki is quick to clarify.

HELLOWEEN - The Hellride Is Over... Page 4