Interviews
Daniel Zimmerman of Freedom Call and Gamma Ray.
Interview with: Daniel Zimmerman, drummer for Freedom Call and Gamma Ray.
2004-06-17
A: Hi Daniel, Congrats on the new live album, Live Invasion, please tell me about it!
D: The truth is the album was recorded at 2002 during our tour with Blind Guardian, we recorded in three different cities, and they also recorded the show, so we used their equipment.
A: How many shows did they record?
D: All of them actually, both we and they just chose the best stuff to be on album.
A: What was the reason for putting out a live album?
D: We wanted the people who didn’t know us as a live band to feel and hear the rangy we have live, since Freedom Call live and on the albums is quite a different thing,
A: Why was released just now?
D: Well, there was a bit of a debate between SPV, our label, and Minority, who hold the rights to the songs, and it only got solved a the beginning of 2004, but since we didn’t put out any new material since, the stuff is quite similar to what we do at our current shows.
A: You have some cover songs on the second part of the albums; I was amazed to see that one of them is an Ultravox cover.
D: Yea, Chris, our vocalist, came up with that, he wanted to do the song, and while we worked on it was saw that it clicked, and it’s a good song, and we decided to do it,
A: There's also a cover for Helloween's Dr. Stein, is that from a tribute album or something?
D: It wasn’t released before, SPV decided to keep it for an occasion like this, as a bonus for a live album, and it's one of the Best metal songs ever,
A: It's also out of one of the best metal ALBUMS ever, Keeper II,
D: Yea, it’s a great album,
A: The band is working on a new studio album now?
D: Yea, we're in pre-production, we have something like two more weeks to finish the writing, then some more pre-production, and then we'll go to Kai Hansen's studio to record.
A: Is the album similar to the older ones?
D: It's still Freedom Call, some fast songs, some slower ones, a Ballad, but lyrically it's different, less fantasy oriented, more messages in the lyrics, so it’s probably more intense.
A: There's also a formal keyboardist in the band now.
D: That's right, Nils, he used to appear live with us, and he was with us when we finished the last studio album, he contributed small parts to it, but these time he's really active, wrote one song on the album, I think he does good for the band, and everybody's happy about him being with us.
A: How do you juggle the two bands, Freedom Call and Gamma Ray?
D: Actually its not exactly a problem as of now, the bands know each other, and respect each other, and I just try and do my thing with the two bands separately, sometimes I do both live shows with Gamma and Freedom, but usually Gamma has much more shows than Freedom call, since Freedom is mostly is growing thing.
A: What's going on with Gamma Ray these days?
D: I have three prepared songs for a new album, I write songs and just imagine in my head to which band will they fit, some I offer to Chris, and some to Kai, anyway, Kai usually writes most of the stuff, and the other band members as well, next week I'm supposed to go to Hamburg and meet the guys from Gamma, we'll discuss the new album, we intend on releasing it in early 2005, and then tour during march, April Etc.
A: Freedom Call was conceived while you we're in Gamma Ray?
D: Yea, I was with Gamma by 1997, and Freedom Call got officially together at 1998, but me and Chris go a long way back, years, so we already had songs written by then, we just took everything slowly, and when the time was right decided to release the album.
A: You have an EP called Taragon, released only in France,
D: Yea, it's because we have three labels for different parts of the world, and the one in Europe didn’t want to release it, since they said an EP is less profitable then a complete album , in France there's a different label, so it was released there,
In any case, SPV put it in the new live album, as another bonus, so now everyone can listen to it.
A: What about live shows with the band?
D: Well, we just retuned form the Wacken Road Show, which is something of a promotion show for the Wacken Festival, it was a lot of fun, by Friday we have a show in Slovakia, and later in the summer we have a show in Sweden, but then we take a break until the new album comes out.
A: Right, thanks for your time, Daniel, and have a Good night!
Alon Miasnikov
Related Link(s):
Freedom Call
Gamma Ray
