Harris Bakopoulos from Greece's Rockpages.gr webzine recently conducted an interview with HELLOWEEN vocalist Andi Deris (pictured) during the band's promotional tour for their new album, Gambling With The Devil.

During their chat, Kai Hansen's name came up. Kai played guitar in Helloween on the self-titled debut EP and first four albums: Walls Of Jericho, Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I and II, Live In The UK. After leaving Helloween, Hansen formed GAMMA RAY, who just happen to be hitting the road with Helloween for four months from November '07 to February '08.

Rockpages.gr: The relationship of the band with Kai Hansen seems very healthy nowadays. Helloween has a great and strong lineup which makes clear that there’s no need for a reunion. On the other hand, the fact that Helloween and Gamma Ray are touring together makes some people wonder if the next step is that Kai will return in the band and Helloween continues as a six-member band like IRON MAIDEN did for example. Has this ever crossed your mind and would it ever be possible?

Andi Deris: "First of all, our relationship with Kai Hansen was always healthy. It’s just that now we have the chance to show it to the public. Our rehearsal rooms in Hamburg Germany) are like 15 meters from each other, they even made photos of them and still the fans did not believe it. Now, as far as Kai Hansen returning or not... there’s always room for speculations. Personally, I would say that it will not happen simply because Kai left the band because of too much stress. And I can imagine that Kai will be completely fucked up and stressed out after this tour because he’s playing on nearly every show of the Helloween world tour, so I already know that he will be nearly 'destroyed' after the tour. It’s too much for him, I know that he doesn’t like touring. One of the main reasons for his decision to leave Helloween was too much stress. So, I don’t see him coming back to Helloween in these days when there’s even more stress than during the '80s. Nowadays the world tour is much longer. So, I cannot imagine that this will happen, maybe only as a guest musician and with guest appearances and not as a constant member of a band who’s traveling all around the world again. I know him a little bit..."

To read the entire interview, click here.