Andi Deris

Andi Deris
Andi Deris, lead vocalist of Helloween
Background information
Birth name	Andreas Deris
Born	August 18, 1964 (1964-08-18) (age 45) Karlsruhe, Germany
Genres	Power metal, Heavy metal, Speed metal, Hard rock
Years active	1979–present
Labels	SPV
Associated acts	Pink Cream 69, Helloween

Andreas "Andi" Deris (born August 18, 1964 in Karlsruhe, Germany) is the vocalist and main songwriter for power metal band Helloween, has an active solo career, as well as his own recording studio in Tenerife.

Biography

First bands (1979 - 1987)

Andi started to sing in his first band called Paranoid when he was 15. Two years later they changed the band's name to Nameless. In Nameless Deris stayed along with his school friend, drummer Ralf Maurer, who also played on both Andi's solo albums. Later, approximately at the age of 19, they created a band called Kymera, with which he made an album. However, Ralf went to the college and had no time for the band. The place on drums was taken by Kosta Zaphiriou.

Andi was soon thereafter hired for the recording sessions for "No Mercy", a band-project based in Appenweier/Offenburg - South Germany, founded by three locals: Bobby Benz (Bass), Rüdiger Föll (Drums), Uwe Ulm (Lead Guitar). He also played two gigs with No Mercy. On the second and last gig Pink Cream 69 played as a support band for No Mercy; on that evening Andi was the lead singer for both bands and hit the stage twice, opening with the very first line up of Pink Cream 69.

Pink Cream 69 (1987-1993)

In 1987, when Andi was 22, Pink Cream 69 was officially formed, with the original lineup of Dennis Ward, Kosta Zaphiriou, Alfred Koffler and Andi Deris. They became popular enough to get some deals from different record companies. They chose to sign the contract to CBS (now known as Sony Music). Pink Cream toured in Europe, America and Japan and recorded 3 albums with Andi Deris on vocal duties.

Helloween and solo career (1993-present)

In 1993 Helloween had suffered lineup changes. Deris replaced fired vocalist Michael Kiske, and ex-Gamma Ray drummer Uli Kusch replaced Ingo Schwichtenberg on drums. Helloween recorded Master of the Rings with their new lineup which revived the band; after the unsuccessful Chameleon. Deris immediately started taking responsibility in songwriting, which resulted in some classic tunes like Sole Survivor, Where The Rain Grows, and In The Middle Of A Heartbeat. The Time of the Oath in 1996 had further lifted up the sales, which concluded with a big world tour and a concert DVD along with double-CD live album, High Live, set from 3 concerts in Spain and Italy. While the band took a big break, Andi went on to recording his first solo album Come in from the Rain. Andreas has left the traditional Helloween sound to experiment with new styles. Andi Deris sang and played guitar, other members include: Peter Idera (guitar), Ralph Maison (drums and back-vocals) and Gisbert Royder (bass).

In 1998, Helloween recorded a very heavy album Better Than Raw, when Andi used some new vocal techniques, from fast paced high-pitched screaming in Push and Revelation (that was later used in The Dark Ride's "Deliver Us From Temptation", "Escalation 666" and "Mr. Torture") to deep, low vocals on A Handful of Pain and Time. Andi commented in an interview, that the best thing in making album was resting after the sessions at the beach, as he always, from the start of "Pink Cream 69" wanted to record the album on "Bahamas, somewhere". He did it on the Canary Islands (Spain), where he currently lives (in Tenerife, where also Helloween guitarist Michael Weikath resides).

1999 came by and Helloween released a cover album Metal Jukebox, and Andi's second solo album, Done by Mirrors was released in Japan... Although in the other parts of the world it had to be released only in 2000 due to record company conflicts. Don Pupillo took the place as lead guitarist this time, although Andi also played some guitar parts. The Dark Ride appeared with Andi using even more different vocal styles, notice his open shouting in "Immortal", frequently used in some tracks screaming and growls in "Mirror, Mirror". As to all this is complemented with his near-operatic singing, used in most songs, most notably the title one. The world tour also came up.

After the "Dark Ride" Helloween fired Roland Grapow & Uli Kusch in an e mail. Album Rabbit Don't Come Easy following the band's first tour in the U.S. since 1989 came by. And in the stylistic questions there was taken a step back - all the downtuning and the dark themes were gone in favor of more "happy" style, as Deris said in the interview, while on vocal side, the vocals are someplace more complicated, than were before... In "Liar" he is almost growling, in "Don't Stop Being Crazy"'s low-pitched parts he is slow and heavy. In other songs the operatic, although "happy-metalish" style is preferred nearly everywhere, with exception of "Listen to the Flies" and "Back against the wall", which are "dark".

In 2005, Keeper the Legacy was released, with Andi on the peak of his vocal abilities. First single and video was Deris's song "Mrs. God". First time in Helloween history there was a duet, with Blackmore's Night Candice Night, the song titled "Light the Universe". It was the second single and the second video for the album. A live double DVD video with documentary and live double CD was released in February 2007.

Singing style

Compared to his predecessor, Deris had a more restrained style of singing, not focusing on power and hitting high notes. His replacement of Kiske attracted some criticism, but generally fans have had a positive reception to Deris' differing style which in some areas resembles that of Kai Hansen and Biff Byford.

Guest appearances

He provided lead vocals for the song "To The Quasar", from Ayreon's 2000 album Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator.

He also appears in the Rage album, Soundchaser, in the song "Wake the nightmares".

Discography

With Pink Cream 69

• Pink Cream 69 (1989)
• One Size Fits All (1991)
• Games People Play (1993)

With Helloween

• Master of the Rings (1994)
• The Time Of The Oath (1996)
• Better Than Raw (1998)
• Metal Jukebox (1999)
• The Dark Ride (2000)
• Rabbit Don't Come Easy (2003)
• Keeper Of The Seven Keys - The Legacy (2005)
• Gambling with the Devil (2007)

Solo albums

• Come in from the Rain (1997)
• Done by Mirrors (1999)

Solo singles

• "1000 Years Away" (1997)
• "Good Bye Jenny" (1997)

See also

List of Ayreon guest musicians

External links

• Andreas Deris MySpace page
• Tribute to Andi Deris MySpace page