Foreigner interview - Kelly Hansen can't slow down

The last time Foreigner played in Britain it was at last summer's High Voltage Festival. Singer Kelly Hansen talks to

about the classic rock band's return to play the LG Arena in Birmingham this Sunday, alongside Journey and Styx.

Hansen has memories good and bad about Foreigner's last visit to Britain.

The group played a blinding set in the blazing sunshine on the Saturday, for many the highlight of the whole weekend.

"We had a really good time and it was beautiful weather," Hansen remembers.

But there was a dark side too.

"I was a little disturbed to see Gary Moore in the state that he was in, with his weight and the heavy drinking," says Hansen, referring to the Irish rocker who died of a suspected heart attack on holiday in Spain in February.

"The last time I'd seen him, when I was in Hurricane, we took him on tour and he was a much different person."

Hansen, who replaced Foreigner's original singer Lou Gramm in 2005, is keen to look forward to the tour with fellow melodic rock heavyweights Journey and Styx.

"I've met the Journey guys a couple of times but I've definitely spent more time with the Styx guys, we've toured with them a couple of times," he says.

"They're all great guys. We've all kind of been around the block. There's not too much ego going on. Everyone's just having a good time and appreciating and enjoying the experience and that's really cool.

"There are a lot of friendships and relationships between all these bands and I think everyone's just going to have a really great time. I think the scheduling is really good, I think the venue choices are really good so I'm just really looking forward to having a good time."

Along with Journey's rising star , as evidenced by the ubiquitous presence of Don't Stop Believin', Foreigner are on the up too, with a back catalogue to die for - Cold As Ice, Juke Box Hero, I Want To Know What Love Is and more - as well as a critically-lauded album in 2009's Can't Slow Down.

"I look at Foreigner as a band that's moving forward with this incarnation of this band, as evidenced by us doing Can't Slow Down," says Hansen.

"These things go in cycles and I don't know what it means for this sort of music as a whole but I know that we've been doing really well and every year it's been getting better and better and more people are hearing about this version of the band. So I feel hopeful in that and I think that there's tons of people that we still haven't played to. I think there's still a long way to go yet."

It was four years after he joined guitarist Mick Jones and the rest of Foreigner before Hansen got into the studio with them to record Can't Slow Down. Was it frustrating waiting all that time to make his mark?

"Oh, not at all," he replies instantly. "We had a lot of work to do and we had to really re-establish the band and let the world know that this line-up was really good. That meant going all over the world and that takes time.

"I think that not making a new album until the time we did was actually serendipitous really. It allowed us to really get to know each other really well, you know, really become a band, to really get tight in that way. Doing it earlier might not have been the best thing.

Hansen never saw Foreigner with Lou Gramm, so I wonder how he approached filling his shoes in the band.

"Fortunately I think I come from a similar bag as far as voices and somewhat tonally and stuff like that," he says.

"So my first thought about how I wanted to approach the songs was, when I go to see a band in concert I want to hear the songs as I learned to love them on the radio.

"I was speaking to Mick and we both had a strong belief that too many people mess up a good song because either they're bored with it or they want to impress people with their ability and they ignore the great melody that's there. And I think that there are a lot of proven melodies in this band.

"I didn't want to imitate anybody but I wanted to do the songs with the great melodies that they have. And we were in total agreement about that and Mick's never put any constraints on me or any requirements as to how I should sing. He just said: 'It's your thing, do it the way you want to do it'. And so having that support I was able to come in and do it my way."

So does Hansen have and favourites among the Foreigner setlist?

"I don't look at things like favourites. I look at things like apples and oranges - each thing I enjoy them for those individual things. And being fortunate enough to be in a band which has so many great songs it's not like I'm waiting for those big two hits at the end of the set.

"So I'm fortunate that all these songs are great and then even though we might be playing different songs each night, the experience of that night changes everything. Indoors or outdoors, large audience or small audience, we might be grooving particularly on one song and maybe a different song another night. It's always a different, fun and challenging thing for me."

Finally, what's next for Foreigner after this tour?

"Well, actually we're in the middle of recording our next kind of 'package' which really includes an acoustic album, with acoustic versions of the songs and a couple of surprises. I don't know what the actual package is going to be in the UK, so I'm hesitant to comment on that. But a DVD and remake of all the classics will obviously be available."

See also - Journey interview – Jonathan Cain looks forward to Birmingham

* Journey, Foreigner and Styx play the LG Arena, Birmingham on Sunday, June 5, 2011. Tickets are £40 plus booking & transaction fees.

Stage times:

Styx - 7pm-7.45pm

Foreigner – 8pm-9pm

Journey – 9.30pm-11pm

Music photography by Ian Harvey / RocktasticPix