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Interviews

Interview For Www.Masterplan.Tk Site

What did you think about the European tour with Hammerfall?
It was really nice to be back on the road and to have a chance to play in front of so many Hammerfall fans, we had a great tour and success!

What about Swedish fans, are they ok?
They are the greatest, I love to play in Sweden... What a question, haha. It was always nice to play in Sweden, but this time it felt very special to me. It was a very warm welcome, when we entered the stage!

Can you tell us a little about Masterplan? How is the atmosphere in the band? Do you get along?
It is like a dream band to me, not like the years before in Helloween... Hehe, it is so nice to respect the guys in your own and we have a lot of fun on the backstage... I guess this is what people can feel, when they see us playing! We are a great team.

Has the record sales been like you expected?
We didn't expect so much, honestly, but for a debut album we really sold a lot. I mean, we entered the swedish and german charts pretty high and in Japan we even reached number one in the rock charts. We really are more than happy.

What are your relations to Michael Weikath or Andi Deris?
There is no relation at all! No contact... No hare or stress, but no friendship anymore!

Most of us have seen the extra material that came with the limited edition of Masterplan, but for those who haven't, what happened with Helloween? Was it like a big fight?
No fight at all... We, Uli and I, were fired via e-mail, for reasons which nobody really knows. But in the end it was good that it happened. We are much more lucky and satisfied now. It seems our career has just started. All the years before were just a learning process. It was a good school.

What's your greatest memory with Helloween?
Many, but touring was the best for me, and to play with Michael Kiske long time ago. He was a God on stage. I was very proud of playing next to him. But also in the studio I loved to work with Michael Wagner, Roy Z and Tommy Hansen! I learned a lot from them.

Jorn Lande, how do you know him? When did you meet him?
I heard with Uli the Ark album on "The Dark Ride" tour... After the Helloween split, we also heard Jorn's solo album, "Worldchanger". After listening to that, I was pretty sure this would be our man. I just called him after trying to get in touch with him for a month. We invited him to come to Hamburg and to check out our songs, and he loved it, and that's it!

Many of the Swedish fans have said that you guys are the greatest of german metal for a long time. What is your own opinion about that?
I hope the fans just feel the same that we do, we feel that we have created something special here, and I guess our band has a really big potential for the future!

I'm sure that all who have heard the album has noticed that Michael Kiske does the second vocals on "Heroes". Can we expect more from him in Masterplan?
No, I don't think so, it was a statement just for the first album. Next time we'll have different ideas, not repeating us again.

Who does the background vocals?
Everything is Jorn!

What are you guys doing until the Sweden Rock?
We are still planning some more festivals and we already have offers to play more gigs in Russia, Japan and hopefully South American soon. We are also starting to write songs now for the next album.

Which track do you like most and which is most interesting to play?
IK love "Soulburn" the most for playing and listening. Not so complicated, but there's a lot of fun and feeling in playing it.

Can you give us a hint of the tracklist for Sweden Rock?
I guess it will be pretty similar to the gigs we did with Hammerfall. I mean, we just have one album out now! We will also play in Pitea in the north of Sweden, see the tourdates!

What does the songwriting progress look like?
Everybody writes separated first and collects all the ideas, and after a couple of months we meet and also write some songs together, or ideas to also get a band feeling, and overview the material. After this is the arrangement process, which is the most important part for Masterplan. Last time we took four weeks to arrange the songs.

Are you planing any DVD release?
We don't know yet! We filmed a lot of backstage and promotion stuff. We also filmed the whole show in Gothenburg, Malmo and Oslo. We will decide later, maybe do some festival filming as well. But we will use it, that is for sure.

How much free time do you have right know? And what do you do with it?
I really don't have free time, I still do the business for Masterplan, we don't have a management, I take care of the business! All the managements we had before were really bad for us! But in my little spare time I go out with my dogs and go to my own rock club in Hamburg, called Headbanger's Ballroom.

Which is you favorite guitar label?
Gibson, Les Paul custom and Flying V. Fender Stratocaster not so much anymore... Just in the studio for some overdubs!

How long are you staying in Sweden when you're playing at Sweden rock?
I guess two nights! Arrival day, gig day and departure day.

Finally, when can we expect a new album from Masterplan?
Early? April or May, next year! Maybe later. We will take our time. Before it is not perfect, we won't be releasing it! Haha.

Thanks a million, Roland! Keep it up.
Thanks and see you soon. Yours, Roland.

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