Ex-MASTERPLAN Singer Says New Lineup Has Good Chance Of Succeeding

Norway's Metal Express Radio recently conducted an interview with former MASTERPLAN/ARK singer Jorn Lande. An excerpt from the chat follows:

Metal Express Radio: Do you think you should get back together with Tore (Tore Østby) and finish the unreleased third [ARK] album?

Jorn: (laughs) Yeah, you never know what's gonna happen. I don't think I'll return with ARK in a band setting. But sometimes just to do a record to kind of complete something that was never fulfilled, it could be possible to do that. I'm open to do that, but I'm not sure I would go on tour with the band again. But just to write and do the record together, that could be possible. That would be a cool thing. But you'd have to talk to the other guys as well. It was always a democratic thing and everyone has to like it.

Metal Express Radio: Did you consider going back to MASTERPLAN now that Uli (Uli Kusch, drummer) left?

Jorn: No, not really. We already had disagreements musically of how to approach the future and how to write the third album. We were good friends, it's just that we couldn't make a compromise on how to do this together. And I was focused on writing the song material in a different way than before. For the first two albums, we had the music composed first and sometimes Uli and Roland [Grapow] would write a lot of stuff and give me the music on tapes. Then I would hear all these musical compositions and I would start creating melodies and lyrics that would fit the music. But, I wanted to change that because I felt that this wasn't really natural for me as a singer. Some great songs came out of it and great productions, but some of the songs were really natural for me. Of course, there were some songs where it blended really well and it became magical, but all in all it was important to me to get the music built up more around my vocals. Also, to sit down together with Roland and write good songs based on guitars and vocal melodies. To build everything from the opposite way and try to make more straightforward songs. I didn't like the fact that we were to continue making intricate, symphonic, big arrangements all the time. I wanted just to have real rock 'n' roll in the band. I'm open for everything, I'm not hard to work with, it's just that I prefer the more "to-the-point" songs. I also noticed when we are on stage that we never had the chance to really play as a band. We couldn't really play much around, because we had all these keyboard things going on, we had these samplers on that added to the music and all these things don't appeal to me that much anymore. I want to just to go out on stage and have bass, drums, and guitars and have a really rocking show and play good songs with heart and feeling. I want to feel confident on stage and in control. I just felt lately that it became a struggle for me more than a good vibe. But as I said, I'm not hard to deal with, I just wanted a compromise there. Of course, MASTERPLAN will always be MASTERPLAN and Uli would always play complex drums and Roland would always play his style.

Metal Express Radio: Do you think they'll succeed with the new singer and drummer?

Jorn: I think they have a good band now. Mike DiMeo is a really good singer and Mike Terrana is a great drummer. We all go through different lineups in our bands, it's just about how interesting you can make it for the market. I've heard a couple of tracks from the forthcoming album and they were good songs. It's difficult to say. I wish them all the best and I hope everyone gets what they deserve and enjoys success. I really hope that they'll succeed with the new lineup and I'm sure they will, because they already have a good tour with SAXON coming up. It's a long tour. During this one tour, they will probably play more than I would play in two years. (Laughs)

Read the entire interview at www.metalexpressradio.com.