MASTERPLAN's ROLAND GRAPOW On A.I.-Created Music: 'There's Nothing Fresh, There's Nothing New'

In a new interview with Brazil's Rock Mania, former HELLOWEEN and current MASTERPLAN guitarist Roland Grapow weighed in on a debate about people using an A.I. (artificial intelligence) music generator as a tool to create melodies, harmonies and rhymes based on artificial intelligence (A.I.) algorithms and machine learning (M.L.) models. Roland said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm very late with this kind of stuff. I heard many things from other people, and my bandmembers talked about it, that other bands are using it. And I tried one day, for free, because you have to pay if you make it professional, I think…. I'm not really good in this; I try to make it old school. But on the other side, of course, I use ChatGPT or whatever for writing my kind of text to make better German writing when I write to professional people. It's helping in a way.

"There's a music program — not a program; it's called a plugin in the business music business. And I use it for making — you sing in your own voice and you can change your voice with a different singer, person, sound," he explained. "And I think this was interesting for make my own demo tapes, and I'm adding some other guy that is quite interesting. But I'm not doing this for the album. I want that my voice is there or the singers I will work with, or Rick [Altzi, MASTERPLAN singer].

"But I'm very late with all this stuff," Roland repeated. "I'm not the first guy checking everything. When I have time, I will try, but I don't think it's so important. What I don't like is some people are really using it and putting their name on [it] say, 'We wrote the song.' And it's not even allowed. [Germany’s performance rights organization] GEMA, the German [company responsible for] kind of collecting all the royalties and stuff, they're asking you, 'Is this song written it by [A.I.] or something?' It's not allowed. Because these [A.I.] programs are using ideas worldwide from famous people, melding it together — that's what I think — and something was used already. There's nothing fresh, there's nothing new. But sometime people are sending me songs and say, 'I wrote a song,' and it's [A.I.].' I hear it, and I see it. They even [aren't] shy to show me the video, which is on an [A.I.] program. And I said, 'Why are you sending it? You didn't write the song.' That means even non-musicians can write songs now. It's funny. They just say something like, 'Write a song in a genre or in the style of this band' or whatever, my hero, and then it sounds very close, pretty good. That's what I heard. But I'm not doing this. I hate this. For me it's like a bad kind of art, because I want to say something with my feelings. And when I write it — I play now every day guitar again, and I have so much fun. And I'm even better than I think I was 20 years ago. And I found different techniques and I'm very motivated. And I want to show it. I don't want to use some computer to tell me what to learn."

MASTERPLAN will release its new studio album, "Metalmorphosis", on June 26, 2026 via Frontiers Music Srl.

MASTERPLAN stands among the most enduring and influential names in German power metal. Founded in 2001 by Grapow and drummer Uli Kusch following their exit from HELLOWEEN, the band quickly established a distinctive identity built on strong melodies, technical precision and an epic-yet-modern metal approach.

MASTERPLAN's self-titled debut album, released in 2003, was met with widespread critical acclaim and immediate chart success, setting the standard for a career defined by consistency and evolution.

Over the years, MASTERPLAN has released several highly regarded albums — including "Aeronautics", "MK II", "Time To Be King" and "Novum Initium" — each showcasing refined songwriting and a powerful balance between classic power metal energy and progressive elements. Their work earned them international recognition, extensive touring across Europe and beyond, and industry accolades that confirmed their status as a leading force in the genre.

In 2017, MASTERPLAN released an album titled "PumpKings", containing reworked versions of HELLOWEEN songs from albums that Grapow played on during his time in the legendary German power metal band. Included are three songs from HELLOWEEN's "Pink Bupples Go Ape" (1991) LP, two from "Chameleon" (1993),three from "Master Of The Rings" (1994),one from "The Time Of The Oath" and two from "The Dark Ride" (2000).

MASTERPLAN's first-ever concert release came out in October 2015. "Keep Your Dream aLive" was made available as DVD/CD and Blu-ray/CD sets, both including the entire show from Masters Of Rock festival, recordings from Wacken Open Air, footage from the band's Asian tour and ProgPower USA, as well as all five official MASTERPLAN video clips. The Masters Of Rock show is featured on the CD.

MASTERPLAN's latest studio album of all original material, "Novum Initium", was released in June 2013 via AFM.

A new MASTERPLAN single, "Rise Again" was made available in early 2024 via AFM Records. A reworked version of "Rise Again" will be made available on "Metalmorphosis".

MASTERPLAN is gearing up for a European tour, starting on April 12.

Photo credit: Patric Ullaeus