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Interviews

Interview For Whiplash Site (07/28/03)
By Rodrigo Vinhas
Translated By Marcelo Hashimoto

Why did you and Uli Kusch left Helloween?
Because Weiki fired us. We never wanted to leave the band. But in the end it was a good decision, because now we have Masterplan and we are very satisfied and happy.

when did you decide to form another band, together?
Right after we left Helloween, we slowly decided to form a new band. It took six months for us to have the final line-up.

Who suggested the name Masterplan?
A fan from Mexico. There was a poll for choosing the name on my brazilian homepage and Masterplan was the coolest choice. This fan wrote to us: "Why don't you pick that name? You are master musicians and you have the future in your hands.".

How did you select the new members?
We wanted to have the best ones and the nicer ones on our line-up. We chose Jorn because he is unique and is also the best singer I have ever heard. We didn't want another copy of Michael Kiske.

How was the songwriting process?
Half of the material was written when I still was a Helloween member. After the split we wrote another seven songs, all written by uli and me. Jorn was writing sixty percent of the vocal melodies and the lyrics. I wrote the other forty percent of the lyrics and vocal melodies.

The songs "Crystal Night" and "Enlighten Me" are my favorites. They are good quality heavy metal, with awesome riffs and great vocal lines. Could you tell me if you have any favorite songs on this album?
I love those two songs too. Actually, I love the whole album, so it's very hard to pick a song, but "Soulburn" is one of my favorites. It all depends on my mood. Usually I prefer the more faster songs like "Spirit Never Die" or "Crawling From Hell".

Besides the mentioned songs, I can't leave "Soulburn" behind. It has an unique atmosphere. How it was written?
"Soulburn" is the perfect song, which has emotion, tension and feeling. It also has a little bit of progressive. This song shows the perfect team work we did, which came from Uli, Jorn and me!

How do you feel about having recorded such a great duet with the presence of Michael Kiske and Jorn Lande on the song "Heroes"?
It was a very good feeling listening to those great singers on a song together. Michael Kiske is still one of the best singers. I wrote that melody specially for him.

Why did you choose the "Crazy Cat" studio in Hamburg?
Because it's my studio. It's the state of art and we are very happy with the final sounding, and in the end we saved a lot of money... There were days that I spent testing something special in sound or performance. That would only be possible on our own studio.

How was working with Andy Sneap? Did he have a big influence on the final work?
Andy is wonderful. You listen to his influence on the guitar sound and on the very well done production. It was very fun working with him.

Influences like Whitesnake and Rainbow are very noticeable on your sound in my opinion. Do you have another influence besides metal or rock. How would you define Masterplan's sound?
We mixed our roots and influences and also experiences from Masterplan itself. No one is controlling or telling what we should do. We are our own producers. That's what you can hear. We try to have a open mind for modern elements and arrangements. We try to satisfy our own taste, which is not easy, you can be sure of that [Laughs]!

The Rock Brigade / Laser Company label released the first CD here in Brazil. What are the expectations from the band about the brazilian market?
We expect a very good response. So that we'll have a good reason to come back and do a lot of concerts in Brazil. Uli and I are very excited about playing in Brazil and showing Jan, Axel and Jorn how cool South America is, specially Brazil.

Where is the biggest market for the band?
Right now, on Germany, Sweden and Japan.

Do you have plans for including Brazil in some tour?
We need to check how are the sales doing in Brazil. Like I've said, I really hope so.

Leave a message for the fans.
Hope to see you soon, don't forget us! Never give up, never give in!

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