MASTERPLAN Guitarist Says 'Everyone Loves' Band's New Album

Adam Harrold of Rock Something recently conducted an interview with MASTERPLAN guitarist Roland Grapow. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

On the departure of vocalist Jorn Lande:

"Of course I was a little bit insecure at first and I have to admit that I was frightened about how things would go, but Mike DiMeo [Lande's replacement] is very easy to work with and he has a great voice. Jorn left because of musical differences, he felt the songwriting wasn't in his style and that the songs were making him sing too high, or whatever. . . He wanted to do more basic rock material — like his solo work. He has to look after himself and he thought that in 10 or 20 years time he wouldn't be able to sing them any more. Jorn's a great singer and it was really hard because there was no solution as we liked the MASTERPLAN style. So Jorn left and I was sad about that, but we remain good friends which is really nice."

On the acrimonious split with drummer Uli Kusch:

"The situation with Uli left me feeling alone. Uli started fighting about business and not music until it got to a stage where I just didn't want to work with him anymore. There's still a bad feeling, but he was being destructive so it had to be done."

On new drummer Mike Terrana:

"The drumming is more basic than before. We have a rock drummer who isn't trying to be too tricky or elaborate. His style gives space to the music, he's more of a Cozy Powell- or John Bonham-style drummer."

On MASTERPLAN's new album, "Mk II":

"Yeah, I've done many great interviews so far and everyone's really enthusiastic about the new album. Everyone loves it. I must have done seventy or eighty interviews and nobody has had a bad word to say about it, but I'm not surprised because everyone was so positive and creative when we were recording. I love the record, I play it all the time, especially when I'm in the car — I just love it."

Read the entire interview at www.rocksomething.com.