M-E: Yeah, it’s such a great song! I don’t know if you listened to that amazing cover done by Pellek, but it’s really great
R: Yeah, I know that guy!

M-E: I was wondering, aren’t the first albums covers of Masterplan quite pessimistic? I’m talking about the albums “Masterplan “ and “Aeronautics”. What do these choices really mean?
R: Oh, Basically it meant the four elements, you know, fire , water, earth , wind . we started with the Earth in the first album, and we continued with the air in the “Aeronautics” album, and I added something drastic, as a metal guy , you know.. and then after, these two albums, we wanted to continue with water, but Jorn left the band at that time, so we lost it, somehow, and it didn’t make sense to continue

M-E: Oh, just because the line-up changed
R: Yeah, the line-up changed , the idea was gone, and we had MK II , and then Jorn came back and we did “Time to be King” , and now we have a different kind of idea , so I don’t think it’s a good idea now to continue with that idea we used for the first two albums. Bur definitely with want something drastic , powerful looking. But even though our albums covers don’t have such a positive attitude, our lyrics always have something positive.

M-E: Yeah, right. Now talking about “Aeronautics” , there’s the song “Into the Arena” . Was that kind of a tribute to Michael Schenker ?
R: Uhm, basically, I was working with Roy Z again in L.A , and he told me : “You know what, you should do a really metal version of and old classic, scorpions style song . I forgot the title of the song, but it was something similar to “Rock you like a Hurricane” , I don’t know.. some big hit. And then when Jorn wrote the lyrics for it, he chose the title “Into the Arena” , it was a coincidence, he didn’t think about Scorpions, Michael Schenker or whatever.

M-E: So he didn’t know both had the same title?
R: No , he doesn’t even know Michael Schenker so Well (Laughs) , And that was cool because I was inspired by the Scorpions , but Michael Schenker wasn’t on the record, there was Matthias Jabs playing. So anyway yeah, Jorn got the idea for the title , and I loved the title because of course, I know the song “Into the Arena” by Michael Schenker and I really like it

M-E: Yeah and its Final Solo reminds you of another song, right?
R : Yes ! (Laughs)

M-E: I have to ask Kai Hansen about it.. anyway, tell me more about your collaboration with tribuzy .
R: Tribuzy, yeah! Well it was fun, I think I played one or two solos in their album. I know Renato (Tribuzy) since, I don’t remember how long. But it was in the 90s, during a Helloween Tour. I met him in Brazil and he gave me a CD. He was a cool singer, but I thought it was too much that kind of Kiske singing style.

M-E: Yeah, right, and there was Dickinson singing with them as well, right?
R: Yeah, later, he started this project and Dickinson joined them. So I said : ”What! Bruce Dickinson Is singing with them? Of course I’m joining them!”

M-E : You said that to yourself?
R: Yeah, he asked me if I wanted to join them and I said : Of course

M-E : And were you in contact with Bruce at that time?
R: no not really, I was in Helloween and we were touring with him . He was very nice and everthing, but always keeping distance. He wasn’t communicating with us that much.

M-E: okay.. and during the early 2000s , there was the Avantasia project. Were you asked to join them? Because I guess you know well Tobias.
R: To be honest, Tobias is a good friend of mine . He contacted me, when we were preparing the first Masterplan album , to get in contact with Michael Kiske. So I gave him Michael’s phone number and told him to be carful and everything. But Michael was cool with him .. yeah so since then we are good friends. And I talked to him maybe one month ago , because I told him about Jorn and the problems we had with him , and that we needed to find a new singer . And he gave me his opinion .. anyway I told him three times : “Please ask me to join the next avantasia album as a guitarist, or even singer” (Laughs) But he never asked me, I don’t know why. I would love to join them, I really love Avantasia

M-E: Yeah they’re really great. And the fact that they created a whole story behind it, makes it even more awesome
R: Yeah, true

M-E : ok, now, who’s the best musician you’ve worked with, during your whole carrier ?
R: the best musician ? for the moment I would say Martin as a drummer, Jari as a bass player.. it’s just incredible, I was really surprised when I saw how good they are.. Jorn is also incredible, everything he delivered is just perfect. But I worked with so many good musicians , you know, like Uli Kusch , Axel as a keyboard player. And I even had very unknown , but so talented musicians from Slovakia ,who play like Paul Gilbert.

M-E: Paul Gilbert, such an awesome guy!
R: yeah, he’s just amazing!

M-E: And is there any musician you’d love to work with?
R : I think there are many great musicians.. I met Paul Gilbert in Vienna last year, when Mr.Big were playing there . I love him as a player, but I really love him more as a person

M-E: Yeah, he’s really decent
R: yeah, he’s such a nice guy, I love to hang out with these kind of persons, rather than with other proud musicians.. Ritchie Blackmore would be one of them as well, by the way! I would love to hang out with him.

M-E : you mean as a person he’s good? I mean he’s nice but difficult sometimes
R: Yeah, he’s difficult I know, but I just heard and interview of him , with his wife, and he was so lovely, so relaxed !

M-E: Maybe he was drunk
R: No! Ritchie Blackmore is never drunk! (Laughs)

M-E: Yeah, I know , I love him (Laughs)
R: He’s really enjoying his life now.

M-E: Yeah , but him and his wife are recently being bad mouthed now, you know.. some people are critizing his wife now, saying she kind of changed his musical style.
R: I think he’s so strong and powerful.. He’d never change his style because of his wife.. He was just tired, you know. He was travelling so many years. He wants to have a family and the music he loves..Classical music from the 16th century , whatever it is, and he’s happy with it. Of course as a Rainbow and Deep Purple fan, I’d love to see him rocking again, I’m really missing him on the electric guitar, on the Fender , you know.

M-E: yeah but it depends, I mean, there are people who are huge Renaissance and classical music fans and who really love what he’s doing now.
R: You know,

I like it as well, and also when his wife sings, she’s pretty good, but the main thing is that he’s happy, or they’re both happy , and we have to understand that the Rock stuff are over now. I mean, we can be happy he’s still alive

M-E: Yeah, that’s exactly what I think
R: If he would be dead, then we would’ve been one of the biggest legends. I’m Happy he’s still alive, and I’m still hoping to meet him once, you know.

M-E : Or play with him live, maybe
R: Oh , that would be Fuckin’ awesome! But no, I’m not a dreamer (Laughs)

M-E: I can call him right now if you want
R: (Laughs) Definitely I’m a big fan, and I respect him a lot.

M-E: you produced Eagleheart’s album, right?
R: Yeah, during the beginning of last year.

M-E : are you a fan of the bands you work with?
R: well, basically, I work with any band that contacts me. I come from that Rock-metal-Blues scene, so I’m open minded. I love Blues as well

M-E: Yeah, I noticed . I think I once saw a picture of Michael Kiske and you together with BB king
R: Yeah, with Michael and BB king . I’m really happy , I have this picture in my studio. So yeah, like I said, I like many genres , not so much reggae and Jazz but It doesn’t matter. And some of the bands that come to my studio are very trash metal, it’s not really my style, but I have a strong passion for drumming , so it doesn’t matter if the singer is growling , screaming or whatever. I try to make them sound good, and adding a positive feeling as well.

M-E: Okay, now another question. Have you ever thought about playing ,on a live show with Masterplan, old Helloween songs you wrote, such as The chance, the dark ride ?
R: It’s strange you know, there are not many fans who usually ask for these Helloween songs. But I’m really happy about it, I mean, if you see Unisonic for example, and all this career of Kai Hansen, you can notice he always has to play “I Want out” and “Future world” .

M-E: Yeah, I think that’s because Gamma Ray fans et Helloween fans are almost the same, but fans of Masterplan are a bit different. No?
R: Yes, maybe that’s why. I’m really happy because our fans are more open minded . In the beginning I was scared, and I said to Jorn : Let’s play a couple of Helloween songs, and he said: No, no no no. We did a little medley in the beginning but then we stopped it and no one was asking for that anymore. But I still love these stuff! I mean, The dark ride , escalation 666, and time of..time on the..of the oath? What was it called? (Laughs)

M-E: Time of the Oath, yeah!
R: I already forgot the names (Laughs).

And of course, the first song I wrote with Helloween, “The chance” , as well as “Mankind” and many more like “Still we go”

M-E: And in the “Chameleon” Album, you wrote many great stuff , there were great compositions out there but the fans didn’t like the album and I still don’t understand them
R : Yeah, it’s maybe a bit too far, but really love it, I love every work I did with Helloween, and at time , every member of the band liked it.. but for example, ‘’The Dark ride’’, all the members loved it except Michael Weikath, then he was blaming me, but come on, it’s not my fault if the style changed!

M-E : yeah, but it was a very important album
R: yeah, to be honest, leaving after “The dark ride” was one of the biggest highlights

M-E: Yeah, I wanted to ask you that question, do you consider that part of your life as positive or negative?
R: I think it was both. First, I hated the situation and I didn’t even understand why, but I found out after..i don’t want to give details about it, but after one month I said : Fuck it, we have to continue. And some of the first lyrics with Masterplan were about Helloween, they were a bit negative, like you said, but it didn’t mean we hated Helloween, kind of : I hate you! Or whatever, but there were positive lyrics, specially in songs I wrote like : Kind hearted light, and there’s another one..oh, Heroes! (Laughs)

M-E : (Laughs) that’s crazy, because you forget titles of the most famous songs you wrote
R: Yeah, that’s funny, I’m not analyzing myself.. the only negative lyrics I wrote, were those of “Crystal night” , because It’s about German neo Nazis..it has nothing to do with Helloween. But I’m really happy and thankful about my past with Helloween, specially with Weiki, because he brought me to the band

M-E: Yeah of course. And are you still in contact with some of the members of the band ?
R: Oh no, not at all. Well to be honest I tried one or two months ago to contact Andi Deris. I had his email address again and his phone number, but he didn’t pick up and didn’t answer me.

M-E : Oh okay ..
R: It’s really sad you know, because I don’t have bad feelings, and I don’t know what I did to him because we never had fights. Weiki was the main reason why I was thrown out of the band, but I never said he’s an asshole or anything like that. I still like him you know. He’s the guy who brought me to music, I mean what can I say ? I’m Happy about it.

M-E : Yeah, it’s a bit confusing. You should be thankful , and mad at the same time , about the decision he made.
R: Yeah, but I think it’s a pain in the ass for them to kick out two of the members who’d later create Masterplan, which became a successful band .

M-E : Yeah, Probably, but I don’t know about their feelings at that time, I wasn’t there
R: yeah, true.

M-E : Okay, and I heard you said in an interview that if Helloween followed the same direction as ‘’Keeper of the Seven Keys’’ they would be as big as Metallica.. I think I read that.
R: Yeah , When I came to the band, they changed their style with Pink Bubbles Go Ape..

M-E: Because Kai left the band I guess
R: .. Yeah, Kai Hansen left the band. so anyway, I was the new guy and I tried to follow their steps , and I wrote the Chance, and Mankind, and I think Back for my life was the third song, I don’t even remember (Laughs) . and I’ve been told : ‘’ You’re the new guy, and the only one who writes Metal songs, What’s wrong with the Band ? ‘’ you know ? because at that time, they started to do a couple of Chameleon songs. And then, on the Chameleon album, I agreed and said : ‘’ Ok, let’s make a Pop-Rock , or whatever you want, Album .’’ so anyway, that was the problem. If they continued with the Keeper style, they would’ve been as big as Metallica or Maiden.

M-E : Ok , and did you hear their new EP , Burning Sun?
R: The new one ?

M-E : Yeah

>
R: Oh I didn’t hear it , sorry

M-E : Oh okay, you should hear it then
R: Is it good ? (Laughs)

M-E : Yeah, I mean it’s a little bit like ‘’Better than Raw’’ . Some people say it’s the continuation of that album
R: Oh , ok! So is it a little bit trashy, with Screaming vocals ?

M-E: Yeah, there’s the song ‘’Burning sun’’ which has a lot of this high pitched screaming vocals (Sings the beginning of the chorus)
R: Oh ok, I will check it out

M-E : Other question : will you make a new solo album ?
R: You know, It’s difficult, I’m little busy with my studio work and I’m happy you know, because I honestly make good and stable money. And Masterplan is more or less my Solo Album . Okay I’m not writing all the songs, like I said we are really a team , but maybe I’m more responsible for the overall creation , sound and what we choose . But maybe next year I will do something, because it will be my 25th year in the Business.

M-E : that’s cool!
R: Yeah (Laughs) , Maybe I will do something! In 1988, I joined Helloween.. so yeah it’s been 25 years now..Time is running

M-E: So you forget all what you played and recorded with Rampage during the early 80s ?
R: Oh , I was a normal worker at that time, so I never saw it like a professional band, you know

M-E : but you did release albums I guess.
R: Yeah, we did two albums. And I joined other bands before and after that, but Rampage was the most Important one besides Helloween and Masterplan.

M-E: Yeah , Right. Now last question about Masterplan : Did you give the new members freedom to write whatever they wanted to, like in their past bands? Or did they have to work with conditions, in one particular direction ?
R: No I think I gave freedom to everyone but I said something like ‘’If you have five or ten songs, I will just choose two or three , which I think would fit in the new album ‘’ You can say I’m the producing filter and this is good for the band. But the new members have to prepare songs for the Album that comes after the new one, because we already had new songs prepared and only Martin had his song in the new record. And I said to Martin : ‘’ Now you’re in Masterplan, so that means in the future you have to write songs more in our direction’’ Because the song he wrote now is a great song, but it’s a little bit …

M-E : Is it close to Craddle of Filth ?
R: Yeah, it could fit into Craddle

M-E : Except the vocals of course
R: (very proudly, and in a funny way) And my Guitar ! (Laughs)

M-E : (Laughs ) Yeah of course!
R: But we love it! The energy is there, I really like it. I think it’s great to have a song like that in the new album.

M-E: Okay, and when will you start touring ? Do you have a precise date or something ?
R: We don’t have tour dates, we have many festivals booked now. So that means we will be part of many festivals next year. And after that, maybe in autumn we will get to our headlining tour, and then maybe in April or May we will be on tour as a support band with a very famous band which I can’t name right now

M-E : Okay now I have few personal questions, or should I say out of topic questions : Who’s your favourite musician or composer ?
R: Composer..Uhm, I don’t have any to be honest. I try not to look at other musicians and guitarists like I did many years ago, but I’m still really impressed by ‘’Queen’’ with their great songwritings, arrangements, and I really like other old bands like ‘’Def Leppard’’ , ‘’Queensryche ‘’ or even old ‘’Helloween’’ stuff.. oh and ‘’Judas Priest’’ of course

M-E: And what kind of songs or music do you listen to during your free time? But I honestly don’t know if you get free time.
R: Basically in Slovakia here, I always listen to the Rock Radio station which plays a lot of 70s and 80s stuff. And it’s always great to listen to songs you don’t always know, from bands like ‘’Bad company’’ with Paul Rodgers who has a really great voice. But I when I listen to CDs I listen to more aggressive music , like Rammstein, I’m a big fan of them. And I even listen to ‘’Craddle of filth’’ sometimes you know . It’s funny you know, my girlfriend is really into Metal stuff as well, like Kamelot , and also very modern bands like Marilyn Manson. But anyway, I don’t really listen to music where I came from .

M-E: yeah, it’s normal. Is there something you regret in life ? I mean is there any big mistake you did in your life ?
R: I think I did many mistakes, specially relationship shit, but you have to learn from it, it’s part of the experience.

M-E: what kind of music you would never enjoy listening to ? Are there some ?
R: Yeah! There are many things , specially when Rhythm Guitarists are playing more and more for themselves. They’re just playing to impress people, they’re not playing for the songs anymore. And I even tell them sometimes . I tell them : ‘’Come, come! This is not my style ! ‘’ (Laughs)

M-E: Now very last question : I guess you know ‘’Louis de Funes’’ ?
R: Yeah man! I love that guy!

M-E: me too, I watched all his movies. So anyway : Louis de Funes, or Charlie Chaplin ?
R: I choose Louis de Funes , yeah! BUT , I have to say , Charlie Chaplin in his movie ‘’The Great dictator’’ is amazing!

M-E : Yeah, really!
R: I love it so much! I think It’s the best in making fun of the old germans (Laughs) And I really like when he does his funny (says something in German in a funny way) . It’s all great! (Laughs)

M-E : Yeah! And actually Louis de Funes does something similar in one of his movies, I mean making fun of Germans
R: Yeah I know it ! (Laughs) with the lamp and the shadow on his head

M-E : exactly. And there’s even the movie ‘’La Grande Vadrouille’’ which is in the same context as well.
R: Yeah, I love this actor , man. He was really nice

M-E: So anyway, I thank you very much my friend
R: I thank you very much as well ! It was pretty long man ! (Laughs)

M-E : Yeah ! It was worth it (Laughs). So have a nice evening.
R: Okay man! Lookin forward, maybe you`ll see us somewhere in France or something, on a gig

M-E : yeah I hope so! It would be a great pleasure
R: Okay, talk to you soon, and sorry for last week !

M-E : it’s okay , don’t worry man.
R: okay, Take care, Bye!

>

interview réalisée par Marc-Elie Adaime

0 Commentaire

0 J'aime

Partager

Vous devez être membre pour pouvoir ajouter un commentaire