Radio Metal recently conducted an interview with PAGAN'S MIND frontman Jørn Viggo Lofstad. Excerpts from the interview are below:

Radio Metal: Jørn Lande left a lot of bands he sang with. It looks like he has a really precise idea of what he wants. You know him better than everyone I guess, so what can you tell us about his personality?

Jørn Viggo Lofstad: “To be honest, I think that if Jørn would be able to choose, he wouldn’t do all these projects. You have to remember that sometimes, you have to make a living: he needs bread on the table everyday so… I know that at heart, what he likes the most is classic heavy metal. If he could choose, he’d have love to make enough money to feed all the guys that play in the band and himself just touring with JORN, but sadly it’s not enough. So he has to do other projects, and take other offers. That’s understandable. He’s a professional musician and he does what it takes. I think that’s the main reason why you have all these different things. I think he was very serious with MASTERPLAN at that time though, maybe it developed in a way he didn’t liked. With Ark, he was also really doing his best, making one of his best albums with this band… But I think that since 2004/2005, the most of his energy went into building up the Jorn band, and now, it starts to become much bigger than what it was. As a person, I think he’s a very good hearted man. Every time he sits down, he wanna make the best song. He’s a fantastic songwriter. It’s been a privilege for me to work with him. We made a very good team, really miss that, but he talks a lot [he laughs]. Everyone who has talked to him knows that he talks a lot. But he’s a good guy, and his heart is in the music. I have nothing but good things to say about him.”

Radio Metal: Since you played with him for so long and you didn’t split with him like most of the musician he’s been with, do you think that you’re able to understand him more than the other musicians he played with do?

Jørn Viggo Lofstad: “Me and Jørn were not only musicians that played together, but very good friends as well. Even though I don’t talk with him that much anymore, I know that he has a lot of respect for me and I have a lot of respect for him. That’s what this is about. Maybe in other bands you have bigger personalities working together… I don’t know. Working wise, we clicked very well and if I hadn’t had to make the choice I made, I could have stuck with his own band. But at the time I chose Pagan’s Mind and then I followed that. Jørn just said ‘you need to understand that I need a guitar player that can be there when we do the gigs’, and of course I understand that. I had to make a choice. If it hadn’t been for that, I would still be playing with him. I don’t know. There’re a lot of different reasons. With Masterplan, he didn’t write that much of the music, and maybe power metal is not really his thing. Playing [he sings] with the double bass and stuff isn’t his thing. He likes classic hard rock. You know, last year he played with HEAVEN & HELL, and I really hoped he’d become part of that band. He deserves it. In my opinion, he’s the best singer that has been since 2000 until now. He’d deserve to make a really good classic heavy rock album with someone of that caliber.”

Radio Metal: Did you regret the decision to leave Jorn and just play with Pagan’s Mind?

Jørn Viggo Lofstad: “Sure, but you can’t have everything. That’s the way it is. Also, I thought it would be easier to replace me in Jorn because we were two guitar player and Tor, the other one is still there. It was me and Jørn writing everything but we shared all the stuff, solos, etc. It was maybe easier to find someone to take my place in Jorn than in Pagan’s Mind. Pagan’s Mind is a band of friends coming from the same city that do the things differently than Jorn… Like I said it wasn’t easy to leave Jorn but that’s just the way it got. It is what it is.”

Read the entire interview at this location.

Pagan's Mind recently confirmed two shows for their native Norway. They are as follows:

March

23 - Garage - Bergen, Norway
24 - Byscenen - Haugesund, Norway

More shows will be announced soon.

The band will close out 2011 with the following dates:

December

15 - 013 - Tilburg, Netherlands
16 - Melkweg - Amsterdam, Netherlands
17 - Biebob - Vosselaar, Belgium
18 - Hedon - Zwolle, Netherlands

In other news, the band's single, 'Intermission', has been certified Gold in Sweden, selling over 10,000 copies. The video for 'Intermission' can be seen below: The video for 'Intermission' can be seen below: