MASTERPLAN guitarist Roland Grapow (ex-HELLOWEEN) spoke to Metal Storm recently about a number of topics including the recently revealed news that he is working with his former band-mates Michael Kiske (singer; ex-Helloween) and Kai Hansen (guitar/vocals; GAMMA RAY, ex-Helloween) on a new project. A few excerpts follow:

MetalStorm.ee: I've read that you, Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen are supposed to be getting together to do... to "do" something.

Grapow: "Yeah we've had a couple of meetings already, and last time Christmas, just after Christmas and we decided now when we have time — writing songs for Michael, so Mike said "I don't want to write songs because it's too far away metal style" so Kai is writing separate first and then me when I am coming back in a couple of months I guess and play the first songs to Mike and see if he likes it.".

MetalStorm.ee: Will this be a predominantly power metal album?

Grapow: "It will be very tasteful power metal, nothing too drastic or brutal or too stupid fast - I mean many people know about Michael Kiske's opinions about this but I guess he's a bit more open, definitely, when it's coming from Kai and me..."

MetalStorm.ee: Do you're going to see how successful this is then and then the possibility of touring?

Grapow: "Yeah! that's what I said, if we have a good... good... good feelings with this whole thing and we are getting of course a bass player and drummer and then we're recording it and then looking for a record deal — and then if we get a good kind of deal then I guess we will announce already tour dates, and we will also be playing some older Helloween stuff written from Kai and Kiske and me — and I guess people will have a lot of fun hearing the old Helloween stuff with the new stuff, and if we make it clever then I think it should fit - but that's the idea we are definitely looking forward. Mike, Mike Kiske has already said of course you could play some shows already, maybe people asking us already if we would just be playing the old stuff of Helloween but it would be wrong - you should present a new album and then some older stuff, that's it - not like some Helloween kind of cover band."

MetalStorm.ee: Any other band members?

Grapow: "No, no - the best would be if Markus Großkopf would play bass, and maybe he is doing it - we have to ask him, it's just if he gets into trouble with Helloween, he had a very unique style which is really great, he is very kind of playing his own melody bass instead of just copying the rhythm guitar, and... but for drummer definitely would maybe be Uli. I mean, Ingo (Schwichtenberg) would be perfect but he's not there any more. We will see, the drummer is what we are not sure - I mean a long time ago I asked Uli if he would join this project as well and he says 'meeh, probably' - he has really problems with Kai, they're not really talking to each other, and now I don't really like to play with Uli any more. Haha, so we have two reasons."

You can read the whole interview here.