Jorn Viggo Lofstad, virtuoso guitarist in popular Norwegian metal band PAGAN'S MIND was recently interviewed on a songwriting website about the creative songwriting process he and his band use to write music. In addition, Lofstad shared details of his future as a musician as well as insights into the upcoming releases by himself and Pagan’s Mind.

Many songwriters struggle with the problem of whether to plan out songs in advance or improvise them in the moment. When asked about this, Lofstad responds: “I generally write songs in a pretty spontaneous manner. I never think to myself that I am going to sit down and start writing a song. Whenever I write by myself, it’s like a singer-songwriter approach. Many times I will grab my acoustic guitar and just play ideas until I come up with something that sounds good enough to record. Then I record the idea on my phone to review them later and eventually take them with me to the studio where I do pre-production with them. That’s how I normally go about it.”

Additionally, most songwriters struggle to learn music theory concepts and it is highly debated whether or not one should even bother. Lofstad addresses this topic by saying: “Understanding things from a theoretical standpoint is not too important in my opinion. I have always played music by ear. This is in contrast to the other members in the band who are very knowledgeable about all things music. Many times I will play something that sounds good, and later they will explain to me what I did. Usually I will just play something to them and they understand, so it’s cool.”

Lofstad also discusses his plans for releasing new music, and gives insight into when the next album will be released by Pagan’s Mind. On the topic of the next album release for Pagan’s Mind, Lofstad says, “Lately we’ve been trying to build a bridge between the progressive style and a more melodic heavy metal style. For now, the stuff we have been working on sounds similar to our older stuff. It has a very epic and heavy feel to it. Currently we have an album of about ten to twelve songs that we will release. The album will be out between 2013 and early 2014.”

He then goes on to reveal his plans for a new solo project:

“I’ve got a ton of stuff I have created that has never been released. In Pagan's Mind we have our own particular style, we can play a little heavy metal but it also needs to fit into our genre that we have established over the years. Currently I have about sixteen songs that are totally finished and I am just looking for the right singer now. Then after we (Pagan’s Mind) have released our next album, I will begin recording a debut album with this new band. I’m not leaving Pagan’s Mind or anything, but I am really excited for these other tracks and I have a lot of confidence in their quality. I can’t wait for people to hear it.”

The entire Jorn Viggo Lofstad interview can be found at here.