Notes From The Other Side

Jorn Lande needs no introduction. The man is a legend, with a voice on par with some of rock’s most highly-regarded singers. His latest CD – The Duke – is nothing short of stunning.

It’s worth nothing that while I interviewed Jorn, our respective cell phones cut out no less than three times. Yet, he never seemed to get upset. He took it in stride and we just picked up every time where we left off.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jorn Lande…

JL: Hey, man.

BM: Hi, is this Jorn?

JL: It is Jorn. [laughs]

BM: This is Bill Murphy, how are you?

JL: I’m fine thank you.

BM: Good.

JL: Before you called, I’ve been out for a while. So I’ve been busy with a couple things here, we got some boats around here, and we’ve been out in the sea.

BM: Really?

JL: Yeah, it’s pretty cool.

BM: I was gonna ask you what you do in your spare time if you ever have any.

JL: [laughs] Right now, I’m just walking on an old wooden bridge here. I’m looking across the sea right over nice boats and stuff.

BM: Oh, wow.

JL: Yeah, you can compare it to Canada, really, Norway. Yeah. The whole vegetation and everything is similar.

BM: What kind of weather do you have? What’s the temperature there?

JL: Right now it’s nice. It’s like around, I don’t know how you, how many Fahrenheit, but yeah, I guess 70 or something like that, 75, 70.

BM: Wow.

JL: So it’s ok. It’s not, you know, the warmest weather, but it’s warm enough to dress well.

BM: [laughs]

JL: You know? You can wear a T-shirt and you’ll be fine.

BM: Well, first of all, happy belated birthday.

JL: Oh, thanks, man. [laughs]

BM: Yeah. Did you do anything special for your birthday, go anywhere, do anything?

JL: No, no, not really. It’s like when you get older, you know, you don’t party that much anymore. I mean, you party all the time, so it’s not anything special anymore.

BM: Yeah.

JL: So I’ve just been out today, actually. I’ve just been, you know, I never have that much time to see friends and go out and do stuff, so today actually I’m going down to downtown here where I live and you know, have a couple of beers just sitting outside and watching all the boats passing by and everything. So it’s by the sea and it’s nice and it’s a typical holiday thing. It’s like what you have in the States, I don’t know where you go, but you have all this nice places where you go to whatever, fish and watch the boat life and more maritime type of atmosphere where I live. So it’s nice. It’s the southern part of Norway, really. And most parts of Norway are really cold in winter and have a lot of snow, but where I live is more southern and warm and the climate is really good.

BM: Wow, sounds beautiful.

JL: Yeah, it’s cool.

BM: Well, I appreciate your time today. I just want to ask you some questions about your career and your latest album and leading up to ProgPower.

JL: Yeah.

BM: First of all, let me tell you The Duke is fantastic. Wow.

JL: [laughs] Thank you very much.

BM: Wow.

JL: Well, thanks man. It’s, I guess, I just dealt with some of my past. I was thinking about my past and I was thinking how I’ve always experimented a lot and always tried to go beyond, you know, my forefathers or whatever you want to call it, my inspirations from the past. And I think now I’m kind of done with that way of thinking. I felt it’s time to look at the reasons for beginning to take interest in the music business in the first place, the reasons for starting out as a singer or as an artist. I think it was because of great performers like, whatever you want to name them. I mean, there’s so many of them: Ronnie Dio, David Coverdale, Paul Rodgers, Robert Plant, and also in America, you had Steve Walsh from Kansas.

BM: Oh, yeah.

JL: Yeah, many great singers and bands I enjoyed. And I think what happened in the ’90s was quite frustrating period for me, because everything changed. I grew up with all these great artists and suddenly when I was old enough to create my own career, everything changed. [laughs] And the only decent classic or progressive music I discovered were Guns ‘N’ Roses or Metallica. You know? The rest was all, it all changed with Nirvana, and the Seattle wave, and what happened in Europe with the British, or the Brit pop or whatever, everything changed. And then came the extreme metal from Scandinavia, and black metal, speed metal, and then you already have it from America, death metal. So I was kind of drowning in that kind of flood, and I wanted desperately to have a career at the time. And I really worked hard and I couldn’t really find the right platform for where I came from, and it was difficult in the ’90s. I guess that’s why I went more into the progressive thing, experimenting more with music. I know people over there are, so many people are fascinated by Burn the Sun, with Ark.

BM: Oh, I think it’s a brilliant album.

JL: Thanks. But you know, many people felt that way about that record, especially in the States. And yeah, it’s, I guess it was one of those things where everyone compared you to you know the ’70s or the ’80s, and I felt it was time to stick to those elements in music and those, you know, classic roots, but still try to go beyond a little bit, at least in expression. So that’s why you find the diversity in albums like Burn the Sun. Because I felt also, I mean, I really follow my influences. I guess they also had the chance to do more than what they did, but they didn’t, because they achieved a certain success at a younger age. They saw the strength in keeping their style or their identity. I guess that’s why you have all these artists like Deep Purple or Rainbow, whatever, in the past that did the same recipe all the time. But I’m sure they had the potential to do more if they wanted to be more experimental, but they chose to stick to their guns, you know?

BM: Yeah.

JL: But I just, you know, felt what I could is I could try and be more divers and still keep some of those classic references in a difficult time when music was really hybrid, in my opinion.

BM: Well, a lot of the bands you mentioned, what music became, like the speed metal and death metal, like that. The singing stopped, really. There were no great singers of that kind of music.

JL: Yeah, melody suddenly disappeared.

BM: [laughs]

JL: I think every good guitar player and singer became unemployed, you know?

BM: [laughs]

JL: At a certain point, especially in the mid ’90s, I mean it was like a taboo field. Nobody wanted technical players or good performers anymore. Things like everything was more based about, based around, yeah, just reflecting something very simple. Something you didn’t have to struggle to be able to perform yourself. So if you were a young kid growing up, and you come out of school, you know, I guess what happened was nobody needed to struggle anymore to become a successful artist, because quality was, the quality level was low. And I think less qualified musicians, and I think what happened, I believe, I still believe in the heroes, you know, the hero factor in music. I think it’s healthy for kids that grow up to really, just to see somebody as something they have to strive and work for. You know, if they want to get to the same level, they have to really work hard, and they have to rehearse, they have to dig into the material, not just musically, but also mentally and understand that this is a long road you have to walk down. And I think that’s what’s been missing in the music scene, because the speculation and the market has made everything manipulative in that sense, and this means that all the business people and the major record companies, they can create something just by spending money.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

JL: And you know, they discovered they can sell anything to the younger generations for a while to make short term based profit. And I think that’s what destroyed the music industry for many years, and I think it’s slightly changing. I mean, major forces are still there to dominate. But I think because of all these smaller, independent labels coming out of the ’90s, I mean, they are massive now, or at least bigger than they were. You know, they are getting noticed and also the major scene gets affected by this. So I think it’s actually a positive development today, because even in black metal, death metal, whatever, new metal category you have out there, it’s, I mean, they’re all coming back to their roots a little more, looking at the finding good metal groups, not just opening a dictionary, finding a nice words that sound cool just to be original or just desperately trying to be original.

BM: Sure. Well, you know, everything you’re saying I completely agree with. I’ve interviewed a lot of bands over the years that have said that kind of thing. But you know what’s different, is when you say that at a certain point, any band could be playing because the level of quality was lower.

JL: Yes.

BM: Well gee whiz, not many people have your caliber of voice. That’s part of the problem. There’s only one Jorn Lande, you know?

JL: [laughs] Well, thank you. I don’t know, maybe, I never saw myself as something special or unique, I just took in everything that was good for me when I was a kid, all these great performers, so it was just, if you feel something when you are innocent, and in lack of experience, it’s just a feeling, I think that feeling is very important for you for the structure of your whole life and your career. So if it’s the wrong timing for a guy like me or if it’s the right timing, it’s not really important. What’s important is to find the heart, you know, in what you do, and find a reason and a purpose. And my purpose was really just to bring some of that legacy further and to move on. I believe all these great performers of my past, you know, they’re the ones that taught me to do everything, and as long as I can have the feeling, if I feel that strength then something is there. And it’s important. I was never, I don’t think I will ever be speculative as a person when it comes to music. I don’t think I will ever change with the trends or that kind of cynical aspect of the music industry. You know, you live once, and life is short, and if I can really do something with identity and something people can relate to and feel something, you know, then I will stick to doing what I do.

BM: Oh yeah.

JL: That said, of course, I get older too.

BM: [laughs]

JL: And the urge or the need of experimenting is not as big anymore as it was when I was younger, because you know, when you get older you start to see where the important aspects lie or it’s like, it’s not important anymore to be singing, to show the world how high you can sing, how dramatic you can be or how diverse you can be, or how many musical landscapes you can explore. And that’s not the important, the most important thing is now to do what I can do with control.

BM: Well, The Duke, sounds fantastic. I think you sound better on that than any album before that. Is it because you’re more relaxed with who and what you are right now?

JL: I think its–yeah, yeah. Thank you for saying that. Because I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of years. And I’ve been thinking I always strive to get somewhere, and to get noticed for what I did, and I just felt that by leaving those ambitions behind and looking at the origin of everything, why did I start with music in the first place? And I guess that’s where the ok factor lies, because I just, I like Classic Rock, I like those classic performers more and some of the more progressive stuff that came out of the ’70s I really enjoy still, and I just felt I took this kind of business meeting with myself, you know?

BM: [laughs]

JL: Saying that, “Ok, why” you know, I asked the question, reevaluating everything, what happened was I just felt that why, asked myself why I can’t just do those simple, natural melodies and the structure of the song writing which I really liked and what really came natural to me. And I guess The Duke is the result of that really. It’s more–

BM: It’s got, even the guitars sound fantastic. Everything about it is just absolutely killer. It’s a great, great album.

JL: Thank you. Thank you. Well I, of course I was considering not just my vocals, I was considering everything. And I’m lucky or blessed to be together with such great musicians. But of course I wanted to work with these people and I’m glad they wanted to work with me on this, ’cause I guess we all pulled in several directions in other projects or bands or whatever you want to call it. It’s just, I think we all knew that together we had something that was a strong unit or stronger unit than some of the other stuff we’ve been involved with. Even though we have all been involved with great musicians, great productions, great releases throughout the years. It’s just, sometimes there’s this one unit that makes everything stronger. And it can be simple. Simplicity. It’s that old saying, less is more.

BM:[laughs] Yeah.

JL: And I think just together this band is somehow something unique and very strong and powerful. And we don’t have to show the whole world how fast we can play or how extreme we can go, it’s just more about coming to the point, playing good hard rock music, and yeah, I guess that’s what it’s all about. And everybody has the same vision, or are adapting to the same vision. [laughs]

BM: Yeah.

JL: And I think that’s what this is all about. And it proves to us with this record that something is working and something is really strong and this is some kind of recipe we should stick to. And I guess it’s of course, I can’t deny I never looked at my forefathers. Of course, I have noticed all these elements in some of my influences. It’s like, if you look back, you see what has been strong. I mean, even today, if you look at all these, many people compare me to or talk about whatever, Rainbow or Whitesnake, Ronnie Dio kind of, Black Sabbath or whatever.

BM: Yeah.

JL: People have some kind of reference, they always come back to this or these kinds of bands.

BM: Is that flattering to you, or does that bother you at all?

JL: No, it’s great. I mean, I like it. That’s where I came from and that’s how I got my influence, and I don’t see it as a bad thing or a negative thing. I think it’s a really positive thing. I mean, how many in the world do this in that category? Not many. And I think you’ll find more AOR singers in the world than the Ronnie Dios or David Coverdales or Paul Rodgers or whatever, Robert Plants or whatever.

BM: Oh yeah.

JL: You know, so if you go and cut it to the bone, I think it’s a complement that people compare me to these guys. And you know, I think people are sometimes a little bit narrow or they’re thinking small. Because after all, it’s a limit to what man can do, you know? And that people think otherwise. People think it’s the whole, what’s important is to find the new recipe for something and to be unique, but actually no, when you get older you discover that this is not possible, because there’s actually a limit to what you can do.

BM: [laughs]

JL: And you know, when Pink Floyd created the great music, I mean if the world didn’t take or wouldn’t take inspiration from what they did, you know, then you’ll be left with the B quality, maybe C quality product. So this means that if I would not show my influence to anyone in the world and if I would just like exclude all the great stuff that came out of the past and just think that I would create something new and original myself, then I would be second to the artists forever, and I will always be delivering a B or C quality product. That’s how I feel, ’cause some people really put a lot of energy and a lot of resource, gave a lot from themselves to do something. And it’s like I always say when people ask me, why shouldn’t I paint my house blue. I mean, if the neighbor’s house is blue, why not? I mean, if my house looks great blue, I mean, should I not do it because the neighbor’s house is blue?

BM: Yeah, yeah. [laughs]

JL: Should I then choose a B color? [laughs] A color that’s not as great as the blue but it’s cool because, just because I don’t want to copy my neighbor?

BM: Yeah.

JL: I guess this is something that, that’s why you have something called the music police in the world. And the music police is always the people that spend time on the internet writing bullshit–

BM: [laughs]

JL: –or, you know, you have like, if you have 1000 people in a crowd, there will be, like, these 10 guys in the back. Usually, they are near the mixer, you know? And the desk, and they will be standing there with their hands crossed, and they will just, you know, as the concert goes on they would be like always talking to each other, “Blah blah blah, oh, he’s not really as great as he was, right?” “Oh yeah, yes, really.”

BM: [laughs]

JL: And these guys, they are the minority, you know, if you look at the whole picture. And the rest of them, 990 people, they are really happy with the concert and they think they saw something great. But these 10 guys? They are the guys you will notice, you know? And these are the guys that will go home, and they would sit down and they would write a lot of stuff about what, about this. But they’re actually a minority.

BM: [laughs] Yeah, they definitely are.

JL: And I think this is also something you discover as the years go by. You know, when you’re younger, you get affected by it, you really get hurt when you read the reviews or if you hear the sound guy or the woman behind the merch desk or somebody telling you after the show that something wasn’t good, you know. Then you got provoked by it. But today, it’s different, it’s like you learn when you get older, you discover that wow, this is the world. This is how it is. And so, I think most people find it positive that we grew out of the seventies era and brought some of that music further.

BM: You know what, one of the things I like about your album The Duke is that you cover a ’70s song, “Are You Ready” by Thin Lizzy.

JL: Yeah.

BM: That’s a great cover. How did you pick that one?

JL: Well, I mean, I think, you know, I heard so many versions of that song throughout the years and I never really heard one officially released on any album. I think it was in a live context or something I heard it, and there was some hidden demos or you know, secret previously unreleased tracks that came out you know, many years later after Phil Lynott’s death.

BM: Yeah.

JL: And I just felt that song was a really good song and that even the band was experimenting on that song, and they really, that they never really found the right chemistry for that song. ‘Cause I mean, the riff for that song is always different. Every version has different lyrics. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Well you know what’s good about your version, is you–Thin Lizzy is always considered like the archetypal band, the band for the ’70s. But your version of that song actually blows theirs away. [laughs]

JL: Oh wow, that’s good. [laughs] Well thank you, that’s a great complement. I think I never thought about that, I was just you know, singing the song as a more old fashioned, classic hard rock song, which I felt played with today’s more metal expression. It would become more defined and more solid as a heavy metal or hard rock song. And also has that, the statement, “Are you ready to rock?” It’s very childish and simple. There’s nothing deep with that, I mean, it’s really if anything is rock and roll, that’s rock and roll. [laughs]

BM: That’s true.

JL: And then, I just felt that’s really something that if you do that with the authority and the power, then it could be really cool. And I also changed the lyrics slightly.

BM: Are you going to play that live? Yeah.

JL: I discovered like seven or eight versions of the same song. And going back even, as I said some old, hidden recordings with Thin Lizzy. And I mean, there was one version where they didn’t even mention the word rock.

BM: [laughs]

JL: So I mean, “Are you ready to rock”, I mean, it wasn’t even there. So I was thinking, “Ok, this seems like something that might have a lot –” I mean, I never knew any of the guys and I never, I just heard all these different versions. And the one that, and one song was like, or one version was, “Are you ready to dance?” It was repeated all the time. And I said, “That’s not really heavy, or that’s not really rock and roll, is it? Are you ready to dance? That’s like…” And that’s like, that was the opening of the song, “Are you ready to dance”, and I was like, “Wow.” So what I did was like, I felt that if I repeated are you ready to rock and made it a strong theme in the song, very simple like that, then it could be a much stronger heavy metal and rock and roll approach. And that’s what I did, I just picked out the best phrases from each version I heard, and I put together my own lyric. It still is a Thin Lizzy song, you know, it’s just I’m not taking credit for completing the song. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

JL: I’m just, I just feel like, you know, got some of the pieces together and put some of the lost bits together in a way and made it more powerful and stronger than the original version. ‘Cause the original version has a little touch of jam session quality to it, and great played and great performed. But seems like it was a kind of experimental song that they never really decided, you know, on what is the final version of this song. You know? [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Well–

JL: So to me, I’m not taking credit for the song, but I just felt that these elements put together would create a great version of that song. And maybe a final and complete and more powerful version. Yeah.

BM: Well, when you said that you never thought that you were very special, you know, singing-wise, do you read a lot of the reviews that say, “This guy’s got one of the best voices in metal”?

JL: Oh. I mean, yeah, of course. And I’m always grateful when people want to give me complements and stuff. And I’m happy with that. It’s just, I grew up in the countryside, and I’m really pretty much down to earth in every way, and you know, I’m not, I mean, I make a good living from the music, but I’m not, you know, I never had the million selling albums in the world.

BM: [laughs]

JL: You know, I never sold this seven billion records of one album. And I never bought myself a big mansion with the swimming pools and Lolitas hanging from the pool, you know?

BM:[laughs]

JL: So that kind of–

BM: You know, I saw Paul McCartney on a talk show once, and the host asked him a question, and he said something jokingly about his fame. He said something like, “Yeah, sometimes I wake up and I say, ‘Wow, I’m Paul McCartney’” [laughs]

JL: [laughs]

BM: So, do you ever wake up and say, “Wow, I’m Jorn Lande”? [laughs]

JL: [laughs] Stop making me– [laughs] Maybe, I mean, I have, my life is good. I’m not complaining. I just see it in a different way. I see it as, these are new times, you know, there are different markets, many different categories in music and files and the internet created something that’s really messy and it’s opened up something for everybody, you know. And it’s not unique anymore to make a record in the same sense as it was 20 or 30 years ago. So I just, you know, I notice that I stick out from the masses with some of the stuff I’ve been doing, but at the same time I’m just, you know, I don’t see myself as anything, I just see myself as this guy from Norway that grew up with some strong Viking collection and you know, and was fascinated by it. Yeah. And I guess the climate and the culture, everything contributed to my development somehow. And I think that’s why you have the power there, and you have some of that strong aspect. I never, I was never a mentally weak person, I was always, I mean I could always have my frustrations as normal people, but when it came to really giving something and really, you know, if I have the chance to really perform, then I would always give everything. I was never scared to do it, and I would never be scared of my own voice or how I sound. I would never, I would always be wanting to be as powerful, strong and dramatic and I tried to express as much feeling and heart as possible in the music. And that was always some kind of drive I had. And this is also because, in the ’90s when everything changed and everything became more cold and cynical and sterile. Music became sterile in a sense, because people started using computers as instruments.

BM: [laughs]

JL: And that’s something I never liked, you know, because now everyone can make an album, you know?

BM: Oh yeah.

JL: Everybody makes records, and you can be, sit at home and create your own album. You move the things here and there, and you know, you have simulators here and there and if it’s not powerful enough you just switch on the massive compression that you can discover somewhere in the whatever, your system. And then, I think people, that created a wave of sterile, soulless, recordings that came out with artists that saw the potential in doing something that they really didn’t know, you know?

BM: Uh huh.

JL: They just still did it, but they didn’t have the real skills, as a true artist, they just used computers, you know, ProTools, QBase, whatever, to, they used this as an instrument instead of using it as a tool.

BM: Yeah.

JL: And–

BM: You know you mentioned–go ahead, I’m sorry.

JL: No problem. [laughs] I’m just, I’m a talker, I sometimes speak too much. [laughs]

BM: No, I appreciate it. I’m glad you are. It’s great. I was just gonna say, you mentioned the internet and those people who write bullshit now and then.

JL: Yeah.

BM: Some of the things I see on forums or chat rooms or whatever now, they say, like when you recently left Masterplan or the fact that you’ve only been in a couple of albums for each band and then you leave, or the problem with Yngwie just a while ago…

JL: Yeah. [laughs]

BM: They say, “Jorn must be difficult to work with.”

JL: Yeah, no.

BM: What do you say to that?

JL: I’m not. I don’t think I’m difficult to work with. I mean, in Masterplan we are good friends and that’s a good thing for people to notice that you know, there’s no soap opera stories coming out of Masterplan because we are good friends, and there’s no problems really. It’s just we had different musical opinions, and then we just started talking about the third record, and I just felt I was, you know, moving slightly away from the more typical power metal style. And I felt I contributed in Masterplan to make Masterplan different. Because I was performing different than the typical power metal singer would, and I gave something different to the band. And when the rest of the band asked me to move more to the typical power metal direction, then I said, “This is not how I work. You know, I’m older, and I don’t want to repeat the first Masterplan album again.” Because they asked me to do this and they said we should consider the first Masterplan record, because it sold a lot and it was a good, yeah, it was a good record and all that. And the second record didn’t sell as much as the first record, and the third record is very important for our career, and blah blah blah. So, and which is, yeah, I can understand that thinking and frustration, but I’m just this guy that, if I’m five years older, then I am five years older, and I’m not repeating something I did in the past. And I feel I’m, you know, I’m moving towards something more natural, and I want to be less diverse in the future. I want to be somebody that people can identify with, and somebody that people can say, “Wow.” I want people to know who Jorn is, you know? And I want them to also expect a certain thing, you know, a certain quality and a certain delivery. And I think, yeah, by experimenting a lot, we don’t really gain that identity and you don’t really establish that trademark. Because I think, and if you go back to doing something that you did when you were younger that really didn’t feel natural, then something will be wrong.

BM: [laughs]

JL: I mean, the quality will be less. Everything will be less. And my goal was always to become better as an artist. And I really want to learn from my forefathers, you know, I respect them for what they did and what they still, some of them are still doing. And if I’m gonna be around when I’m 50 years old or 60, then I think it’s important to really take notice and you know, take care about all these details in the music.

BM: Are you saying then that The Duke is kind of how you more want to sound? In other words, the Masterplan thing sounds a certain way, but are you saying The Duke sounds more like the way you’d like to sound from now on?

JL: Yeah, well, I never, I don’t know what will be the future, but definitely The Duke is more natural thing for me to do. Hold on one second, I just got to do something here, hold on one second. [talking in Norwegian to someone] Yes, here we are. Yeah, just a friend of mine, yeah, coming by here. And he had to give me something here.

BM: Ok.

JL: So yeah, but you know, it’s, I guess The Duke sets the standard for the future. I can never foresee what will happened, but I just know that what I’m doing on that record is something I really have control over.

BM: Oh yeah.

JL: It’s something that if I go out there to perform, I know that regardless the state I’m in, if I’m sick or feeling bad, or [laughs], you know, I could always go on stage performing those songs. And they would sound good, you know, or at least I would pull it off.

BM: [laughs]

JL: You know? [laughs] And they are still strong in delivery, they have the power, the energy and everything. I think that’s gonna be an important factor in the future. And I think that’s also why some of the older artists that I grew up with still do it. You know, some don’t because they can’t do what they did when they were young, because they never considered, you know, what would happen in 20 years or something.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

JL: I guess that’s why we always come back to these classic types. I mean, I just saw Deep Purple in Oslo’s Spectrum, couple of months ago. And it was good, I mean, they played great. Obviously– [phone cuts out and I had to call him back]

JL: There you are again.

BM: Jorn, hi. I don’t know what happened.

JL: I know, there’s something, maybe it’s a bad connection or something. I just tried to call you back, and I got cut off again.

BM: Sorry about that. I’ll only ask you a couple more things. I know you’re busy and want to get back to watching boats.

JL: Oh no, no problem.

BM: What I was gonna ask you about is ProgPower, this upcoming festival.

JL: Yeah.

BM: What can audiences expect from your show at ProgPower?

JL: Well, I guess, I mean, some people know some of my previous work and some people know my recent work. I think it will definitely be a Jorn concert, but I will do some of the stuff, or some songs from the past, ’cause I think that’s what people will expect me to do. I guess, if people expect me to do my whole career, that’s not gonna happen. [laughs] But I mean, I have so many albums to choose from, so many songs there. It’s difficult to find the magic set, you know, to keep everyone happy, you know, that’s very difficult. I mean, and also because of my diversity throughout the years, many–I mean, if people expect me to do the clean, AORish oriented songs, then they will be disappointed, because I am really much more over to the Classic Hard Rock side as an artist, I guess. But some of those songs that I could throw in there, like an Ark song or [unknown] song, you know, and there will definitely be a song from those records.

BM: Even Masterplan?

JL: Yeah, we will do something. At least I will do one song, you know. But I think if we have so many records out or starting to get many albums out, then it’s wrong to perform tons of Masterplan songs or tons of Ark songs, or you know, it’s just not right to do, because that’s something totally different. So I think just by trying to pick out the one or two good songs from each record, I mean, there are many good songs, so it’s difficult for me to have every one, you know. [laughs]

BM:[laughs] Yeah.

JL: But I guess what I’m trying to do here is I guess I now have a–I mean, there’s hardly no keyboards in the new Jorn lineup, which means that some songs will be slightly rearranged. And I will still do a couple of songs that used to be more keyboard oriented, you know? But I will do them and the guitar players will do the keyboard parts and arrange it for guitar, you know. So what will happen is you will discover some slightly different versions of some older songs, which will be good versions, and they will be really strong, and actually, I think you will find them even stronger…

BM: Oh yeah.

JL: …then some of the original versions, because you know, time goes by and if you look at the powerful aspect…then I think you will discover that some of those old songs will sound even more powerful than on the original records. So that’s how I see it. And yeah, I think it’s important to adapt those songs to the Jorn concept and also to the lineup I have now. So I’m focused around two guitars, so some of the stuff that was played with keyboard will be done with the, you know, guitars. And also second harmony stuff.

BM: Right.

JL: That will be done, and we have plans to do “Soulburn.”

BM: Oh really?

JL: And you know, we have that intro part, which is a keyboard thing. And you know that thing, can you picture how it will sound with guitars? We haven’t even tried it yet, but that’s something we’re going to try. And I think that keyboard signature will be really strong, original with guitars, I think. And much more balls to accomplish. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] That would be a great song to see live. “Soulburn” is wonderful.

JL: Yeah, it’s a cool one, I like it. And yeah, so definitely will be some good songs. But of course, I will perform the majority of songs from The Duke, and I will drop by a couple of other Jorn records in the past, just to do one or two songs. But then I know Glenn asked me to do some covers, and I usually don’t do that many covers. But since I am about to release a cover album.

BM: Oh really?

JL: Yeah, it’s actually some new recorded covers, but some of them are older songs I did, which I’ve remixed and you know, done some changes here and there. And it will be released in, I don’t know if it will be out before we play in Atlanta, but…

BM: What covers are on it?

JL: Oh, we have, I mean Glenn asked me to do [info withheld at Glenn’s request] or not necessarily that song, but something by [info withheld]. I am thinking, ok, ’cause I have one song on that covers album which is that song, and then you know, I will probably do something like that. It’s gonna be a medley of covers or it’s just gonna be one cover, I can’t tell. I mean, it’s easy really to play some of those cover songs, because it’s in the blood, you know.

BM: [laughs]

JL: It’s like mother’s milk.

BM: [laughs]

JL: They are great songs, so I find them inspiring to play, and just something that it never dies, you know, those songs. They are just always all right there, and yeah, of course they were important and everything when I started out, and yeah, but I don’t know how many we will play, but we will definitely play a longer set in Atlanta than normal length.

BM: Are you looking forward to that special, sort of exclusive concert where you come out with members of a bunch of other bands as well?

JL: Yeah, we were talking about doing [info withheld at Glenns’ request], and this is something that Glenn suggested.

BM: Yeah.

JL: And it’s good. I don’t know if he has made it official or not.

BM: Oh yeah. He did, he posted a notice on the web site, ProgPowerUSA Forum, that says exclusive news, special concert with Jorn plus members of these other bands. Yeah, it’s an official gig now.

JL: Ok, so that means he did not write which song it is? Because then that’s supposed to be secret, right?

BM: Right.

JL: But yeah, we will do that. We know many cover songs, the easiest thing to do is to play covers. Let’s see how long the set is.

BM: What, when you look back on your career, you’ve released an awful lot of wonderful albums. Which ones are your favorite, Jorn?

JL: Very difficult. Yeah. I usually like songs, you know. Very difficult to find one, I think The Duke is, I mean, it’s like a typical thing all artists do, say that their latest album is their favorite, you know. But in this case, I think The Duke is my favorite album, not because it’s the latest, but because I think it’s the most solid and to the point album I have done so far. It really, it tells people what to expect and who I am and where I come from and right. I think it’s a really solid platform, to, it’s I think, the thing is, it shows the people really what to expect, and I think it’s my favorite album to date. If you look at the more experimental factor, and I would say that of course the most difficult album to make and the most, what demanded the most from me as a singer was definitely Burn the Sun. And also when I did Beyond Twilight, The Devil’s Hall of Fame.

BM: Yeah.

JL: I really put a lot of power behind it, but I mean I always try to give the best on every record, and I mean if you look at, I mentioned the Burn the Sun album, it’s very hybrid. The whole album, it’s really difficult to place in any category, which is cool also. But I mean, it depends on what you’re looking for, really, since I did so many diverse records. Then I mean, I’ve done everything from dramatic, powerful, opera-oriented metal to AORish, kind of instrumental music, and it’s difficult to locate what quality you’re after. I think they all have a good quality and they all stand for a certain, yeah, whatever, authority or whatever you want to call it. I think it’s difficult to define one. I really liked, I mean I guess it’s because I’m moving more to the classic hard rock direction right now. I’m really more into that kind of thing, because I grew up with this kind of ’70s element, and I always come back to this more, maybe it sounds more American and more British roots, you know, or influence. The roots. And I still enjoy some of the American bands. I mean, I just bought the DVD with Kansas, which was like showing some old video clips and yeah, old stuff that was really great to see. And it inspires me. And you can definitely hear some of those influences in some of the songs that I’ve done in my life. It’s just difficult to, and every year is different, and I feel it’s not possible to choose one record of the past, because that’s more–except for The Duke, because that’s just where I am now, and I just feel to take that kind of crown you know, and kind of front that title, it has to be a more European kind of…

BM: Sure.

JL: And I think, and I believe, I mean, I’ve been through it all, sex and drugs and rock and roll thing for many years. And I feel also all aspects have been sobering up with my life, you know? [laughs] And I think The Duke is something I’ve done with a very very strong and clear mind. A strong clear focus on everything, on the song writing, on what’s good, what’s not good, and my criticism on everything. If I think it’s good or not or if I think it’s too out there in the atmosphere, not properly defined. I think that’s why I like The Duke, because it sets the standard so personally, and I believe you will recognize the recipe for The Duke in the next, or my future recordings. So yeah, i believe in the name of Jorn and that concept.

BM: Yeah. How ’bout the other bands that– [phone cuts off…I call him back]

JL: Here we go again.

BM: Jorn, boy, sorry.

JL: Yeah, I know. Something is shutting off. It’s the long distance, probably.

BM: Yeah. That’s true. But I won’t take up any more of your time. The last thing I really wanted to ask you, I have many things I could ask you, but I’ve futzed with your time long enough. [laughs]

JL: No, don’t worry about it. Just ask away. [laughs]

BM: Question for you, you know a lot of these other bands that are going to be at ProgPower with you. Are you looking forward to seeing any of them?

JL: Yeah, of course. I mean, I don’t know all the bands that may be there, ’cause I haven’t seen all the schedules yet, but you know, they are quite diverse compared to maybe some of the stuff I’m doing now. And no, I mean, I don’t even remember now all the bands there. I think Zak will be there, yeah?

BM: Zak Stevens?

JL: Yeah, I know him from the band.

BM: Oh yeah. He’s in Circle II Circle. He’s playing there.

JL: Yeah, which day?

BM: He’s in the Pre-Party show, the Thursday night thing.

JL: We toured with Circle II Circle in Europe with Masterplan. And they are great guys. And I look forward to hear the band again and to talk to the guys and meet them. We had a good time on that tour. BUt I don’t really know that much about the other bands. Evergrey I know, of course, but yeah, I’m gonna be there, and I’m not gonna be, you know, hiding somewhere.

BM: [laughs]

JL: I’m gonna be, you know, enjoying the festival and take part in in, and just try to focus on the gig on Saturday to make sure I’m gonna deliver a good show. But besides that, I’m definitely going to be a part of the whole weekend, and check out some of the bands.

BM: Let me ask you this last question and then I’ll let you go. Your career is long, you’ve had a lot of albums. You’ve released an average of one a year for the last ten years. You released four of them in 2001.

JL: [laughs]

BM: How do you stay fresh? How do you maintain your energy and keep fresh with a schedule that grueling?

JL: I don‘t know. I think again, it’s back to that, you know, it was like a big pit of great music coming out of the ’70s and I think I never categorized myself, I always liked music like country music, classical music, metal, progressive music. Performers and great artist, it doesn’t matter what kind of style. And that’s where I took my inspiration and my kind of glow, which ‘cause I always have listened to a lot of music to dive into really, and pick up elements here and there. I don’t know. Of course the fact that I never, you know, the fact that I didn’t sell ten million albums of my debut [laughs] has something to do with it. I think when you’ve gone through it, you record, you learn and you develop. You know, I never had the most successful producers or the biggest major companies backing me up, but I always developed myself and I had to learn everything, and that’s been a really important force and the drive that always kept me going. Every time I learned something, I saw the result of what I did. If I had a low budget, when I was younger to make a record, when I was younger I tried always to get the best out of it and to get the best possible result, based on my experience and my thoughts, you know?

BM: Yeah.

JL: And I guess the audience was convinced, and exploring my ideas, then after the finished result I was always discovering all the mistakes and the weaknesses and then I will work for the next level always. Taking that, “Ok, next time I will do this, but I will do that” , you know. I think that’s a natural development, because of my long and winding road. I try to maintain some of that creative drive and inspiration and I think that’s very important. And I definitely think if I had achieved a certain success when I was younger I don’t think I would have had that. I think you would have seen much more, I call it, you know, we have something called [Norwegian phrase] which means, blood poor. And it means, you know, people that don’t have enough blood are weak. So it’s like, I think you would have experienced a lot of blood poor and powerless. [laughs]

BM: Do you think, with all your success, are you saying that the best is yet to come? Oor have you arrived?

JL: I don’t know. I don’t know. You can’t predict the future really. And I think some things in life are just pure luck, and I mean, some people can work their whole lives through, and you get recognized for what you did after you are dead, you know.

BM: [laughs]

JL: I never really, I’m not hoping really for anything more in life. I just look at what is, and what I have, and I just always look at the realistic progress I can have as an artist. And I’ve seen progress. Every year I’ve seen development. I’ve enjoyed the music, it increases amounts of people around the world really fall in love with everything. And you know, I’m really sick about it, and then I see if I really just try to do this and try to improve my albums and try to keep that kind of spirit, then when I’m getting to be an old man, maybe I can have a good retirement and play good gigs. Hopefully get paid, you know. [laughs]

BM: [laughs]

JL: It’s development, really. I think, I never try to shoot you know, the gold bird somewhere, you know? I never, I see it like this, if somebody in the future wants to get in touch with me and asks me to do something that would create a big storm around me as an artist, then that would be great. I would take that as a bonus to everything. I mean, if a legendary band or somebody would ask me to join or, you never know. It could be anything. Look at what happened to any artist in the world. I mean, see what happened to Ozzy? There was this guy who came out of this British metal band called Black Sabbath, but suddenly was a soap opera TV show event.

BM: [laughs] Yeah.

JL: The whole–yeah. I remember, nobody really called in to ask him anything really candid. So I mean, I don’t think I would want insurance when it comes to that point. [laughs]

BM: You don’t want your own soap opera TV show?

JL: I don’t think so. Definitely not. But I mean, if you look at how things change in life, that’s a good example of somebody really worked hard and I mean, to be an icon somehow in the music, which he is of course. But you know, I guess where he made his memory wasn’t really from his records in the past or the Sabbath records, it was because of Sharon, wasn’t it?

BM: Yeah.

JL: Or because of their MTV show. I mean, if you’re really gonna talk money, that’s where the money came. And it had nothing to do with heavy metal concerts or anything. Nothing to do with singing or writing songs, nothing. It’s just primarily this guy on vacation [laughs]..

BM: [laughs]

JL: …that did great records in the past and suddenly had to make money from soap opera or TV show. Which is positive for him and his family and everything, but you know, it just shows that success can be diverse too, you know?

BM: Yeah. [laughs]

JL: [laughs]

BM: Well, Jorn, I really appreciate your time today. Thank you so much for chatting with me.

JL: Yeah, yeah. It’s just no problem, it’s what I’m doing. I’m just happy to get you on the phone.

BM: I really appreciate it. I love the new album, I can’t wait to see you at ProgPower this fall. I’ll stop backstage to meet you and say Hi.
JL: Yeah, and you will. I hope he sells enough tickets for his festival. [laughs]

BM: Yeah, it’s almost sold out.

JL: Is it? Yeah, good. It’s important that he is happy too with this. I mean, it’s, I heard about some bands pulling out, and it’s…I’m happy if everything is going well for the festival. I mean, it’s important for me too. I mean, the United States isn’t really the biggest market for hard rock or progressive metal. I mean, it’s increasing and it’s getting better, but it’s a long walk.

BM: [laughs] That’s true.

JL: It’s a good development, and I hope the festival goes well, and that people can find the value in me coming over and doing stuff. You know, I would love to play there more in the future as well.

BM: Believe me, people are looking forward to your concert quite a bit. So you’re going to have a huge success here.

JL: Oh, I can’t wait to get there, man. It’s gonna be cool. But I mean, I never play the states. I was there with the Malmsteen tour and we did some stuff with Millenium in the old days. And I recorded some stuff to song write, and stuff, but I never really play that much in the states. I’ve been all over the world, I’ve played up and down everywhere, it’s just really the States have always been kind of a difficult place to get–

BM: Well, the last time you were here was with Malmsteen, wasn’t it?

JL: Touring and playing it was. I’ve been there since, but it was more writing and song writing and working in the studio. But I never came there to do concerts after Malmsteen.

BM: Well hopefully, this will be more of a positive experience.

JL: Yeah, yeah. [laughs] Definitely it will be. So, do you know anything about the–I know they’re recording stuff, but when I was there with Ark once, and used a recording facility there at ProgPower?

BM: Yeah, yeah. Are you thinking of having Glenn record your show?

JL: No, I just wondered. No, I think if I would do it, I would probably bring some of my own, you know?

BM: Oh yeah.

JL: But we’ll do a lot of gigs, or more gigs in Europe before the ProgPower, and then probably a European tour as well. So I just thought that it would be cool to record the show in Atlanta, because it’s, I think if I never came to the US to do that much, it would be cool if I brought, I mean, I’ve been asked by the record company to do a live DVD, I was like thinking about it, and I was thinking, should I wait until next year or should I do it this year?

BM: You want my opinion, Jorn?

JL: Yeah.

BM: I think the audience at ProgPower would go nuts. It would probably be the most enthusiastic crowd you’ve had in a while.

JL: Yeah, really?

BM: Yeah, they would go nuts. I think that would be a great place to record.

JL: Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it, so I will definitely consider that. Yeah, it’s the right size too, ’cause it’s not too big and it’s not too small and it’s just perfect for everything, good sound. Yeah.

BM: Yeah. Well, do it.

JL: Yeah.

BM: That’s great news. That would be great. I hope you do that.

JL: Yeah, well, if I do it I will let Glenn know.

BM: That’s great. Well, have a good rest of the night there, Jorn. Have a wonderful time.

JL: Thanks, yeah. I have a day off. We have this like, holy days here in Norway, so today I’m gonna have a couple beers, ’cause I already had a few.

BM: [laughs]

JL: [laughs] You know, it’s not often I can just hang and drink. So today I’m gonna definitely have a few beers and get a bus. [laughs]

BM: [laughs] Well, that’s great. I’m glad you spent time with me today. Have a fun evening.

JL: Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you there.

BM: Take care, Jorn, I’ll see you there. bye-bye.

JL: Ok, take care man. Bye.

BM: Bye.

One of my favorite interviews. I only hope I wasn’t too sycophantic with the guy. All I can say is that Jorn Lande is one of my all-time favorite vocalists so this interview was a thrill for me — despite the technical difficulties.

Jorn Lande’s CDs can be found on Amazon or, where I get all my music, from Ken Golden at www.lasercd.com.

Jorn’s official web site is www.jornlande.com.

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