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Gus g (Firewind) interview:
1)Hello Gus G! Thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview for the Guitar Clinic magazine.
Thank you for the interview and support.
2)Could you start by telling us what made you occupy with the guitar at first place?
When I was 9 years old my father played a Peter Frampton record at home and when I heard him improvise on the talkbox I was fascinated! Few days later I saw Al Di Meola performing on Greek TV on some show and I was also floored by his exotic style.
I immediately asked my father to buy me a guitar.
3) When did you get into heavy practicing and how long did it take you to perfect you craft at the guitar playing?
I’ve been playing since I was 10. The first few years I didn’t practice so much until I changed teachers and got my first electric guitar that happened when I was 14. My new teacher inspired me to really want to explore the guitar and since I was into rock music, I started practicing heavily and listening to as many players I could get my hands on.
It took me a few years to start sounding really tight and I must admit that practicing with a metronome really helped me at a first phase and at a 2nd phase the recording studio experience really did it for me. It was a whole new “school” working with a producer in a professional studio and that’s where you really have to be able to perform tight with accuracy and be able to come up with good ideas. Producer Fredrik Nordstrom (In Flames, Dimmu Borgir, Arch Enemy, etc.) taught me such things.
4) You are one of the few people that have managed to get recognition in the Greek Metal scene which is something really remarkable but something hard to accomplish at the same time. What have you been through to finally manage to receive that recognition from all over the world?
Well first I gained recognition in other countries like Japan and Sweden before someone noticed me in Greece. But I guess that’s the way the story goes. You never get noticed in your own country unless you’ve made it somewhere else first. The world recognition came through releasing good quality albums one after another, world tours and constant hard work.
5) Could you please tell us about your decision to leave Berklee College of Music and focus on your band “Firewind”? What was it like for an 18 year old musician to be alone in a foreign country and trying to find the right people and the convenient circumstances so as to be able to follow his dream?
That was hard times I remember. I was very young and alone in a big country like the USA. Stranger in a strange land so to say… However, I remained focused on what I wanted to achieve and very soon I realized that studying at Berklee College wasn’t what I was after. Instead I wanted to form a Metal band and make records and tour everywhere. It was not an easy thing to achieve. I played with some musicians in Boston but didn’t find what I was looking for. Then I moved to Florida, joined another band but they didn’t have the potential either. The market in the US back in 1998 was very small for what I wanted to play. So I moved back to Greece in 1999 and planned my next trip since I couldn’t find the right musicians in my home country.
I decided to go to Gothenburg Sweden where some of my friends were recording an album at the famous Fredman Studios with producer Fredrik Nordstrom. Very soon Fredrik noticed me and asked me to write some songs with him. We formed together a band called Dream Evil. At the same time I was writing material for my own band Firewind that was noticed by Leviathan Records (USA) who is owned by 80s guitar hero, David Chastain. After sending David my demos for a few years I finally got my first record contract for Firewind. So these 2 people (Fredrik and Chastain) helped me make my first steps in the music business.
The rest is history I guess…:)
6) You have worked and played with numerous prestigious musicians such as George Lynch, Marty Friedman and Kiko Loureiro. What did you gain from your contact with them?
Well first I got a close up of how the real masters and some of my personal guitar heroes actually play!! I’m grateful to have worked with some of the world’s most legendary guitarists such as George Lynch & Marty Friedman. I recently was lucky enough to jam with Uli Jon Roth and that was a very special moment for me since I named my band FIREWIND after an Uli Roth album! This says just how much he has influenced my style and sound.
7) Your latest album with Firewind called “Allegiance” has received great reviews and, in my opinion, it is your most complete work in terms of experimentation and musicianship. We can listen to an epic duet between Apollo Papathanasiou and Tara Teresa at the song “Breaking the silence” and psychedelic passages at the song “The essence”. How do you feel about your new album?
Thanks!!! I also feel that “Allegiance” is our most complete works so far and has the most mature songwriting we’ve done so far. It’s also our best selling of all 4 FIREWIND albums.
8) A lot of artists once they manage to establish themselves at the music scene tend not to experiment as they fear that a change in their musical direction of the band would cost them a large amount of its audience. How do you feel about that? Would you follow any musical direction that would be much different from your present musical direction even though this would be a controversial move for the band’s audience?
I don’t think I would change FIREWIND’s music style. Plus I’ve been involved in other bands as well and have played other styles as well. FIREWIND is what it is and I’ll never change it. With that said, who ever knows the band since its early days will know that we’ve always added new elements and sounds to our music and haven’t been afraid of doing something different on each album of ours. We don’t like to repeat ourselves and make the same album every year. For example on our new album we have a song called “Deliverance” which is a ¾ waltz type of song with acoustic guitars and eerie keyboard sounds. An arena rock type of song with a “world music” touch that was definitely something different for us instead of doing a typical rock ballad once again.
9) The year 2006 was an exciting year for you as you got to perform at the Tokyo Loud Park Festival in front of a huge audience. What did you gain from that experience?
That was one of the highlights of our career. We played at a sold out arena in front of 12.000 people and were part of Japan’s biggest Metal festival ever! We were on the bill with bands like Megadeth, Anthrax, Napalm Death, Arch Enemy, Angra, etc.
10) Finally, as far as your gear is concerned you have a signature guitar by ESP and you are also endorsed by Morley and Randall amps as well as BBE products. Could you talk a little bit about your sponsors and about the positive and negative aspects of being endorsed by major companies?
ESP is a company that really believed in me since my early days and we’ve been growing together so to say. They’ve built and released my signature models, which is a dream come true for me. I have started playing recently with Randall amps and their new T2 model kicks ass!
I’m also very much into Elixir strings which I also endorse and I think it’s the best strings I’ve ever played. Other endorsers include BBE (I use their cool new stomp box called the “Green Screamer”), Morley, Providence cables and Straps n’ Stuff guitar straps.
There are absolutely no negative aspects when it comes about endorsements, if you endorse equipment that you like. I don’t have sponsors only just to say that I have these sponsors backing me up. I HAVE to like what I use otherwise I won’t use it. So I have a very cool relationship with all my endorsement companies because they know I promote their stuff cause I like it and I’m into it above all!
11) Gus G, I would like to thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview. Could you please leave a message for the Guitar clinic viewers?
Thanks so much for the interview and your support. I hope you check out the new FIREWIND album “Allegiance” and I hope we’ll be in your town soon!
For more information check out: www.firewind.gr
Gus G has given permission to Guitar Clinic so as to use his photos
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