Gus G - Talks about what the future holds for him!

Interview

Guitar hero Gus G chat with Music Trespass!!!

Alan Gulliver managed to track down guitar legend Gus G (Ozzy Osbourne / Firewind) to have a chat about his new album, Ozzy and The Beatles!

Music Trespass: You have been quite busy the last couple of years, Tell us a bit about what you are up to at the moment.

Gus G: Well I am about to release my second solo album called 'Brand new Revolution', and it comes out July 24th.

Music Trespass: Your last album came out only last year. It’s a quick follow up….

Gus G: Well usually I do an album every two years. With Firewind that was kind of the tradition. After I finished the last album 'I am the fire' I kept on writing songs, I had a lot of riffs as well as some left over material from even before from a few years back. I kept writing with Jacob Bunton. We came up with four or five songs together. I even wanted to include the track 'Brand new Revolution' on the first album... I even had it ready back then. You have to take into account when I did the first album it took some time to finalize a label because I recorded it without anyone knowing.

Gus G: So when it was done I took it to Century Media and it took awhile to get everything going. So I had a lot of time on my hands so I just kept writing and I had a lot of the songs ready. At some point last October I think I was in LA playing a show and Jay Ruston who engineered the album said “lets get the band in a room and record you live” and that’s what we did and we cut six songs in three days. So I had the first half of the album done and I came back to Greece and got my drummer in the studio we and we finished another six songs.

Music Trespass: Is there any news on a new singer for Firewind?

Gus G: No, not at the moment. I’m concentrating on my solo thing at the moment.

Music Trespass: Obviously you’ve been working with Ozzy Osbourne. What was is like when you were first asked to play for him?

Gus G: Oh man, I was just, you know… I can’t put into words how awesome it is. It’s just one of those things were you keep pinching yourself to make sure you are really there. Living the dream that’s what it is. It’s the wildest dream any musician can have.

Music Trespass: What would you say is your favorite Black Sabbath album?

Gus G: Obviously they had different era’s you know. I love all of the era’s for different reasons because I am a massive Tony Iommi fan. From the Ozzy era I would say the first four albums, either 'Master of Reality' or 'Paranoid'.

Music Trespass: Personally for me I would say 'Sabotage'. They really went out on a creative limb on that album. I love how experimental it was.

Gus G: The thing is bands were allowed to do that back then. Now if a band tries new things or tries to break away from the norm, their hardcore fan base really gets annoyed. Black Sabbath was one of those bands that could get away that. They could throw in some crazy orchestras and then go and do something really Doomy.

Music Trespass: Nowadays record companies have a hold on bands and what they do and bands just keep putting out the same album every couple of years.

Gus G: Well a lot of that pressure I feel also comes from the fans; a lot of people don’t like surprises. A lot of bands are damned if they do and dammed if they don’t. Obviously with this being a solo project I have a bit of room to be more adventurous. It keeps things fresh and exciting for me.

Music Trespass: The last album had quite a few singers have you taken a different approach this time?

Gus G: Yeah it’s a little less this time, there are only four! Jeff Scott Soto, Jacob Bunton, Mats Levan and one song with Elize Ryd (Amaranthe). It was like a closed circle of collaborators.

Music Trespass: What are you listening to at the moment?

Gus G: Not a lot of heavy stuff at the moment actually. I’ve always been a Beatles fan but I’ve been going through their albums really. I’m going through a real Beatles faze! I’ve been watching a lot of documentaries on them too!

Music Trespass: Are you planning to come to the UK at all?

Gus G: We are putting together a European tour right now actually. There are no UK dates at the moment but I’m there will be. I mean, I’m always in England, I did four shows there just last March! I’m sure I’ll be back!.

Interview and Questions by Alan “Gully” Gulliver