{"id":37071,"date":"2015-07-24T00:00:11","date_gmt":"2015-07-24T00:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=37071"},"modified":"2015-11-16T00:23:56","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T00:23:56","slug":"feature-gus-g-07-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-gus-g-07-15\/","title":{"rendered":"GUS G. – The Quest (July 2015) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

GUS G. – The Quest<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nJuly 2015<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nFollowing the issue of March 2014 outing I Am The Fire<\/em> \u2013 the debut full-length solo affair from Thessalon\u00edki, Greece-based guitarist Gus G., of Ozzy Osbourne and Firewind notoriety \u2013 its mastermind immediately entered subsequent songwriting sessions with collaborator and Adler \/ Lynam vocalist Jacob Bunton, penning several tracks which were ultimately kept for future use.<\/p>\n

\u201cShortly after the record came out, I did four shows in the US, and then after that, I went straight into the studio with my band,\u201d Gus remembers. \u201cWe cut like six songs in three days. We had the full band playing together live in a room, which is something that I had never done before. That was cool. In regards to the other tracks, I just had a lot of demos and a lot of riffs gathered and piled up anyways. I just sent them to different singers again, like Mats Lev\u00e9n (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen \/ ex-Therion), Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen) and Elize Ryd (Amranthe), and that\u2019s how it came together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The axeman authors compositions for several endeavours, perhaps causing difficulty as to where resultant tunes are eventually placed. \u201cI just find out in the process really, in the way that I do it,\u201d he shares. \u201cObviously these days, if I do something that\u2019s a bit more speed metal sounding or more power metal sounding, I know that it\u2019s gonna be a Firewind track. When I do a more rock thing thing though, like a more modern rock kind of thing or a classic rock type of vibe, I know that it\u2019s gonna be something for my solo thing. My solo thing is just straightforward rock \u2019n\u2019 roll, hard rock, or whatever you wanna call it. I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s definitely heavy rock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such comments suggest Gus\u2019 solo musical style is set in stone. \u201cWho knows, man?,\u201d he wonders. \u201cYou take one day at a time. I don\u2019t think too much ahead about the third record or the fourth record. We\u2019ll see where I am at when the time comes to write some more new songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several of the riffs featured on July 2015 follow-up Brand New Revolution<\/em> were composed in years previous. \u201cSome of the riffs go way back, actually,\u201d the axe-slinger highlights. \u201cThe song \u2018Come Hell Or High Water\u2019, that was like a jam that I had for three or four years \u2013 it was just laying there in the vault. What else?… The title track \u2018Brand New Revolution\u2019, me and Jacob Bunton wrote… Some of the song, I actually wrote in Las Vegas when I was writing with Kevin Churko. I went there to do the song \u2018Long Way Down\u2019 for my first album, and then we made another riff together which was half-finished. Then I went back home and finished that with Jacob. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to include \u2018Brand New Revolution\u2019 on the first record, but then the record company said \u2018No, no, no… Don\u2019t put that on the record.\u2019 I was like \u2018Okay. Whatever,\u2019 but I knew that that was definitely gonna be on the next record, and I liked the title of it. I kind of instantly knew what my next album was gonna be called. The song is about a revolution, obviously (laughs). It can mean whatever revolution you want it to mean. Jacob Bunton wrote the lyrics for that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albeit not centrally devising Brand New Revolution<\/em>\u2019s lyrical content, the aforementioned content included Gus\u2019 involvement. \u201cSometimes I discuss with a guy if we should do a certain lyric,\u201d he divulges. \u201cFor example, there\u2019s a song on the record called \u2018Generation G\u2019 which I wrote with Jeff Scott Soto. I said to Jeff about how I had read an article in a magazine about Generation G being the new wave of Greek immigrants \u2013 with the crisis and everything now \u2013 that are going to other countries. This is the second biggest wave ever \u2013 since the 60s \u2013 of Greek immigrants leaving the country, and I wanted to write a song about that. I said to Jeff \u2018We should write something like that, about the Generation G.\u2019 That\u2019s what that song is about.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen there\u2019s the song \u2018Behind Those Eyes\u2019, which is about people who deal with depression and addiction, and stuff like that. Jacob did a really good job with the lyrics for that one. There\u2019s a lot of good meanings in the songs; the lyrics have strong messages where people can just translate and make it their own, and I like that. That makes it more personal for the listener. A song like \u2018One More Try\u2019 or \u2018Come Hell Or High Water\u2019 is just about saving your loved one from whatever it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writing sessions for Brand New Revolution<\/em> spawned several leftover tracks. \u201cI did a couple more instrumental tracks that I didn\u2019t think were good enough…,\u201d the composer begins. \u201cNot good enough, but sometimes you don\u2019t finish a song that quickly. The ones that came together quicker, those are usually the ones which stick with me, but there were a couple of instrumentals that I was working on that didn\u2019t get finished. I have a folder in my computer where it\u2019s just like a lot of riffs, so I have a lot of stuff still that\u2019s been unused. I don\u2019t know where they could end up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Gus crafting instrumental numbers naturally leads to the prospect of a wholly instrumental full-length. \u201cNever say never, but it\u2019s pretty unlikely at this moment,\u201d he stresses. \u201cI don\u2019t see myself doing an instrumental record, but you never say never. If it happens, it happens, but I\u2019m not a big fan of instrumental albums except the really classic ones that I grew up listening to. The Shrapnel albums, the early Joe Satriani albums and Steve Vai. Passion And Warfare (September 1990), Surfing With The Alien (October 1987), and Rising Force (March 1984), and stuff like that. That stuff\u2019s been done. It\u2019s just hard to raise the bar when it comes to that \u2013 it\u2019s hard to top those. I don\u2019t listen to new guitar players who do instrumental stuff, because there\u2019s almost no point. A lot of the guys just create backing tracks for them, and they solo over that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Brand New Revolution<\/em> is inaugurated by instrumental cut \u2018The Quest\u2019 \u201cIt\u2019s just a highly technical track,\u201d the mainman comments. \u201cIt\u2019s just one of the songs where I push myself as a guitar player. I tried to push myself to the next level, really. I thought it was one of the ones that was cool enough to be on the record, good enough. I put it as an opening track on the record really because I know a lot of people kind of expect me to do that, like you asking me now about possibly doing an instrumental record. I think when people just think of a guitar player\u2019s record, they automatically think of an instrumental record. I just wanted to hit everybody hard with the opening track; I think it\u2019s a good opening track to just hit everybody in the face, and then move on with the rest of the record, which are several minute rock songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albeit hesitant to record a wholly instrumental record, Gus is seemingly adept at writing instrumentals. \u201cI think the reason why they\u2019re all probably special is because I focused on making one or two really good ones, instead of making ten or 12 instrumentals,\u201d Gus judges. \u201cYou get bored pretty easily with that. I didn\u2019t wanna have that, just for the sake of doing an instrumental record. If some day I can manage to get ten really killer instrumentals \u2013 like \u2018The Quest\u2019 for example \u2013 then I\u2019ll definitely do an instrumental record.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018The Quest\u2019\u2019s acoustic outro boasts a Spanish flavour. \u201cI\u2019m a big Al Di Meola fan, and I think a lot of that comes out in my playing as well,\u201d the musician observes. \u201cI think he became like a role model for all those guys, like the Shrapnel guys. Everybody\u2019s gonna tell you that they listen to Al Di Meola; from Vinnie Moore to… I don\u2019t know… Zakk Wylde. Everybody listens to Al Di Meola. He made some really groundbreaking records in the 70s like Elegant Gypsy<\/em> (1977) and Casino<\/em> (1978), and those are landmark albums for guitar players. He was like the shredder before the shred era started.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just stuff that I grew up with. It\u2019s records that you get into when you\u2019re young. I remember my dad exposing me to a lot of stuff like Santana, Pink Floyd, Al Di Meola, and stuff like that. I used to listen to a lot of that stuff at home, so I think that that becomes a part of your background when you\u2019re young.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brand New Revolution<\/em> \u2013 generally speaking \u2013 acts as a continuation to predecessor I Am The Fire<\/em>. \u201cStylistically, it\u2019s not very far away,\u201d Gus critiques. \u201cI think it\u2019s heavier, mind. There were riffs on the first one as well. There\u2019s a lot of guitar of course, but this one just got a bit heavier for some reason. I don\u2019t know. It just came out like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it sounds like a bit more of a band effort this time as well, just because we recorded half of the record as a band. We had a good direction, a good sense of where to go, whereas the first record was just me gathering a bunch of ideas and then sending them out to different people. Now, this is becoming a bit more focused and honed down, if you know what I mean. It sounds a bit more focused. There\u2019s a closer group of collaborators on this, like Mats, Jeff, and Jacob.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other musicians to have contributed to Brand New Revolution<\/em> included Firewind drummer Johan Nunez and bassist Marty O\u2019Brien, rounding out the band as it were. \u201cJo is my bandmate in Firewind, and so when I needed a drummer to tour steadily for this project, I called up Jo because he didn\u2019t have any other gig,\u201d the performer explains. \u201cHe\u2019s just an amazing drummer. Marty O\u2019Brien is someone that I met through Jay Ruston, who mixed my first record and then engineered this one as well \u2013 Jay mixed the first three tracks of the record. Marty toured with me in the States, and so we went together in the studio. Marty played on half of the record, and the other half I played bass on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Augmenting the music section was largely a pool of vocalists who returned following appearances on I Am The Fire<\/em>. \u201cI just continued writing with those people,\u201d Gus reasons. \u201cUsually I\u2019ll have a demo, and I\u2019ll just send it to somebody if I think it will fit somebody\u2019s vibe. I\u2019ll just send them a bunch of riffs, and be like \u2018Hey… What do you think?\u2019 Usually, they\u2019ll hit me back with some vocal lines over it, and that\u2019s how we\u2019ll create the songs. <\/p>\n

\u201cI toured with Mats a lot in Europe and I toured with Jeff in the States, and Jacob is a really good friend of mine. Me and him just started co-writing a lot of songs together, We wrote the song \u2018Just Can\u2019t Let Go\u2019 on the first record, and then when I did US shows, his band Lynam were opening the shows. For some reason, some people are just closer to me. We work well together, and we write songs very quickly, very efficiently, and very easily. I like to work with people like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listeners will naturally gravitate towards certain vocalists, favouring certain vocalists over others. \u201cPeople have different tastes,\u201d the axeman acknowledges. \u201cYou can\u2019t listen to everybody, what they say. I think the first record was a record where everybody appreciated the different style that everybody brought onboard, but I didn\u2019t judge the new record by that. I just judged it by the material. It all comes down to that; if the music is good enough, if it\u2019s performing well enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Gus would like to collaborate with other vocalists in the future. \u201cA lot of people,\u201d he underlines. \u201cWe\u2019ll have to see. There\u2019s always talk about writing with more people and doing stuff, so we\u2019ll have to see what the future holds. I don\u2019t have anyone specifically in mind right now. I knew I wanted to do a song with Elize, because I\u2019m a big fan of her voice. I really love what she does, and so I was happy that I was able to get her for this track. I think it\u2019s one of the strongest tracks on the record. <\/p>\n

\u201cI co-wrote that with a producer in LA, named Matt Dauzat. It was just an idea that I had. I sent it to him, and he finished the whole song with vocals, lyrics and everything. It was a song that I had Elize\u2019s voice in my head for from the start. We had the song demoed out and Matt Dauzat\u2019s wife Heather, she\u2019s also a great singer. She sang the demo, but then I sent it to Elize. I said \u2018Are you interested in singing that?,\u2019 and she loved the track. She just did her version of it, and sent it back to me. That\u2019s how that happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe track is in the middle of the record and has a female voice, but it\u2019s such a different track compared to the rest of the record. It\u2019s a bit more of a produced track with a lot of effects, a lot of production on it, whereas the others on the record are a bit more stripped down and with a rock \u2019n\u2019 roll style \u2013 with a band in the studio. It divides the first part and the second part of the record nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albeit harbouring intentions in writing the track \u2018What Lies Below\u2019, the axe-slinger didn\u2019t really harbour any intentions when initially embarking upon a solo career. \u201cJust writing the songs that I wanted to write,\u201d he reflects. \u201cIt was more of a cathartic experience, the first record. I was going through a lot of shit personally, and so was the band. I just to take a break from everybody and everything, and just did this music. I didn\u2019t do it to really start a solo career; I did it just because I had to get this music out there, somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n

One might assume the lure of a solo album contract might\u2019ve prompted Gus to pursue a solo path. \u201cWhen I started out, I didn\u2019t even tell my record deal I was doing this,\u201d he clarifies. \u201cI paid for everything in advance on my own. I funded the first record by myself, and just finished it the way I liked. I took it to Century Media because they\u2019ve been my label for many years, and said \u2018Hey… This is what I\u2019ve got.\u2019 Of course, they were really excited and stuff, and wanted it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The songwriter\u2019s working relationship with Century Media has existed for a number of years. \u201cYeah, especially in Europe,\u201d he comments. \u201cThings have not always been great with America. In America, I\u2019m releasing it on my own label this time \u2013 this record \u2013 because we didn\u2019t do things the way we should\u2019ve the last time around, I think. I don\u2019t think a lot of my fans in the States even knew that I had a solo record out. I think they\u2019re going through a lot of changes in the States, but their German office is very solid. They\u2019re like a legendary label; they know how to sell rock and heavy metal music, and I have a great A&R guy there that\u2019s always supported me. I know the team there, and they know me. They signed me when I was 21-years-old, and now I\u2019m 35 (laughs). Almost half of my life, I\u2019ve been there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gus arguably accrued many more fans Stateside in his guise as Ozzy Osbourne\u2019s guitarist, making the potential market for debut solo effort I Am The Fire<\/em> greater. \u201cI was hoping for that too, but a lot of things have to happen for a record to be successful,\u201d he ponders. \u201cIt\u2019s not just putting it out there, and posting on Facebook or Twitter about it, and everybody going apeshit. It\u2019s not only that. You have to have a big strategy behind it \u2013 how you\u2019re gonna market yourself, how you\u2019re gonna brand yourself – especially going out with a new project. How you\u2019re gonna sell that, and how much you\u2019re willing to spend to create awareness. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure all record labels know that, but these days the record business is dying, really. Everybody\u2019s playing it safe, which on one hand I understand, but on the other hand, being the artist you want everything and more, so you\u2019re never happy. This time around, I just wanted to do it all by myself. I\u2019m fortunate enough that I have my own record label in the States and I have a big distributor, so I can promote this the way that I want to without really having to argue about it with anybody. I go through Dismanic, and my distributor is eOne.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dismanic \/ eOne is co-ordinating the US issue of Brand New Revolution<\/em>, which was recorded with Jay Ruston. \u201cI co-produced \u2018What Lies Below\u2019 with Matt Dauzat, but the rest I produced,\u201d the mainman discloses. \u201cThe first batch of songs were done in Los Angeles in October 2014 at Clearlake Studio, and then the other half was recorded I think in… January 2015, or December of 2014. In Thessaloniki, Greece, at a studio I work out there at a lot. That\u2019s in my hometown. <\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, Jay\u2019s idea was to get the band in the studio, to do it live this time. He said to me \u2018You know, man… You have so much energy onstage with the band, we should get you and the guys in the studio jamming these songs out. Capture that energy,\u2019 and he was right. We did that. He brought some great ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Longtime collaborator Gustavo Sazes designed the cover artwork for Brand New Revolution<\/em>. \u201cHe\u2019s created a lot of the branding you see for Firewind, and for my thing as well,\u201d Gus adds. \u201cIt was just going back and forth, talking about what we could do with the Brand New Revolution<\/em> name. It all started with doing sketches of people in a riot, or in a destroyed city, and all that. Then I got the idea of… He had my symbol up in the sky. I was like \u2018Dude, it looks like a spaceship. Why don\u2019t we just create a fucking spaceship landing on earth?\u2019 It was very sci-fi inspired of course, and all that. He did an awesome job, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

A music video is in the pipeline. \u201cI think we\u2019re gonna do a video for \u2018What Lies Below\u2019 with Elize \u2013 we\u2019re trying to figure out the timing,\u201d the performer reveals. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna drop a lyric video for \u2018Burn\u2019 in the coming weeks, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as well, Gus will tour to complement Brand New Revolution<\/em>\u2019s release. \u201cWe\u2019re putting together the plans for the rest of the year now, to do a European and an American tour,\u201d he details. \u201cMats Lev\u00e9n is gonna be singing, Jo is playing drums, and Stratos (Karagiannidis) \u2013 who played bass on a previous tour \u2013 is gonna be playing bass. It generally depends on who is available. If somebody\u2019s available, they do the tour. If they\u2019re not, it\u2019s cool. Somebody else steps in. There\u2019s no fixed set of musicians, really. It\u2019s all just friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

As to the status of band endeavour Firewind, the public are firmly in the dark at the time of writing. \u201cThere\u2019s not a lot happening,\u201d the musician reckons. \u201cI\u2019ve been working on some new tracks with a new singer whose name I can\u2019t reveal yet, and so we\u2019ll see how it goes. I\u2019m very busy with my album right now, but when touring winds down, I\u2019m gonna go back and start writing with him some more and then hopefully do a new record sometime.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the same can be said as to the status of a new Ozzy Osbourne full-length. \u201cThat\u2019s not up to me, really,\u201d Gus cautions. \u201cThat\u2019s up to him, whenever he decides. I think he has a Black Sabbath thing to do next year again, so we have to wait and see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brand New Revolution<\/em> was released on July 24th, 2015 in Europe, Australia and South America via Century Media Records. The album underwent North American issue through Dismanic \/ eOne, with Japanese release occurring via King Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in July 2015. All promotional photographs by Joe Lester<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GUS G. – The Quest Anthony Morgan July 2015 Gus G. Following the issue of March 2014 outing I Am The Fire \u2013 the debut full-length solo affair from Thessalon\u00edki, Greece-based guitarist Gus G., of Ozzy Osbourne and Firewind notoriety \u2013 its mastermind immediately entered subsequent songwriting sessions with collaborator and Adler \/ Lynam vocalist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,2501],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-gus-g"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37071"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37082,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37071\/revisions\/37082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}