Gus G.

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Audio Interview: GUS G; “The new album is going to be very diverse, a bit more mellow and a bit more classic-rockish sounding.”

Posted by aliblackdiamond on June 17, 2013
Posted in: Interviews. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

135148_443220862423829_2019678610_oGreek metal guitarist Gus G certainly keeps himself very busy, being an integral part of FIREWIND and OZZY OSBOURNE, as well as delivering guitar clinics and working on his first solo album.

FIREWIND has recently appeared at Sweden Rock Festival and will be playing Bloodstock Open Air in August, their only UK date in 2013. The band also have a new album “APOTHEOSIS – LIVE 2012″ due for release on 24th June, which is a celebration of ten years of FIREWIND.

Metal Shock Finland’s Blackdiamond had a chat with Gus last week and you can read a few excerpts below. The full interview is available to listen to on the audio player:

Discussing this year’s Bloodstock Festival, Gus said the following:

” This is our one and only UK show for 2013, so it will be pretty special. It’s also our first one in the UK with our new singer. We plan to have a full stage set-up – loads of amps and speakers onstage (laughs). It’s going to be a cool show, I’m looking forward to it.”

Gus described his upcoming solo album:

” It’s in the process now, I’m in between playing festivals and completing writing and gathering some of the guests for the album. I’m probably going to be recording it sometime in the fall and hopefully can release early in 2014. There are some people that are known and some people that are completely unknown, just great musicians. There’s going to be some instrumentals, some songs with vocals. A lot of the stuff is a bit more mellow, a bit more classic rock-ish sounding.”

When asked if he has the newly released BLACK SABBATH album “13″ Gus expressed:

” Yeah I downloaded it the first day it came out and I love it, it’s a fantastic album. There’s a lot of great songs on it, they’ve done a great job. I mean what should I say? I’m such a huge Sabbath fan, I’m as excited as everybody else in the world about it! Tony Iommi, it’s unbelievable, this guy, what he comes up with on the guitar. “

FIREWIND at Sweden Rock:

FIREWIND 2012

FIREWIND 2012

OZZY OSBOURNE/FIREWIND Guitarist Gus G First Guest Confirmed For Swedish Metal Convention

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 12, 2013
Posted in: News. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

Source: Bravewords.com

Rockmässan – Swedish Metal Convention will be collaborating with Sweden Rock Festival during this year’s festival (being held June 5th-8th in Sölvesborg) and the first guest announced is OZZY OSBOURNE/FIREWIND guitar wiz Gus G (with many more to follow). As well, the convention will be showing the largest collection of MÖTLEY CRÜE memorabilia in Europe. The number one collector in Europe will show parts of his enormous collection of stage clothes (including Nikki Sixx’s classic black and white dotted dress from the Theatre Of Pain tour and the straitjacket Nikki wore on the cover of Dr. Feelgood), instruments, awards, unique, never before seen photos, personal stuff from the members and much more.

RockMassanSwedenRockConvention

Rockmässan will have a 240 square meter tent at the festival where you will be able to have your picture taken with some of the artists performing at the festival, by a professional photographer, and also be able to get autographs by artists and other rock icons.

On top of that six-eight tattoo artists will be present, among others Black Shadows Tattoo that have tattooed band members of SLAYER, MORBID ANGEL, DISSECTION and WATAIN. For more details visit Rockmassan.se.

RockMassanSwedenRockConventionGusG

 

FIREWIND Reveal Artwork, Tracklisting For Apotheosis – Live 2012

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 2, 2013
Posted in: Int. News. Tagged: , , . Leave a Comment

Source: Bravewords.com

Greek melodic Metallers FIREWIND, featuring guitar-wizard Gus G. (OZZY OSBOURNE), will be releasing a new live album, entitled Apotheosis – Live 2012, on June 24th, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the band in style.

The cover artwork for Apotheosis – Live 2012, which will be released as digipak in its first limited edition pressing, was designed by Firewind’s longtime partner in all design matters, Gustavo Sazes / abstrata.net, based on live photography by Hans-W. Rock.

FirewindApotheosis

Apotheosis – Live 2012 tracklisting:

‘Head Up High’
‘Wall Of Sound’
‘Allegiance’
‘Few Against Many’
‘The Departure’
‘Heading For The Dawn’
‘Losing My Mind’
‘World On Fire’
Guitar Solo 2012
‘SKG’
‘Between Heaven And Hell’
Piano Solo
‘Edge Of A Dream’
‘Mercenary Man’
‘Glorious’
‘Maniac’
‘Falling To Pieces’

The 17 songs featured on this live release were recorded at special anniversary shows in Greece as well as all over Europe during the band’s Few Against Many tour in 2012, and comes with a playing time of 69 minutes, featuring a great overview of the band’s 7-albums spanning career so far, as well as quite a different tracklisting than 2008’s Live Premonition release. Apotheosis – Live 2012 also marks the final Firewind release with longterm singer Apollo Papathanasio, who left the band by the end of last year. He has since been be replaced by Kelly Sundown Carpenter (ADAGIO, BEYOND TWILIGHT) as session frontman for all 2013 live-activities.

Gus G. recently checked in to comment on the release: “Apotheosis = the glorification of a subject to a divine level. That is the word that came to my mind, while thinking of how I could best describe the feeling and the vibe of those four anniversary shows we played in our homeland Greece and our last European headline tour in 2012! So that had to be our live album’s title. You can feel the energy on these recordings, you can hear the screams of the most hardcore fans and the Firewind chants… it’s all there. No doubt about it, it’s the sheer love from our fans and supporters that has kept us alive and strong for 10 years and we wanted to celebrate all that with this album. We recorded all those shows, chose the best performances and now we can’t wait to release this one! See you out there this spring and summer on European festival stages!”

Live dates:

May
5-12 – Germany/UK/Finland/Netherlands – Full Metal Cruise

June
1 – Polesine, Italy – Pegorock Festival
7 – Sölvesborg, Sweden – Sweden Rock Festival

August
9 – Derbyshire, UK – Bloodstock Festival
10 – Berlin, Germany – DRK Rocks
15 – Dinkelsbühl, Germany – Summer Breeze

FirewindGusG

Gus G. will also be heading to Russia, Estonia and Ukraine for some guitar-clinics in May. Dates include:

May
17 – NAMM – MusikMesse, Expocenter Krasnaya Presnya – Moscow, Russia
18 – NAMM – MusikMesse, Expocenter Krasnaya Presnya – Moscow, Russia
19 – Music Market Store – Tallinn, Estonia
21 – Jam Store – Kiev, Ukraine

FIREWIND: Festival Schedule For 2013 Updated

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 27, 2013
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Source: Bravewords.com

FIREWIND, featuring OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist Gus G., have updated their festival schedule for 2013. All confirmed dates can be viewed below:

FirewindGusG

April
14 – Mons, Belgium – Power Prog & Metal Festival @ Lotto Mons Expo
27 – Dortmund, Germany – Rock In Den Ruinen

May
5, 6 – Germany/UK – Full Metal Cruise

June
1 – Polesine, Italy – Pegorock Festival
7 – Sölvesborg, Sweden – Sweden Rock Festival

August
9 – Derbyshire, UK – Bloodstock Festival
10 – Berlin, Germany – DRK Rocks
15 – Dinkelsbühl, Germany – Summer Breeze

FIREWIND’s Gus G. Confirms Clinics In Russia, Estonia, Ukraine

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 18, 2013
Posted in: Int. News. Tagged: , , . Leave a Comment

Source: Bravewords.com

FIREWIND guitarist/founder Gus G. (also OZZY OSBOURNE) has announced a string of clinics in Russia, Estonia and the Ukraine in May.

Dates include:

May
17 – NAMM – MusikMesse, Expocenter Krasnaya Presnya – Moscow, Russia
18 – NAMM – MusikMesse, Expocenter Krasnaya Presnya – Moscow, Russia
19 – Music Market Store – Tallinn, Estonia
21 – Jam.ua Store – Kiev, Ukraine

FirewindGusG

ZAKK WYLDE, DORO, PHIL ANSELMO And Others Autograph Guitar To Be Auctioned By Arkane Against Cancer; Photo Gallery Posted

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 7, 2013
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Source: Bravewords.com

Didier Chesneau (from the band HEADLINE) and Michel Lâg Chavarria (Lâg Guitars) will be auctioning an Arkane guitar signed by metal icons this Monday (February 11th) in Paris, France. All the funds will be given to the charity, La Ligue Contre le Cancer.

This unique red piece has been signed by artists from around the world, among them: ZAKK WYLDE (BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, ex-OZZY OSBOURNE), Gus G (FIREWIND, Ozzy Osbourne) Dj Ashba (SIXX: A.M.), Shagrath (DIMMU BORGIR), DORO, MYLES KENNEDY, MARK TREMONTI, Phil Anselmo (DOWN, ex-PANTERA), Ian Astbury (THE CULT), as well as members of SCORPIONS, THERION, PAIN OF SALVATION, IGGY & THE STOOGES, LOUDBLAST, IN FLAMES and more

A gallery of photos of the artists signing the guitar can be seen at this location.

If you were at Hellfest in 2011, you may have noticed the big fireworks launched in memory of Patrick Roy, a French politician who defended metal music at the national assembly, but sadly passed away of cancer this same year. With this guitar, Arkane wants to pay another tribute to this great man who has been saluted by thousands of people from every country in the world that very same night while AC/DC’s ‘For Those About to Rock (We Salute you)’ was playing at the French festival. This guitar is red, and so was Patrick Roy’s iconic jacket, the man who held a copy of a Rock Hard magazine in the national assembly, and his wife is actually firmly involved in this glorious project.

More infos about the guitar (photos, equipment) and how to get in touch with this great cause can be found at this location.

FIREWIND Guitarist Gus G On Changing Singers Again: “I Can’t Think Of Any Other Band That Would Be Able To Get Away With Shit Like This”

Posted by aliblackdiamond on January 23, 2013
Posted in: Int. News. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

Source: Bravewords.com

FIREWIND guitarist Gus G. is featured in a new interview with Blastzone Online discussing the recent departure of vocalist Apollo Papathanasio. An excerpt is available below:
Q: Why has there been so many lineup changes in FIREWIND?

GG: “Being in a band is not easy. You need to compromise a lot in order to be in a serious touring band. It’s not a glamorous lifestyle (despite what many think) and it requires lots of sacrifices. We’re not a band that started out like 5 buddies from the same town. I had to build a band with members from different places around the world. Along the way, people want different things and change. So, I think that’s the primary reason why we’ve had so many members in FIREWIND.”

Q: Tell me about your new lead singer Kelly Sundown Carpenter?

GG: “Kelly is an amazing singer and will be singing for us on our upcoming US tour with TURISAS, as Apollo decided to quit recently. We jammed with Kelly recently and he did a great job on our songs. Looking forward to playing some gigs with him and we’ll see what happens.”

Q: How have the FIREWIND fans reacted to Carpenter?

GG: “I expected it to be a lot worse. Apparently there are lots of fans out there who are looking forward to the change for various reasons. There’s some that took it really bad which was expected, but to be honest even with Apollo in the band, we had to recruit replacement singers for our tours. In 2007 Apollo missed the whole second leg of the Allegiance Tour and that was a whole around-the-world run! Also in 2011 he missed our European headline tour which was also important cause it was FIREWIND’s first tour since 2009 when I joined Ozzy. So, changing singers is not a new thing for us!
But it’s amazing cause I can’t think of any other band that would be able to get away with shit like this. I think we do, because our fans come to the shows to listen to the songs, they connect with the music first and foremost and that’s a very strong thing. And that means a lot to the rest of us in the band.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.
The band issued the following statement regarding Apollo‘s departure:

“We are in the unfortunate position to announce that Apollo has decided to step down permanently from the vocal duties in FIREWIND. For the past few years it was evident that Apollo could not keep up with FIREWIND‘s ever growing and demanding touring and promotional schedule. Several times we’ve had to recruit replacements in order to continue touring the world and keep playing for our fans. We’re lucky enough to have worked with some of the best metal singers out there!

Although we’re sad to announce Apollo‘s departure and we sure will miss him, at the same time we feel that the show must go on! FIREWIND is a band that has gone thru lots of ups and downs the past 10 years, but is still going strong! With that said, we’re happy to announce that Kelly Sundown Carpenter will be singing for us on the upcoming North American tour with TURISAS! This guy’s a phenomenal singer and we can’t wait to get out there and rock!

We’re looking forward to our return in America. See you all soon!”

More on Firewind, including their tour schedule, at this location.

 


FIREWIND Schedules Vancouver Signing Session, Acoustic Performance

Posted by aliblackdiamond on January 12, 2013
Posted in: Int. News. Tagged: , . Leave a Comment

Source: Blabbermouth.net

Greek melodic metallers FIREWIND — who feature in their ranks current OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist Gus G. (real name: Kostas Karamitroudis) — will take part in an acoustic performance, question-and-answer session and signing on Tuesday, February 19 between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at Scrape Records in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

For more information, visit the Facebook event page.

FIREWIND successfully wrapped up the calendar year 2012 with four packed club shows in their native Greece (two nights in Thessaloniki and two nights in Athens), commencing the celebration of the band’s 10th anniversary. Additionally, and right before the end-of-the-year festivities, FIREWIND entered the studio in order to mix recordings from last year’s “Few Against Many” tour for an upcoming live album, to be released before the summer.

Expanding FIREWIND‘s live agenda for 2013, the band will next hit the road with TURISAS and STOLEN BABIES on the “Guards Of Glory – North American Tour 2013″ and will perform at this year’s Summer Breeze (Germany), PPM (Belgium) and Rock In Den Ruinen (Germany) festivals.

Prior to the North American tour dates, Gus will appear at Jason Becker‘s “Not Dead Yet 2″ benefit concert on January 23 at Slim’s in San Francisco alongside Uli Jon Roth, Ritchie Kotzen, Steve Morse and many other guitar legends.

As previously reported, Gus G. has begun collecting ideas and recording demos for his first solo album, to be released sometime in 2013. The CD will feature instrumental tracks as well as songs with guest singers.

FIREWIND‘s new album, “Few Against Many”, entered the official chart in Greece at No. 42 and in Germany at No. 90. Released in Europe on May 21, 2012 via Century Media Records and in North America on May 22 through DisManic, Inc. via eOne Distribution, the CD was mixed by Jason Suecof and Eyal Levi at Audiohammer Studios (TRIVIUM, ALL THAT REMAINS, DEATH ANGEL) in Sanford, Florida.

ULI JON ROTH, STEVE MORSE, RICHIE KOTZEN, GUS G. To Perform At ‘Jason Becker’s Not Dead Yet’

Posted by aliblackdiamond on December 27, 2012
Posted in: Int. News. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a Comment

Source: Blabbermouth.net 

Steve Morse (DEEP PURPLE), Richie Kotzen (MR. BIG, POISON), Uli Jon Roth (SCORPIONS) and Gus G. (FIREWIND, OZZY OSBOURNE) are among the musicians who will perform at a special concert on Wednesday, January 23, 2013 at Slim’s in San Francisco, California, reminding the world that Jason Becker’s Not Dead Yet. Proceeds from the second Jason Becker’s Not Dead Yet festival (the first one was held in March 2011) will go towards medical supplies for Jason as well as a trust fund to provide for his future security.

Jason Becker, a onetime guitar prodigy first known as part of the metal duo CACOPHONY, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease) at age 20, shortly after joining David Lee Roth‘s band for the gold-selling 1991 album “A Little Ain’t Enough”. Although the disease robbed him of his ability to play guitar — and eventually left him both paralyzed and unable to speak — Becker continues to compose music with the help of computers, collaborators, and a system of communication using eye movements that was devised by his father Gary.
Steve
Even after his once prodigious axe skills left him, Jason‘s music continued to earn the respect of his peers. Joe Satriani called 2001′s “Perspectives” — Jason‘s first recorded work after losing his motor functions (originally self-released in 1996) — “a triumphantly powerful and beautiful album.” Fellow virtuosos joined the chorus of praise, including Steve Vai, who said, “Jason has discovered a brilliant source of inspiration within himself. His deep soul searching has resulted in a body of music that reveals courage and insight and is deeply moving.”

Jason‘s original partner in CACOPHONY, Marty Friedman added, “To call Jason a genius is an understatement. He doesn’t cater to trend, target audiences, marketing gimmicks or anything like that. He plays out the emotions from his heart and makes real music that is a salute to the human spirit. Jason is a prodigy and on ‘Perspectives’ he realizes his miraculous potential.”

Jason‘s most recent album, 2008′s “Collection”, is a mix of old recordings and new compositions, with guest guitar work from Satriani, Vai, Friedman, Michael Lee Firkins, and Greg Howe.

The January 23 Jason Becker’s Not Dead Yet festival at Slim’s in San Francisco is a tribute to Jason and celebration of his amazing story, as well as an opportunity to educate music fans and guitar aficionados about the effects of ALS and the quest for a cure. The idea for the show originated with Bay Area guitarist Dave Lopez of FLIPSYDE and BANG DATA.

The DVD version of the documentary film “Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet” was made available on December 18 via Kino Lorber.

For more on Jason Becker and his fight with ALS, go to www.jasonbeckerguitar.com.