by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —
When we think about shred albums, we can’t help but think the ‘80s – the larger-than-life era that gave birth to such classics, as Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force or Jason Becker’s Perpetual Burn. But in time, “shred” has become somewhat of a pejorative term when it comes to classifying instrumental guitar music, associated more with exaggeration than musical substance. So is excessive shredding gone for good now, more than thirty years since the golden era of Shrapnel Records…? “I don’t think the over-the-top thing is over and I don’t think it should be over,” says a Greek guitar virtuoso and founder of Firewind, Gus G. But he’s quick to add that “if it’s something that’s just there to be an endless show-off, then there’s no substance to that.” And there’s a good reason why Hardrock Haven caught up with Gus to chat in the first place. His new solo instrumental album, titled Quantum Leap, has just been released, making a great starting point for discussion about songwriting, technicality, diversity of influences and drastic changes that happened within the music industry in the course of twenty-plus years of his career so far…
Hardrock Haven: Your new solo album Quantum Leap was released on October the 8th. What’s the feedback on the album so far, when it comes to both fans and critics?
Gus G: So far both have been great. The press has loved it, the fans have loved it… I didn’t expect it to be so good actually. I’m surprised because it’s an instrumental record, but everybody seems to be loving it.
Hardrock Haven: Are you one of these artists who always see a room for improvement once the album is done and would gladly go and re-do things?
Gus G: No, I’m not one of those artists. I’ve never said that about any of my albums really… I mean, there are things that you can improve [on], sure, but at some point you have to wrap it up. And when you feel ready, you feel ready. So to me, albums are like snapshots of a certain period of time. This is the best that I could have done at this given time – this totally represents me right now, at the moment. So of course, I strive for improvement, so I’m gonna try to do better next time, but I’m not one of those guys who think, “Oh, I wish I could go back and fix this and that, and blah, blah, blah…,” because it’s pointless, you know. It’s done now.
Hardrock Haven: Obviously, having released a solo album in a completely different formula than it was before might be considered a titular “quantum leap”, but still – which moment would you call a quantum leap of your entire career so far?
Gus G: Well, there’s been a few so far. I mean, the first one was when I got my first record contract – that was a big step. And of course, the next one and the biggest one in my career was obviously jumping into Ozzy’s band – that was a quantum leap, absolutely. You know, that was going to the maximum level that you can reach, playing one of the biggest bands in the world… And of course, this one now. It was a thing that I wanted to try for a while, to do a full instrumental album, so it was a big decision for me to try and do this.
Hardrock Haven: Definitely, especially that every time a guitarist releases an instrumental album, the word that many critics use first is “self-indulgence.” That, however, is not what Quantum Leap actually is. Was it challenging to avoid making a “style-over-substance” album and to make it more about substance than style?
Gus G: Yeah, you can say that… I mean, it was about trying to find the right balance. Of course, there was going to be a lot of guitar all over the place, because it’s a guitar album, but at the same time I didn’t want it to appeal only to guitar players. And not only for people – but for myself as well – I wanted it to be a piece of music that I can also listen back to at some time and be like, “Yeah, man, this is good. There’s some really cool stuff here.” And it’s not only about, “Oh, look what I can play…” and all that. I mean, I’m way past that. I don’t have to prove that kind of shit to anybody. So I focus on making good music – and the big thing, the biggest bet with myself was to try to make good songs, but without vocals. So, I wanted to keep it interesting for guitar, but at the same time, also to keep it interesting at a songwriting level.
Hardrock Haven: It seems to be an ongoing tendency for many guitarists to try and avoid typical shred records – I’m thinking about last albums from George Lynch and Reb Beach for example – so do you think the golden era of over-the-top shredding is gone for good?
Gus G: No, I don’t think so. I mean, I haven’t heard those albums that you’ve mentioned, but there’s some amazing stuff in the Prog world. I’m not a part of that kind of scene, but if you look at bands like Animals As Leaders or other instrumental groups like that, they play insane stuff and they’re taking it to different levels with eight-string guitars or whatever and experimenting with different kind of things… But no, I don’t think the over-the-top thing is over and I don’t think it should be over. I think there’s a purpose for everything – you just need to be able to use it at the right time, whenever you want. That is, if you have the technical proficiency, of course. So you know, in my opinion it’s good to be technical and it’s good to do these things as long as you use it with the musical meaning and as long as it serves the music, or as long as it’s the musical statement. Now if it’s something that’s just there to be an endless show-off, then there’s no substance to that. So I don’t know what kind of albums are out there for instrumental guitar these days – I haven’t heard Lynch’s album or Beach’s album – but I can only speak for myself at the end of the day.
Hardrock Haven: Sure. And one thing about Quantum Leap is the album’s stylistic diversity – would you attribute it only to your wide range of influences, or perhaps also an intention to make a varied and therefore enjoyable album?
Gus G: Honestly, I started making this album in the middle of quarantine, so I just did it to keep myself busy and just try to be creative. I wasn’t thinking much of, “Oh, what is everybody gonna think.” I knew there probably wouldn’t be some kind of commercial success [with it] or anything like that. I did it for myself, first and foremost. The diversity is kind of natural to me – I do that also on Firewind albums. I don’t like to write albums that are like the same song – that sound like the one same song from start to finish. I like to write things that are in different keys or different tempos – or maybe sometimes even in different styles, as you can hear on this record. Here I’m experimenting a little bit with other styles, and overall, I like to do that. And I think that seems to be the formula that works for me, and it’s natural for me really. I don’t like making ten Metal songs that sound exactly the same, that are in the same key and are so similar to each other.
Hardrock Haven: Having mentioned the circumstances of making your new album, is Quantum Leap a side effect of the pandemic only, so to speak, or maybe it would be released sometime in the future anyway?
Gus G: To be honest – if I hadn’t been at home with lockdown and stuff, maybe I would have never done this album. Well, I wanted to do something like this, but I was always so busy touring… like, I would make an album and then I would go on tour, and then I would think of the next things… what am I doing the next few months… So, I don’t think that I would’ve had that time and been in the right mindset to do it. It really was one of the good things – because not many of them came out of this past year – but this was the only good thing that came out, [the fact] that I was able to sit down and work on such a project extensively and really dig it and think about it more.
Hardrock Haven: Most musicians we talk with for Hardrock Haven throughout the last year and a half speak about not only the privilege of having the time to work on various projects that remained shelved until now, but also therapeutic side of music especially during the pandemic…
Gus G: Absolutely. I mean, it definitely saved me. This album absolutely saved me. Making music and playing music – I don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have that.
Hardrock Haven: Some musicians describe their composing process as painting with sounds, other see each instrumental track they compose as an image or a story – and what’s your approach to the process?
Gus G: Usually it starts with a couple of riffs for me. I jam, and whenever I have some ideas I just record them. Now, when you shape a song or an idea, there’s usually a certain feeling that you get, a certain vibe. Like you said, it could be a picture, it could be a color that it brings to mind, or whatever. But sometimes I don’t really think about it too much – I just wanna make stuff that sounds good and if does, I keep it, and if I like it, I know it’s good. And especially with an instrumental album, you know, there’s like many layers of things you can add to it. So you can look at it a little bit like a painting and you add all these layers of colors. But overall, it’s kind of hard to explain how it’s done. I guess some songs, they write themselves. Really, you just pick up the guitar and then it comes out. But [with] some songs, it’s a struggle and it takes months to complete [them], and it’s like doing it piece by piece. So for me, it seems to be that way.
Hardrock Haven: Quantum Leap would have been your second instrumental album if to count 2010 release mentioned here and there that’s called Guitar Master. However, it turns out there’s no trace of it in your official discography. What’s the reason for that?
Gus G: That’s because it’s not a solo album, actually. It was a project that I did for my old label Leviathan Records. And it’s basically a few backing tracks that they gave me – I didn’t make them – and asked me to solo over them, because they were making this project with many guitar players just doing the same thing. And they were calling it the Guitar Master series. And once I got the gig with Ozzy, they said, “Oh, great! We can make more money from this!” So they released it as a solo record without my consent. So what I did was I went back a couple of years ago and I bought the rights from them and I just took it down. I did it because that album is definitely not representative of my playing and of my composing and is definitely not a solo record, a thing I should point out. So this one [Quantum Leap] is my first solo instrumental record that I’ve made.
Hardrock Haven: Quantum Leap features the guest participation from only one guitarist other than you – UFO’s Vinnie Moore – actually, a reprise of 2018 single “Force Majeure.” Having a lot of experience when it comes to working with different singers on your solo albums, have you ever thought of recording an album with other guitar players?
Gus G: Well, first of all I should say the version of “Force Majeure” used on the album is not a reprise, but an exact same single that we put out in 2018. We just included it on the record, because originally it was a standalone single. I wanted to put it on the tracklist, so I added it at the end of the album. I think it fits there. And honestly, I had a couple of guitar players in mind that I wanted to invite for this record, but in the end I thought, “Well, I might as well just do this on my own and see what happens.” If I do another one next time, I will invite some friends. It would be nice.
Hardrock Haven: As mentioned, your previous solo albums featured many guest vocalists. When writing in this formula, do you do it with a specific voice in mind?
Gus G: You know, I usually write with producers or some other people, so it happens that we have some vocalists in mind and I will ask them – well, it depends and it’s different every time.
Hardrock Haven: Back to Quantum Leap, was the process of working on the album a chance to discover something you didn’t realize about yourself as an artist?
Gus G: Absolutely, yeah. I mean, I definitely discovered a lot of things. I think I pushed the envelope a little bit for myself and for my playing by just learning how to keep things interesting just with my guitar, without relying on vocals. You know, that was a very big learning experience. I’m glad I did it, because I know I can do it and it seems to work. So it was cool and I think I’d definitely do it again if I had the time and the right mindset to create such an album.
Hardrock Haven: Prior to the release of Quantum Leap, you’ve dropped a couple of singles first – a choice which you admitted to be quite deliberate. Do you think that we’re basically back to the era of singles rather than albums, especially with streaming platforms and playlists dominating our music consumption?
Gus G: Yeah, I think so. Definitely it’s almost going back to what music was in the ‘50s or ‘60s when they put out the 45s… the seven-inch singles… First they’d put them out, and only then they would put all those singles into an album and put it out later. And it seems to be a full circle, only that it’s in the digitalized era. I mean, it seems to be a model nowadays. A lot of [artists] do that – pretty much everybody does – and I don’t think it’s a bad thing. It’s kind of cool actually, and it gives the product more longevity… You can drop new music all the time and it keeps your fanbase interested in what you’re doing as you give them new stuff little by little… And then, in the end, you give them a full album. So I don’t think that’s a bad thing overall, you know.
Hardrock Haven: There’s also a video to each of the singles, and obviously, I can’t help but mention “Fierce” which is simply hilarious – and brilliant at the same moment…
Gus G: (laughs)
Hardrock Haven: Anyway, you’ve been quoted as saying you wanted something different from the regular performance video and this type seems to dominate among the music videos indeed. All hilariousness of “Fierce” aside, do you miss the days when music videos either expressed something or were at least as much fun to watch as “Fierce” is?
Gus G: On one hand – yeah, it would be cool if we could still have huge budgets to [make videos]. I mean, honestly, I’ve never had huge budgets to make videos in my time as an artist. But you know, growing up and watching MTV and seeing all these incredible video productions some of which were like mini-movies… sure, that’s the part of the myth of the music industry and the rock’n’roll myth, like, “Wow, look at that!” But nowadays things have changed, so you can’t compare how it was in the ‘80s or the ‘90s with now – forty years later… You cannot compare that, because now music is an audiovisual experience. If you drop a song, if you release it and there’s no video for it… it’s like it never existed. A buddy of mine, Rob Chapman, who’s an artist and a famous YouTuber, did that experiment. He said, “You know, I’ve tried to put out a song without a video,” and he says it’s shocking ‘cause it’s almost as if the song has never existed and was never released. So, now the visual is almost as important as the audio, but at the same time it doesn’t have to be the ultra mega production. It can just be you sitting with your iPhone and filming yourself (laughs). So, there has to be something said about that. That means that people want to watch while they listen and they don’t necessarily need to see the biggest production ever. It’s kind of interesting, you know, and I’m also observing how things have changed. I mean, to be honest, for this album I’ve made six videos, and probably I’m gonna make more… Probably I’m gonna make a video for each song of the album, and that seems to be something that people want.
Hardrock Haven: And speaking about these changes you’ve mentioned, you’ve been also quoted as saying the instrumental albums are more accepted by the audience than it was when you started out. In general, would you say it’s easier to be a musician these days than it was two decades ago?
Gus G: Oh, I don’t think it’s easier to be a musician nowadays (laughs). For a guy like me, who already is established to a certain degree and has an existing audience, it’s something I can keep working with. There’s something there – there’s a value and there’s a background… But for somebody new starting out today it’s pretty difficult. I wouldn’t know where to start and that’s what a lot of kids – a lot of younger guys that play guitar – ask me… (laughs) It’s a different world – really a different one. So I think it’s more difficult to be a musician these days, absolutely… Even for more established guys like us, it’s just more difficult – there’s a lot more competition, a lot more stuff out there and now music’s value is not counted in currency… in money. Music is valued by time – basically, you value music like, “How much of your free time are you willing to give me to listen to my song?” So it’s a different development obviously than it was twenty years ago, when you’d say, “Oh, one song is worth a dollar” or “An album is worth ten bucks, or fifteen bucks.”
Hardrock Haven: And also speaking about that – these days, every time there’s a new list of the greatest guitarists of all time compiled, we see the same names repeated over and over again, only the order changes. Is it more about critics and listeners being stuck in the past, or perhaps the general decline of the status of guitar hero among the younger generation?
Gus G: Yeah – but the thing is, there is a guitar scene. Absolutely. There’s lots of new guys that are doing amazing things on the instrument, but maybe the bigger press is not caught up to that yet. And that’s because a lot of the older press… well, maybe they’re not so in tune with what’s going on with social media and what the new thing is. But at the same, the guitar is not a part of the mainstream music either today. This is the only thing that is sad for me – you know, we should be hearing guitar included more on the Top Ten. Not Metal or Rock music – even in Pop music, but there’s no guitar out there. So I think maybe it has to do a little bit with guitar kind of disappearing from the mainstream. Every now and then, there is some artist that will bring it back, but still… Well, I can speak for the Rock and Metal thing – there seems to be like a certain corner and people are just doing their own thing there. It’s like you’re part of this community.
Hardrock Haven: So do you think the guitar actually has a chance to go back to mainstream?
Gus G: I’d like it to, but I don’t know (laughs). In a perfect world, a Metal band would sell out four nights in a row at Madison Square Garden (laughs) and something else would play in a tiny club, but… Well, it’s hard to say and I’m not good with these predictions – it’s hard to give them really. And I don’t really care either. I just do my thing and I have my audience and I just play my music for the people that follow me and I think the world today is very much like that. It’s about just having your own audience and reaching them directly. I don’t really care about the mainstream and I have no aspirations to be a part of it. I would like to see more guitar in it, but I don’t really care at the same time.
Hardrock Haven: And speaking about plans and predictions, what does the future hold in store for you since Quantum Leap is already out?
Gus G: Well, I want to do more promo stuff and I’m probably gonna do more videos for it. I would also like to film a live rehearsal with the band – with my friends here in the studio – and maybe livestream that, because probably I’m not gonna go on tour with it. And then we have some Firewind stuff coming up as we’re doing a twentieth anniversary tour next year.
Hardrock Haven: Any details about that?
Gus G: Well, the tickets are on sale already, so if you go on our websites, you’ll see it all. We start in March, when we’re doing this cruise in America – the Monsters of Rock Cruise. Then we’ll go to Spain for five shows in March and then in May we’re doing a European tour. So we have a few shows booked already – they’re on sale right now. And provided everything’s gonna be okay, we hope to see everybody there as there’s going to be a special show.
Hardrock Haven: Absolutely, so fingers crossed for that! So, is there anything you’d like to add in the end?
Gus G: Well, I just wanna thank you for the interview and everybody who’s reading this.
Hardrock Haven: Thank you!
Visit Gus G online: Official website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Check out new videos off Quantum Leap:
“Fierce”
“Enigma of Life”
