FIREWIND mainman and guitarist Gus G. spoke with Metal Asylum in New Jersey about their latest release, Allegiance, as the band are gearing up for their first string of US dates later this summer, which include an appearance at ProgPower USA in Atlanta.

Other topics include his influences, unveiling his signature guitar at NAMM, and his status with former bands DREAM EVIL, NIGHTRAGE and MYSTIC PROPHECY.

The following is an excerpt:

Q: Allegiance is the fourth Firewind record and the lineup is on its third singer. Is changing vocalists something you would like to do?

A: "Well we don’t do it because we want different vocalists on every album that’s for sure, I mean it may seem like that but its not. It's hard to find the right people really to both get along with well in a band as well as finding people who want to tour a lot. We want to be a touring band and our first singer Steven Fredrick didn’t want to tour at all, then we had Chitty Somapala who came in for the third record Forged In Fire, but that was more of a personal problem and I think I may have rushed that decision. But in regards to Apollo I hope things work out and he sticks around, we already started writing some material together for the next album. I mean even though he had a family problem and had to drop out of one tour he’s still gonna join us for the rest of the '07 tour schedule. I mean we’ve always had great singers but I think Apollo is really the highlight so far."

You can read the full interview here.