Special report by Maria Nayef

“There’s no higher honour in hard rock or heavy metal for a guitar player than to play for OZZY OSBOURNE. I still pinch myself,” says Gus G of his coveted position. “I’ve enjoyed every moment I’ve been with Ozzy, it’s been a great learning experience playing on the biggest stages and going to that level of recognition. It has made me a much better player.”

Gus G was recently in Australia for the first time with FIREWIND to play four headline shows around the country, a contrast to the huge crowds he usually plays, whether at Europe’s biggest festivals or packed-out arenas alongside Osbourne. But the passion and enthusiasm with which Firewind were met was warmly received; as Gus G has reiterated, it’s all about “the love of music, not the money or the fame.”

The distinguished musician wowed the crowds Down Under, not surprising when Gus G says playing with Firewind has become second nature. “After you’ve been doing it for so many years, you can play those songs in your sleep, you know?” he says, whereas being Osbourne’s guitarist didn’t come without some pressure. “I had big shoes to fill – a lot of legendary guitar players there before me – so you just hope you do it right. But then again, I’m the kind of guy that likes challenges in my life, so at the same time I was also ‘bring it on.’”

It has been a steadfast climb to the top of the hard rock and metal ranks for the dazzling guitarist, who has undoubtedly worked hard but has also enjoyed each moment. On stage he is the epitome of rock ’n’ roll. Backstage, with his hair tied back and dressed in blue jeans and a grey Seymour Duncan t-shirt, he’s a very happy, chilled and chatty character, as he talks about how great the audience was and other happenings in the world of metal. He also regularly interacts with his fans on social media and is deeply appreciative of every compliment he receives. Gus G is evidently a man untainted by egotism.

Now Gus G is going solo, with the recent announcement that his anticipated album, entitled I Am The Fire will be released by March next year via Century Media Records. His debut solo offering will have more of a “classic” rock feel, Gus G being a big fan of '70s and '80s hard rock, but being such a force on the modern metal landscape, I Am The Fire is sure to embrace both old and new passions and influences. And coupled with Gus G’s exceptional talent and artistic flair (as well as a slew of guest musicians and vocalists) his solo debut will undoubtedly be one spectacular offering.

I Am The Fire was mixed in Los Angeles but a lot of the guitars were recorded at Gus G’s home in Thessaloniki in Greece, a home he shares with his wife of two years, lots of guitars, and of course Markos, his pet cat who has become a bit of a celebrity himself, and we laugh about the feline’s star status. “That cat is 18 years-old you know,” he says, “he was 11 years old when we got him and he’s 18 now. He’s part of the family. It was my wife’s grandmother’s cat, and when grandma died nobody would take him so we kind of like, inherited him. My wife asked me: ‘do you want to take the cat?’ and I was like ‘yeah, let’s give it a shot,’ because I didn’t like cats before.”

It’s a demanding schedule for the 32 year-old these days who frequently travels abroad, and his wife Anastasia is “really supportive” of his career. “We’ve been together for ten years so she knows what’s going on – and she’s put up with my shit for ten years.” His voice takes on a distinct tenderness as he says, “she’s the most supportive person I have, actually.”

I mention some of the breathtaking instrumental tracks that have appeared across the Firewind catalogue over the past ten years, not only live favourites like ‘The Fire and the Fury’ and ‘SKG’ but also tracks like ‘Before the Storm’ and ‘Oceans’ saying there’s something magical about them, and that he has the gift of making music that can affect one’s emotions, something that takes him aback somewhat. “Wow, I never thought about it that way,” he says, “so thanks, because I don’t want to make instrumental music just for the guitar heads – I want the music to have a meaning.”

I prod more about instrumentals, asking if they were something he explored more on his solo debut. “For my solo record I wrote four instrumentals, but then again I wrote another 15 vocal songs,” he says. How many of the instrumentals made it to the final track list of I Am The Fire remains to be seen as more details emerge, but the idea of making an instrumental-only record never appealed to him. “Who wants to listen to only instrumental songs in a row?” he asks. “I mean, there has to be some respite from that.” Gus G also admits doing solos is something he originally found intimidating and says it’s something he’s “still trying to work on.”

“I actually didn’t do a guitar solo until I joined Ozzy’s band, then he started asking me, because his guitar players always did a guitar solo, and I was like ‘wow, I have to figure out a guitar solo now’ and that was actually a scary thing, standing on stage on your own and trying to fill up a gap of five to ten minutes with just you and your guitar without getting everybody bored,” he says. Surprising, when one considers the ease and precision in which Gus G performs his solos (a real treat to witness live) not to mention the emotion and passion he exudes while in the spotlight, alone with his instrument. “Yeah, well I mean you have no idea what goes through my mind,” he laughs. So what exactly is he thinking of during those moments? “I’m just trying not to make any mistakes – and get through it as soon as possible!”

This year has been super-busy for Gus G, not only touring with Firewind and recording his solo record, but he has also attended quite a few guitar clinics, something he admits he initially did not like the idea of doing. “Originally I thought it was going to be a lot of music police,” he laughs, “and I really didn’t enjoy doing them for a long time. I always felt it was a bit boring to sit there in a chair while everybody’s looking at your fingers. Then I really began to enjoy them. I enjoyed meeting people and I saw the positive side of them. I’m doing quite a lot now actually,” he says.

He admits 2013 has been his busiest year within regards to guitar clinics, which saw him visit Russia, Estonia, Ukraine, Italy and Sweden. He also did guitar clinics in his homeland of Greece and following Firewind’s tour of Australia he headed straight to Japan for more. “If I can answer somebody’s question or help them with something on the guitar, then it’s worth my time to travel to do that. So now I’m actually looking forward to doing more of them – it’s become my little hangout with guitar fans.”

I remind him of another guitar virtuoso also big on the clinic circuit who shares a similar passion for his instrument and Gus G’s humbleness, someone he appears to be quite close with, Herman Li of DRAGONFORCE. “Herman’s a great example of a guy that I became friends with through the business, and we’ve supported each other throughout the years,” he says. “Herman is one of my closest friends that is a musician. We’ve been friends for more than ten years, from when be both kind of started out. When his band got really, really big, he didn’t forget about me, he invited me to support them and handed us his audience in England. And it’s not like either of us are riding high on our success or anything – we know what the reality of how things are, and that it might not be there tomorrow, you know?” he says.

Gus G currently has four ESP signature guitars, three being the Random Star shape that he’s been playing for ten years, but it’s the one that stands out from the rest I enquire about, the white guitar with the purple graphics on it which became his fourth signature model.

“A friend of mine from Sweden, Patric Ullaeus (DIMMU BORGIR, IN FLAMES), who is a really famous video director, he did this painting with another buddy of his and when I saw it I said: ‘Dude, can you put that on a guitar? That would be so rad,’ so it’s actually that graphic that you see on the guitar,” he says. And in terms of sound, how does that guitar differ to the others? “It has a bit of a darker sound, a bit of a heavier sound, so usually during an Ozzy set I would bring it out to play the BLACK SABBATH songs. Now I’ve started using it for some of the Firewind stuff as well, because I really dig that guitar.”

I ask about his reputation in Greece, a country where metal isn’t mainstream, and of his status there as a musician. “Actually we have a strong heavy metal scene here. There are a lot of heavy metal and rock fans, you’d be surprised,” he says, “and in Greece the word has gotten out by now – I mean I’m not some mainstream TV guy – I’m still a metal guitar player – but it’s surprising how many people actually know me here. It’s pretty mind-blowing. I think we set a really good example for hard rock and heavy metal in Greece – our last album went number one on the charts, and we achieved that with no radio or TV airplay.”

Within regards to the direness of the economic situation in Greece, Gus G says that the international media does tend to make things seem a little more dramatic than they actually are, but admits it was indeed tough for the first couple of years in his homeland. “People suffered. People were very angry,” he says. But Greeks have a fighting spirit and it seems the anger of the last two years is slowly beginning to subside.

“Greek people are a happy people. We like to have a good time and enjoy each day. It was reported that we had a good summer of tourism and I think the disappointment and misery is slowly going away – there’s definitely that vibe of positivity coming back in.”

To cap off 2013, Firewind will be performing shows in Bulgaria and then Cyprus, while 2014 will undoubtedly be the year of I Am The Fire, when Century Media releases the album in the spring. Track titles that have been revealed so far include ‘Eyes Wide Open’, ‘Redemption’, ‘End Of The Line’ and ‘Blame It On Me’ with more details to be announced over the ensuing weeks.

More on Gus G on Facebook.

(Live photos by Maria Nayef)