GUS G. On The Making Of OZZY OSBOURNE's 'Scream'

Scott Kahn of MusicPlayers.com recently conducted an interview with Greek guitarist Gus G. (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIREWIND, ARCH ENEMY, DREAM EVIL). A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

MusicPlayers.com: I've been listening to the new [OZZY OSBOURNE] album ["Scream"], and I love it. It's my favorite Ozzy album since "No More Tears".

Gus: Dude, you know what, I'm not shitting you, that's what I've been hearing a lot lately. I have to thank you first of all for saying this — you don't have to say that, so obviously you mean it. A lot of people are saying it's the best one he's done since "No More Tears", and time will tell what will happen. But even if it isn't, that's not the case, it means that album is enough to get people excited, so I'm very glad about that.

MusicPlayers.com: Your love for Ozzy is obvious. From listening to this record, it's obvious that Zakk [Wylde] has had an influence on your guitar playing over the years. But you also bring something very different to the table: the European shred metal approach, as well as a sometimes neo-classical approach to your soloing.

Gus: Yeah, a little bit. I like European guitar players. I mean, I'm a big Michael Schenker, Yngwie Malmsteen, Gary Moore fan. And I feel that really shows in my playing, and it's good because I understand where guys like Zakk or Randy [Rhoads] or Jake E. Lee come from because I'm a fan of those guys as well. But at the same time, I have my own background and my own thing, and I'm very happy you notice that. Obviously there's a bunch of fucking shit out there that sounds too much like Zakk or too much like this or unoriginality and blah, blah, blah, whatever. I don't fucking try to be Mr. Reinventing-the-Wheel. I'm just trying to do my best. I play like Gus would play. If you pick up any FIREWIND record, you'll hear the same fucking guy in there.

MusicPlayers.com: Yeah, there were some moments on the recording that really jumped out at me as being "Wow, this is really fresh. This is obviously Gus." For instance, in the single "Let Me Hear You Scream", the opening section of the guitar solo sounds almost like a string skipping exercise, and not your typical metal lead.

Gus: Yeah, it's not, it's kind of like a bigger slide thing, like jumping positions and going back and forth. It's one of those solos where I put a little bit of thought behind it. I thought, well, let's not make this one of the most crazy lick that nobody's ever heard. Honestly, I couldn't even do that. Let's do something technical but easy enough for the kids to figure out, but at the same time be blazing and fast and all that. So it sounds flashy and all that stuff, but once you break it down it isn't really. It's a couple of licks together, but it's well thought-out and put together. Like you say, yeah, that's kind of my thing. It's not something you would hear from Jake or anyone else.

MusicPlayers.com: Yeah, I love that. My ears picked up at that and said, "Wow, this is not the same old stuff with a new player."

Gus: Thanks, man, thanks. That is a point, as well. I love Zakk, he's one of my favorite guitar players. And Randy, and Jake. I love everybody. And you know, I want to keep that vibe but at the same time, I have some good things to contribute. But you also have to consider that I didn't write any of the songs on the album. I came in at the last minute when there wasn't any guitar player around. So I came in at the last minute and I played on Kevin's songs [Kevin Churko, producer and co-writer] and it's not that they're bad. They're fucking great songs. I mean, the songwriting speaks for itself. You don't need a fucking rocket scientist to get to that.

MusicPlayers.com: When you came in, had Kevin laid down scratch guitar tracks?

Gus: Yeah, that was the situation. Kevin isn't a guitar player, but he's a songwriter and producer. So he did that, and he had the guitar, and that's where I came in. And they were like, "Please give us your guitar." Kevin is a fucking great guy, he didn't hold me back or anything. He was very open. He was like, "Do it how Gus G. would do it, man." And I was like, you know what? Here's some ideas that are not very guitar-orientated, and here's some things that I would do this way. But I didn't bother to change the songs or anything; the songs were there. Just bits and pieces that make it sound like a kickass riff. Some stuff was just a little to processed on the computer or something like that. I tried to put a little more of a "jam"-y vibe into it. And that was it, it was very nice to work with Kevin in the studio, he really helped me.

MusicPlayers.com: What's next for FIREWIND?

Gus: Well, everybody asks me that. I'm thinking it would be fucking stupid to stop FIREWIND now. FIREWIND is like my baby, it's my band, and I've had that for about ten years. FIREWIND's actually just finished a new album. It's called "Days of Defiance" and it will come out this fall. And some tour dates will follow sometime next year, whenever there's a break on the Ozzy tour. We're gonna' do all the main leg this year. And next year there's definitely going to be some more touring with Ozzy, but there's gonna' be some breaks in between, and FIREWIND's gonna' go out and do some shows.

Read the entire interview from MusicPlayers.com.

(Thanks: Fullshred)