OZZY OSBOURNE/FIREWIND Guitarist GUS G. Interviewed By MUSICIAN'S FRIEND (Video)

Musician's Friend recently conducted an interview with OZZY OSBOURNE/FIREWIND guitarist Gus G. about his influences, schooling, landing the Ozzy gig, and his affinity for Blackstar amps. Watch the chat below.

Gus G.'s new instructional DVD for Rock House, "Lead & Rhythm Techniques", will be released on October 17. In this program, Gus reveals the secrets that have propelled him into the guitar stratosphere and shows you how to incorporate them into your playing. Learn the natural minor and Phrygian major scales, patterns, scale sequences and full neck runs he uses to take control of the fret board to form soulful leads that rip into shred masterpieces. Learn diminished sweep and chromatic arpeggios, emotional bending techniques and how to create a minor 3rd harmony lead. Gus reveals the chords, voicings, syncopated, pivoting staccato, interval, and clean picked rhythms that form the foundation of his style. He analyzes many of his FIREWIND leads and song structures complete with full band backing tracks that you can use the apply what you learn.

DVD includes:

* More than 40 lessons
* 46-page interactive tab book you print from DVD
* Free lifetime web membership for online support
* Behind-the-scenes photos and video
* Interview, live performances & more
* iPod-ready video

Language: English
Length: 120 minutes
Zones: The DVD is zoned to play anywhere in the world

"Lead & Rhythm Techniques" is available for pre-order at this location.

"Gus plays with a great sense of melody and when he combines his technical chops and tone, out comes mind-blowing riffs," said Joe Palombo, Executive Director of Rock House. "More than just a shredder, Gus really plays with tremendous amounts of feel. His work with FIREWIND and DREAM EVIL show his has incredible writing abilities and versatility."

Rock House has developed an accelerated yet easy-to-use system of learning that utilizes the functionality of DVD and print, integrated with the accessibility of the Internet. Aspiring musicians who have a product produced by Rock House receive free membership to RockHouseMethod.com for 24-7 lesson support. Students use this fully interactive site along with their product to enhance their learning experience, expand their knowledge, link with instructors, and connect with a community of people around the world who are learning to play music using the Rock House Method.

Gus G. (real name: Kostas Karamitroudis) recently spoke to Guitar World magazine about how he landed the gig with OZZY OSBOURNE as the replacement for longtime axeman Zakk Wylde.

In between albums with his main band FIREWIND, Gus played with various other groups, including ARCH ENEMY. When the latter act played the 2005 Ozzfest, Gus ran into his future employer. "That summer Blabbermouth had announced that Ozzy was looking for a new guitarist," Gus said. "So I went and knocked on the dressing-room door and gave his people my FIREWIND CD." Zakk was back in the band a couple of days later, but when Wylde and Osbourne parted ways last summer, Gus received an e-mail from Ozzy's office inviting him to audition.

"Initially, I was a bit stressed," Gus admitted. "But we jammed for a couple of hours, and then Ozzy came in and we did 'I Don't Know', 'Bark At The Moon', 'Crazy Train' and 'Suicide Solution'." Gus got the gig and almost immediately went into rehearsals for a show in August at the closing ceremonies of the BlizzCon gaming convention in Anaheim, California.

"I didn't have any problems learning the songs, technically speaking," he said. "But all of Ozzy's guitarists have their own unique styles, and you have to pay attention to that when playing songs from each guy's era. For example, Randy Rhoads would do all these weird little fills here and there. The first two albums he plays on are just pure genius; he was very ahead of his time. Jake E. Lee is underrated, maybe because he was in the band during Ozzy's big-hair era. I think he's phenomenal — a very unorthodox player. And Zakk is a really tough player — in order to live up to that, you have to have a really big sound. He's the bluesiest player of them all."