Gus G Interview by Heavy Oder Was?
7.21.02
1. Tell me all about the history of the band.
The idea of FIREWIND was born in late 1998, after I dropped out of Beklee
College of Music. I was living in Boston back then, and with the help of
some friends, I recorded some songs I had written and put them on a CD that
I called FIREWIND. I was also doing a lot of instrumental music and
basically I was sending all my demos to David T. Chastain from Leviathan
Records. David always liked the stuff I was sending him and was always
encouraging me to continue working on my sound and style. A couple of years
later I sent him some songs that he really liked and he offered to help me
to find the right people for my band and to produce my music. That's how I
got my contract with Leviathan Records. Vocalist Stephen Fredrick
(x-Kenziner) and drummer Brian Harris (also from Kenziner, Zanister) joined
the band thru David, and I brought in bassist, Konstantine who's also from
Greece. After many months of preparation and writing the best material
possible, we entered the studio. The album was recorded in 3 different
studios in USA and Greece. The guitars and bass were recorded in Greece, the
vocals in Atlanta, GA and the drum tracks were recorded in Ohio. The album
was mixed in Studio Fredman in Sweden by my friend and Dream Evil bandmate,
Fredrik Nordstrom.
2. How does it come that a man from Greece lives in Sweden and plays in an
American based group?
I moved to Sweden in 1999, cause I started Dream Evil with Fredrik. However,
I was always writing material for FIREWIND and at the time I was still
sending demos to Leviathan. The band became more American based, because
Leviathan Records is an American label and David's connections with other
musicians were mostly in the US. However, I am the "soul" of FIREWIND and I
am Greek, as half the band is Greek and half American. The way we work with
my other FIREWIND band mates is, that I make all the music and arrangements
and I later send everything to the US, and they record it there. Of course,
when it came to co-ordinate all this, Chastain was a major help.
3. Will there be live performances with the band?
We hope so, and we're working on that right now. We really want to tour
Europe and Japan this year. However, this also depends on the album's
success and of course the touring opportunities that will come our way.
4. How does the songwriting work?
Like I mentioned before, I am responsible for all the compositions, I write
and arrange all the music. I also come up with lyrics and melodies and later
Stephen fixes everything and makes it 10 times better. David Chastain helps
me a lot with production stuff when it comes to the songwriting as well,
like suggesting different things and ideas. Once I record all the stuff in
my home studio, I sent it over to Leviathan and they take over from there,
and I trust them. I know of David's works and Stephen's works and they
always come up with the best results!!!
5. How do you decide which song to pick for DREAM EVIL or FIREWIND?
Well, obviously both bands have different styles. Also, in Dream Evil I
write with the rest of the band members, while in Firewind, I write all the
music by myself. So, it's 2 different things there. If my riffs/ideas are
more hard rock/heavy, I put them on the Dream Evil songs and the heavier and
more guitar oriented stuff goes for Firewind. It's not a tough decision to
make actually..... I can feel it when I start making a song, for which band
it will fit best.
6. Can you live from the music and what are your next projects?
Yes, I can live from music now, but I'm living on very little money. I also
don't know if I'll get bigger paychecks or smaller....that depends on the
success of my albums. Some of my future projects are a melodic death metal
band I'm working with, called Nightrage, and also I have finished the
recordings of the second Mystic Prophecy album which should be out late 2002
or early 2003. I have also done guest solos on the new and upcoming releases
of Old Man's Child and Dragonland. As you can see, I'm very busy with all
these projects, but I'm mainly concentrating on the new material for the
second Firewind right now.
Thank you Heavy Oder Was? and to all of you
BEWARE OF THE FIREWIND THAT'S RAGING!!!
Gus G.
CONTACT:
firewind@leviathanrecords.com
WEBSITE: http://www.leviathanrecords.com/firewind.htm
Band photos
Firewind's "Between Heaven and Hell" cover art.
Firewind's European "Between Heaven and Hell" cover art.
