Chad Bowar: How are you enjoying L.A.?
Gus G: I love it. I went to NAMM for the first time and we presented my ESP guitar. It was a dream come true. We had autograph signing sessions with Michael Wilton of Queensryche and Will Adler from Lamb Of God. That was pretty cool being there. ESP brought me over here to debut my signature guitar. It was perfect timing since our album is just coming out in America.
Were you involved in the design of the ESP guitar?
They’ve had the basic shape for a long time, but the problem was they didn’t have a face behind it to support it and play it. The previous guitar I played was already becoming a trademark in Japan. The idea to do a signature model was first done in Japan. The Japanese ESP guys suggested I go with this shape. It worked. The rest of the details I made the way I wanted. I chose the wood, the pickups, the inlays, things like that.
Allegiance has done well in Europe since its release there. What are your expectations for the U.S.?
I don’t know what to expect. I know lately the music has been changing and people are checking out more melodic heavy metal like we play. I think everything and nothing is possible. So far the reviews have been very good. There’s a lot of interest from the fans and the press. It looks like it’s on the right track.
You have a new vocalist for this album, Apollo Papathanasio. How did he come to join the band, and how has his addition affected Firewind’s sound?
Of course he changed us. Another voice will change the band’s sound. It’s a natural thing. He changed it for the better. His voice reminds me of the first two albums. Our first singer’s voice was a little rougher. Apollo has an edge to his voice, but he can also be very melodic. He has David Coverdale influences in his voice. He’s been a good friend of mine for many years. I met him in Sweden. He is a native Greek, but he lives in Sweden. I had asked him to join the band a couple years back, but back then he was in a couple other bands and had other obligations. So now when we were looking for a singer again I gave him a call and hoped he wasn’t busy with somebody else.
You recorded Allegiance in Sweden. Did you enjoy your time there?
Yes. I used to live in Sweden and I love to work there. They have really comfortable studios, top of the line equipment and very good producers and engineers. It’s a quiet country. We recorded in the middle of the winter and it was freezing cold outside, so you don’t really want to do anything else except stay inside recording and playing.
How has the band’s songwriting process evolved over the years?
We changed the songwriting process on the last album. Apollo is a very good songwriter and our new drummer Mark Cross also writes. Our keyboard player Bob (Katsionis) and I co-wrote most of the album. I also did some songs on my own, but now it’s much more a team effort. I used do the pre-production in my home studio and then give the tapes to the guys and they would record their parts. But this time we did it differently. We did the pre-production and then entered the rehearsal room all together. We rehearsed the material and fixed everything. We worked on the dynamics a lot and the arrangements. We fixed a lot of things and brought it to the level we wanted. That was a very important thing in the process of making this album. Everybody gave their input.
