He’s inspired people the world over to pick up a guitar for over twenty years. He’s guested on no less than twenty-nine albums alongside his own, original material and, in 2009, he was handpicked by OZZY OSBOURNE to replace Zakk Wylde in the Double-O’s touring band, a position he held for the next eight years. You’d forgive Gus G for deciding to hang up his six-string and rest on his laurels after a career bursting with accolades, but whilst the driving force behind Greek power metal giants FIREWIND is still very much active, he’s not about to churn out new songs for the sake of it.
“I always ask myself ‘what do FIREWIND have left to say after nine albums?’,” he explains. “I must have something to say artistically, otherwise why bother? I’m not saying the world really needs a FIREWIND album or whatever, but if I don’t 110% believe it, there’s no point in doing it.”
It’s an admirable mentality to have. Whether or not you like the latest releases by some of metal’s so-called ‘legacy’ bands likes IRON MAIDEN, PRIEST, SAXON et al, you cannot brush aside their resolute nature to not become a cabaret act and tour the hits for the rest of their days. Gus also knows that, for fans of the band, a new album will always bring excitement to them.
“We definitely don’t take it for granted; we don’t even take for granted the fact we still have some fans!” He jokes. “But of course, the most important thing is that you still feel creative. If you can sense the evolution in how to move forward with your style, sound and everything around it, then it’s worth doing.”
Which brings us to Stand United, FIREWIND’s tenth album and one that, as alluded to, has come with its own form of evolution – in this case, it’s that it has more lyrical contributions from Gus than any other record before. “I had starting writing lyrics more on the last album to help out Herbie [Langhans, vocals] because he was new in the band and we were on a tight deadline. But this time around, we worked on it from scratch and discussed so much back and forth that I ended up writing a lot more, especially on tour when I would write a verse in an airport on the way back from a festival. Before I knew it, I’d written a fair amount of the album!”
Although not a full-blown concept record, Stand United is, as its name suggests, centred around coming together in the face of adversity, from the call to arms of the title track to the empowering chug of Chains. If there’s one thing power metal does better than any other genre, it’s produce uplifting tracks for people to raise a fist and smile at – which begs the question, can it ever be gloomy? Given Gus’s longevity in the scene, it’s a good question to pose to a wise head.
“I mean, it depends on the band, but power metal is supposed to be all about the cheese right? You have to embrace the cheese. Some bands do it more than they should – I feel the younger generation of power metal have turned it into more of a cosplay thing and into ‘Disney metal’ territory, which is personally not my vibe, but power metal has always had some kind of uplifting message and my take is that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Talking of embracing the cheese, the album also features Talking In Your Sleep, a cover of the 1983 hit by Detroit power pop outfit THE ROMANTICS. Not as big a hit worldwide as Michael Sembello’s Maniac (which FIREWIND had previously released 2008’s The Premonition), it’s apparently, according to Gus, a huge song in his home nation. “It’s on the radio a lot here, and one day I figured it could work as a cover and, after I saw there weren’t any metal covers of it in existence, I knew it had to be done. Funnily enough, though, when I mentioned it to the band, Johan [Nunez, drums] said ‘dude, I grew up with this song!’ and he’s from Belgium, so I guess it was a hit there too!”
Having had such a varied career, and one that’s brought a lot of plaudits, there’s one final question for Gus – what one piece of advice would he give to musicians wanting to stick it out for as long as him? “Stick to your guns. If you do what you really believe in, you won’t be bothered by trends or what’s cool in the moment. Do what fills your heart first, and then you’ll be able to fill the souls of those who like what you do.”
Stand United is out now via AFM Records.
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