With the new self-titled record FIREWIND prove once more that they are an institution in melodic Power Metal. So Metal Inside confronts band founder and guitarist Gus G. with cats, Panorama Triangles and Speed Demons...Interview

How are you, how are the cats doing?

I‘m fine, thanks and hope the same for you. The cats are doing great, they’re very happy that I´m home all the time now.

Congratulations on the new FIREWIND album. It's awesome. What are you doing stucked in quarantine except taking over the Instagram account from Jackson guitars?

Thanks! Well, during quarantine I’ve been doing a lot of promo interview for the album, but also watch movies, work out more often, and also working on other things like a an acoustic project with Alissa from ARCH ENEMY which we’ve live streamed, we’ll probably do some more. So there’s plenty of things to do here.

Do you think the current situation might have a negative impact on the sales of hard copies or is maybe more of an advantage for the downloads and streams?

It’ll definitely hurt the physical sales, but it’s hard to say for the streams. It could go both ways. We hope people now can dig into new music with more focus since there’s lots of downtime.

Which guitars did you use on the new album?

I used my Jackson signature models.

I thought I heard the Speed Demon on it as well, correct me if I'm wrong?

No, I didn´t use that on the album. I’ve mainly used that one on stage as it’s a great boost pedal in front of any amp. For the new album I mainly used plugins to record. On stage I still use tube amps of course.

On the new FIREWIND album you did a great job not only as a guitar player, but also as the producer. Any other bands having you as their producer in the near future?

Thanks! You know, I haven´t produced someone else´s music yet, but maybe I should try and do that in the future. Maybe help an up-and-coming band, who knows?

Do you have plans for a European tour with FIREWIND and especially for playing in Germany?

At the moment everything is on halt because of the current situation. But once the world is back to normal we will definitely go back on the road and for sure play in Germany.

As you are from the beautiful town of Thessaloniki, do you love those famous triangle pies?

Haha yes!! The famous Panorama Triangles! They’re tasty but you can´t have too many, cause there’s tons of calories in those things.

The final question is a "yes or no" question. Are you tempted or did you catch yourself doing a comparison to Ozzy´s latest record?

No, not at all. His record is so different to what FIREWIND does.

Thank you for taking the time and hopefully see you on tour soon. Stay safe!