GUS G. releases video for 'Not Forgotten'
20-04-2023
Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G., well known in rock and metal circles for his work as Ozzy Osbourne‘s guitarist and as leader of his own band FIREWIND, has released the official music video for “Not Forgotten”, an instrumental song taken from his latest solo album, “Quantum Leap”, out on AFM Records.
Watch “Not Forgotten” below.
The “Not Forgotten” clip arrives the day before the launch of Gus’s “Electric Guitarlands” European tour, also featuring Michael Angelo Batio (MANOWAR), Rowan Robertson (DIO) and Andy Martongelli.
Says Gus: “Hey everyone! I’m really excited about the ‘Electric Guitarlands’ tour that kicks off tomorrow! Not only it’s my first solo tour in 4 years, but it’ll be my first time presenting material from my latest album ‘Quantum Leap’ on stage. The album came out during the pandemic and I haven’t had a chance to tour this, until now. Moreover, I get to share the stage with legendary guitarists Michael Angelo Batio and Rowan Roberson. Italian shredder Andy Martongelli rounds up the bill and this is going to be a guitar event you don’t wanna miss! We will all play individual sets with a full band plus you’ll get to see all of us jamming and improvising on stage together! Hope to see you out there at a show!”
“Quantum Leap” came out in October 2021 via AFM Records. Shortly before the LP’s release, Gus stated about the effort: “It’s my first all-instrumental solo album. So this means there’s no vocals at all, no guest singers; it’s just me and my guitar… I’m really excited about this album. It was about time that I stepped up and did a full-on instrumental guitar album. A lot of people have been asking me and pushing me to do this. And to be honest, I always turned it down. But I think the recent situation with the pandemic and the fact that everybody, we all had to stay locked in in our houses and we went through months of quarantine and lockdown, that kind of sparked ideas and got me to… Music was my only gateway, basically, so that’s what I did; I just made songs. I couldn’t fly to another country and meet with other musicians and do pre-production or anything like that, so I just decided to write stuff on my own and just make a guitar album. There’s a lot of cool stuff on there — different stuff. Obviously, my style is all over the place. I tried to push the envelope a little bit and explore some new things.”
Regarding the other musicians who appear on “Quantum Leap”, Gus said: “I have two amazing players with me on the record. One of them you already know. It’s Dennis Ward (PINK CREAM 69, UNISONIC). Dennis has worked with me in the past. We’ve worked together the past five years, actually. We’ve done two FIREWIND albums together. He’s been co-producing and co-writing with me. And also my previous solo record, ‘Fearless’, he played bass and he sang. He’s a great singer. He’s a multi-talented guy. He mixed and mastered the record and also played bass on most of the songs. I played bass on a couple of the tracks. I also did the keyboards. And I also have a great drummer from England, (Jan-)Vincent Velazco. He’s great. He plays amazingly.”
As for why he chose to name his new solo album “Quantum Leap”, Gus said: “I liked the title. It sounded nice. It was something different. ‘Quantum leap’ means when you’re taking a big step, so for me, making an instrumental album and letting my guitar do the talking was a big step for me, for once. I’ve always worked with singers and collaborated with many people, but this time, I decided to just let the guitar be a voice. So this was my quantum leap.”
In September 2019, Gus issued a digital-only solo EP, “Live In Budapest – Part 1”, consisting of four tracks recorded on the guitarist’s headline European tour in support of his “Fearless” album. The world tour saw Gus and his band share stages around the world with legendary guitarists like Richie Kotzen, Vinnie Moore followed by his own headline dates and a massive tour as special guest of Los Angeles rockers STEEL PANTHER.
“Fearless” was released in April 2018 via AFM Records. The follow-up to 2015’s “Brand New Revolution” marked Gus’s first release since exiting Osbourne’s band in 2017.
On “Fearless”, Gus joined forces with Ward and drummer Will Hunt (EVANESCENCE).
FIREWIND’s ninth, self-titled studio album was made available in May 2020.
Prior to the LP’s arrival, the band parted ways with guitarist/keyboardist Bob Katsionis and singer Henning Basse.
FIREWIND’s current vocalist is Herbie Langhans, who has previously played with AVANTASIA and SINBREED.
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