Video footage of Greek guitarist Gus G.’s (FIREWIND, OZZY OSBOURNE) August 7 clinic at Sam Ash in Carle Place, New York can be seen below.
In a recent interview with About.com Heavy Metal, Gus spoke about how illegal music downloading and diminishing record sales have affected bands like FIREWIND. “When I started, it was already all about MP3s and Napster, so I’m used to always having to work with small budgets for recording or touring and you learn to appreciate every step; that selling a few thousand more albums can take you to the next level,” he said. “It’s changing drastically every other month almost, with new platforms and I’m totally cool with that.”
He added, “I don’t have any nostalgia for vinyl — I use an iPad and iTunes to buy music, but you have to pay. Music isn’t free. I was reading an interview with Zakk Wylde [OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY] and he found his nephew with a load of copied CDs. He said, well, you might as well go the whole way, jump over the barrier and take a t-shirt too. Because it’s not physical, kids don’t understand it’s illegal.”
Asked if it has become difficult planning for FIREWIND touring and recording due to this commitments to Ozzy’s solo band, Gus said, “It’s not too bad, really. The only thing is you never know what will change. Like this summer, I wasn’t going to be with Ozzy because of the BLACK SABBATH tour, but with Tony Iommi sadly getting sick, the whole ‘Ozzy And Friends’ thing came up and, of course, I was going to be part of that, so [then] I [had] six weeks touring with Ozzy. It’s not that hard; the business is like that and as long as you’re always ready for something to change, you’ll do OK.”
Source: www.blabbermouth.net