Steel Notes Magazine January 2017 | Page 60

Interview
Steel Notes Magazine
January 2017

Interview

Gus G Talks Firewind Ozzy Osbourne Future Solo Record

By Andrew Catania
Konstantinos Karamitroudis , aka Gus G ., is a young name in the heavy metal genre and has managed to bag many awards and achievements in the rather short course of his professional music career .
Born on 12 th September 1980 in Thessaloniki , Greece , Gus G . grew up learning music at home . His father ’ s love for rock introduced him to the acclaimed bands like The Eagles , Pink Floyd , and Santana in his early childhood years . His father , who used to play and sing traditional Greek melodies at the local taverns and bars , wanted to deliver his own passion to his child . His favorite childhood hobby was to listen to his father ’ s recorded versions of Peter Frampton ’ s album titled Frampton Comes Alive ! Elated by his son ’ s natural philia towards music , his father presented him with his first guitar , a basic classic piece , on his 10 th birthday .
Partly because of his father ’ s wish and primarily because of his natural talent that seems to have genetically transmitted to him from his father , he opted to learn music at a very young age . He was enrolled at a local music school where his natural playing skills were nurtured and groomed . After having learned the elementary techniques , he switched over to his first electric guitar by the time he turned 14 . He joined a local music conservatory and under the mentorship of a rock guitar instructor , he decided to test his fate in the rock and heavy metal genre .
1998 turned out to be a turning point in his life . He got himself enrolled at the Berklee College of Music and decided to focus on building his professional profile . His debut project was a joint feat with his musician friends and was titled as Firewind .
The demo bagged significant attention from prominent record label agencies as well as a couple of growing metal bands such as Mystic Prophecy , Dream Evil , and Night Rage . Gus played a leading role in the debut albums of all 3 bands . The

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