Interviews - Live4guitar | Online Guitar Community

Kee Marcello, Swedish guitar hero, best known as the former guitarist in the rock band Europe.

With his technique and melodic sense he inspired many players since the release of "Superstitious" back in the late '80s. Now Kee has a new band and a new solo album coming out. He told us about his current and future plans, including his autobiography, and why he is not playing with Europe anymore.

Nili Brosh hardly needs an introduction.

For those who haven’t yet seen any of the YouTube videos or numerous posts in both real and virtual press, let’s just say... Good morning. You have just awakened from a long, long sleep...

For the rest of us, let’s try to find out a little more about some less obvious aspects of this young rising star.

Interview with Nita Strauss - Guitarist of Iron Maidens and Consume The Fire

We are all used to seeing gorgeous girls posing with beautifully crafted, highly polished guitars on advertising posters and magazine covers. No doubt these are nice to look at, but do we expect these babes to be able to play? Perhaps not. Would we even give them time of the day?

Well...

Enter Nita Strauss...

Not only does this girl have the looks and the moves, but she has the skill and the acumen to make it, in what is almost exclusively, the man’s world.

Interview with Gus G - The guitarist of Ozzy and Firewind

Gus G. is a guitar prodigy from Greece. Well known for his services as the axe man behind Ozzy Osbourne since 2010 and the mastermind behind the Greek heavy metal band Firewind. Endorsed and having signature models by the most prestigious companies of the 21st century including ESP guitars, Blackstar amps and Elixir strings to name a few, awarded with the "Best Shredder" award at Metal Hammer Golden Gods ceremony in 2011, Gus is talking to us about his experience with Ozzy and the 7th Firewind studio album due to be released on May 21st in Europe and May 22nd in US and Canada.

The world of building guitars, or luthiery, is one full of competition. There are guys all over the world that will build you a guitar to your specifications for a variety of prices, and I only see this as a good thing. The downside can be seen when you draw a parallel to any other craft, most people can change a fuse in a plug, but it doesn't mean you'd hire them as an electrician. I cook my dinner everynight, but you wouldn't pay me to cook for you. I've watched CSI, but I'm not a forensic investigator. Building guitars is the same, just because you can put some pickups in a piece of wood, it doesn't make you an artist.

For many, "Fusion" is the buzz word of the day on our scene. It seems that everyone and their dog spend their days shreding over Am7 to Cm7 vamps and thinking their part of this new wave of player. Sadly this isn't the case, fusion has a LONG rich history dating back over 40 years (Miles David "Bitches Brew" anyone?). One of the biggest names on the fusion scene is Chick Corea. Chick's first real foray into fusion was with his band "Return To Forever" before making real waves with his "Elektric Band" which would eventually feature Frank Gambale.

Tommy Emmanuel is nothing short of an enigma. He's one of the most sublime guitarists I've ever listened to and that's probably because unlike most guitarists with technique to die for, Tommy chooses to use his powers for good (music) rather than evil (self indulgence). You could think of him as a superhero, setting an example for us all and reminding us why we started playing in the first place. Perhaps Tommy is the hero Jerry Reed was singing about, he's our swinging little Guitar Man! Tommy's skills haven't gone unnoticed though and he's one of only 4 players given the title C.G.P. (Certified Guitar Player) by the legendary Chet Atkins.

One of the best things about my job is that recently I've been given the opportunity to sit down and talk to some of the players that had such a dramatic effect on my playing. Imagine my excitement when I heard Mike Stern was playing 3 consecutive nights in London. Needless to say I had to get tickets to those shows and try to line up an interview with the man himself.

What follows is a combination our interview, some words of advice and exercises from his clinic and some of the stories Mike shared in the cab.

The year is 2002, and Kerrang! Tv and the rock channels of the day (MTV2 anyone?) are flooded with a very strange blend of rock and metal – on one hand you had the great metal of the day including Killswitch Engage’s “My Last Serenade” is getting regular play, then that middle of the road grunge band Puddle of Mudd are doing well with “Blurry” and of course Tenacious D are setting trends with “Tribute”.... enter Inme, the trio of Essex lads who are still in their teens and the monumental single “Underdose”, It certainly made an impression on the youth of the day.

There's no avoiding the influx of internet shredders, and it certainly has something to do with the growing popularity of the X-factor style competitions like Guitar Idol and the hundreds of other competitions starting every day; not to mention how easy it is to record a great sounding record at home on a budget. This certainly isn't a bad thing - we really encourage the scene, everyone has an equal opportunity to present themselves to the world. The downside is that it's easy to dismiss, or never even come across someone like Australia's Chris Brooks. I can tell you - that would be a real shame! There's a clear Shrapnel era influence in his playing, but never at the expense of the melody. Chris has technique to boot but knows what makes a good album and there is no better example of this than his upcoming release "The Axis of all Things". I can't recommend this album enough, there's nothing better than hearing an instrumental guitar album that screams Tafola, Moore and Kotzen.