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1. Describe the early years of your musical roots and how your talent was nurtured?
I began playing when I was 14, I didn't have a guitar to practise, so I was learning how
to play chords at the back of my right wrist. Although I had some early lessons, nobody showed
me any songs, so I had to learn them by myself. "Holiday" by the Scorpions, "House of the rising sun"
by the Animals, "Temple of the king" by Rainbow were some of the very first.
2. Were there any events, people or catalysts that were musically influential?
One of the most vivid memories I have was a live performance of Gary Moore's
"Parisienne Walkways" in a TV show (along with Ian Paice, Neil Murray, Don Airey).
I was just 13 and I couldn't believe that such divine music was being performed by simple people!
Later on I had some decent guitar lessons with Panos Tsakiroglou, probably the best guitar teacher
in Greece, and that pointed me to the right direction. After that I just went on my way.
3. What is the name of your latest CD and how did it come into fruition?
It's self titled, (Killer Sixgun), and it originally began as an effort to show the guitar work
that was done so far, so I began making some songs. Although it started as an instrumental project
I realised that songs with lyrics work better for everybody, not only musicians. I only did two
with lyrics, but from this point on the majority of the songs will be like that. After all,
this project is always gonna be guitar driven, so I will always have a chance to play!
4. Who are the members of your band Killer Sixgun project?
I myself play all the guitars, rhythm, lead and acoustic as well as some backing vocals
when on stage, John Jeff Touch does the lead vocals and Stelios Tzoumerkas plays bass. We 're
still looking for a steady drummer.
5. How would you describe the sound of the band?
You could simply say it's melodic hard rock but I think there's more to it than meets the eye.
You can tell it's classic rock but it's saturated by a blues feel. It's hard-edged with a heavy touch
but you can hear a lot of melodies. It's filled with passion, it's music from the heart and soul,
I think that Killer Sixgun is an ideal vehicle for making some great music.
6. How involved are you in the recording of your projects?
When you 're involved in the production of your music you have to find the way it's gonna sound.
We discussed every detail with John Jeff Touch of how the vocals should be recorded and we found
the best way possible. And when you have such a skilled vocalist like John the result is only success.
The mixing took place in a studio in Thessaloniki and the mastering was done in Digisound studios
in Larisa, a digitally equipped studio where I had the chance to participate and determine the
final result.
7. What recording equipment have you used and where have you recorded?
I recorded all the guitars at home, using the Tech 21 amp and a SM58 Shure microphone
directly to my computer. Working at home gave me the extra time to perfect my recordings.
The bass and vocals were recorded in a studio and I created all the drums using drum samples
from my PC.
8. Explain what it was like to be the opening act for Nazareth and HTP (Glenn Hughes - Joe Lynn
Turner Project).
Nazareth are one of the most significant bands of the 70's hard rock era, especially in Europe.
I was so overwhelmed being on stage before them, just watch the video on my website!
It was really inspiring watching Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner checking the sound before
the show. JLT had his guitar on and he was checking his mike playing Bad Company's "Rock Steady".
That was a rare moment! It feels great to play before a band whose music you grew up with,
and it was a great opportunity to play my music in front of a lot of people (nearly 2500 with HTP).
9. Where have you toured extensively?
I have played more than 1000 shows, and they were almost all of them inside my country.
Later on this year, now that I'm trying to promote the Killer Sixgun project, I will be looking
for some new venues to play.
10. What has been the highs and lows or your career so far?
Definitely the highest peak so far is that people are learning about my music
through the Killer Sixgun project. I have received stunning reviews from all around the
world and many enthusiastic comments from people, especially in the MySpace page
(www.myspace.com/killersixgun). Probably there are lows but I can't recall any,
I always feel so overwhelmed making music and playing live, I never feel like having
a hard time.
11. Do you have your own record & publishing company?
No, I don't have my own record company, I 'll make a PayPal account for selling
the CD and maybe I 'll try to find some company to publish it.
12. What does your live set up consist of?
For smaller gigs I use a Tech 21 60 watt Trademark amp and for bigger gigs I use a
Marshall MKII 100 watt with a 300 watt speaker. The pedals I use are always the same,
a Dunlop CryBaby Wah pedal, an Ibanez Tube Screamer overdrive, a Boss Super Chorus and
a Digitech DigiDelay. And finally guitars. I have an Antique White Gibson Les Paul Custom,
a Honeyburst Les Paul Standard and a Gibson Firebrand model. When I play acoustic I use
an Epiphone, which is quite cheap but it sounds good, I use it in recordings as well.
13. Do you play any other instruments?
I can play bass and some keyboards, when I took the Harmony certificate I had to do some
Bach and Mozart on the piano, but I don't really play them the way I play guitar. But I am
quite aware of how every instrument in a hard rock band should play, and I'm always in a position
to guide everybody through a song. This is always good when you have a nice musical idea in your
head and you try to pass it on to your bandmates.
14. Which TV shows have featured your music?
I have performed live in various shows over some of the biggest Greek TV channels, getting
some good exposure, but the best of all was "Jamming", a TV show from a national channel that
also had satellite transmission over Europe. I played dozens of times in that show, had the
chance to play live on the air and show my music to the people.
15. You have been awarded a number of scholarships to pursue music. Explain.
A friend of mine showed me a Guitar World magazine that had the Atlanta scholarship contest
and encouraged me to send a demo, I sent a recording I had made with a good friend and great
guitarist, Sotiris Gogos, and they selected us to the 12 finalists.
One year later a Berklee scholarship team came to Thessaloniki and I applied for an audition,
I went and played "C Storm", an instrumental song which is included in the Killer Sixgun first
album and I won a $5000 scholarship.
16. What is your new teaching approach?
When you play guitar it is essential that you understand what you do. You can spend thousands
of hours trying to strengthen your fingers and learning some cool licks but you have to be able
to use them wisely. You have to know what key you play in, the chords you use and what phrases
fit on them, keep up with the tempo, etc. For the students all this information has to be very clear.
So you have to show the kids that however complicated, it's just a scale, just a chord, just a phrase
over it. I'm planning to make a book so I can explain all these things.
17. When your not touring, do you play at a regular venue?
There are some small places here in my hometown, Thessaloniki, where we play
usually unplugged, giving us the chance to make music and have some fun, along with friends.
It 's not something particularly regular but we play a lot like that.
18. What are some of your favorite venues to play?
I 've played in festivals in front of thousands of people, I 've also played electric
or unplugged in small places with small audiences. I love both situations, the big ones
because of the high energy from and towards the crowd and the small ones because of contact
you have with the people. One of my favorites is "Hydrogeios", the place I opened for
Nazareth, (we got one coming up in the same place on December 2nd, supporting UFO, can't wait!)
with a 1000 people capacity and a great sound system.
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