The recording-project that we’ve been working on for the past few weeks is coming together. Laying down the vocals on Sunday, hopefully we’ll be done with the mixing and mastering very soon as well.

While that is still in the making, I’d like to introduce you to the guys that I chose for this project. :)

First out is guitarist
PETER ESPINOZA

[Pic by D.Qwarfort]

 

My story…? Well, let’s see.

The whole thing started way back in 1984 when I started the band SAD WINGS. We released an album on Ebony Records. (see video below)

I then went on to playing with my own band ESPINOZA until 1988 when I ended up as one of the contestants of the Swedish Guitar Battle.

I went straight to the finals, and I still remember that night. All the other guitar geeks were warming up backstage and I thought they all sounded so good that I wouldn’t stand a chance in hell. 
So, I thought “fuck it” and went to the bar and got totally shitfaced. 
Then by some miracle I went onstage and managed to play everybody’s pants off – I won the whole thing!

That’s when the guys of NASTY IDOLS first noticed me. They had another guitarist at the time, but then we met again at an Alice Cooper concert in 1989 and they asked if I wanted the gig. I was with them for about five years, played on Cruel Intention, Vicious, Heroes for Sale and Boys Town.

I quit the band for a while and focused on other things, released another album with my own band Espinoza in 1995 before I founded the (neo classical) band MAJESTIC.

Me and the keyboardist used to sit in his basement and just play totally sick stuff – you know, we wanted to kick the asses of Stratovarius and all those types of bands. We were constantly trying to outdo eachother, it was a great time! I don’t have any of those recordings anymore, but you can imagine – it was impossible listening to and if anyone wanted to try copying us, they would most likely fail.

Eventually we managed to write songs that people would actually listen to, and we sent them to musicians that we wanted to work with. Jake Samuel (ex-Talisman, current frontman of the Poodles) didn’t cut it back then, haha!

[Comment: However, current frontman of FIREWIND – Apollo Papathanasio did get through to the second lineup of the band and sang on their second album “Trinity Overture” (listen below) ]

In 2001 I recorded two albums with REPTILIAN before returning to Nasty Idols….and well, the rest is history.

[Review of Reptilian here: http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=1882  ]

 

YNGWIE…

If I’ve got any cool stories? Let me see. Well, we were touring with Yngwie Malmsteen and Yngwie was having dinner while we were doing our sound check. So, just to fuck with him, I started playing “Yngwie style” as a joke. After his dinner, he walked up to me and said:

– You make a damn good impression of me. You know what that means? That means you’re a good guitar player!

That was just too fucking funny!

And now? Well, we just released our new album with Nasty Idols (see video below) but I still enjoy doing side projects if someone interesting calls, like you just did with this thing.

Who knows what the future holds, it’s sure ain’t over yet! :)