Gustavo Carmo

Gustavo Salvadori Baptista do Carmo (born October 23, 1980) is a Brazilian musician, producer and songwriter who is best known as the founding member of the Brazilian heavy metal band VersOver and for his projects with Aquiles Priester and Vinnie Moore.
In September 2020, Carmo released his debut solo album, the Extended play On and Off, with the art direction lead by Hugh Syme, mix and mastering by Mike Fraser and Maor Appelbaum, respectively. The band consists of legendary musicians Brian Tichy, Rudy Sarzo and Derek Sherinian.
== Early life ==
Gustavo Carmo was born October 23, 1980, and raised in Bebedouro, São Paulo (state). His father, José Carlos Carmo, was a professional musician and the owner of a local radio station which helped him gain an appreciation for music at an early age. Despite being surrounded by music very early in his life, Carmo started with the acoustic guitar and electric guitar only at the age of 12 and 13, respectively. Later on, at the age of 15, he dedicated his studies to the classical guitar until he was 20.
Some of his teachers were Henrique Pinto (classical guitar), Mello Jr (electric guitar), Greg Howe (electric guitar), Claudinei Alves Oliveira (classical guitar, music theory), Leon Willet (harmony, counterpoint and musical composition).
== Career ==
=== VersOver (1997-present) ===
In 1997, Carmo and his brother, Rodrigo Carmo, formed VersOver, the band that would become his main project as a composer. Beign influenced by Megadeth, Ozzy Osbourne, Dream Theater and Symphony X, VersOver became one of the most prominent heavy metal bands in Brazil releasing 4 studio albums and one live DVD through Die Hard Records, one of the most grassroots heavy metal labels in Brazil.
Released in 2000, VersOver's first album, Love, Hate & Everything in Between, is a progressive metal album. Their lineup for the recordings was: Rodrigo Carmo (vocals), Gustavo Carmo (guitars), Fernando Hagihara (bass) and Maurício Magaldi (drums).
VersOver participated in the Rock opera|metal opera album, William Shakespeare's Hamlet Project, in 2001. Inspired by the masterpiece Hamlet of the English poet William Shakespeare, this project gathered big names from the Brazilian heavy metal scene. In this project, developed by the Brazilian author Adriano Villa, Gustavo was responsible for producing VersOver and its good results led him to be invited by Die Hard Records to produce the doom metal band Imago Mortis. The resulting album, Vida, was considered one of the best heavy metal albums in the Brazilian heavy metal scene by the specialized media. 
The partnership with Adriano Villa led to the production of their second studio album. Released in 2003, House of Bones, was inspired by the mistery-thriller written by Villa named A Casa de Ossos (portuguese for House of Bones) and was released in more than 23 countries, including many countries in Europe, Canada, United States|USA and Russia. With the addition of a new drummer the lineup for the recording was consisted of Rodrigo Carmo (vocals), Gustavo Carmo (guitars), Fernando Hagihara (bass) and Daniel Roviriego (drums).
Released in 2017, Hell's Inc. marks the return of the former drummer and founding member, Maurício Magaldi, and the consolidation of Leandro Moreira as VersOver's bassist. The album is produced by Gustavo Carmo with the art direction by Hugh Syme and mixed and mastered in Finland by Jesse Vainio and Svante Forsbäck, respectively.
=== The New Futures (2011-2014) ===
In 2008 Gustavo relocated to Seattle, and in 2011 joined the band The New Futures, releasing a full album, Radioactive, through the English label In At The Eye Records, and two official videos, besides having played in important venues in Seattle such as Nectar, Él Corazón and The Crocodile.
=== House of Bones (2012-2014) ===
After a few years working as an audio engineer and producer, Gustavo Carmo founded the band House of Bones, alluding to VersOver's acclaimed album of the same name. This band featured award-winning drummer Aquiles Priester and had an EP released in 2012. With Rodrigo Carmo on vocals and Leandro Moreira on bass, the band performed in Seattle and in some cities in Brazil. Its brief existence gave way to the return of VersOver, with the former drummer and founder of the band, Maurício Magaldi.
=== Aquiles Priester & Gustavo Carmo (2013-2018) ===
Carmo and Priester met each other during the recordings of William Shakespeare's Hamlet Project in 2001. At that time, Die Hard Records invited both for an instrumental project that would be released short after. Due to conflicting personal commitments and by Aquiles having joined Angra (band)|Angra and later focusing in his solo career and his band Hangar, the album wasn't recorded.
In February 2013 Gustavo appeared on a tribute video to Tony MacAlpine which is featured on Aquiles's instructional video Top 100 Drum Fills. This collaboration brought Aquiles and Gustavo together and made possible, 13 years later, for their instrumental album to be released.
Released in March 2014, Our Lives, 13 Years Later... is a highly technical and melodic instrumental album featuring a mix of metal and fusion aspects. This album features acclaimed guests as Tony MacAlpine, Vinnie Moore, Greg Howe, Kevin Moore, Nili Brosh e Francis Botene.
In 2016, Aquiles and Gustavo released a live in studio CD and DVD recorded in São Paulo. The band was formed by Gustavo Carmo (guitars), Aquiles Priester (drums), Bruno Ladislau (bass) and Juninho Carelli (keyboards).
=== Vinnie Moore (2013) ===
In May 2013, Gustavo was invited to be part of the support band for the guitar player Vinnie Moore for his tour in Brazil, alongside Aquiles Priester (drums), Bruno Ladislau (bass) and Fabio Laguna (keyboards).
=== Solo (2020-present) ===
==== On and Off (2020) ====
On September 4th, 2020, Carmo released his first solo album. On and Off is an EP consisting of 4 instrumental tracks:
* Byte Me!
* Chain of Responsability
* Clojure
* Contextual Bandits
On and Off is a guitar driven instrumental rock album with aggressive, well-defined and dynamic tones. It highlights a sharp sense of composition, structure and performance by Gustavo Carmo, perfectly balancing melody and technique.
Counting on a stellar team, starting with the graphic design and art direction lead by the acclaimed Hugh Syme (Rush (band)|Rush, Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Queensrÿche), mix and mastering respectively handled by the renowned Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Metallica, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Jimmy Page) and Maor Appelbaum (Faith No More, Yes (band)|Yes, Sepultura, Fates Warning). The band consisted of legendary musicians Brian Tichy (Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Velvet Revolver) on drums, Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Dio (band)|Dio, Quiet Riot) on bass, and Derek Sherinian (Sons of Apollo, Dream Theater, Black Country Communion) on keys.
Here is what Gustavo said about the EP's musical direction:
The initial motivation to have this EP started was the will to bring to fruition a more rock and roll side of me. I then visualized a very strong team, in which each musician would play really naturally and with a lot of energy. Brian, Rudy and Derek would be a perfect team, bringing a spontaneous language, directed towards the whole with a coherent pulse. It could not go wrong. I would have the perfect foundation to be able to express my ideas
== Discografia ==
=== VersOver ===
* 1997 - Endurance (Demo CD and Cassette tape|Cassette)
* 2000 - Love, Hate & Everything in Between (CD)
* 2003 - House of Bones (CD)
* 2005 - Built Perspectives (EP)
* 2009 - Live Perspectives (Live CD & DVD)
* 2017 - Hell's Inc. (CD)
=== House of Bones ===
* 2011 - House of Bones (EP)
=== Aquiles Priester & Gustavo Carmo ===
* 2014 - Our Lives, 13 Years Later... (CD)
* 2016 - Our Lives, 15 Years Later... Live in Studio! (Live DVD in studio)
=== Gustavo Carmo ===
* 2020 - On and Off (EP)
Category:1980 births
Category:Brazilian musicians
Category:Brazilian producers
Category:Brazilian songwriters