Tosin Abasi is one of the most influential guitarists of the last decade. His unique style and heavy rhythms have inspired a generation of players worldwide.
Tosin Abasi, who is known for his “shredding” technique on guitar and his band Animals as Leaders, uses a signature Ibanez guitar with a custom eight-string configuration to achieve his signature sound. Tosin Abasi’s signature model features a 24 frets, 25.5 scale length, and 26″ scale length – all features that Tosin requested to improve playability, especially in the highest register. Other features include a DiMarzio Ionizer 8 neck pickup (passive/ceramic), DiMarzio Ionizer 8 bridge pickup (passive/ceramic), ZR tremolo bridge, Gibraltar Standard II bridge, and locking tuners.
Tosin Abasi (Born November 7, 1983) is a Nigerian American guitarist and composer. He is best known as the founder and lead guitarist of the instrumental progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. Before founding Animals as Leaders, he was the guitarist for the technical metalcore band Reflux, until its hiatus in 2006.
Abasi’s musical style is based on the combination of his percussive picking technique and his use of extended range guitars, such as 8-string and 10-string models.
Abasi has been endorsed by Ibanez since 2014, and has since then collaborated on signature guitar models with them for both his own line, and also for his project with Javier Reyes called Mestis.
Tosin Abasi is best known as the guitarist and founder of progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. He has recorded and released three albums with the band, and toured worldwide, playing with bands such as Periphery, Meshuggah, Between the Buried & Me, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Deftones. He is also a member of the instrumental group T.R.A.M., which currently features members of The Mars Volta and Suicidal Tendencies. Tosin has worked with guitar makers Ibanez to create his own signature guitar models.
In 2012, Guitar World readers voted Tosin Abasi Best New Guitarist, topping an online poll that included Guthrie Govan (
Tosin Abasi (born January 7, 1983)[1] is a Nigerian American musician, best known as the founder and lead guitarist of the instrumental progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. He is also a former member of the technical metal band Reflux, and has contributed to Lillake[2] and The Mina Caputo Band.[3]
Before founding Animals as Leaders, Abasi released an instrumental solo album in 2006 under the name Human Progress;[4] however, he has stated that this project was not intended to be a band.[5] In early 2007, Abasi joined the Los Angeles progressive metal act Reflux,[6] recording guitar tracks for their second album The Illusion of Democracy.[7] For live performances, he performed alongside Jeff Loomis from Nevermore in Novembers Doom.[8][9][10]
In 2009, Abasi formed Animals as Leaders with Javier Reyes of Reflux. They are joined by drummer Navene Koperweis. The band’s self-titled debut album was released on April 28, 2009,[11][12][13][14] with their second album Weightless released on November 8, 2011.[15][16] Their third album The Joy of Motion was released on
Tosin Abasi (born January 7, 1983) is a Nigerian-American musician, best known as the founder and lead guitarist of the instrumental progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. He is also a member of the band T.R.A.M. alongside Javier Reyes and Matt Garstka, and has performed alongside several other bands including Born of Osiris, Periphery, and The Crimson ProjeKCt. He is also the director of Guitar/Bass curriculum for The Musician’s Institute in Hollywood CA.
Abasi began his musical career at age twelve as the guitarist for his high school’s jazz ensemble.[3] In 2001 he was accepted into the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts on a partial scholarship[4] playing upright bass before switching to guitar.[1] He has studied with Jeff Lockhart, Mick Goodrick, Adam Rogers and Joe Stump.[5] In 2006 he graduated with honors from Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood.[6]
Abasi started his professional career in 2003 when he formed the band Reflux featuring Tom Murphy (drums), Nick Rossi (bass), and Jason Suecof (guitar). After releasing an EP titled Instinctive Intellect they signed a record deal with Metal Blade
Tosin Abasi is a Nigerian-American musician, best known as the founder and lead guitarist of the instrumental progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. His debut album with the band, titled Animals as Leaders, was released on April 28, 2009. He has been featured in Guitar World’s “50 Fastest Guitarists of All Time” and awarded third place in Guitar World’s “Top Ten Best Prog Guitarists of All Time” list.
Tosin Abasi is the founder and CEO of Abasi Concepts, a small independent guitar design firm and manufacturer based in Los Angeles, California. He is most known for his role as guitarist and founder of the instrumental progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. He was voted “Best New Guitarist” of 2008 by Guitar World Magazine.
As a child, Tosin studied violin and piano, but he quit both after several years because he was unable to attain what he considered to be an adequately high level of proficiency on either instrument. At the age of twelve he began playing guitar.
Tosin attended Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, Maryland. After graduating from high school, he went on to attend University of Maryland, College Park where he graduated with a degree in Biochemistry.
Abasi’s musical style is influenced by the technicality of Meshuggah and his Latin-American heritage (as can be heard on Animals As Leaders’ song “Soraya”). His music has also been described as a combination of jazz fusion, electronic music and metal by other critics.