Tosin Abasi: The reason that we discontinued our band is because of personal differences but I think everyone should still be friends.
Interviewer: One more thing, what do you think of the other band members?
Tosin Abasi: Well I think they are hard working individuals that really put their all into the music. I really respect them for their work ethic and attitude.
There is a lot of emotion and passion in our music, and we have always tried to convey that to our audience. I was really hurt when I found out that even my own band-mates were not sharing my vision.
I felt betrayed when they announced they were starting a new band without me. During the interview, Tosin says he is holding no grudges against us and he feels like we have grown as musicians. He even says that he considers himself an Abasi fan now!
I felt this was very hypocritical, especially since he had made negative comments about our work in the past. He said one of my songs reminded him of a ‘porno soundtrack’. This was especially insulting because I worked hard on that song and it’s one of my best works!
Tosin also insisted that he was a better musician than me and had more talent. We were all hurt by his comments, but we decided to let him go because his ego was getting in the way of our creativity. It’s unfortunate how things turned out with Tosin, but we wish him well in his new endeavor.
When we got together with our other band members, we all agreed that the best thing for us was to go our separate ways. We had no hard feelings and were still grateful for the time spent playing music together. But ultimately, it was in everyone’s best interest for us to leave.
I joined the group when I was 17 years old and played guitar until 21, when I quit. At first, it was a good experience. I learned so much about music theory and how to play well as a team with others. But there came a time when things started falling apart between us because they felt like they weren’t getting enough attention from me or my other band members which led them to feel neglected. That is when they decided that it would be better to leave then stay because there would always be tension between their own creativity and mine.
It’s sad because we used to have such good chemistry but now everything has changed. We are no longer friends or even see each other anymore because of how things ended between us all those years ago.”
Interviewer: So, why did you guys break up?
Tosin Abasi: I don’t know. We both wanted to do different things and we decided to peacefully split instead of fighting about it. And so here I am doing my thing and Misha’s doing his.
Interviewer: Do you still talk to the other guys?
Tosin Abasi: Yeah, we’re all friends. It was nothing personal; it was just a musical difference. We had been together for a long time and it felt like the right moment to stop and try something new.
Interviewer: But people are saying that you broke up because of drugs and alcohol. Is that true?
Tosin Abasi: No, not at all! Those rumors aren’t true. We’re all very professional musicians who take our jobs seriously and wouldn’t let anything get in the way of our careers.
Interviewer: What do you think of the new album?
Tosin Abasi: I haven’t heard it yet but I’m sure it’s great! Everyone in Periphery has been working really hard on this and they deserve all the success they get from it!
The first thing he did was to ask me to join his band. I was very excited, but also nervous because I didn’t know how good or bad my playing was. The next day I asked him if he wanted to be in my band. He said yes and our group was formed.
When we first started, we played at small clubs and bars around the city. After a few months, we started playing bigger venues and more people were coming to see us play. Eventually, people began asking us where they could buy our music so that’s why we decided to put out an album called “The Power of Three.” In 2009, we released another album called “The Future Is Now.”
Our band has gone through many changes over the years but one thing remains the same; it’s always about having fun with friends while making music that makes people feel something inside themselves.
Tosin Abasi is a Nigerian-born American musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the American progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. He is also the lead guitarist for the band T.R.A.M., alongside Adrian Terrazas-Gonzalez and Erick Hansel of Chon, and Matt Garstka of Animals as Leaders. He was named one of the “Top 10 Fastest Shredders of All Time” by GuitarOne magazine, and continues to be recognized for his ability to blend rhythm and lead together while playing complex time signatures at high speed.
Early life
Abasi was born in Washington, D.C., but moved with his family to Nigeria at age four where he lived in Lagos until returning to the U.S. at age 12. He attended Gaithersburg High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where he met Javier Reyes (who later played in Animals as Leaders with him).
Abasi attended University of Maryland for two years, studying jazz guitar before dropping out to pursue a career in music. He began teaching guitar at Guitar Works in Rockville, Maryland, where he taught Steve Vai’s nephew Phil Totman who later became the guitarist in Silent Civilian with Abasi’s brother Damien
tosin abasi is a virtuoso guitarist and composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and founding member of the instrumental progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. His musical style has also been described at times as djent. Before his success with Animals as Leaders, Abasi was a member of the technical metalcore band Reflux. In 2014, Guitar World readers voted him Best Progressive Rock Guitarist in their annual reader’s poll.
Abasi was born in Washington, D.C., to Nigerian parents who were both professors and had met while they were both studying at University of Maryland, College Park. He grew up in Poway, California where he attended Poway High School and graduated in 2000.
He began playing guitar at the age of 12 after hearing Paul Gilbert on a Racer X album and shortly thereafter began taking lessons from Gilbert’s former teacher Rick Graham. He played in several bands throughout high school, including a seminal death metal band called PSI (for Psycoflesh Infiltrator). Abasi attended Georgia State University for three years majoring in psychology but later dropped out to pursue his music career full-time.
He joined the Floridian death metal band Born of Osiris as a rhythm guitarist for their first full-length album The