Interview with Session Guitarist Altin Gjoni

Albanian session guitarist Altin Gjoni was kind enough to spend some time with us talking more about his remote recording work and how much he enjoys being part of the AirGigs community.

Altin recently relocated to London and brings a wealth of performance experience, including playing at the Eurovision Song Contest finals with his band, Erina & The Elementals. In addition to being a Top Rated Studio Pro here on AirGigs, he is also a Content Writer and Digital Marketing expert.

Thank you so much for speaking with us today Altin, could you share a bit more about your background with our readers?
I started playing guitar as a teenager in Albania, like most, in my bedroom listening to heavy metal and wanting to shred like the masters. I never had formal guitar lessons in my life apart from 2 hours of classical guitar lessons, so I got on YouTube, put some steel string on my classical guitar having no idea how high the action would be, and started learning from every source I could and started playing with bands around town.

Juggling between music and my career in marketing and university was a challenge for many years, and only when I discovered online sessions and put some years of work into them I finally settled in finding the way in between and focus all my attention on music, whether serving songs or serving music brands.

That combination of both and the effort put into online sessions led to eventually creating a real network of friends, and just out of pure coincidence one of the producers who hired me from the UK became my close friend and eventually invited me there to guest lecture at the university he now teaches in Manchester. A few years down the line the experience helped me win a scholarship to study music business in London, an experience to which I dedicate to research on the career of online working musicians.

My band was formed in 2019 when I met Erina who now has a successful international career. We went through many changes, up until the point where we finally got ourselves on track, blended all the different influences we had to produce our version of classic rock, and gave ourselves a shot in the international market.

Who are some of your musical influences?
My primary influences come from the world of classic rock, prog rock and also the great session players. Pink Floyd & TOOL are my favorite bands, while the guitarists that shaped my playing the most are David Gilmore and the Nashville legend Tom Bukovac.

What motivates you to make music?
My primary motivation for making music is the need to express what I feel inside, fully and honestly.

What’s next?
I want to establish myself in the UK as a session musician and also blend the session and business side of me to support online working musicians and give them the importance and relevance they need to have in today’s music industry.

Hire Altin for your project https://www.airgigs.com/user/ALTIN

Working Musician Video Interview with Altin Gjoni

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