Tosin Abasi talks nearest plans and Meshuggah

Captured at the Ibanez Guitar Festival in Germany, where he gave live performances, open workshops and masterclass lessons among Paul Gilbert and Gary Willis, Tosin Abasi found the time to answer a few questions about his future plans with Animals As Leaders and his known affection to the band Meshuggah.

TopGuitar: Please tell us about your plans for the nearest future: releases, tours, clinics etc.

Tosin Abasi: Sure, the band is going to do Summer Slaughter [tour] in the US, we’re playing Bangalore Open Air Festival in India in July. Javier and Matt are actually going to be doing clinics together. Javier has a side-project called Mestis, so they’ll be doing some performances as well. I think all of us are going to finish the new album, we hope to finish it before the year is over. So the plans are basically just finishing the album and more touring.

TopGuitar: Haven’t you thought of recording some stuff with Meshuggah? That would be a killer!

Tosin Abasi: I love that band, they’re one of my biggest influences. I don’t know if they’re working on new music right now and I don’t have any plans of playing with them. For me it’s enough to be a fan, I am always excited for whatever they do next.

TopGuitar: Have you met them personally?

Tosin Abasi: Yeah, we did a US tour with them in February. They’re an incredible live band. The production with the lights synchronized, and the quality of the sound and how heavy it is, every day for me was just perfect.