Screen Name?
Zac

And what is your real name?
Hugo

Where are you from?
I’m from Portugal. I live in Praia das Maçãs, which means “Apples Beach”. This beach is near Sintra (one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on earth, I can tell you) and Lisboa (or Lisbon), Portugal’s capital.

Please tell us a little more about yourself (Job, hobbies, etc.):
I’m graduated in Advertising and Marketing. Since then, I had different jobs. I worked as a copywriter on an agency; in International Fair of Lisbon; in Yellow Pages and now, I’m working on Commercial Affairs in Czech Embassy, Lisbon. The funny thing is: I do not speak Czech! :) In my spare time, I have (with a couple of friends) a very small Communication Agency where we do some graphic design works so it’s a good thing to do some extra cash. We also own a recording studio that is called “Rotten Star Studios”. I also enjoy writing - I have this blog (www.escritoscriativos.blogspot.com) where I post my texts but probably no one will understand a thing because it is written in Portuguese. I do some photographic work, play tennis and have my Metal/Rock band where I play drums and keyboards. I love to compose music. I’m a huge fan of movies, comics, traveling, videogames, animals, The Simpsons, Slash, books and, of course, Rock n Roll!

How/when and why did you get into L.A. Guns?
It all starts with Aerosmith. They were the first band to make me a rock fan! Then, I became fan of Guns n’ Roses and after that, I’ve started searching for cool bands around the LA Scene. I went to a music store and I asked to hear “Man In The Moon”. I listened the first two tracks (“Man In The Moon” and “Beautiful”) and It was enough! I bought “Man In The Moon” and “Waking The Dead” at the same time and that’s how I get into L.A. Guns. From that point, it was really easy to become fan because they are really good musicians and they have an unique sound, despite of their influences. I really like the way Phil sings. One of the things that I like most about L.A. Guns is the fact that they despise music tendencies and trends… they just really want to do pretty great rock n roll. Awesome “we do what we wanna do” attitude!

What is your favourite song/album?
My favourite album is “Waking the Dead”. It has a perfect balance with all the songs. The sound is awesome. Phil’s voice, Tracii’s solos, Adam’s bass lines and Steve’s drum work are amazing!

My favourite song? Damn, that one is much harder to answer… I would say that my favourite songs are: “Lost In The City Of Angels”; “Shame”; “Kiss Of Death”; “The Ballad”; “Beautiful”; “Revolution”; “It’s Over Now”; “Hollywood’s Burning”; “Don’t Call Me Crazy”; “Man In The Moon”. I guess I cheated! :)

What is your favourite art work/cover out of  the entire L.A. Guns catalogue?
“Waking the Dead”. I also enjoy the first album’s artwork and the cover for “Vicious Circle”.

Now share your favourite L.A. Guns story/memory, please:
I am one of those sad fans that didn’t have the chance to see them live. (I beg you guys: please come to Portugal!)

I really enjoy that LA Guns members post a lot in the Forum. They are very close to their fans and that is a rare good thing in bands!

What other bands do you like?
Guns n’ Roses, Aerosmith, Hanoi Rocks, Velvet Revolver, Beautiful Creatures, Buckcherry, Skid Row, Backyard Babies, Mötley Crüe, Slash’s Snakepit, Brides of Destruction, The Darkness, Crashdïet, Bang Tango, Ugly Kid Joe, New York Dolls, Ac/Dc, Queen, Silvertide, Muse, Hardcore Superstar, Soul Asylum, Tesla, Def Leppard, Extreme, Mad Caddies, Frameshift, Shinedown, Black Stone Cherry, Van Halen, Europe, Edguy, Avantasia, Helloween, Sixx A.M., Green Day, Billy Idol, Riding Pânico and, of course, my band: Wheelchair Noise. :)

Have you ever met any "celebrities"?
“Worlwide celebrities” no, I don’t think so…I met only Portuguese celebrities.

What is /are your favourite book(s)?
I would say: Maupassant’s “Bel Ami”; Orwell’s “1984”; Huxley’s “Brave New World”; Eça’s “Os Maias”; Tavares’s “Equador”, among many others. I also like to read biographies of musicians. My favourite one was Slash’s biography.

And which is/are your favourite movie(s)?
I like to say that I am a “movies whore” because I enjoy almost every movie. :) I just don’t have much patience to fiction movies… I like thriller, cartoon, terror, comedy, drama, romance, action, anime, musical … a real movies whore, as you can see! :) Well, my favourite ones probably are: Big Fish, Midnight Express, Shawshank Redemption, Into The Wild, Sleepers, High Fidelity, Fight Club, La Vitta è Bella, The Motorcycles Diaries, Dumb and Dumber, American History X, Indiana Jones (the whole saga), The Patriot, I Am Sam, Cidade de Deus (City of God), Nightmare Before Christmas, The Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd (Burton’s Version), Clockwork Orange, Seven, Kill Bill, Snatch among hundreds of others.

Any famous last words?
It’s a great pleasure to be L.A. Guns FOTM! Thank you guys! Rock on!

And now on to our newest feature - questions submitted by forum members.

DAVEH1701: What is the longest distance you have travelled for a gig and who did you see?

Probably the longest distance I’ve traveled for a gig was about 300km’s. Not quite impressing, I know! This year I was making plans to go to Download Festival in England but it turned out to be impossible at last minute.

DAVEH1701: Do you find Portugal is a great place to catch your favourite bands on tour or is it often ignored?

Most of the times, the bands - or the people who manage the bands – forget about Portugal. It’s a pity because almost every band that played here said that Portuguese crowds are one of the wildest and craziest crowds.

DAVEH1701: Boring one......what camera gear do you use?

Well, my camera gear is a Nikon Coolpix and a Sony Cybershot. And I’m serious! This ain’t a joke! :)

PHRYQUE: In all your travels, people from what country where the nicest? And which country do you liked best by the looks of it?

It’s hard for me to answer your question because I found nice and unpleasant people in every corner that I’ve been. When I was in Montmartre, Paris, I went with my girlfriend Carolina to a bar and everyone there was amusingly crazy! I really like the bohemian spirit of those “artists” who live in Montmartre. My favourite countries? Probably France, Italy and Portugal.

LADYJAYNE: What's your favourite place in Italy you've visited?

I went to Bologne, Florence and Venice! I loved those 3 cities but I must confess that my favourite place in Italy was “Cinque Terre”. A real paradise!

LADYJAYNE: How long do you play in your band?

7 years, I guess.

HAZYGIRL: Do you have an all time favorite LA Guns song?

Humm… really hard to answer… as I said before, maybe my favourite one is “Lost In The City Of Angels”. So damn cool chorus!!!

HAZYGIRL: Tea or Coffee?

Definitely tea!

KROKUS: Do you go to metal/hard rock festivals??? Tell me some of your wave metal/hard rock bands from Portugal??

Yeah! I go to metal/hard rock festivals anytime I can! I prefer hard rock festivals but I also like some metal bands. In Portugal we don’t have many classic metal/hard rock bands. We got Moonspell and Ramp that have a more “classical sound” and then we have some great bands that do a more “modern heavy sound” like Meneater, Linda Martini, Riding Pânico, Twentyinchburial, More Than A Thousand, If Lucy Fell, among others.