SoundClick artist: The Wizard - shola - The Wizard

The Wizard is one-man-army band from Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Shola, as only member of the band, is responsible for all the playin' and arrangements.
This strange individual made his mission in obtaining great sound using only his guitar as instrument and his desktop PC as recording studio.

Without help from anyone, by constant surfin' for greater sound, The Wizards produced numerous original work and few covers. Many of the original work had been lost, but new numbers are constantly coming, whenever the band member is able to pickup axe.

Why this name?

The Wizard was first proposed by close friend, roommate at the time, and was finally adopted by general public and member itself.

Do you play live?

Playing live is great but not possible for The Wizard since it's only member can physically exists only on one spot (with one instrument) at the time.

But since all the virtual instruments are mostly played by his PC, The Wizard can be often heard in sanctity of his inner sanctum as loud as his neighbors can permit.

How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?

It changed music and industry around it, for good. Everything is possible now. You don't have to have huge pile of money and good contacts in recording industry to be heard. All you need is connection to Internet.

Would you sign a record contract with a major label?

Don't think this is possible.

Band History:

The Wizard was formed around 1997, but Shola jammed long before that and the true begging can be pinpointed somewhere around 1994.

First demo songs were poor in sound quality, but was already recognized for something unique at that time.

As desktop sound recording progressed and new equipment was available to the crew, more and more numbers were produced.

Original work and covers of bands that influenced The Wizard work were produced whenever time allowed, but many of the original work was lost due to lousy data storage at the time.

Today, new album is produced using modern PC recording programs and music instrument that actually can produce decent sound.

Your influences?

Shola, and there for sound of The Wizard, was influenced by many bands, mostly rock and metal. Even today people can recognize following bands in his work: Iron Maiden, Metallica, Ac/Dc, Gary Moore, Dream Theater, Joe Satriani, Megadeth and others.

Favorite spot?

Still is and will ever be, my hometown Dubrovnik.

Equipment used:

Today The Wizard uses following rig:

Axe and amp: