Three Questions with Gus Unplugged – An Xperience Interview

Image: Gus Hais of Blackcat Elliot at the Fuze Box, August 2, 2025 – photo by Christopher Ebbs

By Rob Skane.

Gus Unplugged always plays from the heart. He has a rocknroll spirit that is unmatched and is always digging deep to create very cool original music. Please visit him at gusunplugged.weebly.com

RRX: What was the moment that made you pick up a guitar and never put it down?

Gus: The back cover of my older brother Nick’s “Let It Be” vinyl has always stayed with me. When I first saw that photo, full of lights, wires, cameras, amps, guitars, Ringo’s percussion scattered everywhere, and, of course, the four of them in the middle of it all, it felt like I was glimpsing the very heartbeat of the music they were creating. I remember wanting to be part of it myself. I must have been about 10 years old. Ironically, my brother Nick gave me my first guitar when I was 12 for my birthday. 

RRX: If you could go back and tell your younger self one thing about playing guitar, what would you say?

Gus: Believe in yourself. Don’t follow what’s trendy or popular among your peers. Pursue your passion, do what you feel is right, and keep listening.  

RRX: When you’re not onstage or recording, what kind of stuff do you play when no one’s listening?

GUS: With my band, Blackcat Elliot, I’m used to living loud, garage grit, punk edges, the rawness of the CBGB’s era colliding with the ‘90s Seattle sound. But when I step into Gus Unplugged, something else happens with me. The volume changes, the room gets smaller, and I find myself drawn toward the old souls. The slow, lonesome songs and the writers who spoke their truth into simple chords. Johnny Cash, Chris Cornell’s “Songbook” album, Jim Croce, Bob Dylan, Jackson C. Frank, Kris Kristofferson, Gordon Lightfoot, Sean Rowe, and so many others who understood how to let a story breathe. There’s something honest and satisfying about building a song that stands on its own with nothing more than a voice and a guitar.