Who is Saint Luminus?

The list of professional guitarists who had to completely relearn to play their instrument is a short one. Jazz guitarist Pat Martino comes to mind, as does former Danzig guitarist John Christ. You can add to that distinguished shortlist electro space-rock guitarist, Saint Luminus. As his earthling name, William Rustrum, the instrumental guitarist-composer reached dizzying shred heights. Formerly, he fronted the premier Megadeth tribute, Hangar 18, and earned the opportunity to perform the thrash titan’s daunting back catalog with actual Megadeth band members. But after his 15-year thrash metal sojourn, the Los Angeles-based artist saw his physical playing ability crumble, and he had to start from scratch on the instrument. 

Today, he’s as dexterous as ever, but he uses his technique in service of bringing the meditative sounds of the Universe and progressive rock together in one harmonious sonic experience. His sublimely melodic instrumental compositions have been called “cosmic vacations” due to their otherworldly majesty. Saint Luminus songs glow with dreamy atmospherics, tasteful passages of lyrical shred, and musical motifs that exude a bluesy longing reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. 

“I am so grateful for this journey because I never could imagine making music like this,” Saint Luminus says. “I still have that middle-finger-up to the mainstream like I had in my thrash days, but there’s a Zen-like peacefulness within me. I want to take the listener on a ride with my music to forget their anxieties and worries and just enjoy being in the present moment.”

Saint Luminus is a graduate from the esteemed Musician's Institute which include famous alumni such as Steve Vai, Scott Henderson, Jennifer Batten, and Paul Gilbert, among many others. In his previous guitar career as William Rustrum, he opened for Yngwie Malmsteen, Anthrax, Danzig, and Obituary. He also performed at the Dokk’em Open Air Festival in Holland in 2008 with ex- Abbatoir singer Steve Gaines’s band, Anger As Art. To date, Saint Luminus has released three EPs and one single. 

Saint Luminus’s third EP is a step forward sonically, musicianship wise, and conceptually. It’s the first Saint Luminus release to feature an outside producer and a backing band. In this setting, Saint Luminus’s new age shred comes alive with visceral in-the-moment musical interaction, improvisation, and a warm live-musician groove. Of course, these recordings are lushly enhanced by Saint Luminus’s trademark richly textured soundscapes. 

The EP is both cohesive in its overall artistic vision but diverse in its musicality. The new single,“Echoes of Light” exudes a triumphant Joe Satriani-esque quality with its soaring melodies that evokes the classically-flavored majestic scores of John Williams  (Star Wars, Jaws, Superman, Harry Potter). 

William started playing in thrash bands in 1997, but early on supported himself with a lucrative career as an electrical engineer. He came to a crossroads in his life and decided to make the leap of faith to pursue music, and enrolled at Musician’s Institute. His time at the institution turbo-charged his chops, and William began a career as an in-demand performing and recording thrash musician, and a sought-after guitar teacher. 

Years into his professional musician career, William started noticing his guitar playing deteriorating, and soon found himself only able to play with two fingers on his fretting hand. By 2010, he had given up playing guitar as he lost the physical ability to do it. One year later, he attended a guitar clinic with Phillip Sayce (Jeff Healey, Uncle Kracker, and Melissa Etheridge) at the Musician’s Institute. Inspired by Phillip’s passion for the instrument, William vowed to figure out exactly what was preventing him from playing. 

He saw a general practitioner, a hand specialist, a chiropractor, and took many nerve tests, but not being in pain, not having broken bones, and not having any pinched nerves meant these medical professionals couldn’t help him. William began to do his own research and discovered guitar teacher guru Jamie Andreas—the author of the acclaimed method for guitar The Principles of Correct Practice For Guitar which has been called “The Holy Grail” of guitar books—who specializes in a holistic look at the mechanics of playing guitar. 

“I was initially doubtful she could help me, but during our first lesson I showed her my problem and she said, ‘Oh yeah, we can fix that.’ I was dumbfounded! She had me learn how to play guitar as if I had never picked up the instrument,” William says. 

William emerged from his time studying with Jamie a totally changed musician. “I started to focus on the beauty of the sound, even if it is just making a simple cowboy chord sound glorious. I also discovered how expressive melodic players like Albert King, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, and Joe Satriani are through the intricacies of their playing. I started thinking like a rock player who was going for vocal melodies that you can hum verses heavy Metallica and Megadeth riffs,” he says. 

From that Phoenix rising story, William became Saint Luminus. Look for Saint Luminus performing live onstage and streaming on all digital streaming platforms. Thinking back on his journey, Saint Luminus says: “The biggest lesson I learned is to continue to be curious. I was ready to totally give up playing guitar, but the curiosity of why I wasn’t able to play enabled me to be able to play again. I refused not to question my condition and now here I am.”