Another season marking this glorious decade of US Air Guitar begins next month and undoubtedly its venerable cast of characters has been instrumental to maintaining such rousing success.
California is one of the hotbeds from which various strong contenders to the National Crown continue to emerge; Lieutenant Facemelter (nee Jason F.) has waged an impressive campaign for this honor and proved himself a force to be reckoned by becoming a two-time Regional Champion (San Diego in 2010 and Seattle in 2011). This madman of the West Coast pulls no punches and leaves no floaters on his way to capturing the hearts and minds of fellow air guitarists who long for a chance to earn their spot this year at the National Finals in Denver.
One of the demented brainchildren behind a hilarious line of USAG trading cards, Lt. Facemelter is a powerhouse of brains and spirit as evidenced by his technical institute credentials and "user experience design" work in the medical industry. He and the missus also have a corgi named Koopa (geek alert!).
Update: Last month at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, Lt. Facemelter was crowned the 2013 US Air Guitar National Champion and also placed fifth at the Air Guitar World Championships.
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothAIRs and sistAIRs. For they today who shred their chords with me shall be my brothAIR or sistAIR; be never so vile."
As the 2012 US Air Guitar season draws ever nearer, these past ten years has seen its share of memorable figures grace the stage with unique performances and undeniable talent.
Arguably the anchor of the Midwest scene is Mean Melin (nee Eric M.) from Kansas - not only is he an actual musician in the band The Dead Girls, his enthusiasm, energy and skills have been in the USAG National Finals spotlight multiple years consecutively. Needless to say, Melin is just one of many in the US Air Guitar family who have inspired and encouraged others to continue striving for world peace sixty seconds at a time.
Along with his own real band, Melin works tirelessly to promote air guitar as a worthy past time in addition to other entertainment outlets. Rounding out this man's diverse background is the role of movie reviewer at Scene Stealers (www.scene-stealers.com).
"No Strings to rule them all, No Strings to excite them, No Strings to bring them all and in the Airness unite them."
- GTM
Update: Mean Melin entered the 2013 Air Guitar World Championships in Finland as a Dark Horse competitor and overcame impressive odds to capture first place ahead of compatriots The Thunder (second), Nordic Thunder (fourth) and Lt. Facemelter (fifth).
The Thrash Prince of Hell Air, G. Tso Money, debuted on the US Air Guitar circuit two years ago and has since gained much more recognition within the community - from raucous jeers to thunderous cheers, this aspiring air guitarist has heard them all and will not stop until earning a chance to represent America on the main stage at Oulu, Finland for the Annual Air Guitar World Championships.
Trials by fire in 2009 and 2010 proved that after bottoming out, the only other way was up; enthusiastic yet lackluster and forgettable performances as a budding rookie, coupled with brutally honest reactions from judging panels and discerning audiences, nearly derailed the quest for spreading a personal message of world peace by air guitar (one cannot bear arms when playing invisible strings). Upon the realization that no less than a 200% effort would suffice in attaining this goal, meticulous planning and research was then invested in preparation for the 2011 campaign.
After witnessing the US Air Guitar Nationals at Irving Plaza in New York City last summer, the next ten months involved music selection, stage choreography, costume design and attitude readjustment. In addition to repeated viewings of "Air Guitar Nation" (the 2006 documentary film chronicling both C-Diddy and Björn Türoque's emergence as world air guitar superstars), a thorough understanding of the art form's philosophy was made possible by establishing more personal connections with fellow practitioners from all over the world. Some have said that it's best not to meet one's heroes, but even those who excel under the spotlights are real people with real lives that anyone can relate to on one level or another. Most notably, the friendships with Cold Steel Renegade (San Francisco, CA) and Brock McRock (Houston, TX) was invaluable in making a total commitment to upholding the true spirit of air guitar: for the love of music, for those who love music and for the individual freedom that no one can ever take away.
In returning to the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., on June 11th, all bets were off when a third performing slot was drawn for the Round One elimination. At a disadvantage once again by going early, there was only way to see if the training would pay off:
Twitter update from @usairguitar on 6-11-11
With such validation and regardless of the outcome, it finally became certain that everything up to this point had been a step in the right direction...
Last July when Cold Steel Renegade (the San Francisco air guitar champion also known as M. Feldstein) was in town for the USAG Nationals, we took a trip down to the Museum of Jewish Heritage and one area of the exhibit really stood out to me: a display case containing intricate gifts that camp prisoners had fashioned from scavenged materials to give one another. I was impressed by the ingenuity and craftsmanship and quite humbled by the thought that the human spirit could endure under such dire circumstances.
While it may be a cliche that the process is just as important as the outcome, for an individual to express their creativity with so few resources then have the products of their labor preserved for future generations to understand on their own is, in my opinion, the mark of a true artist. Each and every clueless politician who wants to cut funding to the arts should read the message that a tiny copper-wire tea set in its context conveys; periodic works of art in many forms have long been profound symbols and vital records of human civilization that should not only be remembered but also continued to be made, no matter the cost.
