| | Member Spotlight: Guni
Member Name: Guni
Real Name: Gunharth Randolf
Location: Innsbruck, Austria
Instrument: guitar
How did Guitar4u come about? (the predecessor of iBreathe)?
It all started with a project at Berklee. In 1997 the Web was about to become huge and there weren't any sites dedicated to music instruction. I was interested in putting my views on music theory on the Net so I gave it a try. Well, we've come quite a long way since then .....
What inspired you to keep going with it? I mean, both Guitar4u and iBreathe required a lot of work and effort from you, so what inspired you to invest that?
IBreathe forces me to 'put into practise' my talents and interests, from writing, teaching, playing music to building web sites. I love doing a lot of different things and they all come together in this project. Also, how else can you be in such close contact with other musicians from all over the world and get such immediate feedback and interaction?
What do you see in the future for iBreathe... where is it heading to?
First off, I think that a lot will come from our visitor's vision of the site. This is what makes this thing interesting and is different in the way music was tought up to now. I mean we went online with iBreathe in April and a lot has happened since then. I definitely have a different view of the site than I had when we first started out. The immediate goal is to attract more visitors, expand upon the content and build up a strong memberbase in the forum. The site needs to grow with its memberbase and interests and one of my main goals is to be able to respond quicker to site suggestions and implementation of these.
Furthermore, we have started discussing interesting ways to improve and further the scope of the site's offerings: Initial ideas range from producing videos and books to online tools and live playing workshops. The challenge is integrating such 'conventional' offers and making it as open to feedback and input as the forum itself. This will take time to develop and depends on demand, integration as well as on choosing the perfect technology.
Tell us some things about the gigs you have done recently... we know you as an instructor, so let us know some stuff about you as a performer / guitarist!
There's a cover band that I perform with about twice a month. It's more the 'just for fun' gig with a lot of room for improvistaion. We're mostly playing stuff from the 50s and 60s, Beatles, Elvis, a lot of Blues .... it's kind of a niche we're in, as you don't hear that stuff a hell lot anymore, but everybody knows the songs. More recently I have met a great singer and we decided to form a duo ala 'Tuck and Patty'. We're still at the rehearsal stage as it takes quite some time to get a good set of songs together and develop a good balance between guitar and voice. And then I'm working on my repertoire for playing solo gigs - Jazz Standards in a chord solo style. I did one gig which really got me hooked. It's a real challenge. And I gotta add that I have always been interested in arranging. That's what I graduated in at Berklee. There's a local Big Band that I got in contact with and they would be eager to get some new arrangements. So I'm undusting my scores I wrote while at Berklee and I'm looking forward to getting them played.
When you sit down with a guitar and decide to play something just for the fun of it, not to prepare for a gig or an article, what do you play ? What style etc. ?
It's very 16th rhythm based with a touch of Blues, Jazz and Fusion, still having this 'rock-drive' to it. I'd say it goes into the direction of the playing and compositions of Wayne Krantz.
I would like to hear some of your compositions or live(or studio) playing.
Do you have a web site with original or cover/standard music?
The last real recordings are a while back. I was involved in 3 Musical productions. Other than this I just have a load of demo tapes and live recordings, which I don't wanna put online. I played mostly live the last few years. Someday, if I have the time I'll go back to recording stuff and with the Duo and Big band project I hope to have some resonable recordings soon.
What inspired you to be a musician?
I was very shy when I was younger and the guitar made it a lot easier for me to communicate. Taking out the guitar and singing songs broke the ice to others.
Do you play other instruments?
A bit of bass, drums and keys ... but I wouldn't wanna go on stage playing them.
What type of guitar did you study first (Classical, Rock Blues, Jazz)?
I started out learning some folk tunes. My father plays as well so I had him as a teacher. I then took 2 years of classical training but soon started with electric guitar and went out on my own. Before Berklee I attended a private music school in Munich to get me prepared.
Is iBreathe and being a musician/music teacher your sole means of income?
Nope, but I wouldn't mind it to be :-) My main income is through developing websites. Furthermore, I am involved in a govermental project, which offers e-learning courses in multi media to Teenagers. Both give me very important input for iBreathe.
Where do you currently reside? London?, Austria?
Innsbruck, Austria (can't wait for the skiing season again :-)
What is the country of origin of iBreathe?
Ok, I'd say it's multinational. Guitar4u was born in the States - IBreathe was developed and is hosted in the UK. I manage all things from Austria and input is coming from all over the world :-)
What do you consider the greatest epiphany you have had about music or music theory?
I think the day I realised that I can just move my Em Pentatonic fingering to another fret to play in another key.
What is the first (or most important) thing you want to say to your beginning students?
Fasten Seatbelts! No, seriously, I do not try to give advice up front and if I do, it's individual and depends on the situation. First, I need to get to know the person real well - I ask a lot of questions: Why the guitar? what does he/she wants to achieve? How much time does he/she have on his/her hands? How much selfconfidence is present? etc etc... without this informatin any advice might backfire.
What do you consider your strengths and weaknesses as a guitar player (or as a musician in general)?
Let me answer this in terms of what I see I need to work on the most. There are 2 sides to this question: techical abilities and personality. Over time personality and character have become more important to me than the actual task of playing. Sure, I did my part of practicing technique and gaining music theory knowledge,etc. but things like tone, expression, developing ideas throughout a solo,... this is what I am working on.
What one piece of music do you wish everyone could hear at least once in their lifetime?
1st impulse: Highway to Hell - ACDC :-)
2nd impulse: Mozart "Requiem"
How long did it take you to get the 1st member at Guitar4u since the site was released?
G4u or iBreathe? G4u didn't have any members but I remember the stats in 1997 after being online for 1 months: 25 people :-) visited. iBreathe had quite an advantage as a lot of G4u visitors moved over to the new site.
What kind of beer do you like best?
No real preferences here - just don't give me american beer: too weak :-)
I was thinking, as Bongo mentioned that he's into brewing stuff we could get our own iBreatheMusic beer. | |
