Londonbandet Cypher16 tilhører den moderne greina på metaltreet, og er et band jeg ikke har noe problem å lytte på. Jeg har også sett gjengen live, og selv om de ikke velter min verden, er dette et kapabelt band som har en god base med fans og som turnerer og jobber hardt. Når jeg fikk tips fra Catrine (takk :)), om at gitarist Jack tilbyr gitartimer i Norge, ble man jo nysgjerrig. Litt om dette og noe om bandet om du henger med.

Cypher16, Jack til venstre, fotograf: Ukjent

How come you give lessons in Norway? Is it a Skype session? Or do you attend the session in the flesh?

«Norway is a country that I have come to love, through touring and visiting. I am currently reaching capacity with my teaching in the UK, and when I was asked by several people out in Norway about whether I might consider starting to do some lessons there, it seemed like a great idea!

I’ve always believed that there is no substitute for meeting someone for a lesson in person. I do offer Skype lessons too, but I like to have the personal interaction as a part of learning. In the UK I actually tend to travel to the student. In Norway I will have a teaching base to begin with, and then we can see how it goes from there.»

What levels are you offering? Do you accept beginners as well as those with some years behind them?

«I teach all levels, from beginners who have maybe not even picked up a guitar before but would like to try it, right up to advanced students interested in very specific techniques and goals – the main thing for me is that it is fun, because if you enjoy it, you’ll do it more often and become better at it!»

What style do you prefer? I know your kind of metal is rooted in a modern kind of metal, is this what you optimally want?

«Personally I like heavy music, which for me presents itself in the form of both rock/metal and classic music (my favourite composer is J.S.Bach). Cypher16 plays a form of modern metal, which is very melodic but with an extremely heavy rhythm section. I like creating walls of sound!

Teaching people who want to learn metal music obviously comes quite naturally to me, but I also have students learning about Jazz, Blues, Classical and Pop music.»

Acoustic, electric?

«I have classical, electric and acoustic students at the moment, so cater for all styles. It’s great for me as a player because learning a classical piece with one student pushes me as a player in a direction that I might not usually find myself going in. I love the diversity of the instrument.»

Do you have many students right now? 

«I have between 40 and 50 students in the UK at the moment, so things are pretty busy!»

You’ve been doing this for a long time?

«A number of years now, yes. It started as something to do on the side of the band, but I didn’t realise how popular it would become. Having the chance to start to travel internationally to teach is really exciting, as I assumed that would just be reserved for the tours that I do with Cypher16.»

What made you start doing this? Lack of money? Too much time on your hands? Or just the love of teaching other to become metalheads? 😊

«Being in a band is incredibly time-consuming when the band is busy and touring, but every band goes through phases of being quiet, and taking time off the road. I found that teaching keeps me playing music, and keeps my technique sharp. I also really enjoy seeing people improve and achieve their goals in music so it has become something much bigger than I originally thought it would be. Inspiring kids to learn and eventually start a band is an amazing thing to be a part of.»

What’s your contact info?

«You can reach me at THIS E-MAILADDRESS

or even give me a call on +44 – 7725263154 (UK number). I have also set up a Facebook page for my Norwegian teaching, which you can find HERE

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And your band, Cypher16, what’s up?

«The last major tour the band did was out in America and Canada with Amaranthe (from Sweden). After that we released the music video for Open The Dark Door, which we filmed at the Natural History Museum in London (worth checking it out on YouTube if you like dinosaurs)!»

We are back on the road this week in the UK for some shows in Manchester, London and Birmingham. It looks like we will be over in Norway again (we last toured there in 2016), later this year! You can follow what the band is up to over at Cyper16.net 
and on Facebook

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