Soul STRUMMING

Music is not a sport, it's not a competition you have to win by playing really fast. And if you want to be faster than your band mate, that's the worst case scenario ... DON'T JUST STICK TO SCALE, BUT PAY ATTENTION TO MELODY AND SOUND AS WELL

The hall filled with laughter, enthusiasm and gleeful screaming of music enthusiasts as guitar maestro and lead guitarist of Kingdom Come Eric Foerster spoke fluently and encouragingly adding a dash of humour during the Rock Guitar workshop `Feeling First' at Nepal Music Centre (NMC) on March 6."Everyone wants to show off their talent and be a shredder, which is not bad. Being an ace technician in guitar is a talent of its own, but music without soul does not intrigue anyone," said Foerster.
The mesmerised crowd consisting music enthusiasts and well-known musicians seemed to be hanging on to each word that Foerster was saying. Standing six feet and four inches tall, he not only demanded attention due his overwhelming personality but also due to his hypnotising music and witty words.
The acclaimed lead guitarist hailing from Germany began his journey with the guitar at the age of 16, which he considers "pretty late" compared to those who begin very early. Before getting into guitar he was a "terrible violinist".
The journey to becoming the `rock xtar' that he is today, began in a small theatre of his neighbourhood that used to have back-to-back movie shows on rock music. Reminiscing about the beginnings Foerster said, "One fine Friday I went to the theatre with my best friend and two great movies of all time Blues Brother and Woodstock documentary changed my life."
He was so impressed by Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana, he returned with the dream of being able to play guitar the way they do.
With all the enthusiasm to play guitar the way legends of that era did, Foerster got his first six strings -a pretty cheap Aria guitar. He and his friend used to practice all the time. "Starting with a friend is always better than doing anything alone. You always have encouragement and excitement," he insisted. Practicing non-stop to AC/DC records, which by the way is his all time favourite band, he shared that they could not afford lessons but playing along with the record taught them a lot.
"One should always practice with records especially of legendary musicians like AD/DC and Eric Clapton."
Even during the workshop he pressed on his topic of playing from the heart saying, "When you hear TNT by AC/DC you will find even the basic rhythm very catchy and you are like `yes this is cool and right now I want to ride a motorbike.'" He went on to add, "Music is not a sport, it's not a competition that you have to win by playing really fast. And if you want to be faster than your band mate, that's the worst case scenario."
He said proper technique is good as it helps to express yourself better, but if you don't have the intensity and feelings to express,then it's not any good. Giving the examples of Steve Vai and Paul Gilbert he said, "These people were not only technically sound but were also geniuses when it came to sound and fellings. So don't just stick to scale but pay attention to melody and sound as well."
He not only gave theoretical examples but also had live music examples supported by Sunit Kansakar (guitar), Rizu Tuladhar (bass), Daniel Rasaili (drums) and Iman Bikarm Shah (guitar).
Talking about being a part of Kingdom Come Foerster shared, "It was 1999-2000 and I was working and living in New York. I had gone home (Germany) for a short break and there a friend of mine called to ask if I was interested in getting into Kingdom Come as they were in search of a lead guitarist. I was amazed but I had a life back in NY and was leaving the next day."
But fate had a different plan for him -Lenny Wolf, the band's frontman suggested him to play a solo in one of their tracks and email it back. Foerster did the same and they liked it so much that within the next two months he was touring with the band. His recent tour includes the 2009 Monsters of Rock tour featuring The Scorpions, Alice Cooper and The Rasmus.
It was not just getting into the band he considers as "funny incident" but also conducting the workshop at NMC. Foerster in the process of taking some time off from a hectic schedule decided to come to Nepal and help out at the Nepal Orphan Home, an organisation rescuing children from slavery. Through a language translator he came to know that Nepal too had a rock music scene.
"I was totally surprised as I never thought Nepal was this rock forward. And that's how I met Iman (Shah) and we coined this idea of doing this workshop," he said with a smile.
He had recently been to Thamel to enjoy the music scene of the Valley and was pleasantly surprised to see well known Nepali rock band Cobweb playing some vintage rock music.
"They were digging the songs out from their instruments and I was totally surprised."
He believes Nepal can do even better in rock music scene if there were "lesser power cuts for more practice".
Foerster has been to more than 30 countries and "without trying to sound cheesy" says the visit to Nepal has been very special. He has been to Tarai and around the Valley and plans to go to the Himalayas. "Nothing has been planned, but yes I want to come back again, maybe this time with my band, as I have been thinking of doing something musical in South-East Asia. Something sometimes happen for a reason and this is a good enough reason to be back," said Forester.