Troy Barrett is about to amp up rocking out to heavy metal in the privacy of his lounge to the next level.
The Yarraville guitar teacher’s will represent Australia as a wild card entry at the 20th anniversary of the World Air Guitar Championships in Oulu, Finland on August 26 to 28.
Barrett’s dream of stardom has been on the back burner for years but things changed on a trip to America when he watched a video of last year’s winner Nanami “Seven Seas” Nagura of Japan.
“This is a crazy air-venture I will be embarking on,” he says.
“I’ve been wanting to do it for years and I’ve always been in bands and I just wanted to do it for a laugh. It was always a bit of a dream and now it’s happening.
“This competition is a huge event in Finland and people from all over the world battle to get their spot on the big stage at the world championships and I want to take the trophy home for all the rock lords in Australia!”
Australia doesn’t have an air guitar league so the entire trip will be self funded.
Barrett will perform a prepared air-guitar piece to Bad Boys by Whitesnake, followed by a one-minute freestyle to a song of the judges choice.
The best of the wild card entries will progress to the major stage to pit themselves against the big guns.
He’s a massive fan of heavy metal and rock music fan and said it’s not hard to get into character.
“I created an alter ego character that I’ll be performing under called Random Air Guitar Man who dons a blonde hair metal wig, double denim and of course, air guitar moves,” says Barrett.
“I thought, if not this year, then when? Its the 20th anniversary, it would be a shame not to!”
Barrett has created social media profiles on Facebook and Instagram to help crank some fan buzz and he hopes to gain sponsorship.
Search Troy Barrett #randomairguitarman on social media or learn more about the competition on Youtube.
