World Music School Open Mic

September 10, 2024
< back

World Music School (WMS) Open Mic at the Helsinki Open Waves 

A live show, moderated by Pedro Aibéo, chairman of the WMS, at the Helsinki Open Waves in Caisa. Every 4th Wednesday of the month at 16:00 Finnish time.

The show invites musicians to talk about their work and lives and play live music. The goal is to promote local artists and around the world music. The interview is done in different languages (EN, PT, DE, ES, FR).

Justin “Nordic Thunder” Howard hails from the square state known as Wyoming, but currently calls Chicago his home. In the spring of 2006, Nordic Thunder took to the stage for the first time in a smoke filled bar in Chicago, where he competed against 20 other professional air guitarists from around the Midwest, ultimately becoming Chicago’s greatest air guitarist. Two air guitar related surgeries later, along with becoming the Air Guitar World Champion, Nordic Thunder has traveled the world playing his invisible guitar. From the dunes of Qatar to the Artic Circle, Nordic Thunder spreads his message of world peace, love, and understanding through invisible guitar licks and head banging hair whips. He even captured the attention of Dr Pepper, where he was proclaimed to be “One in a Billion” and appeared in several commercials of theirs that aired nationwide.

photo by Jim Newberry

What started off as something to make his friends laugh, Justin has deemed air guitar a vessel in which has delivered him to one of his life’s purposes. That purpose is to communicate with people on an open and personal level and to preach his message of world peace; something he in fact feels is absolutely obtainable. He is able to do this by captivating his audiences, whether it is through his air guitar, stage performances, or through the many opportunities he’s had to speak in front of audiences around the world.

Credits
Producer & Host: Pedro Aibéo
Guest: Justin Howard
Sound recording, editing & live streaming:  Bailey Polkinghorne

*The audio piece was recorded and edited at the Helsinki Open Waves performance & recording room located at Caisa.

**The views expressed in this audio piece and texts are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of Helsinki Open Waves.  

***If you have any feedback regarding the content of the podcast, please contact us via helsinkiopenwaves@gmail.com

Listen

 /