Who airs wins

“If you came to the air-guitar championships with a tennis racket, you’d be thrown out. A purist wouldn’t use a tennis racket or any kind of props,” Zac Monro insists, stoney-faced.

Yikes.
I think it’s fair to say that the former winner of the World Air-Guitar Championships, and organiser of its UK counterpart, is very serious about his hobby. The stereotype might put one in mind of pubscent boys wielding rackets in front of a mirror while ‘You Could Be Mine’ by Guns’n’Roses is blaring in the background. But the novelty status that the pastime once held is waning as Zac and other enthusiasts propel it to the mainstream. His status as one of the best air guitarists has opened many a door, including that of Brian May’s home. Yes, he of Queen fame.
“He just phoned me out of the blue to help him put together an air guitar compilation,” Zac recalls. “And since then, we’ve remained in contact. It helps that when I phone, he knows it’s just me ringing up for a chat and to share our common interest – I’m not trying to push my CD onto him.”
Not bad for a successful architect from London, especially considering the whole idea started when he was under the influence.
“I heard about the championships that were happening in Finland when I was really drunk, and I thought it sounded brilliant,” he says of the fateful night in 2001. “The next morning I woke up really hungover. I didn’t think it was that great an idea then, but soon realised I’d already booked tickets over. When I told my mum, she said ‘Zac, you’re an arsehole’. But I went on to win it, and I think she’s secretly proud.”
Winning the year after too, he’s now considered an air guitar guru. He was the person that spawned the much-used ‘three-beer rule’, which states that having three bottles of beer before performing means that “you’re up for a laugh but you’re not so far gone that you’re falling over”.
This gained popularity after it was recorded in the air guitar bible To Air Is Human, written by Dan Crane’s alter ego Björn Türoque (pronounced b-yorn-to-rock – genius).
And now, Zac will be giving a workshop along with Gabi Matzeu, aka the Hoxton Creeper, at the Music Ireland ‘06 shindig. So what can we expect?
“Good advice. A voyage of self-discovery. And I can promise there won’t be one musical instrument involved.”
What would he say to those who think it’s the domain of frustrated guitarists and nine-to-fivers?
“I’d say, have a go yourself,” he grins. “It’s easy to rubbish it, but most of these people are actually quite crap at air-guitaring.”
Now there’s a challenge if ever I heard one…