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About Adam

Adam is a contemporary guitarist with more than 30 years of playing experience. Since first taking up the guitar, Adam has engaged non-stop in what is most important to him – performing and composing.

He has a wide variety of musical experiences including playing in Rock, Funk, Rockabilly and Top 40 cover bands and duos, Trad, Acid and Fusion Jazz ensembles and accompanying singers and instrumentalists in a variety of duo and trio settings. Adam has played and recorded in a number of other formats including Musicals and session work as a guitarist, bassist and also as Musical Director on many occasions.

Having spent a lot of time doing solo gigs, playing standards, funky tunes and his own compositions he has developed  a unique voice as a multi-genre fingerstyle guitarist. In 2009 Adam released his debut album “2 Head City”. His current and ongoing projects include two further planned solo guitar albums, The Adam O’Connor Trio recording in September (featuring Dave Sanders and Thierry Fossmalle), Blues Fusion group Rustbucket (EP due soon) and popular rockabilly outfits Lock n Load and The-Tri-Tones (recording in late 2020). 

 Adam draws upon funk, jazz, blues and rock and his tunes borrow elements from many other styles. In playing and composing alike, he tries to find the balance between familiar and exotic, rhythm and harmony. Adam takes inspiration from legends of solo guitar players such as Joe Pass, Martin Taylor, Tuck Andress and of course, Tommy Emmanuel. The style of his music is also affected by his simultaneous passion for electric guitar and it’s idols. He cites diverse influences such as, Mark Knopfler, Stevie-Ray Vaughn, Brian Setzer, Eric Clapton, John Scofield, Scott Henderson, Wayne Krantz and many others. 

We are honoured to welcome Finnish guitar virtuoso and animator Mika Tyyskä to The Guitar Gym for this exclusive masterclass. Mika is best known for his creation of cartoon guitarist and mentor Mr. Fastfinger for the Guitar Shred Show.  This work earned Mika worldwide respect from guitar players and led to many multimedia awards.

The charismatic Mr. Fastfinger inspired Mika to explore the possibilities of instrumental rock, and to find his own voice on the guitar. Mika collaborated with companies like Hughes & Kettner and TC Electronic. Soon Mika got to do various clinics in Europe and in Japan. The next big step was Mr. Fastfinger’s debut album “The Way of the Exploding Guitar.” The album features guest appearances by Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Mattias IA Eklundh (Freak Kitchen), Christophe Godin (Möglbl), and Niko Tsonev (Steven Wilson Band). In 2015, a 30 minute long Mr. Fastfinger movie was released. “The Spirit of the Guitar Hunt” is the result of a collaboration between Mika Tyyskä and guitar maker Juha Ruokangas. Also Mr. Fastfinger’s 4th release “Spirit Rising” was released. The album is a soundtrack to the movie and features many guest appearances from musicians such as Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Michael Angelo Batio, Kai Hahto(Nightwish, Wintersun), Jan-Olof Strandberg and Kristoffer Gildenlöw (ex-Pain of Salvation). Mr. Fastfinger’s last album, Mountain Tone 2 was released in 2020.

Over the years Mika has done many clinics and masterclasses in Euorpe and Asia. He has also been honoured to guest appear at both Mattias IA Eklundh’s and Christophe Godin’s guitar camps. Since 2007 he’s been a teacher for Modern Music School‘s Professional Guitar Class in Germany.  He has also created educational content for companies like JTC Guitar and Rockway, a Finnish online school.

As a session musician Mika has been honoured to work with producers like James Spectrum (Pepe Deluxe), Marko Nyberg (Husky Rescue). Mika also plays in other bands KaKalMas, Mauron Maiden, Metallica Tribute (with Kai Hahto and Mikko Herranen) and has been seen on stage with some of the best Finnish and international musicians. He works also as an animator too. In addition to his work with Mr. Fastfinger, his best known works are his cartoon animations he’s done for the band Dream Theater.

(Mika proudly endorses and uses Hughes & Kettner amplifiers, Ruokangas guitars, D’Addario strings, Guitar Pro software)