Mika Tyyskä
Mika Tyyskä is not just an amazing player, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and digital artist. He’s also a multimedia pioneer, whose Guitar Shred Show Flash animation went viral in the pre-YouTube era of the guitar internet, before “going viral” was even a term we used.
The fact that the Shred Show animation itself is still entertainingly playable over a decade later is a testament to the kind of creativity that has always powered the best games, electronic or otherwise. But more enduring even than his interactive creation is the music it spawned.
The character of “Mr. Fastfinger” soon became Mika’s musical alter ego, lending his name to Mika’s band, and appearing in projected form alongside him onstage during original compositions like “Effortless” and “Be Like Wind”. Mika plays both of these in the interview, and they are prime examples of his gift for melody and phrasing, and of his utterly instinctive improvisational maturity. The “Shred Show” was an intentional homage to the guitar styles of the ’80s, but the Mika of today is very clearly, and effortlessly, his own.
With his combination of diverse interests merging into one thoroughly modern musical career, Mika Tyyskä is like Cracking the Code’s brother from another mother. We were so glad to finally meet him.
There are two great ways to watch: