Stryper

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Stryper is a metal band from Orange County, California, USA. Formed in 1983, Stryper is recognized as the first openly heavy metal band to gain recognition in the mainstream music world. Their hit ballad "Honestly" is often ranked among the greatest ballads of the 1980s. Their message of salvation and religion has also made them popular with some elements of the media.

However, Stryper has not been free of controversy. Many legalistic religious groups criticized the group for being members of the heavy metal industry, which some of them saw as being close to Satanic music. Others saw the band's flashy dress as contradictory to the faith they claimed to represent. Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart led opposition to the group, likening their practice of distributing the New Testament at their shows to "casting pearls before swine". In 1990 Rolling Stone Magazine reported the band.

Brian May

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Brian Harold May CBE (born July 19, 1947) is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the lead guitarist in the rock band Queen. With his father, he built his own guitar from a mantelpiece. He called it the "Red Special".He wrote some of Queen's most famous songs and biggest hits, including "We Will Rock You", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "Tie Your Mother Down", "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "I Want It All".

May has had a long-term interest in astrophysics, and has recently completed his doctoral thesis in the subject.

May was ranked as the 39th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine.

Jennifer Batten

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Jennifer Batten is a guitarist who first received word-of-mouth attention that eventually led guitar magazines to take notice of her highly original approach to the electric guitar. On Guitar Player Monthly's premier compilation CD, John Stix wrote, "It was Jennifer's version of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" that was considered by her peers the "scariest and most requested cut on the disc."

At one point Batten was in six different bands playing many genres including rock, metal, fusion and funk. She was selected from over 100 guitarists to play in Michael Jackson's band on his one and a half year world tour. She played for a total of 4.5 million people on Jackson's first solo tour, the Bad Tour. In the following years she joined Michael on his "Dangerous Tour" as well as 1997's "HIStory Tour", traveling to such countries as South Africa and India. She also joined him in Super Bowl XXVII's half time entertainment which aired to the largest audience in television history (1.5 billion).

Following 1989's "Bad Tour" grand finale, she started work on her debut album with renowned producer (ex-Stevie Wonder guitarist) Michael Sembello (Sembello also wrote and performed the hit song "Maniac", which was featured in the soundtrack for the film Flashdance). The results can be heard on "Above, Below, and Beyond". Her second solo record, "Jennifer Batten's Tribal Rage", was released in 1997 and is heavily influenced by world music. In 1998 Jeff Beck asked Jennifer to join his band. She spent three years recording and touring in support of his albums Who Else!, and You Had It Coming. Tour dates included many dates with Sting. Guest recordings include: Jeff Beck's "Who Else" and "You Had It Coming", Carmine Appice's "Guitar Zeus" (featuring Brian May), Michael Sembellos' "Heavy Weather" , Carl Anderson's "Sunlight Again", Cindy Cruz's debut, Public Image bassist Bret Helm's "Doc Tahri" and the debut of The Immigrants. Music video appearances include Jeff Beck, Michael Jackson, Natalie Cole and Sara Hickman. She was also featured in "Hot Guitarist's" video magazine.

Between 1994 and 1999 she also joined for a few eurobeat songs to Dave Rodgers and Domino; "Sun City", "Music For the People", "Fly" and "Woa Woa Woa" feature her guitars. However, though uncredited, her writing and performing skills appear in several other songs under the A-Beat C label. Live Eurobeat appearances are limited to playing at the Tokyo Dome with Dave Rodgers and Queen of Hearts.

She's also authored two music books. Her third solo album, Whatever., was released in Japan in September 2007 and will be available in the U.S. soon.

Mattias Eklundh

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Mattias "IA" Eklundh (born 1969 in Gothenburg, Sweden) is a guitarist and vocalist, known for his work with the bands Freak Kitchen, Frozen Eyes, Fate and the Jonas Hellborg Trio; he has also released several noted solo albums. He was also prominently featured playing his trademark-style solos on 3 Soilwork albums.

Mattias began drumming at the age of six; when he was thirteen, he began playing guitar. He has named Frank Zappa and Kiss as his two major musical influences, but his record collection also included gypsy jazz, Miles Davis, and Slayer among many others.

Mattias began drumming at the age of six; when he was thirteen, he began playing guitar. He has named Frank Zappa and Kiss as his two major musical influences, but his record collection also included gypsy jazz, Miles Davis, and Slayer among many others.

In the mid-80's, Mattias formed the band Frozen Eyes. Frozen Eyes split up soon after their self-titled album was released in 1988 and Mattias subsequently joined Danish metal band Fate as lead guitarist. Mattias appears on their 1990 album Scratch 'n Sniff. He later returned to Sweden, forming his own band Freak Kitchen in 1992 with former Frozen Eyes drummer Joakim Sjöberg and bassplayer Christian Grönlund. The band played together for 8 years, until Sjöberg and Grönlund left in 2000, only to be replaced by Christer Örtefors and Björn Fryklund.

Outside of Freak Kitchen, Eklundh has recorded several solo albums, and made appearances as a guest musician for Swedish heavy metal bands like Evergrey and Soilwork. His two Freak Guitar solo albums are released on Steve Vai's Favored Nations label, and include drawings and other artwork by friend Anders Nyberg. In 2005, he grouped with Swedish bass guitarist and composer Jonas Hellborg in the Jonas Hellborg Trio along with drummer Niclas Campagnol and played their first gig in Mumbai, India and followed with a tour of India.

He also annually hosts and teaches at the Freak Guitar Camp. Mattias Eklundh endorses Caparison guitars, who make his signature Apple Horn guitar, and Yamaha Guitars for the company's unique Silent Guitar electroacoustic. He is also a long time user of Laney amplifiers, currently using a VH100R.

Freak Kitchen

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Freak Kitchen is a heavy metal/hard rock band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 1992. The high technical level of their compositions usually makes people refer to their style as somewhat of a progressive metal or progressive rock band.

Freak Kitchen's style of music is influenced by many genres besides the traditional heavy metal, ranging from jazz to pop. The band described their third album as "A corny little heavy-pop-rock-latin-world-jazz-avant-garde-metal-blues-record".

Lyrics contain heavy criticism against capitalist society, conformity, racism and the attitude of huge record companies.

Frontman Mattias Eklundh is widely known as a guitarist of high technical ability, and live shows often contain parts where Eklundh plays the guitar using several foreign objects such as a vibrating dildo. Eklundh has also released three solo albums, Sensually Primitive (1997) (under the pseudonym Mr. Libido), Freak Guitar (1999) and Freak Guitar - The Road Less Traveled (2004). The band announced a new album "Land of the Freaks", which will be released in 2008.