Everyone has stood in front of their mirror and done air guitar, you know that you have and don't you try to deny it. You might've been listening to your favorite Led Zeppelin song (or in the case of one miamist.com contributor it was Black Sabbath) and pretended that you were the greatest rock star ever. What a lot of people probably haven't done though is performed this unusual art form competitively--in front of thousands of people.
When it comes to the world of competitive air guitar, one name rings louder than any other.

Bjorn Turoque (pronounced B-yorn Too-Rawk). This isn't his real name, even though it would be cool if it was. His real name is Dan Crane, and he has competed in ten air guitar competitions all over the world. He came in second place in 5 of them, and first place in 2 of them.
Now, before we get ahead of ourselves here, let’s bring you up to speed.

For the past three years, the United States has held a national air guitar contest. This is not a joke, this is a real thing here people, so listen up! Three years ago, an air guitarist named C-Diddy not only won the national title of greatest air guitarist, he also traveled to Oulu, Finland and won the World Air Guitar Championships.
Yes, you read that right, the World Air Guitar Championships.

For ten years now, Oulu has hosted the World Air Guitar Championships
to unite people through music and to bring about world peace.
Bjorn Turoque also competed in the in the US Nationals but came in second to C-Diddy. Feeling robbed, he flew to Finland and won the qualifying round to face C-Diddy one last time. The sweet taste of victory was once again taken from him.

If you are totally baffled by all of this, check out the new documentary, "Air Guitar Nation." This chronicles the first year that competitive air guitar swept across the US. It was directed by Alexandra Lipsitz for Magical Elves. It premiered at Austin's South-by-Southwest Film Festival where it won the audience award in it's category for best music documentary.

"There were all these documentaries about bands playing real instruments and then there's this one about people playing invisible instruments and it wins the audience award!" Crane enthused. "I saw the movie 3 times and people were cheering and people were into it. It's hilarious and it's fun!"

Now boys and girls, you might think that this is all completely unbelievable. Mind if we blow your minds some more? Didn't think so.

The author of this little news story had the honor of competing against Senior Bjorn. He took the stage name "Psycho Dave." You can read about him and the other air guitar heroes who competed with Bjorn like The Rockness Monster, Sonic Rock, and many others in his book "To Air Is Human" which comes out in August through Riverhead Books.

"It's kind of my own personal story," the future legend explains. "It's sort of a story about being the under dog and being the guy and who comes so close to winning and never quite actually wins. It's about commitment and about how no matter how ridiculous your dream is, you have to give it everything you got. Even if that dream is being the best air guitarist in the world."
Ne’er a truer statement hath been spoken.
When Psycho Dave moved to Miami back in June, he had just competed in the 2005 Los Angeles Regional contest and lost to The Rockness Monster. The Rockness went on and won the Nationals, and that's right, Bjorn came in second. Now that he’s in Miami, there is a feeling that he’s the only rock fan in town. To see his favorite bands he has to travel to Fort Lauderdale, or West Palm, and sometimes even the Tampa Bay area.
"There are closet metal-heads everywhere and air guitar isn't solely about metal and it doesn't even have to be about rock."
So can reggae fans and hip hop fans do air guitar too?
"Air guitar is about music that gets you excited and moves you. It doesn't matter what city you're in. There are some cities where it might be harder than other's, but it's just a matter of getting the word out and once they know what it's about I think they'll be coming in droves."
For 2006, air guitar contests are being planned in cities across the country. Who knows? Maybe the next king of American Air Guitar will be from Miami.
"We really want to bring air guitar to many more people. It's such a liberating art form. It's an amazing experience and this documentary and hopefully from my book people can realize that they can participate in it."
Bjorn, is there anything else you want to the fine people of Miami?
"I look forward to seeing Psycho Dave on stage again obviously. He's been robbed too many times."

Bjorn Turoque's Top 5 Air Guitar Songs
"Califorina Uber Alles" by Dead Kennedys
"Ace of Spades" by Motorhead
"Get Your Hands Off My Woman" by The Darkness
"The Mole" by The Bags
and the live version of "Free Bird" by Skynyrd