2026 Masterclasses

DAVID MAXIM MICIC

David Maxim Micic is a guitar/keyboard player, composer and producer from Belgrade, Serbia.

David is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music and has also studied classical piano and jazz/rock guitar. At the age of 20, his achievements included the composition, recording and production of over of 8 hours of original music, composition of music for commercials, movies and TV series, in addition to the production and arrangements for many musicians, mostly from Eastern Europe.

ARCH ECHO

Arch Echo is the brainchild of five musicians who wish to push the envelope of modern music.  Their goal is to create music that is not only complex, but accessible to the listener, delivered with passion and enthusiasm.

JACOB UMANSKY

Jacob Umansky is known for his advanced bass techniques, combining tight fingerstyle, aggressive slap, and melodic tapping with a strong sense of rhythm and groove. Since joining Intervals in 2017, his precise and expressive playing has become a key part of the band’s sound, first on Circadian (2020) and more prominently on Memory Palace (2024).

Jacob’s clinic covered the mechanics of advanced slap/thump and tapping techniques, as well as bassline composition in progressive music. He’ll also discussed how to incorporate these advanced techniques into your own playing in a musical and effective way.

AARON MARSHALL

Aaron Marshall is an independent guitarist and composer from Toronto, Canada, known by “Intervals”.

Since 2011, Aaron has been releasing energetic, guitar-centric compositions that have become a staple in the progressive rock world. Released in 2012, debut album “In Time” created buzz throughout the industry as a statement record, combining djent-style riffs with ear-catching melodies and hooks. Aaron then explored a full 4-member lineup with vocalist for the sophomore release “A Voice Within”, before returning back to his instrumental roots for his third release.

ARNAUD VERRIER

Arnaud Verrier (ten56., David Maxim Micic, Sordid Pink, ex-Uneven Structure and more), will talk about his struggles with demystifying big words such as inspiration, creativity and ultimately forging one’s own musical identity, and breaking it all down into actionable levers that he put in place to further grow his skills, adaptability and self-fulfillment in an ever evolving quest to find his own way (he will also play drums).

SOPHIE BURRELL

Sophie Burrell is a guitar virtuoso and online phenomenon known for her powerful riffs, impeccable technique, and magnetic personality. Based in the UK, Sophie started playing guitar at 9. Inspired heavily by rock and metal, she developed a style that seamlessly blends technical skill with a fierce passion for storytelling through her playing. Her dedication and talent caught the eye of major brands; she has collaborated with leading companies like D’Addario, PRS Guitars, BOSS and EVH Gear, helping to shape her unique, captivating sound.

Adam Janzi

Adam Janzi is a skilled drummer and percussionist from Sweden, known for his creative and powerful drumming style. He started playing drums at the age of 13 and has since built a successful career, performing with both national and international acts. Currently, Adam plays with the Danish/Swedish progressive metal band VOLA and is the live drummer for the Swedish pop star DOTTER. He is also part of a new world-music project called OLANE.

Baard Kolstad

Baard Kolstad is the renowned drummer of LEPROUS and from Norway. He is celebrated for his dynamic energy and technical prowess. He is a Pearl Drums artist, performing with a Pearl Reference drum kit. Influenced by iconic drummers such as Frank Beard of ZZ-top, Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden, Ian Paice of Deep Purple, Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater, and Nick Mason of Pink Floyd, Kolstad has developed a unique style.

Kolstad’s love for drumming lies in the ability to experiment with rhythms and serve as the foundational ‘battery’ of any musical ensemble. The satisfaction of delivering powerful drum sounds to an audience fuels his passion. However, he admits that forgetting parts of a song’s structure during a performance is his worst fear.

BUSTER ODEHOLM

Buster is the drummer for VILDHJARTA and the guitarist, writer and producer for HUMANITY’S LAST BREATH. Buster also is a writer and member of THROWN.

As an engineer, he has mixed and mastered records for Born Of Osiris, Sworn In, Oceano, Hacktivist and many others, as well as being featured twice as an instructor for Nail The Mix.

Buster is also the founder of Odeholm Audio, which creates sound libraries and presets used by artists throughout the modern metal scene.

EINAR SOLBERG

Einar Solberg is as renowned for the tender honesty of his lyrics as he is for the eccentric majesty of LEPROUS’ music. Singer, songwriter performer, as well as fronting LEPROUS, Einar and his band perform as the backing band for EMPEROR (who Einar has been a touring keyboardist with) frontman IHSAHN.

HENRIK LINDER

Henrik founded DIRTY LOOPS with school friends Jonah Nilsson and Aron Mellergård. Henrik is known for using a variety of techniques in his playing. Being in a trio without a guitar player, he uses a variety of chords and inversions to create new harmonic concepts that work with the piano parts and fill in chordal space. Their arrangements borrow from jazz and jazz fusion, gospel, funk, electronica, pop, and disco. They are known for their jazz fusion reharmonized covers of pop songs like “Baby” by Justin Bieber, “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele, ”Just Dance” by Lady Gaga, and “Wake Me Up” by Avicii.

PLINI

Plini (his real name) is a Sydney-born guitar player who began his career under the pseudonym HALCYON, before releasing his second EP, ‘Other Things’, under his own name, PLINI. He has released six EPs and a full-length studio album titled ‘Handmade Cities’, which was described by Steve Vai “one of the finest, forward-thinking, melodic, rhythmically and harmonically deep instrumental guitar records [he has] ever heard.”

One of Plini’s influences has been Joe Satriani. Plini stated in an interview, “What I found different in Joe’s playing is his ability to craft simple and catchy melodies and phrase them so perfectly that he doesn’t have to rely on (but can still bust out) flashy passages and cool tricks to keep the instrumental song format interesting. I hope we get to jam some day!”

JAY POSTONES

Jay is the drummer for UK prog pioneers, TESSERACT. He’s an original member of the band, joining back in 2007 and with TesseracT, has toured extensively worldwide, both headlining festivals (including RADAR 2024), tours and supporting some of the biggest names in rock and metal. He has performed at most of the big European summer festivals such as Download, Graspop, Hellfest, Rock Im Park / Am Ring, Bloodstock etc. When he isn’t on tour, Jay runs a drum education website, creating both online drum courses, and offers 1-on-1 tuition via a mentorship program. You can also find him hosting regular live drum streams on Twitch.

RABEA MASSAAD

Another long-term friend of RADAR, Rabea is an English guitarist who is most famous for his YouTube channel, where he displays his guitar skills, provides gear reviews and gives viewers lessons on improving their playing technique. Rabea currently is playing with his new band, VOWER, but is also known for performing with the bands FROGLEAP, DORJE and TOSKA.

SUNGAZER

Shawn Crowder is a drummer and one-half of the electronic-jazz duo, SUNGAZER. Sungazer has performed throughout Europe, North America, Australia and India, and has released three recorded works (two EP’s and one full-length album) since the group’s formation in Brooklyn, NY in 2014.

Shawn is also an avid educator, having held a guest faculty teaching position at the Berklee Percussion Festival in Boston from 2010-2014, and given private lessons and masterclasses around the world. Since 2019, he has garnered a sizable online following through his YouTube channel, where he shares educational videos and his experiences on the road as a touring musician.

Adam Michael Neely is an American bassist, YouTuber, and composer. His YouTube channel contains”music theory, music cognition, jazz improvisation, musical performance technique, musicology and memes”. He also creates “Gig Vlogs”, which give insight into his life as a professional musician in New York City and around the world. As a musician, he performs as a solo artist, as a session musician, and as a member of a number of New York City-based ensembles.

OLLY STEELE

Olly Steele, formerly of multiple-time RADAR alumnus, Monuments, is a guitarist, composer and teacher from London, UK. Olly has released multiple songs as a solo artist, often featuring a range of incredible talent. He is known for his precision, high-speed technical abilities and razor-sharp wit. Olly is also one of a new breed of guitarists able to effortlessly fuse the world of lead and rhythm playing as shown by tracks such as Open, Try and Get Trucked

MANUEL FERNANDES GARDNER

Manuel Gardner Fernandes is a German guitarist. He started playing at the age of 3 years old and evolved his percussive playing style throughout his musical career. He was mainly influenced by metal bands and combined different genres to achieve a unique playing style based on dead notes and hard strumming.

Manuel, endorsed by Ibanez (check out his signature guitar here), is the frontman of progressive metal band and alumnus of RADAR, Unprocessed.

John Browne & Mike Malyan

John Browne, started off in Milton Keynes’s band FELLSILENT, which spawned TESSERACTT (Acle Kahney), HACKTIVIST (Timfy James), HEART OF A COWARD (Timfy James & Christopher ‘Noddy’ Mansbridge) and MONUMENTS.

Drawing inspiration from the musical styles of James Hetfield, John Petrucci, Meshuggah and Hendrix, Browne not only shreds—he adds some serious groove to his playing. Receiving his first electric guitar at 13 was a watershed moment that changed his view of music.

Mike Malyan is a prominent drummer in the Progressive Metal (Djent) Genre. His portfolio includes being the drummer for the UK Band Monuments from 2010-2015 & 2019-2024 He has also been a performing member of Polish progressive rock act DISPERSE, and French GlitchCore act THE ALGORITHM.

He is well known as a session drummer, working with bands such as TESSERACT, PERIPHERY, PLINI, SKYHARBOR and many others.

Additionally, he is an enthusiastic educator, and primarily tutors drummers in the Progressive Metal field.

Periphery

Periphery headlined RADAR Festival 2023, and in addition Misha Mansoor, Jake Bowen, Matt Halpern and Spencer Sotelo delivered an artist Q&A in the Masterclass programme.

Periphery is an American progressive metal band that was formed in Washington, D.C., in 2005. Their musical style has been described as progressive metal, djent, and progressive metalcore. They are considered one of the pioneers of the djent movement within progressive metal. They have also received a Grammy nomination. The band consists of vocalist Spencer Sotelo, guitarists Misha Mansoor, Mark Holcomb, Jake Bowen, and drummer Matt Halpern.

Since their self-titled debut, the band has released an additional six albums: Periphery II: This Time It’s Personal, the double album Juggernaut: Alpha and Omega, Periphery III: Select Difficulty, Periphery IV: Hail Stan and Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre. They have also released two EPs: Icarus EP and Clear. All Periphery material is self-produced by the members of the band.