Thorsten Praest started playing guitar at the age of 10 after seeing KISS live in concert. He took classical guitar lessons, taught himself electric guitar techniques and joined his first band INSESSION when he was 14 years old. After years of practise and playing in bands like BIG BROTHER and RIOT ACT he went to the MGI (Munich Guitar Institute) to study jazz/rock guitar. To expand his insight into jazz and improvised music he started to study jazz guitar at the HKA (Highschool of the Arts) in Arnhem/Nederlande after his graduation from the MGI.

During that time he played in numerous bands and projects with a stylistic range from rock, funk to jazz. The band HÜHNERFRIEDHOF was founded during these days. Besides that Thorsten worked as a freelance musician playing live/studio sessions and taught guitar at different music schools.

In 2004 he was a founding member of the metal band COLDSEED. The band released their debut album "Completion makes the tragedy" in 2006. The album was received very well in the metal scene and sold more than 12.000 copies worldwide.

With the fusion trio GUT Thorsten lived out his love for high energy instrumental music. The band existed from 2008-2017 and released two highly acclaimed albums ("Nerd Alert"/2010 and "Le Chien du jazz"/2013).

In 2008 and 2012 Thorsten won the “Guitar Fight Club” – the first nationwide guitar contest of that kind in Germany.

Currently Thorsten works as a freelance guitar player and instructor. His first solo album "Driven" was released in July 2019.

Photo: Erhan Goktan