Kip Winger on 'Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp': 'You Learn Through Teaching'

Posted on Oct 15th 2010 4:00PM by Amy Sciarretto Comments

Kip WingerGetty Images

While camp may conjure images of Jason Vorhees and 'Friday the 13th' or something that kids dread doing, 'Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp' is redefining the very notion of camp as we know it. The VH1 Classic show will premiere on Oct. 16 at 10 PM ET. If you despise reality TV but love rock 'n' roll, put aside your disdain for the medium and tune in to watch 15 "average Joe" musicians from a variety of backgrounds and cities go through a transformative process of becoming true rock stars.

Each group has a rock star counselor doling out tough love and guidance that comes from the benefit of experience. One of the counselors is Kip Winger of Winger fame. Winger comes from a long line of teachers, PhDs and ministers, so his role in the show isn't that much of a stretch.

While the old adage goes "those who can, do; those who can't, teach," Winger has already done it all during the hair metal heyday, so he is simply passing on a lifetime of hard-earned experience to the rock star hopefuls, who will get the chance to be transformed and perform in front of a live audience as part of the stakes.

"I learn, too," Winger, who was a part of 'RNRFC' for many years before it was televised, told Noisecreep. "You learn through teaching. The camps are for people that always wanted to do music and wanted to make it and didn't. You can come to the camp and live the dream. I got to jam with Mark Farner from Grand Funk Railroad, so I get the same thing out of it."

While Winger said that the show is a blast despite some of the tensions, that's precisely what makes the show as true to life as it could possibly be. "People come in and don't know each other. People do repeat camps. You never know what to expect, since the dynamics of being in a band change," he said.

Other things Winger said he learns through the course of the show are "something as simple as re-learning how to play something or fingering on a bass part or a keyboard, or learning a Beatles tune I never knew. I [learn from] chord progressions from playing covers, and that translates into my own writing." He said the show is not scripted and that everything that plays out on the screen is as real as it gets.

Filed under: Interview, Metal Minutia

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