Mike Visaggio, all keyboards and vocals; Michael Murray, drums; Matt Harris, bass. On the CD most drums were done by programming and the bass was done on the Alesis synthesizer, before Michael and Matt cast in with Mike V.
Kinetic Element, Now and Forever 2007 Slideshow
Man, where to start? The biggest ones are Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but the Beatles, Genesis, Gentle Giant, the Moody Blues, Uriah Heep, David Sancious, J.S. Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, The Incredible Jimmy Smith, Al Kooper, Brian Auger, Return to Forever, Argent, Pink Floyd, Asia, The Who, Ambrosia, early Chicago, Ethos, Gentle Giant, Glass Hammer, Happy the Man, Iron Butterfly, Triumvirat, Kansas, Led Zeppelin, Lee Michaels, Marillion, Mountain, Le Orme, Renaissance, Saga, UK, The Strawbs, Vangelis, Zebra and now Niacin, among many others helped form Mike's musical direction. Right now Mike is listening to Spock's Beard and Neal Morse (a humbling experience for any Christian prog musician!). And a subtle but important influence on Mike's composition is Billy Falcon, a wonderful singer-songwriter who's also on MySpace, in whose band he played from 1975 to 1981.
Sounds Like
People tell say that they can hear the Yes and ELP influence. But some of it is like Pink Floyd, Lee Michaels, and there's some romantic piano, baroque organ and symphony orchestra bits thrown in. But you'll have to hit Mike's website to hear those.
View Mike Visaggio and Kinetic Element's EPK
Mike Visaggio is a multi-keyboard artist in Richmond VA and has completed a solo album of keyboard-centered material blending prog rock, classic rock and new age styles. Now joined by Michael Murray on drums and Matt Harris on bass, Mike Visaggio & Kinetic Element are playing out at selected venues and aiming to shake up the music scene with some classic prog/classic/new age style thunder. They are also rehearsing music for a first band CD, which would be Mike's second.
MIKE VISAGGIO .... a MULTI-KEYBOARD player who stayed away from the music business too long, returning in 2000 after a 20-year absence , and now with his fourth band in Richmond, KINETIC ELEMENT, with MATT HARRIS on bass and MICHAEL MURRAY on drums performing the Starship Universe CD along with new originals and some surprising classic rock and classic prog covers.
Mike is the former keyboardist of Billy Falcon's Burning Rose, a singer-songwriter rock band of the late 1970s that made three LPs and an EP on Manhattan Records, United Artists and MCA. He also performed with The Strokers, a well known Richmond band. Mike has taken a somewhat oblique approach to incorporating his Christian worldview into his music so that people who love prog and classic rock can enjoy it whether they are believers or not. Over the last two years Mike has been building a name for himself in the prog world, having at present 30 reviews of Starship Universe, many of which can be read in The Reviews So Far in the Blogs section or at www.sonicbids.com/MikeVisaggio, the band's Sonicbids EPK.
In this day when progressive rock is coming back out of the shadows thanks to the Internet, Kinetic Element has been performing for diverse audiences and has seen firsthand how prog crosses all ethnic and age demographics. When prog is heard, it is loved. People who never heard the great prog bands of the 70s, or today's awesome prog artists, have reacted with enthusiastic acceptance of the band's vintage prog ethos on hearing Kinetic Element in concert.
P.S. Anyone interested in purchasing a CD after hearing the four pieces: Please e-mail Mike at bigroad3@gmail.com. OR YOU CAN GET IT AT CD BABY by hitting the CD BABY button. You can also find it at MELODIC REVOLUTION and NIGHTMARE RECORDS (two of Mike's top friends!) and can get legal downloads at iTunes, MusicIsHere and 34 other download sites. Just google "Mike Visaggio" to find them!
P.S.: The CD has been favorably reviewed on ProgressiveEars.com (Thanks Sean!) and Prognaut.com (Thanks Ron!) and 28 other places online!
..This profile was edited with Thomas' myspace editor™ V2.5.... --> --> --> --> CDBABY LINK for MIKE VISAGGIO: Starship Universe -->
I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)
How's it going? I have a brand new song "When The Dust Settles" I just uploaded. If you haven't heard the new song I uploaded last week, "Something Stirs" give that a listen too. Let me know what you think! Thanks alot!
Mike, thank you for your comment about your imaginary trip into the nights of Beppu. Kinetic Elements took a journey through my ears too, should I say the universe I was transported in was quite 'organic' (if the keyboard called organ can generate that word). If you're not upset by comparison, I felt a little ELP, but far more modern, energetic and colourful. Kinetic Elements has the power of putting people (at least me) in a good mood. Was it the purpose, I don't know, but the effect on me is that one. Recommendable !
I’m sadden by this news of Matt's leaving, he was the first person I met during the sound check @ The Circa GIG, he was very nice and a HELL of a Bass player it's going to be tuff to replace a guy with so much energy, If you could pass his e-mail along to me , Much would be appreciated.
Just following up. Mike, you make me laugh and what could be better for you than a good laugh now-a-days. Love you, my brother. Good luck on the search. Caught the Kelly Bell band last night, phat blues. They brought out the funky white boy in me from the Seventies.
Hi, Mike I hear you are looking for a bassist. I have the perfect guy for you but he plays with a lot of soul. I hear he's looking for a new gig too. How about Doug Wilder? You never know unless you ask and I hear he packs the house.
