Kinetic Element news

[HoldYourFire]

I haven't been here in awhile but to let you know, the Ashland gig went great. We had the biggest turnout we ever have had in a Richmond venue, around 50 showed up to see us and Brave who opened for us. We will be back at Ashland Coffee and Tea on April 8 and it will be a "just us" show.

The band is actively working on new material now with new singer Saint John Coleman. How long it will take us to get another CD out is anyone's guess but it's at least a year away. We will be playing PROGTOBERFEST 2017 so keep an eye out for that, as the festival is LOADED with tremendous talent and we're pretty well psyched to be among all the bands more famous than we are. As usual we intend to prove we can hold our own with any of them.

You can see come clips of the show at Ashland from this last Jan. 20 2017 here: https://www.facebook.com/mar59piwo/p...70?pnref=story

Don't hesitate to drop me a line here or on Facebook. Please join up at https://www.facebook.com/kineticelementband/ and our Fans page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1682820928650103/

PROG LIVES> It keeps us young!

[HoldYourFire]

Gig update. We did Chesapeake VA on May 20 and brought down the house. Figuratively. A lot of people who had never heard anything remotely like this are now KE fans and we had great opportunity to spread word about prog in general. And we are out and about tomorrow: Everybody within shouting distance of Richmond start gearing up for An Evening with Kinetic Element tomorrow Saturday June 3 at Cafe Zata here in Richmond. It is NO COVER CHARGE, although the bands accept donations. Sort of like what Going For The One did at ROSfest about seven years ago when they put that guitar case out in front of the band. NOTE CORRECT TIME 7 to 9 PM. Set list is all of Travelog, plus covers from Yes, ELP, King Crimson, UK and Rush. https://www.facebook.com/events/1434...story%22%3A%22[%7B%5C%22surface%5C%22%3A%5C%22page%5C%22%2C%5C%22 mechanism%5C%22%3A%5C%22page_upcoming_events_card% 5C%22%2C%5C%22extra_data%5C%22%3A[]%7D]%22%2C%22has_source%22%3Atrue%7D
Next show unless something changes is Progtoberfest on Oct. 22. We will be instudio between now and then. Thanks for staying with us.

[HoldYourFire]

This is the update. KE has been working on this new piece called All Open Eyes for, believe it or not, a year, and the availability of our members has held up the making of a new CD. We've had issues between two of our members and in spite of that, we did manage to get this recorded, and sent it off to the wonderful prog legend Fred Schendel (Glass Hammer) to mix. We also did a show in Richmond on October 14 while the east coast prog world was at ProgStock, and another one at Progtoberfest on Oct. 22 which went over quite well. Unfortunately our brilliant guitarist Todd Russell has resigned from Kinetic Element due to the aforementioned issues, and so this is most likely the last piece you will hear that has Todd on it. We are considering a special re-issue of Travelog with a second disc to get this one out there, or perhaps a "prog single" if a 16-minute song can be a single. :-) We are pretty upset because some good things were developing and now we will have to pause yet again for personnel reasons. This new piece also has our most recent addition, vocalist Saint John Coleman, whose pipes got a good workout here, and thankfully he is gung-ho ready to record. But because of the personnel delays we still have to get the rest of the music for a full length CD composed as it exists only in snippets and sections right now. So it's hard to say when, or even if, there will be another KE album. So it's my sincere wish that you'd have a listen here, and leave honest comments with us on this thread, as we'd love to know how this strikes you, especially if you are a symphonic style fan. Thanks for sticking with us if you've been doing that, and we hope to have news about a new member on guitar, or whether we go all keyboards which was the original direction of the band back in 2006-2009. Prog Lives. It keeps us young.
https://soundcloud.com/kinetic-eleme...mix-4-dt-sauce

[HoldYourFire]

Kinetic Element LIVE at Progtoberfest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Nx...&feature=share

[HoldYourFire]

We are in communication with a known guitarist who is laying down some tracks to replace Todd's on the new piece All Open Eyes. We are dearly hoping this works out and if it does we will have a big announcement in the not too distant future. Meanwhile we want to let you know that our new website is up and running at www.kineticelement.rocks, and we'd love for you to come by and visit, and leave a comment to let us know you were there. We're waiting out this frostbitten New Year's weather and looks like we will resume recording in mid-January. Thanks for staying with us. You are why we do this.

[HoldYourFire]

OK, friends and fans of KE, we are thrilled to announce that the brilliant Peter Matuchniak of the Gekko Project, the Steppes and his new group Bomber Goggles has consented to be the guitarist on the new CD we are building these days, and join Kinetic Element.

Peter was recommended to us by several of our fans when Todd Russell decided to discontinue his association with us after nine years and three festivals. We were contaced by seven world-class guitarists, but when we got about ten suggestions to contact Peter, I did so, and we have hit it off very well.

Peter has completed replacing Todd's guitar work on the last epic we finished called All Open Eyes. As great as Todd's work is, Peter has exceeded it and the rest of us are just euphoric that he is going to be on the new CD. He is working on fixing a couple of parts and when I get the corrected and mixed file back from him I will post it so you can hear it.

We are hoping to get this record completed during 2018 so we will have it out there early in 2019. It appears Peter will be available to perform with us if we should be so fortunate as to land a festival date. Of course, he lives in California and we are 3000 miles away in Virginia. How we will play out in our own area remains to be seen.

Please visit Peter at https://www.facebook.com/petermatuchniak.music/ or his personal page, and help us extend a welcome into the KE universe to him. We ask you to please share this around to any prog groups you frequent, or just share it out there in general.

[JKL2000]

Saw this on FB today, Mike! Peter is a great guitarist, so this is definitely good news. Best of luck completing the record!

Jed

[Lopez]

Glad to hear it, Mike. Looking forward to new music.

[progeezer]

Good for you, Mike!

[HoldYourFire]

Well laddies and lassies, this is how All Open Eyes now sounds with our newest member Peter Matuchniak on guitar. It's a long piece as is our custom, and if you will take 16 minutes to listen end to end we think you will be pleasantly surprised especially if you know how we sounded with Todd Russell. Turn it up. Peter's playing is particularly intense. We are pretty well psyched to hear what he does with the rest of the new stuff. We would appreciate shares from our fans and friends very much.
Note, Copyright 2018 Mike Visaggio ASCAP
https://soundcloud.com/kinetic-eleme...5a-corrections

[HoldYourFire]

It has been seven months since last I posted. Since then we have completed three more tracks to fill up a 47-minute LP. We're still talking about whether to leave it at that for the CD or put a bonus track on there.

Peter has more than fulfilled all our hopes for guitar work on this record. He plays with fire and yet has a very unorthodox approach to the instrument that we find fascinating. We have made a totally clean break with our musical brother Todd Russell now. We sound very different from the last version of KE with Peter and on vocals with Saint John Coleman. But it's still KE music, another journey into symphonic prog, with two epics, a more rockin' number, and a short piece that uses a string quartet performed on my new Roland synthesizer. There will be a fundraiser, of course, not to far in the future. I'm doing my diligence to get prices for all the things we have to do to get this out there.

I realize we are still not where we want to be in terms of popularity. It's our own fault because we were not ready to kick it up a notch when Travelog started opening so many doors to us. We have squandered our momentum and will be trying to kick start this thing with all of you. We are pretty sure that if you liked Travelog you will find a lot to like in The Face of Life, which is much more concerned lyrically with our own behavior as individuals towards the people with whom we interact in a world gone mad, rather than the sort of societal analysis that Travelog was. So yes, it's spiritual but not in any way religious (as you know I have little use for the organized church), and I have tried to offer a way to see things with different eyes than the five senses usually affords us.

Thank you, as always, for staying with us, and letting us take you on these sojourns into the philosophical while rocking your socks off. :-) Stay tuned. KE will be back on the scene shortly. We are shooting for a January release. Vinyl lovers will be able to add to their stash as well as CD aficionados. And yes, we are looking for a festival date somewhere in 2019. PROG LIVES. It keeps us young. And I need SOMETHING to do that these days. LOL

[Lopez]

Keep at it, Mike. I'll be interested in your next release.

[HoldYourFire]

We're in the home stretch for our new album The Face of Life. It goes off to the Glass Hammer guys to be mixed very soon and the artwork is being done by Martin Kornick of Man In The Mountain. Yes, there's a fundraiser. We need to raise $8500 and as of today we've raised $2110. Please visit our GoFundMe and consider coming on board. https://www.gofundme.com/kinetic-ele...album-20182019

[HoldYourFire]

To all our friends, fans and GoFundMe donors, we find ourselves unable to precisely determine the date for the release of The Face of Life. We are not certain the date we will be receiving the finished vinyl product, although we are told it will be late February and may go into early March, two months later than we expected, due to delays in getting everything correct for the manufacturer. We are confident we will have the CDs in late January, but we want to release both CD and vinyl at the same time. We promise to keep you up to date on what is happening.

When we know it's on its way we intend on having a band get-together with Peter flying in from California to do a mass autographing day, so that those who are getting rewards from GoFundMe and those who placed pre-orders will have signed copies.

While we are waiting for our product, we have decided to resume composing and arranging MORE new music for a follow-up album. This will happen later this week, and we intend to go as full-bore on this as we can.

All five of us wish to thank all of you <3 for staying with us and a we profusely thank our donors who footed three-fourths of the cost of getting this album out there. We wish fervently that someone among the festival promoters will see fit to ask us to perform this music for you. If you want to see us perform, please let them know.

Wishing everyone a great 2019!
Mike, Michael, Mark, Saint John and Peter

[Lopez]

Sounds good, Mike. Looking forward to hearing it.

[HoldYourFire]

Release Date for The Face of Life is Feb. 28th 2019. Yes we will still take GoFundMe donations, but it's really pre-order time. The CD's arrived, they sound great, the T-shirts look awesome. Drop me a line on my Facebook page via PM or at bigroad3@gmail.com and tell me what you'd like to buy, we'll get the details worked out. We still have Travelog T-Shirts and CDs, Powered by Light CDs, and a bunch of my solo CD Starship Universe (cheap). Hope to hear from you!

[HoldYourFire]

Friends and fellow travelers, the Face of Life CDs are in. You can pre-order ahead of the Feb. 28 release date. You can hear a couple of the new pieces here: https://soundcloud.com/kinetic-element They are the first two pieces at the top of the list. Please drop me a line on my page via PM and you will get the details on how to order. We will be posting links to reviews fairly soon because we have just engaged PR people in the US and the UK. But the music speaks for itself. The CD will be available from CD Baby and Melodic Revolution Records on Feb. 28. We still have bills to pay on this record. If you hear the music and it scratches your prog rock itch, please favor us with a pre-order! Prog Lives. It keeps us young.

[HoldYourFire]

NEW MUSIC BEING COMPOSED. While we are waiting for the vinyl of The Face of Life to be finished, and sending out rewards to our GoFundMe donors, and filling orders for the CD version, KE has embarked on another ambitious album project with what is now a 17-plus minute epic to be called Chasing the Lesser Light. Guitarist Peter Matuchniak suggested that the 50th anniversary year of the Apollo moon landing would be a good theme for us, and we're going full spped ahead with this epic, and two shorter pieces composed by Peter. So we don't know whether 2019 will be another disappointment as far as the festivals are concerned, but music is the burning passion in our souls, and we will keep making new music as long as we can. Prog Lives. It keeps us young.

[HoldYourFire]

Well the reviews are coming in and most of them are very good, a couple of "ho-hum more symphonic prog" ones, no bad ones. So yeah, we write classic symphonic prog, yeah, we wear our influences on our sleeve, yeah, that's who we are, and if you are a math rock shoegazer or someone who thinks John Cages' piece with vacuum cleaners is listenable, we might not get the best review. So here are the review links, there will be more, and if you want some really, really good symph prog we're here for ya. We're disappointed there's no festival in sight but I am trying to set up some East Coast dates if I can get one certain venue to book us to anchor that. OK, here are the review links. And you can get this ting from me, from MRR bandcamp at https://kineticelement.bandcamp.com/, and CD Baby at www.cdbaby.com/cd/kineticelement3. And MRR is carrying the vinyl (as are we) for your vinylphiles.

https://progarchy.com/2019/02/08/kin...E4Ze9TuqwDxiPo

http://www.jpsmusicblog.com/2019/02/...c-element.html

https://indiepulsemusic.com/2019/02/...ruary-28-2019/

http://www.metal-temple.com/site/cat...tK-1Vy8uMworBk

https://independentmusicreviewblog.w...IWDv_Qcp2aASNU

http://www.jerrylucky.com/

http://www.annecarlini.com/ex_cd.php?id=2523

http://progressor.net/review/kinetic_element_2019.html

https://www.therocktologist.com/kine...e-of-life.html

https://oasisentertainmentblog.wordp...netic-element/

https://closetconcertarena.blogspot....8Pu5ww38ECuCnc

http://www.babyblaue-seiten.de/album_17943.html#oben
http://getreadytorock.me.uk/blog/201...-face-of-life/
http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=2153745

http://theprogressiveaspect.net/blog...JZn0DdpGq118t4

[HoldYourFire]

And .... here are a bunch of comments from people who donated or purchased The Face of Life. Be like them and buy a copy! All kidding aside, we're climbing out of the red ink here so if you buy a copy you not only help us but you get something you can't stop listening to, if these folks are to be believed. We love you all and we're gonna keep at this no matter how this goes.

RANDY NORRIS Gentlemen, finally got my other work caught up so I could give "The Face Of Life" a proper listen, planted between the monitors, straight through, no interruptions. A most excellent experience. Well done! Hoping you are given opportunities to play this material live as I anticipate a very powerful audience reaction!

STEVE BARBERIC Really enjoying the album. Very well done with great compositions. Peter’s guitar playing is amazing. I have always loved Mike’s keyboard playing.

EILEEN K MARGARET I love the CD!!! I read the booklet first. I always do that. The lyrics really touched me. Then I heard the music. Really put together very well. Worth the wait! The CD is wonderful. True progressive rock. I can hear the influences of Neal Morse ( especially the lyrics) Ajalon, Spocks Beard and ELP and yet stands on its own. I've noticed that some prog bands have all but done away the use of keyboards but this cd delivers a powerful full range of the keyboard giving the CD a well balanced sound. I highly recommend this cd to all prog enthusiasts!

YVAN MATTEAU Thank you for giving us all these beautiful music in the course of time and this one is particularly successful. A superb album Friendship.

NORM NEID Mike digging the new CD. Congrats to you & your band mates. Uncle Norm

VICTOR MILT Just finished listening to progressive Rock Auteur (and great long time friend, Mike Visaggio) and his brilliant band, Kinetic Element, on FridayNightProgressive radio. Stunning. Fantastic.

DENNIS GERRON Please do keeping making music. You guys are awesome, and the world needs more great music. Highly recommend this album. Mike Visaggio, Peter Matuchniak, and the rest of the band have really created something special here.

GORDO BENNETT Keep the awesome music coming Mike! You guys rocked down the house!! Cheers!!

MIKE SUES Got my package of CDs from Mike Visaggio today! Listening to the new Kinetic Element CD and really liking it; great job guys!

STEVEN DAVIES-MORRIS I think with this 3rd album Kinetic Element have hit a vein of gold. Well done Mike Visaggio! They have been substantially upgraded in the lead vocals department with the addition of Saint John Coleman. And also upgraded in the lead guitar department. Not so much technically but more in that Peter Matuchniak brings his grasp of all things Hackett into play, which dovetails perfectly with the huge symphonic aspirations of keyboardist Mike Visaggio. And Mike is playing at a level that can only be described as Banksian. This album is well worth buying.

ROB WARHEAD THOMAS The Face of Life ....7:12 PM Hey brother..The cd dropped yesterday.It's truly awesome! The real test comes when I walk my dog out here on my sprawling property in the country with my Nakamichi Edge headphones on. Sounds like your best yet! The sincerest of thanks for the autographs and I'm SUPREMELY happy to have this to listen to. I'm off tomorrow then I'll be taking this with me on road @Fedex Express where I drive and deliver out ...in the country!! THANKS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JAMES JONES Hi all; I have am so excited to have the new album The Face of Life. Have it in rotation now, and am just plain jazzed. Real and powerful progressive rock, created right here in Richmond VA This is great songwriting, beautiful and precise playing, and the synergy of collaboration we expect from our great prog artists. Congrats Mike and the gang, I love this music. Can't wait to get to Richmond to see and meet you all, and hopefully to also find you all out and about on tour What a blast! Must be SO fun to have such music out that you created. I am giving many listens so I can even begin to understand all the interweaving parts and patterns in this music. You have given me MUCH joy!

More from JAMES JONES Hey, I have to recognize everybody - Mike: amazing and VERY solid keys - I want to learn your rig and what went into choosing it! Spot on organ, sweeping synths, and all the other surprise add-ins I want in progressive rock music. You da best. Michael Murray - outstanding drums & percussion: you are talented and powerful. This group has to be so happy you are holding all this powerful music together, and lifting it into the stratosphere! Mark Tupko, I can only say I miss Chris Squire so dreadfully, and you play so powerfully and intricately, your playing makes me happy like his did. Way to go, you are a master. Saint John Coleman, mastering the vocals for prog is a real blend of art and craft. You are expressive, and very skilled. When no one is listening, please tell me the skinny on how many takes (lol). Great singing. Keep those pipes fit. We need to hear a lot more from you. Peter - what a guitarist. What a guitarist! WHAT A GUITARIST!!!!! Jeez, guys, please put this out on vinyl!!!!! Way to go!

MARK TYRNAUER Got my copy of The Face of Life Friday night and gave it a listen yesterday - wow! I have been a fan and friends with these guys for some time, and now with Peter's guitar work I am an even bigger fan. It also doesn't hurt to get your name in the booklet as a supporter. Keep it up guys, can't wait for the follow-up!

JOHN GIORDANO Listening right now and duly impressed. The sound is spectacular. Congrats KE, worth the wait. Already looking forward to part two...

JEFF MAISEY As a kid 8-12 years old I used to sink into my beanbag chair with the stereo headphones on and lights turned off save for the blue glow of the "tuner" and was transported by the prog rock of Yes, very early Kansas, Starcastle and Gentle Giant. Imagine my surprise in hearing this new album from John Coleman and his band that are sonically well-schooled in these musical compositions right down to the bass lines, Wakeman-like keyboards, guitar and vocal phrasings. Very impressed with this album. A must for prog rock fans. Hurray!

JAE SENNETT Just finished listening to the new Kinetic Element The Face of Life. As s teenager I listened much to the so called "Art Rock" or "Prog" movement and this record takes me back to the days of ELP, Yes, King Crimson and many more from that era and concept. I'm not comparing but it's the vibe and it's a great vibe. This isn't an easy record to produce. The layers...writing...playing...singing...sequencing. ..pacing and recording quality...are all top notch! This music requires great musicianship to make it work. You need more than a fundamental understanding of harmonic movement, improvisation or rhythmic variation to play this music...musically. I heard sections of this record as it was coming together. My friend, lead singer John Coleman and I, talked about the project and its concept and direction. Now that I hear it completed I want to congratulate John and all the musicians in the band. You all did a fantastic job! Outstanding musicianship, vision and conceptual direction. I wish you much success with this record and while it connects deeply with my generation, younger listeners will find common ground that like variation and something thoughtful and unpredictable to listen to. A recommended listen and another exciting release from 757 talent!

PAUL FRESHNOCK I heard it on Progstreaming.com. An outstanding piece of work gentlemen!

BART BROWN Let me just say Thank You to Saint John Coleman for dropping by with this masterpiece. The music is Epic. The album's production is perfect. I can see why he is so proud to have been part of such phenomenal work. I have local stuff from others who have gone out and put their work on cd and the fact that I love their efforts makes me buy and support local artist everyone should. Today however, was a little different it was like a Christmas present it was a joy to take in not only the words but the total commitment the band has together which delivers near perfect sound. I was lost in the music finding myself on some kind of cloud forgetting all that surrounded me. This made me feel as though I was listening to Yes only slightly less edgy more clean overall made a little less hard core which made the music sound smoother. Congratulations on a job more than just well done. It was put out of the park. I happened to drop some off at Birdland Records with Barry Friedman and Robert Friedman. Drop by and ask for a listen it's 4 songs but 48 minutes so just buy it and take it home lie down and crank it up with some headphones so you can take it all in. Great work once again John.

[HoldYourFire]

How about that. Kinetic Element has the last word at Progstock 2019 with the Sunday night afterparty show. Very gratified that we did not, in fact, get passed over after all the great reviews that have come in for The Face of Life. You can still order it from us, from Melodic Revolution (bandcamp) or CDBaby. We look forwrd to seeing you all this fall as we debut The face of Life with our newest member, guitarist Peter Matuchniak. We may debut our newest epic being worked on now.
https://kineticelement.bandcamp.com/
www.cdbaby.com/cd/kineticelement3 And Syn-Phonic too!

[HoldYourFire]

Update on what we've been doing since I have not posted here in a very long time. KE began work on a new studio CD in November, and as usual something has derailed us, this one called COVID-19 has halted us in our tracks. We also have been working remotely with Peter in California on a live album release to be titles LIVE FROM NEW YORK. It's our concert at My Father's Place in Roslyn, Long Island from Oct. 14, 2019 right after our afterparty gig at Progstock the night before. But Michael our drummer has injured his arm and hand and cannot play, and out of an abundance of caution over that and the virus we're stopped. Meanwhile I encourage you to visit our Fans of Kinetic Element or Kinetic Element / Prog Rock Band pages on Facebook to see our announcement of our whole-catalog package deal for CDs, and we really need to clear out those and some LPs of The Face of Life and our beautiful fashion-statement T-shirts. I really can't say anything yet about when anything is going to be released except that Live from NewYork is already two months behind. The band wishes everyone a safe time as we all take precautions to deal with the virus pandemic. PROG LIVES. It keeps us young.

[JKL2000]

Looking forward to the live album when it’s ready, Mike. Do a Kickstarter or something, or maybe just a preorder.

[progmatist]

Just purchased the Hi-Res version of The Face of Life from Bandcamp. Sounds great all around.

[HoldYourFire]

Jed, you missed the pre-order sale but for you I will give the pre-order sale price if you like. $10 covers CD, lackaging, mailing, and Paypal charges. If you use Paypal my address is bigroad3@gmail.com.