Angel Vivaldi (born June 13, 1985) is an American guitarist, songwriter and producer. Voted "third best guitarist" in 2014 by ''Prog-Sphere'', he began his solo career in 2003. Vivaldi has self-released five records, ''Revelations'', ''The Speed of Dark, Universal Language, Away with Words: Part 1'', and ''Synapse''. In 2015, he released a cover of

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

's "Crystal Planet" single. Vivaldi is known for his

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

guitar playing style and cinematic music videos.

Early life

Born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

to an Italian-American and Puerto Rican family, Vivaldi grew up on

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

freestyle music Freestyle music, also called Latin freestyle or Latin hip-hop ''(sic)'' is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the New York metropolitan area and Philadelphia, primarily among Hispanic Americans and Italian Americans in the 1980s. I ...

and Spanish music. He started playing guitar at 15 and is self-taught. He cites

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...

and

Eric Johnson Eric Johnson may refer to: Music *Eric Johnson (guitarist) (born 1954) an American guitarist and recording artist * Eric D. Johnson (born 1976), member of multiple indie-rock bands including Fruit Bats, The Shins and Califone Politics * Eric Joh ...

as early influences. Vivaldi was strongly discouraged from becoming a musician by his family and had little support from them.

Music career

Early career

Vivaldi performed live regionally for four years before recording any music (other than demos). After releasing his debut album, "Revelations", in 2008 (which since then has been removed from all outlets), he joined

Black Market Hero 40 Below Summer is an American nu metal band from New Jersey. Forming in 1998, the band broke up seven years later in 2005. After two small reunions in 2006 and 2010, they permanently reformed in 2011. Their latest album, ''Transmission Infrare ...

. He released his second EP titled ''The Speed of Dark'' in 2009 (which saw a re-recording/re-release in August 2016) and uploaded his first play-through of Acid Reign on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

shortly thereafter. He competed in ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print si ...

'' magazine's "Guitar Superstar Competition" in 2010 with judges George Lynch and

Gary Hoey Gary Hoey (born August 23, 1960) is an American hard rock and latterly blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has recorded over 20 albums and had five Top 20 ''Billboard'' hits. Early life and early career Hoey was born in Lowell, Ma ...

Universal Language, Vext

Released in May 2011, Vivaldi recorded Universal Language with producer

Will Putney Fit for an Autopsy is an American deathcore band from Jersey City, New Jersey, formed in 2008. The band consists of guitarists Pat Sheridan, Will Putney and Tim Howley, drummer Josean Orta, vocalist Joe Badolato, and bassist Peter "Blue" Spinaz ...

. It became a viral success following the release of two music videos for "A Mercurian Summer" and "A Martian Winter". Despite critical acclaim and success, it would be four years before any extensive touring was done. Shortly after the release of Universal Language,

Tommy Vext Thomas Cummings (born April 15, 1982), better known under the stage name Tommy Vext, is an American heavy metal singer and songwriter known as the former lead vocalist of Bad Wolves, Divine Heresy, and Westfield Massacre. As a solo act, he go ...

(ex-

Divine Heresy Divine Heresy is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California by founder of Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares and Devolved drummer John Sankey. Although the band's origins trace back to 2002, Divine Heresy was officially for ...

, ex- Snot,

Bad Wolves Bad Wolves is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 2017. Initially finding fame from their first single, a cover of the Cranberries' 1994 hit "Zombie (The Cranberries song)#Bad Wolves cover, Zombie", the band proceeded to fi ...

) approached Vivaldi about joining his supergroup Vext which featured members of

Mutiny Within Mutiny Within is an American heavy metal band from Edison, New Jersey. The band was formed in 2002 by bassist Andrew Jacobs. Background Formation, Signing to Roadrunner and debut album (2009–2010) They would go through a number of lineup ...

. Vivaldi recorded and performed on the band's debut EP titled ''Impermanence.'' Vext was offered record deals however Vivaldi left due to not being ready to sign a contract.

''Away with Words'' and present day

2014 would see the release of ''Away with Words: Part 1'' which was also produced by Will Putney. The songs are titled from 1 to 5 in

Morse Code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...

. This album cycle also saw two music video releases for the songs "" (One) and "" (Two). Vivaldi began touring in 2015 with a headlining US/Canada tour with

The Algorithm The Algorithm is the musical project of French musician Rémi Gallego (born 7 October 1989) from Perpignan. His style is characterised by an unusual combination of electronic dance music with progressive metal. Gallego chose the name The Algo ...

. He continued to tour extensively throughout 2016, ending with co-headlining US tour with

Gus G Kostas Karamitroudis (born 12 September 1980), better known as Gus G, is a Greek heavy metal guitarist. He currently plays with his band Firewind. He has also played in Mystic Prophecy, Nightrage, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and Ozzy Osbour ...

(

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

Firewind Firewind is a Greek power metal band formed in Thessaloniki in 1998. The group is currently signed to Century Media Records and was originally a small project created by guitarist Gus G. to showcase his demo, ''Nocturnal Symphony'', in 1998. ...

). It was announced in 2015 that ''Away with Words: Part 2'', a primarily acoustic release, would be put on hold to focus instead on a full album called ''Synapse''. Though the album was slated to be released in 2016, its eventual release date was October 6, 2017. In 2017, he released the album ''Synapse''.

Philanthropic work

Vivaldi participated in the annual Jemfest event held in Orlando, Florida. Its aim was to raise money for

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist for ...

's Make A Noise Foundation. Vivaldi performed in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010 which featured a masterclass from

. Following the events of the 2016

Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff. In a 9- ...

, Vivaldi broadcast a six-hour live stream to raise funds for the victims and their families. After losing his friend to

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...

in 2014, Vivaldi launched a live broadcast with

Chris Letchford Chris Letchford (born October 7, 1984) is an American guitarist. He is the lead guitarist in the instrumental progressive metal band Scale the Summit. His technical ability has been recognized in magazines such as ''Guitar World'', ''Revolver'' ...

Scale the Summit Scale the Summit is an American instrumental progressive metal band based out of Houston, Texas. It formed in 2004 and signed to Prosthetic Records. The band is influenced by other progressive acts such as Cynic and Dream Theater. The band gain ...

called "Shred for ALS", raising money for ALS research at the ALS Therapy Development Institute. He has also spoken out as a gay man in support of the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

community. He practices meditation stating that it helps with getting focused while on tour or in the studio.

Influences

Vivaldi holds

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

as one of his biggest inspirations to picking up the guitar. Today his influences include

Carmen Miranda Carmen Miranda, (; born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha, 9 February 1909 – 5 August 1955) was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, dancer, Broadway actress and film star who was active from the late 1920s onwards. Nicknamed "The B ...

Kaki King Kaki King (born Katherine Elizabeth King, August 24, 1979) is an American guitarist and composer. King is known for her percussive and jazz-tinged melodies, energetic live shows, use of multiple tunings on acoustic and lap steel guitar, and he ...

, Jean Luc Ponty,

Evergrey Evergrey is a Swedish progressive metal band from Gothenburg. History Evergrey was formed in 1995 in Gothenburg, Sweden as a progressive power metal band, in contrast to the melodic death metal that Gothenburg is known for. Since then, the band ...

Misery Signals Misery Signals is an American-Canadian metalcore band formed in Wisconsin in 2002. History Formation (2002–2003) Misery Signals was formed after the disbanding of several bands, including 7 Angels 7 Plagues, Hamartia, and Compromise. Having p ...

Parkway Drive Parkway Drive is an Australian metalcore band from Byron Bay, New South Wales, formed in 2003. As of 2018, Parkway Drive have released six studio albums, one EP, two DVDs, a split album and one book, titled ''Ten Years of Parkway Drive''. The b ...

and

Mattias Eklundh Mattias Bernt Johannes Eklundh (born 6 October 1969), also known as IA, is a Swedish guitarist and vocalist. He is known for his work with Freak Kitchen, Jonas Hellborg and Art Metal, and he has also produced several noted solo Freak Guitar ...

Equipment

Vivaldi had been a long-time user of seven string

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...

guitars, primarily an RG7 called "Dorothy". He can be seen using various Ibanez 7-strings throughout his videos, but he records and performs mainly with "Dorothy". He uses

Mesa Boogie Mesa/Boogie (also known as Mesa Engineering) is an American company in Petaluma, California, that manufactures amplifiers and other accessories for guitars and basses. It has been in operation since 1969. Mesa was started by Randall Smith as a s ...

amps, Fractal Audio Axe FX 2 XL and DiMarzio pickups. In 2018 Vivaldi was endorsed by guitar manufacturer

Charvel Charvel is a brand of electric guitars founded in the 1970s by Wayne Charvel in Azusa, California and originally headquartered in Glendora, California. Since 2002, Charvel has been under the ownership of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. H ...

, which made him a seven string variant of their "DK-24" as a signature model.

Discography

Angel Vivaldi

*''Revelations'' (2008) *''The Speed of Dark'' P(2009) *''Universal Language'' P(2011) *''Away with Words: Part 1'' P(2014) *''Crystal Planet'' (digital single) feat. Dan Sugarman (2015) *''The Speed of Dark: Revisited'' P(2016) *''Synapse'' (2017) *''Wave of Synergy'' (digital single) feat.

Andy James Sacred Mother Tongue was a four-piece British heavy metal band from Northampton initially formed in 2004. The line up consisted of Darrin South (vocals), Andy James (guitar), Josh Gurner (bass guitar) and Lee Newell (drums). In October 2013, ...

(2018) *''Triple Helix'' (digital single) feat. Cole Rolland (2019) *''Away with Words: Part 2'' P(2023)

Vext

*''Impermanence'' P(2012)

Band members

* Angel Vivaldi – lead guitar (2003–present) * Jason Tarantino – rhythm guitar (2009–present) * Bill Fore – drums (2010–present)

Former members

* Jake Skylyr – bass (2007–2017)

Concert tours

* Touring You Apart, 2015 – Angel Vivaldi,

, Save Us from the Archon * The Shape of Color Tour, 2015 –

Intervals Interval may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Interval (mathematics), a range of numbers ** Partially ordered set#Intervals, its generalization from numbers to arbitrary partially ordered sets * A statistical level of measurement * Interval e ...

Plini Plini Roessler-Holgate, also known mononymously as Plini, is an Australian guitarist and songwriter. He began his career by releasing music under the name Halcyon, before switching to the use of his first name. Steve Vai described him as "the fu ...

, Angel Vivaldi, Save Us from the Archon * Operation Domination, 2016 – Angel Vivaldi, Gus G * The Wave of Synergy European Tour, 2017 – Angel Vivaldi,

, The Fine Constant * The Guitar Collective, 2017 – Angel Vivaldi, Andy James,

* Melodic Decadence Tour, 2018 – Angel Vivaldi, Hyvmine, Day of Reckoning * The Guitar Collective, 2018 – Angel Vivaldi,

Nita Strauss Nita Strauss (born December 7, 1986) is an American rock musician. She is currently Demi Lovato's touring guitarist and was a former touring guitarist for Alice Cooper from 2014 to 2022 and has a successful career as a solo artist. Strauss was ...

, Jacky Vincent

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vivaldi, Angel 1985 births Living people Puerto Rican musicians Puerto Rican people of Italian descent Lead guitarists American philanthropists 21st-century American guitarists American heavy metal guitarists Seven-string guitarists American rock songwriters American gay musicians American male guitarists 21st-century American male musicians