Kenny Bissett is a musician and songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. He has played in a few bands as a guitar player and singer, most notably in Felt Nun, a San Antonio original band during the 1980's. Felt Nun was a four piece, all original band that generated a small but loyal following around the San Antonio, Texas area. Each member contributed to the songs in their own ways, making the Felt Nun sound very unique. The band was put into the alternative rock genre, but they were really more progressive than alternative, using odd time signatures and unconventional arrangements.
After his experience with Felt Nun, Kenny continued his music writing habit as a passionate hobby. Dreams of being a rock star were replaced with the daily matter of being a husband, a father, and working as a data analyst to pay the bills. Music has always had a place regardless of what is going on in his life. He maintains a modest writing and recording studio with just enough equipment to write and record songs.
More recently Kenny has been working with Patric Farrell forming a band called Built for the Future. Starting in 2015 and releasing two albums and a handful of singles over about five years. Patric provided the writing, arranging and producing along with recording all of the bass and drum parts. He also wrote and recorded synthesizer and rhythm guitar parts for the albums. Patric's longtime friend David Peña wrote and recorded most of the lead guitar parts as well as some more ethereal guitar parts sprinkled throughout the songs on each album. Kenny recorded the vocal tracks and vocal harmonies as well as contributed some songs, lyrics, and vocal melodies. The albums, Chasing Light and Brave New World have sold around the world.
Kenny taught himself to play the bass guitar and has been able to play keyboard/synthesizer well enough to capture his ideas. The one instrument out of reach has been the drums. But modern recording allows drum tracks to be created and modified to fit any song or genre, which is how Kenny gets his drum tracks in place for each song. In the future, Kenny may try out a hired drummer using online professional drummer services.
When it comes to genre and musical style, Kenny is firmly in the rock genre, with sub-genres in alternative and progressive rock. He grew up listening to pop and rock on the radio, followed by the era of music videos on MTV and eventually online. His influences are wide including heavy metal bands like early Judas Priest, Scorpions, Queensryche, Queen, and Def Leppard, as well as early alternative influences in the MTV era from bands like U2, Peter Gabriel, The Fixx, Tears for Fears, A Flock of Seagulls, Duran Duran, and many more. Influences from the progressive genre included Rush, Yes, Genesis, and ELO to name a few.
Kenny is inclined to write accessible melodies, rich vocal harmonies and big choruses. Being a subjective medium, music and melodies should create an emotional experience for the listener. This is why he stays closer to more traditional chord progressions and harmonies, but at the same time experiments with odd time signatures and less traditional rhythms and drums. Kenny's musical journey is ongoing and will likely not end until he leaves the planet for good - so be on the lookout for new material!