Artist History "All my friends had names like Tommy, Billy, Joey, Jimmy, Johnny, etc. I would often call a friend's house and say, 'Hi this is Kasim, can I speak to Joe please?' The Mom without fail would say, "Who is this?Kathryn?" "No Ma'am, Kasim." "Kasmin?" "No Ma'am, K A S I M." Then more often then not I'd get something like, "Joey doesn't knowanyone named Kamden."With a name like 'Kasim,' a conversation like that is bound to take place! He's gotten used to it over the years. To this day, people still question him about pronunciation, and whether or not it is, in fact, his real name. It is. And the correct pronunciation would be, "Ka (as in 'cat') Sim (as in 'him'), with the accent on the first syllable. KA-sim.His background is a blend of Arabic, Greek, Polish, and Hungarian... although he's a New Yorker at heart. With the exception of a brief stay in Los Angeles while recording his first solo album in 1980 , the Big Apple has always been his home. He was born in Brooklyn, and moved to Staten Island at the age of six, where he still lives today.Growing up, Kasim knew at a very early age what it was in life he wanted to do. "My father played guitar. When I was a child, he would play little songs for me like "Jimmy Crack Corn," "I Don't Want To Play In Your Yard," "Mockingbird," ...stuff like that. Of course, wanting to be just like my father, I felt the need to learn how to play a guitar." He began fooling around with his Dad's guitar around the age of nine, and took six months of formal guitar lessons at the age of eleven. "My guitar teacher was the best guy. Elvis hair, muscle car, and forever chewing on a guitar pick, a habit I still have today." Unfortunately for Kasim, no sooner had they gotten started when his teacher was drafted into the army, meaning an end to their time together. "I believe he went to Vietnam, and I was heartbroken." After that, he never took another lesson, and taught himself guitar, bass, and piano, in that order.That knowledge served him well. At the age of 17, Kasim got his first big break playing piano with Rock singer/poetress Cherry Vanilla, who at the time was David Bowie's publicist. "That gig opened up a world of doors for me that never would have happened otherwise." As they say, it's a small world, and being in the right place at the right time can certainly help, too. "Events have a way of happening that cause chain reactions. A friend asked me to take a ride to Kennedy Airport one day; he was driving fellow musician and David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick there for a flight. We walked into Slick's house and the first thing he said to us was, "Either one of you guys want to play bass for Todd Rundgren?" My friend saying, "Go ahead, Kasim, you do it." Slick saying, "Call Michael Kaman (renowned musician on the New York scene), tell him you're interested, he knows the details." But you see, I never would have known Michael Kaman had Cherry Vanilla not introduced me to him."That connection turned out to be a very meaningful one. Kasim auditioned and earned a spot as bass guitarist and vocalist for the progressive rock band Utopia. Over 9 releases from 1977-1986, Kasim polished his musical and vocal techniques. He went from a young, gifted musician to a musician with much confidence and onstage presence. On the 1980 pop release Adventures In Utopia, he wrote and sang the band's only top 30 hit, "Set Me Free." Kasim credits Rundgren with helping him improve along the way, and reach that next level. "The saying goes, 'Genius creates, talent delivers.' Todd does both. And although he wasn't consciously teaching me, a lot rubbed off over the 10 years in close proximity to him."As a member of Utopia, Kasim was afforded the opportunity to perform as a session musician on one of the best-selling Rock albums of all time, Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell. (45 million copies to date.) His bass playing appears on all but one song.Throughout the 80's, Kasim recorded and performed with a wide variety of artists, including The Indigo Girls, Johnny Hates Jazz, Ronnie Spector, Jim Steinman, Patti Smith, Patty Smyth, Cheap Trick, and Joan Jett, with whom he also toured with as an official member of the Blackhearts. In 1982, his first solo album, Kasim, was released, and a collaborative album with fellow Blackheart Thommy Price, titled Lights On, was released in 1986.In the early 90's, he hit the road with Hall & Oates for their unplugged tour, and also began contributing background vocals for Meat Loaf's follow-up to Bat Out Of Hell, titled Bat Out Of Hell II (Back Into Hell). A tour followed in support of the album, which lasted nearly three years and saw Kasim playing both guitar and keyboards, as well as singing background vocals. He continued working steadily with Meat Loaf, appearing on his 1995 release Welcome To The Neighborhood, the Born To Rock tour, and the 1996 release Live Around The World. That same year, Kasim also contributed background vocals for Celion Dion's Falling Into You. In 1998, he toured with Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi, visiting Japan, Australia, Germany, Holland, and England. Later that same year, he was promoted to Musical Director for Meat Loaf, and returned to playing bass. It was Kasim's responsibility to arrange and rehearse the band for the upcoming tour. The first performance with this new line-up was a taping of VH-1 Storytellers. The Very Best Of Meat Loaf, with three new tracks, was released shortly after that, and a tour of Europe ensued. In the summer of '99, Kasim joined Todd Rundgren for a brief tour, then began work on producing the Meat Loaf VH-1 Storytellers CD. Naturally, it was back on the road again with Meat Loaf immediately following that release, this time playing in the U.S. 2000 saw Kasim teaming up once again with Todd Rundgren for his 3-man Power Trio Tour. It lasted throughout the summer and covered most of the U.S., including TV appearances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, The Late Show With David Letterman, and The Late, Late Show With Craig Kilborn.Now it's a new year, and Kasim will be showcasing his own material. "I've been wanting to record a CD of all new material for some time now, but other projects kept coming up that prohibited me from spending the amount of time necessary to accomplish it. I've tried writing on the road. It's not easy. As far as the shows go, it's kind of a trial by fire. I really owe it to myself to get out and play. I mean, I love playing in other people's bands. The Meat Loaf tours were great, but every night as I'd go out on stage I'd be thinking to myself, 'I should be out there, singing my own songs, doing my own shows.'"And so he will. This Spring and Summer, Kasim will be performing solo acoustic shows. No band...... just him and a guitar. "It's all right there. Warts and all. You can't hide behind other musicians or fancy playing. Besides, good songs come across no matter how many instruments are or aren't playing."

Instruments acoustic guitar, bass guitar and piano

Albums Kasim, Lights On, The Basement Tapes

Location New York, New York - USA

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