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Sensual, sexy electronica driven by warm female vocals and passionate arrangements. Sessomorte is an eclectic blend of styles, yet settles completely in none. Pop, house, rock, as well as ambient and trip-hop embrace in lush, multi-textural soundscapes, evocative of a plethora of emotions. Captivating and compelling, some have described Sessomorte as "music of the future"- familiar, yet hinting at something to come. Visceral, is an album of intense passion, running the gamut of emotions. Recorded over four years through day jobs, night schools, physical injuries and romantic catastophies. It is an expressive chronicle of authentic personal experience and introspection. Ogasawara's voice is a hot, brilliant flame dancing upon the dark, lush soundsacapes rendered by Sirico. Sessomorte began in 2001 when musician and aspiring producer Vincenzo Sirico incidentally met world-renowned Olympic athlete and aspiring vocalist, Liliko Ogasawara...
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Liliko Ogasawara -Lead and backing vocals.
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Vincenzo Sirico -Guitars, bass, keyboards, electronic instrumentation and orchestration.
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Liliko Ogasawara grew up in Montvale, NJ. She began judo at age 3 and was instructed by her father, Nagayasu Ogasawara, Head Instructor (Sensei) of Kokushi Dojo in Wyckoff, NJ. She seriously competed in judo throughout her life, but always had a passion for dancing, singing and acting. In addition, she was the first female in her county to wrestle on the men's varsity wrestling team for Pascack Hills High School. As a hobby, Liliko sang with the concert choir but was never able to participate in any plays or musicals due to her training schedule. She received her BA in Radio, TV & Film with a minor in Drama at San Jose State University, where she trained with the SJSU judo team. Liliko then moved to Colorado Springs to train at the Olympic Training Center, while beginning to pursue a MA in Counseling. Throughout her career, she took the silver medal at the '93 World Championships in Canada, the bronze medal at the '95 World Championships in Japan, 7th place at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, GA, as well as many other medals in national and international competitions while remaining ranked #1 in the nation for her weight category. In 1999, Liliko retired from competing and moved back to NJ. She is considered one of the most successful women to have competed for US women's judo. When she returned to NJ, she finished her MA in Counseling at Montclair State University. During this time, she had the opportunity to perform in The Vagina Monologues at MSU. Also, not too long after her move back home, she went to a karaoke bar, where Vinny introduced himself to her. She was thrilled to discover that he was very, very talented in producing music, and they have collaborated ever since. Liliko is currently Program Director of Adolescent Treatment for Straight and Narrow, Inc. in Paterson, NJ, which is a substance abuse treatment program.
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Raised in Emerson NJ, the youngest of four children, Vincenzo Sirico has always been imbued with an intense creative drive. He was a solitary, introspective kid, but always occupied with some kind of creative activity; building, writing cartoons, painting. His musical journey though, didn’t start until his seventeenth year, when he finally gave in to a lifelong urge to play guitar. “I bought a dinky electric guitar and amp and immediately began writing and recording ideas. Right from the beginning, I wanted to create something unique and have my own voice. I was equally concerned with how the recording sounded as I was with the performance; to me they have never been separate. Both are so important because for me it's about the complete and proper presentation of a musical idea, from all aspects.” After about a year of self-teaching, he was invited to play bass in a neighborhood band. Quickly adding that instrument to his studies, Sirico played bass in two bands from 1992-98: One was a cover act; the other a progressive-metal group called "The Pure", in which he continued to hone technical skills and was afforded the chance to further develop his writing. They recorded often at Boulevard Studios in New Milford, NJ with the great Geno Porfido. After the inevitable break-up of The Pure, Vincenzo switched gears from the disiplined, chop-based rigidity of prog-metal to the smooth textures and feasible execution of electronica. "I was free to record without the expense of a real studio and dependence on other musicians, and was finally able to produce the sounds I imagined, like orchestras and thick ambient textures.” While studying art and philosophy at William Paterson University, Sirico developed the proto-songs that would eventually become the first semi-official collections, Prelude (2002) and Feeling Through Darkness (2004). While working on those compositions, he realized that they could only be actualized by the sensual quality of a female vocalist. “I really dig those acts like Mono, Goldfrapp, Portishead, The Kills, (and so many others) where there’s basically only two people; a female singer and an instrumentalist. I saw the possibilities for myself and was bent on finding a vocalist.” His search didn’t take very long, for in 2000 Vincezo met Liliko by chance while hanging-out in a karaoke bar. “The instant I heard her sing I knew I had to work with her. Liliko has such a warm and inviting quality to her voice that grabbed me immediately, and it compliments my dark writing extremely well.” The duo has released their first official album, Visceral.
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