Tony Cassista was born on September 3rd 1975 in Quebec City, Canada. Growing up in a family of singers and musicians, he was attracted to the 4th art from the age of 8, reproducing the entire catalog of The Beatles in lip sync. His childhood was lulled by the musical culture of his parents, his father having a large collection of vinyls as well as being a DJ. He discovered everything from Elvis to Pink Floyd. His parents gave him an old acoustic guitar at the age of 10, but the instrument was not of interest.  It is the drums that attracted him above all. 

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In high school, Tony enrolled percussion department. At the age of 11, he quickly became the official drummer of the Harmonies orchestras, with already an understanding of synchronization and a good sense of rhythm. At the age of 17, he was admitted to the Quebec Conservatory of Music. But his enchantment did last for only a brief moment, because they concentrated on percussions and he wanted to play the drums and get as much knowledge as possible to reproduce his idol: Neil Peart. 

Due to a severe Mononucleosis, Tony was forced to abandon music for six months in 1994. Upon his recovery in 1995, having lost his bands and a lot of dexterity, he decided to put music aside, far too long to focus on another career: administration. 

It wasn't until 2003 that Tony decided to reconnect with his first love and bought himself a new drumset. At a frantic rhythm, he fell into practicing to succeed in reproducing what he played as a teenager. But Tony was especially noticed by his powerful and right on pitch voice. 

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It was in 2004 that he met Adam Villeneuve, Francis Villeneuve and Sylvain Potvin, following an announcement by a band looking for a singer in the syle of Dream Theater or Symphony X. Tony appeared at the audition and was quickly chosen by the band to become the lead singer of ADAMIND. 

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The band was quickly recognized on the progmetal scene in Quebec and in 2007 they released their first album: BALANCE, still available on digital platforms. The band won several awards and Tony twice won the Best Singers Award in 2006 at the Conga at Laval University and in 2007 at the 2ndnd Skin Rock Contest. Following a serious injury to their drummer Sylvain Potvin, Tony replaced him off the cuff for two gigs. He succeeded in the challenge of playing the drums and singing the lead vocals at the same time. Only one of these tasks is already a feat, but he performed both with success. Nevertheless, not wishing to continue the road without Sylvain Potvin, the group separated on good terms in March 2009. 

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In 2010, Tony was invited to sit at the drums with the band MANAHIL, for a tour around Quebec and Ontario. This tour was a highlight for Tony, who wanted then to make music his livelihood. In this tour, he befriended the band Stream of Passion, a Dutch band of Progressive Metal. 

Since Tony Cassista has had hundreds of different projects and he is requested by many cover groups both on drums or vocals, Tony was quickly recognized by his peers on the music scene and went on to do more than 400 shows in the following years with bands such as: Replay, On TV, Legends of the Rock, Rock Pilots, Heartbreaker, Jack Herer and  also returned to his roots and joined as percussionist of the Orchestre D’Harmonie des Chutes which had more than 50 musicians where Tony decided to do his first steps in Jazz. 

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Since 2017, Tony has been friends with Fred Simard, with whom he played with singer Bob Bissonnette. It's a bond that's reinforced with the formation of the duo High and Low. It's the perfect duo for parties of all styles with Fred's Johnny Cash voice and Tony's loud and powerful voice. For this project, Tony acquired an unusual instrument. The Loota, a Finnish cajon that recreates the impression of a mini drum, made from pieces of wood and metal. The band then became known for their complete and varied repertoires and even offered formulas to 3, 4 and even 5 musicians. An alliance is formed with Fred and also Rej Picard. The two who have several bands and projects together. 

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In 2019, Tony is doing his first big festival in Matane with singer Travis Cormier, this experience will be one of his best ever. Since March 2020, the new grave, the world stops, it is the start of COVID-19. Everything falls apart for the musicians, all the work they had put on for decades is dying to dust. 

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That's where Fred, Rej and Tony start composing. Tony hadn't dared to touch the composition since Adamind's  end  in 2009. More than 30 songs came out of the process to form the band, SPECIES. The style of that band is sometimes prog, sometimes alternative, sometimes country, sometimes folk, in short all the influences are there. Tony, for his part, also composes and turns to his life long companions Adam Villeneuve and Francis Villeneuve, as well as Guillaume Émond with whom he has played in various projects since 2010. The Style is formed and Tony realizes that it will be more difficult to integrate his new songs into the catalog of SPECIES, so he decides to go for it and make his first solo album. 

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Created On Various Infectious Diseases is completed over the next few months. Tony then discovered a new passion, mixing, arranging and producing. With thousands of hours of tutorial listening and classes, he built his own home studio and decided to produce the album all by himself and do all the mixing. 

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And that's where the story really begins......