Michal Lapaj is a Polish musician, composer and instrumentalist. Known primarily as a member of Riverside (since 2003), performing music that blends rock and progressive rock. He plays keyboards – analog synthesizers, Rhodes piano and Hammond organ.
He has also appeared as a guest musician on albums by such artists as: Behemoth, Lunatic Soul, Me And That Man and Antigama.
Together with Riverside, he has recorded seven studio albums, three of which have been certified gold. The group has been nominated for the Polish Fryderyki award on numerous occasions (i.a. in the Rock Album of the Year category). In 2016, the band was also awarded at the prestigious British Progressive Music Awards ceremony. They regularly appear at important festivals around the world, such as the Arrow Rock Festival (the Netherlands), Bospop, ProgPower (USA), Hellfest (France) and Polish Woodstock. Riverside have shared the stages with Dio, ZZ Top and Europe. In 2007, they were invited by Dream Theater to be special guests during the “Chaos In Motion” tour.
After almost two decades of being known mainly as a member of Riverside, Michal Lapaj releases his first, long-awaited solo album titled “Are You There” – out on 16.07.2021. The album contains a lot of spacey atmosphere, blending features of post-rock, ambient and electronic music. It is diverse and at the same time coherent, filled with emotions, melancholy and darkness. It offersboth heavier sounds and gentle melodies. From the lyrical point of view, it tries to find answers to the question of what happens to us when we do not understand each other and we wander between what was said and what was left unspoken.
Lapaj is dedicated to achieving the best possible sound, which is why he plays mainly analog, so-called “live” keyboards – Hammond organ, piano, Rhodes piano or old analog synthesizers.
All of them can be heard on the album in excellent quality. Mick Moss, the leader and singer of the British band Antimatter, and Bela Komoszynska, the female power at the head of the Polish group Sorry Boys, both sing on the album. Artur Szolc (Annalist, Inside Again) plays drums.
