Episode 97: Mitch Viegut of Airkraft

Mitch Viegut began his professional music career in 1973, picking up his first guitar—a Fender Stratocaster—at the age of 12. By his mid-teens, he was performing steadily with the band StilRock before heading off to the University of Wisconsin (UW-Madison and UW–Eau Claire). There, he met fellow musician John Fisher, and together they formed Heros, a popular Midwest cover band that balanced nightclub performances with college life.

In 1977, Viegut reunited with high school friends Dave Saindon and Dave Roll, along with Grammy nominee Peter Phippen, to form Airkraft. By 1981, he founded Ark Records and built Premiere Recording Studios in Wausau, Wisconsin, producing and recording more than 100 albums and demos for Midwest groups, including Otis and The Alligators, Howard “Guitar” Luedtke, Tuck Pence, and Crash Alley. Ark Records later evolved into Premiere Records, securing distribution through Important/Relativity Records.

Between 1981 and 1998, Airkraft recorded four albums, released six singles, and toured relentlessly across the United States—performing more than 300 dates in some years. Their first two albums, released on Premiere Records, gained international distribution and strong reviews in Europe’s influential rock magazines, including Kerrang! In 1989, Airkraft signed with Curb/Capitol Records and CBS International, and the singles “Somewhere” and “85 Miles Per Hour” from the In the Red album earned Billboard “Top Song” picks and charted on over 100 stations worldwide, including in the U.S., Japan, and Europe.

Alongside his work with Airkraft, Viegut continued to expand his role as a producer, engineer, and publisher under Big Snow Music. Over two decades, he produced and engineered more than 200 recordings for a wide range of artists, while also penning notable works himself—including the theme song for FOX TV’s Fire Rescue in 1990.

With a career spanning performance, production, songwriting, and label management, Mitch Viegut has left a lasting imprint on both the Midwest music scene and the international melodic rock community.