| Alex Kapranos |
Alex
Kapranos
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Alexander Paul Kapranos Huntley |
| Born |
March 20, 1972 (1972-03-20) (age 35)
 Almondsbury, Britain |
| Genre(s) |
Indie Rock
Garage
Rock |
| Instrument(s) |
Vocals, Guitar |
| Years active |
Early 1990s–Present |
| Label(s) |
Domino Records |
Associated
acts |
Franz Ferdinand
The
Yummy Fur
The
Karelia
The Amphetameanies |
| Website |
http://www.franzferdinand.co.uk |
Alex Kapranos is a British Greek musician who
is currently the guitarist and singer of the Scottish band Franz Ferdinand.
|
Contents
- 1 Early
life
- 2 Music
Before Franz Ferdinand
- 3 Franz
Ferdinand
- 4 Writing
- 5 Production
- 6 References
- 7 External
links
|
Early life
Alex Kapranos was born in Almondsbury, England but
moved to the North East when he was three
months old, spending his early childhood in Sunderland
and South
Shields,
his mother's home town, and spent most summers in his father's native Greece. Huntley is
the name of his father's aunt.
In 1980,
he moved with his family to Edinburgh, then to Glasgow in 1984.
At the age of seventeen, Kapranos attended the University of Aberdeen to
study theology. After dropping out, he continued his studies attended
the University of Strathclyde
in Glasgow where he studied English and Catering, eventually gaining a
BA. He worked as a chef, barman, music promoter, driver, welder and
lecturer prior to finding fame with Franz Ferdinand.
Music Before Franz Ferdinand
From the early 1990s, he was a fixture of the Glasgow music
scene, running live nights at the 13th Note, most notably The Kazoo
Club. While
working as a chef, bartender, lecturer in IT at the city's Anniesland
College, and other various jobs, he played in some of Glasgow's popular
bands, including The Blisters, long-standing ska stalwarts The Amphetameanies, The
Yummy Fur and The Karelia (formerly known as
The Blisters). He is also known to have contributed to Urusei Yatsura and Lungleg recordings.
Franz Ferdinand
After dropping "Huntley" from his name, he formed Franz Ferdinand in 2001. The band
comprises Kapranos, Nick McCarthy (guitar,
keyboard, backup vocals), Paul Thomson (drums, backup
vocals, sometimes guitar) and Bob Hardy (bass).
Eight singles, two albums and an EP have charted in the United
Kingdom to date, and their eponymous debut album won the 2004 Mercury
Music Prize, two BRIT Awards, an Breakthrough
Video MTV Award and an Ivor.
Writing
In September 2005, Kapranos began Soundbites[1], a weekly food column for G2 in
the Guardian newspaper, which detailed his culinary adventures as Franz
Ferdinand traversed the globe on their world tour. A book of the column
and unreleased material illustrated by Andy
Knowles was released November 2nd in the UK in Hardback and
December 26th in the US in paperback through Penguin/Fig Tree
publishings.
Sound Bites: Eating on Tour with Franz Ferdinand
was read by Alex Kapranos on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week
4-8 December 2006, described as "his account about what he ate while
touring the world." [2]
Production
Kapranos produced "Men's Needs,
Women's Needs, Whatever" - the third album by British indie rock
group The
Cribs in Vancouver BC, released in May 2007.
References
External links
| v • d • e Franz
Ferdinand |
| Alex Kapranos
| Robert Hardy | Nicholas
McCarthy | Paul Thomson |
| Discography |
| Albums and extended plays: Darts
of Pleasure | Franz Ferdinand
| You Could Have It
So Much Better |
| Singles: "Darts
of Pleasure" | "Take Me Out" | "The Dark of the Matinée" | "Michael" | "This
Fire" | "Do You Want To" | "Walk Away" | "The
Fallen" / "L. Wells" | "Eleanor Put Your Boots On" |
| DVDs: Franz
Ferdinand |
| Related
articles |
| Archduke Franz
Ferdinand of Austria | Domino Records | Tore
Johansson | Rich Costey | The
Karelia |
