Alex Carpani Band (May 2010)
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Topic: Alex Carpani Band (May 2010)
Posted By: toroddfuglesteg
Subject: Alex Carpani Band (May 2010)
Date Posted: May 10 2010 at 12:19
|
Alex Carpiani Band is a pretty well known band in the scene. This despite of only one album behind them. But they will soon release their second album. I got in touch with Alex for the story. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was
born in Montreux (Switzerland) in 1970 of an Italian father and a
French mother. At the age of six I started playing electronic organ
and taking my first lessons of solfeggio and music theory. Later I
passed to piano and composition.
I
took a graduation in Musicology at the University of Bologna, I
specialized in "music for film" at the C.E.T. (a famous
Italian school of music) in Central Italy, as well as in "sound
engineering" with top Italian sound technicians at the Arte
Scenica Foundation in Bologna. I’ve also been awarded in several
Italian and international composition prizes in the 90s.
 You
have so far only released one album in 2007 called Waterline. Please
tell us more about this album.
"Waterline"
is
a progressive rock concept album dedicated to the thin line dividing
the world emerged from the water, the familiar one, from the
submerged world, the unknown one. Originally conceived as an
instrumental project, it has become an album with lyrics, with the
vocals taken care of by Aldo Tagliapietra, the leader of the
legendary Italian prog band Le Orme.
Thanks
to the genial painting by Paul Whitehead (collaborator of early
Genesis, VdGG, Le Orme, etc.) created for the album artwork, the
original "waterline" has become an accomplished surreal
scene with characters and real objects. This new scene inspired me,
Dan Shapiro and Paul Whitehead for the lyrics writing and the final
titles of the album playlist.
"Waterline"
has been composed in three weeks in my home-studio during a long
period of immobility due to a serious ankle fracture. I composed,
arranged, performed and recorded all the parts and sent a demo to
Aldo Tagliapietra, who liked the project and made the connection
between me and the American prog label CypherArts. After an
hard-working process of production the album has been issued in 2007.
Several prestigious musicians of the American prog scene have been
involved in the recordings: Neil Bettencourt (drums and percussion),
Dan Shapiro and Ken Jaquess (bass), Tony Spada, John Thomas, Robert
Wolfe and Marc Pattison (guitars), Cory Wright (saxophones and
flute), etc..
I
know you are pretty active and this album does not tell the full
story about you. What happened after the release of this album and
what are you up to now ?
Since
2007 my band, the Alex Carpani Band, has performed in several prog
festivals around the world, as well as in top rock clubs in Europe.
Our live sound has become very original and suggestive and we have
periodically added new songs in our repertory, giving many “previews”
of the upcoming studio projects to our fans.
I’m now in the process of finishing
my new album, “The Sanctuary”, which will be issued in September
2010. This album is the product of many years of work and represent
the next step following “Waterline”. It’s a symphonic prog
album with a more “rock” taste compared to the debut album.
We
decided to perform the new album live before its issue, so our 2010
Tour starting at Prog’Sud Festival in Marseille, France, on May
14th
will also include the new stuffs.
How
would you describe your music and which bands would you compare your
music with ? My music can be described as a
symphonic rock, with keyboards parts in evidence and a descriptive
and visionary style. In fact, in our concerts the music is always
accompanied by visuals…
I usually write all the instruments
parts when I compose, including drums, so my approach is similar to
the one of a composer writing a symphony. Orchestral parts are
important in my music and piano, strings and winds are never missing
in my compositions.
I
cannot find the right band to compare my music with, but certainly
Genesis, ELP, Yes had their influence in forming my music style and
profile.
Classically speaking, my inspiring
masters are Respighi, Mahler, Ciajkovskij, Prokofiev, Debussy, Satie
among others.
What
is your plans for this year and where do you want to take your music
?
The new album will come out in
September and the band will perform in Italy, France, Germany, Serbia
and more places to be announced.
Our
2010 Tour will start in May and will end in December. The fall leg is
under construction at the moment.
I’d
like to take back my music in America and Mexico, where we played in
2008, where there are a lot of fans of us, as well as in Japan, where
we never played yet.
Just
to wrap this interview up; do you have any regrets in your music
career ?
I spent many years in composing as a
solitary artist, making music for my own pleasure. Since 2006 I
discovered the pleasure of sharing this magic art with other artists
and I regret a little bit to have discovered it so late…
Anyway,
in those years of “pleasant isolation” I worked a lot, writing
all genre of music, form symphonic music to electronica, from new age
to electro-jazz, from music for films and documentaries to
drum’n’bass and music mixed to poetry…
It
has been a very useful training for developing my composition and
arrangement skills.
There
are more than 30 albums in my self-produced 1990-2007 discography.
What
is your five alltime favourite albums ?
(not in order of preference)
Kind
of blue, by Miles Davis
Crime
of the century, by Supertramp
Picture
at an exhibition, by ELP
Wish
you were here, by Pink Floyd
The
lamb lies down on Broadway, by Genesis
Anything
you want to add to this interview ?
Yes, I
would say that I’m a lucky artist because I play with great
talented musicians, and friends of mine, like Ettore Salati
(guitars), Marco Fabbri (drums) and Fabiano Spiga (bass), which have
interpreted in the best way the sense of my music, adding their own
precious touch, personality and sensibility on everything we’ve
done until now. We are a band, a real band. It’s not me plus them…
Thank you to Alex for this interview. His PA profile is http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3806 - and his homepage is http://www.alexcarpani.com/ - |
Replies:
Posted By: memowakeman
Date Posted: May 11 2010 at 16:34
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It is cool to know he enjoyed their time in Mexico and wants to comeback.
I hope the band returns here soon, I liked their performance at Baja Prog Fest ------------- Follow me on twitter @memowakeman |