Post by Rietveld on Jul 27, 2009 2:49:53 GMT
Alex Kapranos (born Alexander Paul Kapranos Huntley, 20 March 1972 in Almondsbury, Gloucestershire), is a British musician who is the lead singer and the guitarist of the Glasgow band 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 (later known as The Karelia), long-standing ska stalwarts The Amphetameanies and The Yummy Fur. He is also known to have contributed to Urusei Yatsura and Lungleg recordings.
After dropping "Huntley" from his name, he formed Franz Ferdinand in 2001. The band comprises of Alex Kapranos, Nick McCarthy (guitar, keyboard, backup vocals), Paul Thomson (drums, backup vocals, sometimes guitar) and Bob Hardy (bass). The band saw chart success after their second single "Take Me Out (released 12 January 2004)[5] reached Number 3 in the UK Charts followed by their debut album Franz Ferdinand (released 9 February 2004) which debuted on the UK album chart at Number 3. The band went on to win the 2004 Mercury Music Prize and two BRIT Awards in 2005 for Best British Group and Best British Rock Act.
In Franz Ferdinand, Kapranos can be seen playing original 1973 Fender Telecaster Deluxes. He has two (if not more) models: most notably, a black model and a brown model that has had its finish worn away. During the You Could Have It So Much Better tour, his second guitar is an original Gibson Les Paul Junior Double Cut. These seem to be his most played guitars although he has been sighted playing a Gibson SG (as in The Fallen video), Fender Jazzmaster, Burns 12 string Marquee, Fender 1952 Telecaster and as of recently he has been seen playing a Gibson ES-355 with a Bigsby tremolo. He has also been sighted playing fellow band member Nicholas McCarthy's blue sparkle Hagstrom Sweetone. Acoustically his guitars range. He has played a Gibson Hummingbird as well as other various acoustic guitars (including a twelve string) that are sometimes played at special acoustic performances and acoustic songs, such as Eleanor Put Your Boots On and Walk Away. He uses Carr guitar amplifiers