Alex Kapranos facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alex Kapranos
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Kapranos performing with Franz Ferdinand in 2019
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alexander Paul Kapranos Huntley |
| Also known as | Prince House Rabbit |
| Born | 20 March 1972 Almondsbury, Gloucestershire, England |
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| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | Domino |
| Children | 1 |
Alexander Paul Kapranos (born March 20, 1972) is a Scottish musician. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist for the rock band Franz Ferdinand. He has also been part of other music groups called supergroups, like FFS and BNQT.
Contents
Early Life
Alex Kapranos was born on March 20, 1972, in Almondsbury, England. His mother was English, and his father was Greek. When he was two months old, his family moved to Sunderland. Later, at age seven, they moved to Scotland.
He went to the University of Aberdeen to study Theology, which is the study of religion. He later studied at the University of Strathclyde and earned a degree. In 2005, his old university, Strathclyde, honored him as their "Alumnus of the Year."
Before becoming famous in music, Kapranos worked many different jobs. He was a chef, a barman, and even an IT lecturer. In the early 1990s, he was a big part of the music scene in Glasgow, Scotland. He used to organize live music nights at a place called The 13th Note Café.
Music Career
Performing Music
In the late 1990s, while working at Glasgow's Anniesland College, Alex Kapranos played in several local bands. These included The Blisters, The Amphetameanies, and The Yummy Fur. He also helped with recordings for other bands like Urusei Yatsura.
In 2001, Kapranos formed the band Franz Ferdinand. He dropped "Huntley" from his name around this time. The band included Kapranos, Nick McCarthy, Paul Thomson, and Bob Hardy. Their second song, "Take Me Out," became very popular in 2004. It reached number 3 on the UK music charts. Their first album, Franz Ferdinand, also debuted at number 3.
Franz Ferdinand won the 2004 Mercury Music Prize for their album. In 2005, they won two Brit Awards for Best British Group and Best British Rock Act.
In 2015, Franz Ferdinand teamed up with the American band Sparks to create a supergroup called FFS. Also in 2015, Kapranos joined another supergroup called BNQT.
In 2019, the British band All We Are released a song called "Heart Attack" that featured Alex Kapranos. In 2020, Kapranos released an English-French version of the song "Summer Wine" with French singer Clara Luciani.
Producing Music
Alex Kapranos has also worked as a music producer for other bands. He produced Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever, the third album by the British band The Cribs, in 2007. He also produced their song "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant?"
Kapranos made a small appearance in the music video for The Cribs' song "Our Bovine Public". He also created a remix of the song "New in Town" by British pop singer Little Boots.
In 2012, he produced the first album, Here We Are, for the British indie rock band Citizens!. He also produced the second album for Scottish guitarist RM Hubbert, called Thirteen Lost & Found.
In 2019, he produced the song "Pista (Great Start)" for the band Los Bitchos. He described their music as having "cumbia beats, a hint of Swedish pop and a touch of shoegaze shimmer."
Other Work
Writing
In September 2005, Kapranos started writing a weekly food column called "Soundbites" for The Guardian newspaper. In this column, he wrote about the interesting foods he tried while touring the world with Franz Ferdinand. A book based on these columns, called Sound Bites: Eating on Tour with Franz Ferdinand, was released in 2006. It also included new material and drawings by Andy Knowles.
Kapranos himself read Sound Bites: Eating on Tour with Franz Ferdinand on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week in December 2006.
Narration
In 2008, Kapranos narrated a BBC Scotland documentary called Edwyn Collins: Home Again. This film was about the recovery of Orange Juice singer Edwyn Collins.
Also in 2008, Kapranos narrated a BBC Radio 1 documentary about the history of the band Kraftwerk.
Film
In 2016, Kapranos was part of a documentary film called Lost in France. The film was about the music scene in Glasgow and a record label called Chemikal Underground. It showed Kapranos and other musicians going back to France to play a concert, like one they had done years before when he was in his earlier band, The Karelia. The film included interviews with Kapranos and live performances.
Kapranos was also interviewed for Edgar Wright's 2021 documentary film The Sparks Brothers. This film was about the band Sparks, with whom Franz Ferdinand formed the supergroup FFS.
Radio Presenting
From August to September 2022, Kapranos hosted a six-part radio show called "The Alex Kapranos Show" on Absolute Radio.
Personal Life
In his free time, Alex Kapranos enjoys making unique furniture in his carpentry workshop.
In June 2005, Kapranos was held for about an hour at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow. This happened because his passport surname, Huntley, was similar to an alias used by a former agent. Officials soon realized it was a mistake and released him.
Growing up in Sunderland, he supported the local football team, Sunderland A.F.C..
Kapranos has asthma and is allergic to peanuts.
He was in a relationship with singer Eleanor Friedberger for several years. He even wrote the song "Eleanor Put Your Boots On" for her.
Since 2019, he has been in a relationship with French musician Clara Luciani. They got married in Scotland in May 2023. Their son was born in September 2023.
Discography
Singles
| Year | Title | Album |
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| 2019 | "Heart Attack" (All We Are & Alex Kapranos) |
non-album single |
| 2020 | "Summer Wine" (Alex Kapranos & Clara Luciani) |
non-album single |
Images for kids
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Kapranos performing with Franz Ferdinand in 2019
See also
In Spanish: Alex Kapranos para niños
