Alex Kapranos

Alexander "Alex" Paul Kapranos Huntley ( born March 20, 1972 in Almondsbury, South Gloucestershire, England) is a composer, singer and guitarist for the Scottish band Franz Ferdinand.

Alex Kapranos was born the son of a Greek father and an English mother. He spent his childhood in South Shields and Sunderland before moving to Edinburgh in the 80s. When he came to Glasgow to study English literature, he used the surname Huntley, his mother's maiden name. It was only in 2001, he changed his family name back to Kapranos. Before he became a professional musician, Kapranos worked as an English teacher and as a cook.

Just arrived in Glasgow, Alex Kapranos mixed into the music scene. During the 1990s he worked behind the bar, The 13th Note, where he met the art student Robert Hardy, and began to promote the club and 99p club appearances in Kazoo.

Alex Kapranos played in several groups as a singer and guitarist with The blister, which was later renamed to The Karelia and in 1997 released an album, Divorce At High Noon. After the end of The Karelia Kapranos played bass in the Glasgow scene band The Yummy Fur, where he met the drummer Paul Thomson. In 1998 it was also with the Yummy Fur over, but Kapranos stayed with Thomson in contact.

When he came back a few years later the idea to form a band, Kapranos took his friends Robert Hardy and Paul Thomson on board, along with Nick McCarthy, whom he met at a party, the cast for Franz Ferdinand was complete.

While Kapranos 2005 and 2006 toured with Franz Ferdinand, he wrote regular columns for the Guardian about the food on tour. The columns were published in late 2006 in the UK in book form. The German translation followed in 2007.

Kapranos voice can best be described as very motile baritone, with smooth transition in height and strength in the depths.

Works

• Sound Bites. Eating on Tour with Franz Ferdinand. Kiepenheuer & Petrovich, Cologne 2007. ISBN 978-3-462-03788-3.