Award-winning keyboardist and composer Alex Carpani leads one of the top Italian progressive rock groups in the current music scene. The Bologna-based artist has collaborated with David Jackson (Van der Graaf Generator), Bernardo Lanzetti (PFM, Acqua Fragile), Aldo Tagliapietra (Le Orme), Paul Whitehead (Genesis, VdGG, etc.), Tony Spada (Steve Morse, Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe, etc.) among others.
The Alex Carpani Band is set to perform at ProgDay 2014, the progressive rock festival that takes place on Saturday, August 30th, and Sunday, August 31st, at Storybook Farm in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Can you give our readers a brief history on how the band was formed?
The band was formed in fall 2006 just a few months before the issue of my debut album “Waterline” (2007) to play live the album around the world. At that time the Alex Carpani Band was me on keyboards and vocals, Ettore Salati on guitars, Marco Fabbri on drums and Fabiano Spiga on bass guitar and back vocals. After some changes the band has come to its actual lineup which includes me on keyboards and vocals, Ettore Salati on guitars, Joe Sal on lead vocals, Alessandro Di Caprio on drums and Giambattista Giorgi on bass guitar.
What do you consider as the essential elements of your music?
My music is rock, symphonic, progressive, with some classical and jazz influences here and there. The keyboards have a leading role, being my instrument.
Who can you cite as your main musical influences?
Genesis, ELP, Yes, King Crimson, Le Orme, PFM, Pink Floyd, etc.
Tell us about your first recordings and your musical evolution.
My first published record has been “Waterline” in 2007. Then “The Sanctuary” came on 2010 and “4 Destinies” in 2014. These three albums are very different, but all belong to the progressive rock world.
From 1990 to 2007 I self-produced many albums (more than 30) of various genres: electronic music, new age, classical music, music & poetry, music for theatre plays, soundtracks, etc.
My new album “Man On Wire”, which I already written, will be very different from the previous prog albums and more oriented to the alternative rock world, with less keyboards and more guitars, power rock grooves and more vocal parts. It will be published in late 2015/early 2016 I think.
Can you share some information about the program you’ll present at ProgDay 2014?
No! Absolutely no! (I’m joking…). The program will include both Van der Graaf Generator material and “4 Destinies” medleys. As you probably know, David Jackson has played in my album, so he will be on stage during the whole show.
How’s the current progressive rock scene in Italy?
Very rich, but not well organized. People interested in arranging prog festivals here usually depend on public financial support and cannot schedule the events until they’re sure they will be supported. This causes the festival being often scheduled just a couple of months, or less, before their scheduled date…
Bands must organize their activity without any help form anyone, so it’s a fragmentary scene, especially compared to other countries like Sweden, where you can find public venues, public rehearsal rooms, well organized labels and associations which can easily set-up big festivals and help the local bands by giving them the chance to perform, to be well promoted and to appear on the International prog scene.
What musical instruments do you use?
I play 5 keyboards and my set includes piano, Hammond, mellotron, moog and strings/pads parts. To play these parts I use a digital stage piano plus 4 virtual instruments played by midi controllers: the Native B2 (hammond), the M-Tron (mellotron), the Arturia Moog V (moog) and the Purity (strings/pads).
What effects do you use?
I use the onboard effects of my mixer, plus a Boss FX that emulates a Hammond rotary speaker.
If you could gather any musicians or musical groups to collaborate with, whom would that be?
I like Steven Wilson, his projects, his music and the musicians that collaborate with him. He’s the most innovative and interesting artist of the last few years in the prog scene, in my opinion.
Do you have any upcoming projects to share with us?
Apart from my next coming album, which I mentioned, the band and I will continue the “VOX in PROGress” live project with the great voices of the Italian prog: Bernardo Lanzetti (PFM), Aldo Tagliapietra (Le Orme) and Lino Vairetti (Osanna). Besides this, we’ll continue touring with David Jackson as well, while there is a chance that David Cross of King Crimson will get on board too in 2015. There are plenty of projects concerning Alex Carpani Band in the near future… Stay tuned!