Bio

If an artist’s life has been a series of different lives, started and then left hanging there … then his resume will also sound bizarre and his biography a bit bizarre. This is exactly my case … but let’s start from some irrefutable certainties: my name is Roberto Caporali and I am an Italian singer-songwriter and poet born in Foggia on 22 October 1973. In reality, I haven’t always called myself that and I never saw my city again after I was born there but better spare you the pathetic story of my unhappy childhood which, unfortunately is common to many others. The more or less frustrating wanderings between educational communities and fixed-term foster care with families ended in the year of grace 1983 where I was adopted in the beloved city of Moncalieri (Turin) by the even more beloved Caporali family. Finally, surrounded by affection in a pleasant family normality, I found the ideal condition to cultivate my talents and nurture commendable ambitions. Music and poetry soon knocked on my door … On my eleventh birthday my grandfather gave me the classic “rickety guitar” from which, as you can imagine, I never separated. At only sixteen I was able to collect my first compositions in a “guitar and voice” for a hundred friends at a city theater (“Teatro Civico Matteotti”, Moncalieri). But these promising beginnings (sealed by the diploma at the “Centro Di Formazione Musicale” in Turin) were echoed by a five-year hesitation and relative waste of time between improbable literary compositions and daring musical experiments to say the least. It is in this period that I gave life to my first musical band called “Cuba Libre”; a formation of four Piedmontese musicians who proposed a repertoire of their own compositions of various genres (pop, reggae, blues) and who, in any case, had the merit of performing with moderate acclaim in some important squares in Northern Italy by putting me in contact with numerous quality professional artists. However, reluctant to undertake a studio recording job with the band (because I considered it premature and the material available seemed uneven to me) after quarrels and ritual reconciliations between the members of the group, one day I decided to abandon this artistic experience and so began a series of collaborations as author of pieces for minor singers and as writer for some manuscripts for short theatrical comedies. The musical soul and the literary soul continued to blend and confuse me … Instead, my appearances in national music competitions for emerging talents are from the beginning of the new millennium; I mention among these: the “Memorial Mia Martini” (RC) in 2000, the “Festival Di Solarolo” (RE) in 2002 and “Una Voce Della Canzone Nel Mondo” (TV) in 2004. Few interesting feedbacks and little commitment in the face them … On the contrary, in 2006, I was able to complete what still remains the only fully autographed recording entitled “Discorsi” and published by “Romolo Ferri Musical Editions” (MI). This fully pop-rock project was attended by internationally renowned musicians such as the arranger Roberto Padovan, the guitarist Marco Bonino and the drummer Mario Bracco. The entire entourage initially worked to promote the album in local media and networks but in the meantime my life was slowly about to change again … The continuous business trips abroad and in particular in Eastern Europe (where all Italian music from all eras is literally “divinized”), projected me into social realities and cultures that were completely new to me but which would soon become familiar. The visits to Prague (Czech Republic) became more and more frequent and the stays longer and longer also due to the working collaborations undertaken with the Czech tenor Bohuš Matuš and the Polish actor-singer Andrzej Piaseczny. The quarrelsome but prosperous local Italian community “hired” me, at the time, for the staging of shows of all sorts in restaurants, hotels, theaters and city squares. From the romantic piano bar for elegant dinners to more lively performances in the disco up to the promotional events of the “made in Italy” (especially the gastronomic one) not only in the countless festivals of the capital but also in many others cities, towns and sometimes remote villages of the Czech Republic. What initially seemed to me just a game between vacation and adventure was now starting to look more like a real profession. Furthermore, the variety of commissions and specific requests stimulated me to significantly improve my technical and linguistic skills. In short, without wanting to, I was turning into an interpreter and spokesperson for the “Italian spirit” abroad; an initially uncomfortable role for an author to accept but which I would have accepted over time as a sort of retaliation penalty inflicted on me for the many opportunities lost in the past.. The musical growth, the singing care, the improvement of the live performances, the accuracy in the arrangement of the songs and the multiplicity of styles studied are certainly important points of detachment from the “cast” artistic life that I had led up to then in Italy. However, I had to reconcile within myself the figure of the songwriter-poet who continued to write for himself with that of the singer-interpreter of other people’s songs which now constituted my main job. Coexistence can be defined as successful but clearly at the expense of the compositional vein and creative originality which have become numb over time and perhaps convoluted due to lack of practice and a linguistic and environmental context which does not logically favor its natural development. Anyway, just in the last few years, thanks to a consolidated work routine (mostly managed by local music agencies with precise and marked working calendars), I finally found the time and the inspiration to go back to writing and I collected these “poetry thoughts” in a book that you will soon find online on the best-known self-publishing digital platforms and also in paper version in some Italian bookshops. I also recently started working on two new songs in Italian language in the studio (one “pop ballad” and one with a “disco latino” flavor) which I will keep you informed  here. If it is true that a perfect journey is circular and that is with the joy of departure and the joy of return, then it can be said that perhaps I have almost finished drawing this circle as even the new music-literary projects seem to look more at Italy that not in Prague but let’s leave it to fate that I feel it will be able to surprise me once again …

 Skills

My vocal register is baritone, precisely I am a baritone-bass with a deep, warm and present sound timbre and a clean voice color suitable for the interpretation of classic songs of the Italian tradition and international evergreens (50s and 60s) . Swing, soul and even slow blues are the musical environments where my voice perhaps expresses itself best; despite this, for work reasons, a large part of my covers repertoire concerns the Italian and international pop hits of the 70s and 80s but there are also digressions on Latin music and modern remixes. Finally, as a songwriter, I could place my compositions in the pop-rock genre; here my voice becomes harsher and hoarse as if to accentuate the meaning of the lyrics through a strong, unfiltered interpretation, almost deliberately to the detriment of stylistic refinement. I play guitar (acoustic and classical) and keyboards but I can’t consider myself a “virtuoso” since I have always used the musical instrument only as a harmonic and rhythmic support in my live performances; far more important I believe is instead its use in that magical process which is precisely the “composition”. I sing mainly in Italian but also in English, French and Spanish having a good pronunciation of these languages as a result of endless studies in the sector. I confess that I prefer “solo shows”, not out of self-centeredness, the fact is that I feel good alone on stage but concerts and public appearances alongside other singers of the local artistic scene are very frequent. Among others, I would like to mention the “Atmosphere Show Band”, a swing group dedicated to entertaining galas but also traditional dance evenings with a program of “retro pieces” with a strong communicative impact.

Well, I couldn’t be concise but there were many things to say … Now I just have to refer you to the Audio & Video section where you can listen to my songs without forgetting to also take a look at the Poems section where you will find aphorisms, brief reflections but not the contents of the new book that I urge you to download instead