Interview Alex Carpani


"On The Good Man all my musical influences converge; it's not just a prog album"


(January 2025, text Henri Strik, edited by Peter Willemsen, pictures provided by Alex Carpani)



Alex Carpani is a well-known name in the progressive rock scene. He started his solo career in 2007 with the release of Waterline. Now seventeen years later, we can welcome his seventh album which is called The Good Man. This album might be considered as one of his best works. I personally consider it a real masterpiece, and one of the best albums of 2024. Therefore, Background Magazine wanted to know everything about this excellent album, and so I asked this talented musician how he got everything together.



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Alex Carpani
© Giorgio Luppi
There seems to be confusion about the country of origin where you were born. Is it Switzerland or Italy? Would you please tell our readers where you were born and raised and what your musical influences are?
"I was born in Switzerland to an Italian father and a French mother. I lived there until I was nine, when my family moved to Italy. My musical influences range from seventies rock to classical music, from electronic to contemporary rock and cinematic music. In general, I really like instrumental music, but from a certain moment on in my career I paid more attention to lyrics and vocals."

Your last two albums contain less progressive rock influences. They go more towards other musical styles, and they are even more commercial. Do you agree and why did you again record a progressive rock album?
"The album So Close, So Far (2016) represented the turning point for me. I turned towards modern sounds and started to take care of the production directly. It's a modern, contemporary rock album with electronic influences and catchy melodies. The prog style can be felt, but it's not in the centre of the project, because it was not what was needed at that moment. Microcosm (2022) is certainly more a prog album than the previous one, but more jazz rock oriented. On this album a number of prog legends collaborated, such as David Cross, Theo Travis and David Jackson. I'm very proud of that album. However, I would not call it commercial, but richer in improvisation and open forms. The Good Man is an album in which all my musical influences converge, all the genres in which I have expressed myself in recent years. It's not just a prog album, because it contains hard rock, symphonic, electronic, and cinematic music as well."

The Good Man is a concept album. Why did you decide to come up with another concept album? What is the common thread of the album this time?
"The concept is a form that I find useful when the music is linked by a common thread or by some traits that were found during the development of the album. In this case the common thread is Man, represented as a paper boat floating in an ocean among gigantic waves, and without being able to know his way, among a thousand pitfalls and difficulties. The two suites of the album describe two different situations: a total loss of memory in Amnesiac, and the eternal choice between good and evil."
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Do you mean that life is uncertain for everyone, and that nobody knows his destiny so that anything can happen in our journey through this crazy world?
"Yes, in a certain sense it is like that, although my intention was not to convey a sense of uncertainty and fear, but rather to represent the fragility of Man. This fragility is also his strength because our humanity also derives from our imperfection. Nowadays, the difficulty lies not only in knowing how to choose between good and evil, but between many forms of good and many forms of evil since all things are extremely mixed and confused in our era."

Why did you call the album The Good Man?
"With The Good Man I mean the common man, the man in the street."

When did you start working on the new album, and why did you decide to divide the album into two long suites of 28 minutes?
"I started working on it in 2022, a few months after the release of Microcosm. Initially, I had no idea about the form of the material I was working on. However, when the first suite became that long, I realised that I would have to write another one of the same length, because a complex work was taking shape. These two long compositions represented in a certain sense are two sides of the same coin and the coin was Man."

You were assisted by excellent musicians. How did you find the great rhythm section consisting of Bruno Farinelli on drums and Giambattista Giorgi on bass, and how much of these parts did you play yourself?
"Yes, you are right. I had excellent musicians on this album. Since the music is rather complex, I had to ask some talented professionals. Bruno Farinelli is one of the best drummers in Italy and The Good Man is the third album we have made together. Giambattista Giorgi has been collaborating with me since 2011, and it also applies for him that it is the third album we have made together. Furthermore, I did many concerts with him around the world. As far as the musical parts are concerned, I write them all on my albums, including the drums and the bass parts. So, musicians find their parts already defined, and they simply have to put their own style and talent into it."

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Bruno Farinelli Emiliano Fantuzzi
© fotoatf@gmail.com
Giambattista Giorgi
© Andre Brusa

Emiliano Fantuzzi is a great guitar player. Would you please introduce him? Was he the one who played the excellent solo on As Light Returns?
"Emiliano Fantuzzi played the guitar parts in my cover of Starless that I had included in Microcosm. I was impressed by his skills, and I decided to entrust the guitar parts on this album to him. He is a great musician and a great producer. He was able to give a personal and convincing touch in all his parts and, as you have noticed, he played an extraordinary solo in As Light Returns."

However, in my opinion the two musicians who really made the difference are Alessio Alberghini on soprano sax and mezzo-soprano Valentina Vanini. Their musical input is extraordinary, and they gave me goosebumps several times.
"Alessio Alberghini has been collaborated with me during live shows since 2022. I did all the Microcosm live concerts with him. He is very prepared, and he has a personal style. Valentina Vanini is an extraordinary mezzo-soprano singer and in addition to being exceptionally good at classical music, she is very curious and open to collaborations in the field of modern music."
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Valentina Vanini Alessio Alberghini Alex Carpani

What was the reason for using a saxophone and female vocals. Where did you find these talented people?
"Why did I turn to a saxophonist and an opera singer? Because that is what the music required. The symphonic character of almost the entire album and the lyrical and cinematic moments were perfect for them."

Your vocal parts are very strong on the new album. Have you considered using a different lead singer for this musical concept like you did in the past?
"I've been singing all the parts for three albums now, even the backing vocals. Since I write both the music and the lyrics, it's natural for me to sing as well."

On Mystical I heard some amazing church organ parts. Did you use a real church organ or was it a sample?
"I used sampled sounds. It would have been too complicated and expensive to go and record that part in a church. I think the result is satisfying anyway which is demonstrated by the fact that you asked me if I played a real church organ or not..."

On the album you use a virtual orchestra and virtual guitars. Can you explain what this means?
"I wrote all the parts for the string section consisting of first and second violins, violas, cellos, double basses and the brass parts. I used today's modern sounds, which allow me to obtain a remarkable result similar to that of an orchestra. It's not a real orchestra, though, and that is why it's called virtual. That also applies for the guitars. We also used some of the guitar parts that I wrote in the definitive version of the album in addition to those played by Emiliano. This sometimes happens when the sound of a certain section of the song sounds better if you combine the real guitar with the virtual one. It doesn't happen that often, mind you, but in some cases it works. These are sampled sounds that I modified and shaped until I achieved the desired sound."

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Gigi Cavalli Cocchi
The beautiful graphic design was done by Gigi Cavalli Cocchi, the drummer of Mangala Vallis. You collaborated with him before, so why didn't he play on the album? How did he become such a great designer?
"With Gigi Cavalli Cochi I have another project called Aerostation, and we think that we don't need to mix things up too much, so as not to create confusion. Furthermore, as I told you before, I have been collaborating with Bruno Farinelli for several years now and I get along very well with him. Indeed, Gigi is a very good graphic designer with a lot of experience. It's not the first time that he created the graphics for one of my albums. He also did it for So Close, So Far and for Microcosm. This time again, he did an excellent job."

Paul Whitehead, who is known for his artwork for Genesis, Van Der Graaf Generator and Le Orme, designed the cover art for some of your earlier albums. Have you considered collaborating with him again?
"Paul did the cover of my first two albums: Waterline and The Sanctuary. I don't know if we will collaborate again. Many years have passed, and we lost touch a bit. Anyway, you never know in life, so who knows."

Are you planning to play the entire album with a real band live on stage someday?
"Yes, the intention is to play the album live. We are working on it, but it will still take some time. I hope to be able to play it both in Italy and abroad, as I have done with all my previous albums. I would like to play it with the musicians who worked on the album. That would be fantastic!"

What comes next? Touring? And can you surpass The Good Man with future albums because you set the bar remarkably high with this excellent album?
"Each album always gives you the incentive to try to surpass yourself. The Good Man is certainly a successful album that both critics and the public like. I don't know what the next album will be like, but since I've never repeated myself and always tried to do new and different things, it's likely to be quite different from this one."

Thanks for answering all my questions!
"Thank you for your appreciation for this album and for your interesting and stimulating questions."


More info about Alex Carpani on the Internet:
       Website
       myspace
       facebook

       review album 'Sanctuary' (2010)
       review album '4 Destinies' (2014)
       review album 'So Close So Far' (2016)
       review album 'L'orizzonte Degli Eventi' (2021)
       review album 'Microcosm' (2022)
       review album 'The Good Man' (2024)




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