Rico : Medicine Man
| Young Rico Capuano from Glasgow, Scotland, at barely 25, accumulates enthusiastic reviews for his debut album "Sanctuary Medicines" and sold out gigs opening for bands such as Pulkas, Cyclefly and Therapy?, as well as appearances in festivals alongside Cradle of Filth and Tairrie B. Described as a Scottish Trent Reznor with a touch of Massive Attack and critically acclaimed, will his head get bigger? Anyway, his brand of medicine will protect you from the cold and can be consumed without moderation. "If you're still making records without your pain/Then you're still making records that sound the same..." (Shave your head). Sounds strange from such a hairy dude... |
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- Can we say that we find a lot of yourself in "Sanctary Medicines", if we consider the lyrics as well
as the low number of participants and the fact that you built your own studio ? - I used to play with other bands, but I found that my ideas became diluted, there were too many people pulling and trying to change things, so I gave that up and decided to make something that would be a representation of me. There's a new freedom in doing that, because the more you get inside yourself, the stronger you become. I like to work alone. - You're touring with your brother... - Yes, he does all the artwork, the sleeve designs and he plays bass in the band. He did all the album booklet and the photos as well. - Can we consider this record as a kind of self-therapy? - Yes, absolutely. Music's always been the thing that I hang to when I go through bad times. It's a kind of crutch. - We know that you started drumming at eleven, was this record a kind of dream come true for you? - Yes. The biggest part of it was to have the album finished with the booklet. When it was released, I wanted to buy a copy and it took me a week to do it, because I'd walk past record shops and I just couldn't do it. - Was it more enjoyable to construct this record in the studio or to play it live on the road? - These are very different things, because I don't want to just reproduce the record live, so I tried to move on and take it somewhere else. I love the people I'm working with, I also like being in the studio by myself, that's a nice contrast. We don't run sequencers or tapes, all the samples are triggered live. That was a lot of hard work and a lot of time. We can keep developing it, basically machines and technology are there to be used by you and not to control you. - Do you take part in the making of your videos? - We made a short film in the beginning, that my brother and I wrote, but it didn't quite turn out how I wanted it. With the second, for "Shave your head", I was touring and I decided to let someone else do it, because I didn't have time enough to get involved in it. But I was disappointed, so I don't intend to do that again. The next time, it will be very much something I want to make. - Do you think of the videos as companions for the record? - For the 1st film, we used 4 songs and I think there are good elements, that represent part of the music in it, but I think a lot of them have been clouded over, it wasn't what we wrote and it was an experience, because with my music, I know exactly what I want to do, because I have the knowledge to create it. That allows me to get it how I perceive it. For a short film, you have to rely on other people. Sometimes, I can work out, but for me, it hasn't been quite as easy as that. - Do you think samplings have made composing less contrived? - When you make music, as long as it's an expression of yourself and it's real to you, whatever you want to do, do it. For me, my sampler becomes like a band, because in the studio I can start jamming with it, and recording bits of guitar riffs. That's what I like to do, but I don't that's necessarily the way it should be. I think, especially now with so much digital recording, everything's very smooth and very clean, they make it so clean to try to get on the radio, but all the edges give the character and the passion. For me, that's not the way to do it. Even if I record a piano, I'll record it on an old cassette, then onto another old cassette and whatever the melody was, try and create an atmosphere around it, because you can play the same thing on a keyboard and just the sound can give it some emotion and completely change it. If it's too clean, it just has no character or soul. - In your videos and the cover of the album, there's an eye and many photos are blurred, is this the idea of seeing and not being seen? - I've actually lost a lot of my eyesight when I was about 12, when I started music. Over a period of 6 weeks, my central vision deteriorated massively and they didn't know why. That has given me a lot of problems in general through life, the eye is very representative for me, it's how I see things. - How do you live this rapid success and how has it changed your life? - Now, all my focus is just on music. Before, I had to work outside of music in order to fund music. I used to record other bands, that was something I really enjoyed. Now, there's not a lot of time for anything. We get the opportunity to bring our music in different countries and cultures, it's amazing. I also want to get back in the studio and work, but I find it very difficult to get time to do it. The music's the core of everything and it must not suffer. Mentally, it's fucked me up a bit, because when you go to a shop, you see your record there, you read a magazine that you used to read and there's a feature or a review on you. As much as I want my music out there, sometimes it's too much. It's like a mixture of emotions. I'm very excited about it all, but also scared and isolated. But I feel very privileged to do it. - Aren't you pissed off about always being compared to Nine Inch Nails? - Absolutely. I don't think it sounds like NIN. I think the NIN production is far smoother. It's lazy journalism to compare it to NIN, because it's the idea of someone working alone and there's aggression and darkness to it, so OK, it's NIN, but it's not. I also think that the sounds and textures that I use are very different and a lot more raw. I do like NIN and I respect what they do, but I'm not trying to be them. - Do you produce other bands from Glasgow? - Yes, local bands and demo tapes. Basically, I had about 10 bands and they continued to come back, so I would work with bands 2 or 3 days a week to help them in the studio and it was very good as well. They would then come back as I was advancing with the recordings I wad making and my equipment was getting better and so was their songwriting, so I just continued. I haven't done anything that's been released. - In the future, would you like to start a label? - I don't have time and I need time to make music. To suddenly think I can run a record company, it's just madness. I would like to do some production for other people, it's nice if you can help someone else's creation come to life, but not right now. - You last vinyl single has one track unreleased on CD, "The dose", do you believe in the perrenity of the vinyl or do you want to encourage people to buy vinyl? - Many people now put out 2 or 3 different CDs and I always try to put new songs, because I think it's very unfair if people just get 4 or 5 mixes of one song or they get other songs that are already on the album. That's why I wanted the remix CD to be separate, only for people who are interested in the remixes. But I like vinyl, CDs are more plastic and disposable. There's something different about the vinyl and fold-outs. - Do you feel involved in a kind of new British scene reacting against britpop, like Pulkas, Cyclefly, etc? - Yes, I like Cyclefly, we toured with them and we had a great time. The audiences really got into both bands. I would like to think that we're kicking back britpop. I can't imagine something worse than sitting with your parents and listening to the same album. - What do you listen to at home? - New Kingdom, they're brilliant. Tori Amos, The The, I've got lots of Bowie records, especially with Robert Fripp playing guitar, he's my ultimate guitar hero. DJ Shadow, Public Enemy. I listen to anything as long as I think it's good. Tom Waits... - How do you see the future of Rico as a band and as a person? - I don't really, because the aim was to make the album. Everything that's come beyond that has been a bonus. I hope it continues, but I think with the next record the band will get involved a bit. I'll still do all the writing and the demos, but they're good musicians and I know they can bring good things to it. Live, it's progressed very well. Our first gig was in May and we've done about 75 since then. For our own headlining show, I want to get a rack set up with wires and little scratch samplers and a little mixing desk that I can mix all the production live, because I don't want to just play song after song, I want to take it somewhere else and every night will be different. That's gonna take some time, but that's what I look forward to. JP Coillard & Mr. X Official site |
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