Capri biography - interviews by Don Cartwright
Originally inspired by funk/big band Soundtracks such as Bullitt,
Dirty Harry, and composers such as Lalo Schifrin, Roy Budd and
Quincy Jones, Capri’s Dan Woodward wanted to hear “more stuff like
that”. However when Dan went out to find the original soundtracks
he found they were either deleted, never available to the public,
poorly recorded or worst still re-recorded by inexperienced
musicians. “When I did finally get my hands on the original
material, I remember being slightly disappointed. Without the
images to accompany the music it felt a little flat. Except for the
occasional killer groove, I think it was a case of remembering it
better than it was”.
It was then Dan had the idea of forming a band that could not only
play the uncompromising style of 1970’s funk big band but could
also reinvigorate the music solely for the purpose of personal
listening and dancing. “It was an unusual process. Me, Chris and
Matthew had played together in Big bands when we were kids, so we
had the founding experience we needed. Matthew and I also played in
a lot of rock and soul bands so that was the other experience we
needed. It was like putting the two things together. Playing in a
big band requires a lot of discipline. You have to practice the
parts, learn to read and make sure you don’t mess up, otherwise you
have 30 musicians giving you the evil eye! In a rock band its
different. Its obviously more relaxed. You turn up, play, get drunk
and go home. I loved doing both”.
The bands signature funk sound didn’t come easily admits Chris
Donnelly. “It involved a lot of rehearsing, demos and re-arranging
to get the music to fit what it was we were trying to do. We would
rehearse and rehearse until the grooves sounded right”. “We did the
Cop Funk thing for a few years” Dan explains “but at that time I’d
gone back to writing songs. ‘Boogie Man’ was one of the new batch.
It was very much a hybrid of the two things, big band meets soul
band. It had soundtrack elements to it fused with James Brown
street funk. Then came ‘Barbarella’ and then I knew we had to get a
singer”.
It wasn’t the most likely place to meet a great soul singer but the
Peel pub in Bradford was where Matthew Windler found himself
stumbling into one Tuesday night and hearing the future of Capri.
“I knew Dan was serious about getting a singer, but apart from a
few feeble auditioners, we hadn’t found anyone. Then, the next
thing I know, I’m in the Peel seeing Ben sing for the first time. I
just thought Get him! He’s the man!”. Before long Ben was singing
with the band in Leeds at the fondly remembered Underground club.
The club had put on some great names in Funk such as Maceo Parker,
Fred Wesley (both James Brown players), Pee Wee Ellis, Donald Byrd,
Azymuth and Roy Ayers ( blacksploitation soundtrack composer ) to
name a few. It was also a place were the many worlds of Funk met,
such as the time when Roy Ayers’ rhythm section heard ‘Car
Chase on Phoenix Avenue’ over the house P.A and demanded to know
who had created such an outrageously funky piece of music.
Very quickly the Underground became the capital funk/soul venue
outside London. The next big club to follow was the Wardrobe which
again promoted live original material. Capri were all too happy to
join the roster, regularly playing there with their eleven piece
band. It was around this time Capri started recording songs for
their first E.P. Although the E.P. was well received by club DJs
and funksters it didn’t get much support on a wider scale. “This
isn’t a particularly rhythmical nation” admits Dan “all the highly
rhythmical music in this country always remains underground,
its so frustrating”. Chris adds “I remember us playing at a ball in
Cambridge and I’ve never seen so many confused faces in all my
life”. Meanwhile, another Leeds Funk band the ‘New Mastersounds’
were starting to break through with their album “Keb Darge presents
the New Mastersounds” and was making people take note of the
growing Funk scene in Leeds, and Funk in general.
It seemed like Capri had just finished recording their E.P. when
they began work on their first album. Originally titled ‘Firebird’
their first album was going to be an eclectic mix of all the
musical stages the band had gone through since their formation.
“Getting hold of all the musicians we needed wasn’t a problem”
reveals Chris. “There’s been a steady influx of Jazz and Soul
musicians coming into Leeds since the 60’s”. Great players like
Joel Purnell, Jim Corry, Dale Gibson, Omar Puente and Lara Rose had
all come to Leeds via the music college….. perfect timing for a 12
track funk opus. ‘Boogie Man’ was released in 2004 and was an
instant hit with critics and music aficionados. Air play has been
building steadily since then, both on FM and digital radio. In May
Capri joined the download revolution and are now available from all
the major download sites worldwide. Capri’s next projects include
releasing Barbarella as a single and music video, a live DVD/audio
CD and ultimately a second studio album.
Thank you and good night. D.C.
Originally formed in 1995, Capri have an impressive list of credits to their name. Few who have seen one of their live shows, will forget the epic sound of this amazing band, which is uniquely captured on their album "Live at The Wardrobe". Capri have released seven recordings to date, including their debut studio album "Boogie Man", plus two EP's and three singles. Follow the links on this page to experience the sound of Capri.
Groove Laboratory
Productions
Twitter: #CapriGLP
E: info@caprimusic.co.uk
© Copyright. All Rights Reserved.