Nick Capaldi – a UK singer/songwriter whose debut single ‘In My Shoes’ hit No.1 on the Amazon Hot New Release list within a week of release and remained in the Top 20 Best Selling New Releases for five weeks. With Radio 2’s Bob Harris a big fan and a track from his debut EP making a highly acclaimed appearance on the MOJO ‘Songs In The Key of Paul McCartney’ album, it’s fair to say that Nick Capaldi is one of the UK’s hottest rising musicians.
With a new EP ‘More Life Than You Can Shake A Stick At’ and string of festival performances set for 2021, Capaldi is proving that, when it comes to innovative rock/pop, he’s producing probably the freshest sounds on our musically creative shores.
Nick grew up in Bristol before moving to Weymouth, Dorset. Ironically he didn’t really care much for music to begin with (being an avid reader and painter instead) until 1994 when his sister brought home the album ‘Parklife’ by Blur. Something about the music and the bands style awakened a new artistic chapter for him and at the age of 14, Nick learnt to play guitar and wrote his first songs all in the same year.
Nick played solo sets in the local area from the age of 16 and when he was 20, set up a local band called EmphaSiS. The two capital S’s in the bands name were there because when Nick had tried to start a duo with his little sister in 1995, so SiS for sister. Nick – “Oh yeah we were going to be something like The White Stripes. Melissa had a Casio keyboard. We practiced all these 50s and 60s Rock n Roll numbers and were advertised in the local paper to perform our first gig at The Goosebury Fare on Portland. We turned up but chickened out and went home and that was the end of that”.
The later, newly formed version of the band played covers along with Nicks fast expanding repertoire of originals. They won Wessex FMs Battle of the bands and Weymouth Pavilions Best Local Band award. The band played countless shows locally and in the promised land of London until the band dissolved in 2010.
After a short break Nick started making music again with friends Steve Balsamo (The Storys/Lead role in Jesus Christ Superstar) and Tim Hamill at Tim’s studio in Swansea Wales. The sessions produced four quirky rock pop songs that were released on an EP called ‘The Golden Summer’. Tracks from this were played on BBC Radio 2 by Whispering Bob Harris who also wrote the sleeve notes for the EP. Nick was invited into Radio 2 to perform a session for Bob Harris’s weekend show.
Another fan of those songs was producer Chris Kimsey (The Rolling Stones/Peter Frampton/Marillion). Chris invited Nick to meet him at State of the Ark studio in Richmond where Noel Gallagher was deep into recording his first solo album. Recording sessions were soon underway at The Fish Factory Studio in North London with Kimsey producing. The album featured guests Patrick Campbell-Lyons (60s group Nirvana), blues rock guitarist Marcus Bonfanti and Saint Jude Vocalist Lynne Jackaman.
Nick then met Brad Pemberton who was the drummer in one of Nick’s favourite groups Ryan Adams and The Cardinals. Brad loved Nick’s songwriting and suggested doing some recording together in Nashville at Brendan Bensons studio. Benson (Raconteurs) produced and sung backing vocals on what was to be released as ‘Lovers Leap EP’ which also featured Jon Graboff (Cardinals) and Reno Bo (The Mooney Suzuki).
2017 saw Capaldi producing his next album ‘Neon Heart’ as well as playing most of the instruments himself. 2020 saw the release of another self-produced album ‘Tatty Hally and the Lost Magic’. This time Nick took on mixing/mastering duties as well. The album was released on 180g Gatefold Vinyl.
In 2020 Nick entered the famous Abbey Road Studio 2 where four brand new songs were recorded for the EP ‘More Life Than You Can Shake A Stick At’ February 2021 on 10″ Gold Vinyl.
check out Nick’s next gigs:
June 26th – Family fest 2022, The Meadows, Wimbourne, Dorset
July 9th – Quinfest, Milborne St Andrew Pavilion, Blandford Forum, Dorset
July 30th – Raising Spirit Festival, Came House, Dorchester, Dorset
August 20th – Cider festival, Borough Gardens, Dorchester Dorset
