Short Biography

Alex Kapranos was born in Almondsbury, England to an English mother and Greek father. He moved to the North East of England when he was three months old, spending his early childhood in Sunderland and South Shields, his mother`s home town, and spent most summers in his father`s native Greece. Huntley is the name his father adopted from his father`s aunt. He has a sister, Anne Kapranos, who works in a London public relations company.

In 1980, he moved with his family to Edinburgh, then to Glasgow in 1984. At the age of seventeen, Kapranos attended the University of Aberdeen to study theology. After dropping out, he continued his studies at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow where he studied English and Catering, eventually gaining a BA. He worked as a chef, barman, music promoter, private detective, driver, welder and lecturer prior to finding fame with Franz Ferdinand.

From the early 1990s, he was a fixture of the Glasgow music scene, running live nights at the 13th Note, most notably The Kazoo Club. While working as a chef, bartender, lecturer in IT at the city`s Anniesland College, and other various jobs, he played in some of Glasgow`s popular bands, including The Blisters (later known as The Karelia), long-standing ska stalwarts The Amphetameanies and The Yummy Fur. He is also known to have contributed to Urusei Yatsura and Lungleg recordings.

After dropping "Huntley" from his name, he formed Franz Ferdinand in 2001. The band comprises Kapranos, Nick McCarthy (guitar, keyboard, backup vocals), Paul Thomson (drums, backup vocals, sometimes guitar) and Bob Hardy (bass). The band saw chart success after their second single "Take Me Out (released 12 January 2004) reached #3 in the UK Charts followed by their debut album Franz Ferdinand (released 9 February 2004)which debuted on the UK album chart at #3. The band went on to win the 2004 Mercury Music Prize and two BRIT Awards in 2005 for Best British Group and Best British Rock Act.

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