There’s no shortage these days of musicians who’ll bend
your ear with tales of woe, cranking out angst to a beat. But
there’s precious few musicians like Keith Caputo. He’s
known his share of troubles but has chosen to bounce a
note of hope against that forceful wall of sound.
On his debut solo album, Died Laughing, Keith explores the
pain of searching for inner peace and the joy in finding a
spiritual center. Just as the title implies, Keith’s approach to
music, and to life, is that of ‘appreciating it as a great
adventure, a trip to true understanding.’ As he reveals, "This
record represents me going through my tragedies and
understanding them to become the person that I’m
becoming.’
You might recognize Keith’s distinctive voice ‘ after all, he
was the vocalist for Life of Agony over the course of three
albums and nearly eight years until he realized he was being
"pigeonholed." Inspired by studies in Eastern philosophy,
with new sounds in his head and new feelings in his heart,
Keith realized that the hard-edge sound of LoA, "wasn’t what
I was interested in saying musically, poetically or
spiritually."
With his new attitude of ‘open mind and open faith,’ Keith
entered the studio last fall with producer Jared Kotler (Marcy
Playground), and a group of sterling players which included
Gerry Leonard (Duncan Sheik), Jeff Thall (Bryan Ferry,
Ultravox), Craig Ross (Lenny Kravitz), Robert Mastrianni and
keyboardist Jordan Feinstein.
Keith’s new joy in creation reveals itself in tracks like "Just
Be," an upbeat pop epiphany which was partially ad-libbed in
the studio. "There’s preparation, sure," says Keith, "but it’s
what’s there at the moment that really counts." Or try
"Razzberry Mockery," in which a stream-of-consciousness
lyric line explodes in polished production and explosions of
buzzing guitar bombs.
Another stand-out track is the jazz-inflected "Cobain
(Rainbow Deadhead)" with its lovely Craig Ross guitar solo
and the haunting refrain, "Cobain was murdered by you." Be
warned ‘ it has nothing to do with Courtney Love. "That’s
gonna be the mindless controversy," Keith admits, "but
that’s not it at all." It’s actually a comment on the adulation
that can destroy heroes or, as Keith calls it, "’the Barbie doll
syndrome.’ Cobain got lost, like Jim Morrison, or Janis
Joplin. They couldn’t distinguish between themselves and
the Barbie doll that was created of them." While many of the
tracks are guitar-fueled rockers, Keith explores more exotic
musical terrain as well. You'll hear it in the soaring pop
chorus and orchestral majesty of "Home," and the
impassioned multi-tracked vocals of "Selfish" - both tracks
flying sweetly on a quartet of strings.
"Brandy Duval" ends the album on a similarly lush and
lovingly arranged high note. "It was the most serious
expression on the record to me anyway," Keith explains, "so
I wanted to leave off with that." It’s also the name of the
real-life love ‘ and tragic loss ‘ that inspired many of the
album’s songs. Brandy (nickname) Duval (maiden name) is
Keith’s mom, who died of an overdose when he was just a
child. He still feels the pain of loss ("I never knew the woman
who gave birth to me, my closest and dearest friend") but he
admits it also made him powerful. "The tragedies that I used
to carry around as baggage, I now carry around as a flying
carpet. She’s always with me."
True to his open, unguarded nature, Keith Caputo’s music
takes you through a journey of discovery, and then brings
you safely back home. "I’ll always be a searcher," he says
firmly, "And I need to share that truth through my music.
When I perform, I get with the gods." And he’s always ready
to take his listeners along on the quest.
