He attributes his musical taste to his dad, who sounds awesome. His dad fed him a solid musical diet of cool stuff – old blues guys like Jimmie Rogers and Magic Sam. Was there ever a moment where Capocci said, “Dad, I just want to listen to Cold Chisel?”
“Nope. I never knew any different,” Capocci laughs. “It was a natural thing for me; I grew up with it. Dad’s got pretty much the same taste in music that I have now. In fact, the more time’s gone on, the more I’ve grown into rhythm and blues.”
His old man gets even cooler. “Yeah, in the years I was growing up, from 16 onwards, Dad took me to every gig until I was 21. He wasn’t there making sure I wasn’t getting up to anything bad (although, maybe he was secretly). It was because he has a love for music and we were enjoying it as mates and hanging out.”
Capocci’s a wailer and guitar slinger extraordinaire. While earlier records, like Call of the Wild and Delinquent Beat, are pretty straight down the line rockabilly, it’s not necessarily reflective of his live sound. His recent release, Pantherburn Stomp, is more accurate. It’s a rumbling, dirty edged mix of rockabilly, old school R&B and rock’n’roll with some ‘60s garage rock thrown in for good measure.
“Yeah, it’s a good reference point,” Capocci agrees. “It’s our own tunes and an honest output. We’re not being stuck in one genre and so far, people are digging it. Maybe a few people think it’s different compared with our other recordings, but our live following knows that it’s just a recorded version of what we do. It’s tight, too.”
That Pantherburn Stomp is Capocci’s third album in as many years, and gives you a hint about his work ethic. The dude is dedicated and puts his nose to the grindstone in a way that many others would find backbreaking. In an older interview, he was recorded as saying that he got up at 4.30am every day to practice a few hours before his day job.
“I’m getting up at 5.00 or 5.30am now,” he smiles. “I’m getting lazy! I’ll never get the foot off the pedal practicing though. I don’t think I’m ever going to feel absolutely comfortable playing – there’s always something else to practice.”
Capocci is looking forward to playing GreazeFest. “It’s definitely at the forefront of festivals in Australia,” he enthuses. “At the overseas weekenders, they have a different cross-section of subcultures and age groups. GreazeFest definitely embodies that. It’s got a good vibe and the fact that it embraces so many different styles is a really healthy thing.”
Capocci marvels at the way people come to the scene from different angles. “A lot of people seem to discover it through fashion,” he says. “It’s not bad, but it’s definitely odd. For us, it’s always been about the music. Take Newcastle for example – there’s a huge pin up culture – that’s totally new to us. I came from a punk background. I was into The Clash, The Buzzcocks and The Vibrators. Rockabilly is kind of the next rebellious step I guess, when you start to mature.
“I’m a barber right. I popped into the shop the other day and there was a guy in there with a pretty sharp quiff, but when they took the cape off, he was wearing running gear. It just didn’t make sense!”
BY MEG CRAWFORD
