CAPSIDE

track-list:
Di Notte (Ladyesis pt.1)
Dea
A mio figlio
Filastrocca di periferia
Termiti
Un altro lunedì
Ladyesis pt.2
Azazel

Capside are:
Valentina Casu – voice
Manolo Ciuti – bass
Roberto Casada – drums
Martino Faedda – guitar
Giovanni Casada – keyboards

discography:
Ladyesis (2023)
Tous Les Hèros (2018)
Capsidea (2009)

CAPSIDE were formed in 1992, come from Sassari, in the north of the island of Sardinia, from an idea of five guys with a passion for eccentric music.
The genre initially played is a mixture of Progressive Rock, folk, punk, beat, dominated by the Farfisa organ, sung in Italian, with immediately original songs.
After various line-up changes, the band stabilized with the entry of Valentina Casu on vocals (1995) and Gio’ Casada on keyboards (1997), reaching the original members:
Manolo Ciuti on bass, Roberto Casada on drums and Martino Faedda on guitar.
Over time, the style proposed by the five boys changed into a symphonic Progressive Rock with pop/jazz nuances.
The sounds multiply and the lyrics become more demanding and mature.
They publish several demotapes and participate in various official publications, together with other local bands, with a discreet local and regional live activity.
They have three official albums to their credit:
‘Capsidea’ (2009), ‘Tous les hèros’ (2018) and ‘Ladyesis’ (2023).
‘Ladyesis’ represents the artistic zenith of Capside.
Music and words merged like never before.
Is a journey through feelings, from the unconscious and its dreams/nightmares, to filial love, war, passion and contrasts.
Hailing from Sassari, Sardinia, Italy, we find Progressive RockProgressive Rock/Pop/Fusion quintet CAPSIDE, and they have an excellent new eight track album out now called ‘Ladyesis’ which clocks in at around thirty-five minutes long, and it is the bands third release, and you’re in for some surprises with this one as it’s a glorious retro organic prog album with lots of experimentation and fabulous musicianship.
But it’s not Progressive Rock for the sake of prog, its very song orientated, and the band feel their way around each song adding the correct textures that the compositions, if they want to go fast, they do, if they want to improv, they do, if they want to jam, they do, if they want to drink wine, they do.
“The slick and groove based ‘Di Notte (Ladyesis pt.1’) opens the albums and this track is a subtle catchy progster with poppy edges, singer Valentina Casu has a superb voice that has a lovely warmth to it.”
“‘Dea’ is a heavier song, and this one is more complex and slicker with tons of groove and experimentation. Valentina once again is fab; this song explores a lot of different areas from vintage synth laden retro prog to even a slight symphonic edge. Martino Faedda puts in some amazing guitar soling, but it’s the bass pumping grooves from Manolo Ciuti that also leave a mark, this is a song that could easily be up there with Within Temptation and Nightwish, only more complex and prog based, I guess more in tune with the likes of Karnataka, Anathema and Mostly Autumn, superb song.”
“‘A mio figlio’ is beautiful, you can feel the emotion in Valentina’s voice against the beautiful Latin guitar playing from Martino, very strong slick ballad, I love the way the music grows and gets more dramatic giving you goosebumps along the way.”
“‘Filastrocca di periferia’ is more up-tempo, its experimental and melodic with a soulful edge thanks to the amazing vocals throughout this track. The synths give the song a retro prog vibrancy and, maybe a little ambience in there, its melodic and catchy with a lot going on, this is one of my favourite tracks on the album. Next up is the fabulous funky soul grooves of ‘Termiti’, I love the whole swagger of this song its very catchy with tons of fabulous musical work, lots of groove and retro vibes, again Valentina’s voice is fabulous here, it’s a very slick vibrant song, and if the band want to send one track to the radio shows, then this is one, a nice little blast of SC-FI style synths at the end.”
“‘Un altro lunedì’ is another stunning track, the playing here is off the chart, its soul with a blues based retro prog vibe. Slick sophisticated with a lovely vibrancy. This one kinda feels a little like early Heart having a jam with Cream and Haken. Within the prog grooves there is also a slight Americana kinda groove come through, for me this is the albums highlight, a very organic soulful express track, the guitar work is awesome with a Clapton/Mark Knopfler/Chris Rea/Joe Bonamassa guitar blues vibe. Valentina comes over quite like Bonnie Raitt on this song, most impressive.”
“Next up is the quirky instrumental ‘Ladyesis pt.2’, its prog with a classic rock vibe, however there is a lot of improvs on this track and its very catchy with saxophones, synths, which give it a retro jam feel and is just superb.”
“‘Azazel’ is quirky, melodic, and progressive with a whole lot going on. It’s very organic and catchy with sensational epical guitar and musical work throughout. It feels quite atmospheric in some parts and I love the fade out organ, this is quite a grandiose track ending a superb album. We are in the seaside house of Valentina, our singer, a small refuge immersed in a natural park, in the north of the wonderful Sardinia, where it is not uncommon to encounter wild animals at the front door. It’s 8.30pm and the sun still won’t set. The intense scent of the mastic tree and the air full of saltiness, together with a good glass of Cannonau wine, accompany our dinner with the bands leading lady.”
Capside are a band that has been making music since 1992.
Artistically they were born and grew up together, in the true meaning of the word.
“Ours is a story of music but also of friendship, affection and mutual esteem. We play and compose for the pleasure of doing it, and this is certainly fundamental to our way of understanding music,”
expresses guitarist Martino Faedda.
What makes Capside different is probably the blend of influences, a mix of sophisticated progressive rock, with pop, jazz fusion veins, that you can hear within their songs.
“Add Valentina’s particular voice and her way of developing her lyrics over eclectic music, complicated but simple at the same time,”
he points out.
When the band members were all kids, in the early nineties, there was a great musical ferment in their city, with dozens of groups offering their own music.
“It was natural to cross our paths because we shared the same musical tastes and the desire to experiment. Each of us came from different musical backgrounds, some playing metal, some playing psychedelic rock or even punk rock,”
explains drummer Roberto Casada.
“Right from the start we started writing our own songs, a mix of medieval prog with quirky lyrics and hard rock fugues. After some line-up changes, with the entry of Valentina (1995) and Giò (1997), we began to build our current style.”
Roberto is very much into experimentation and therefore those unconventional or definitely non-trivial groups.
For example he cites Gong, Area, and early Pink Floyd or the more recent Shamblemath or King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.
“However, experimentation must not be an end in itself but interpreted as the desire to find new formulas. It is very nice to hear apparently simple songs but with unusual melodic solutions. It’s more or less what we also look for in our music, sometimes complicated, sometimes essential but trying not to be taken for granted,”
he points out.
In his spare time the drummer enjoys listens to music, DIY activities, and watching a good movie, as well as gardening and technology.
Each member of the band bring in the elaboration of the music, a spark of what he/she loves or has listened to over the years and which represents his musical baggage.
“At my house you breathed the soul of Marvine Gaye and Aretha Franklin, but also the eclecticism of Stevie Wonder and the pressing rhythms of the Police. With maturity I feel very close to the works of Joni Mitchell for his poetry and to Neil Young, for his realism also given by a raw and nononsense voice,”
expresses Valentina.
Outside of music she has a few passions other than music.
“I’m into poetry, cinema, furniture and design magazines, good food and horticulture,”
she smiles.
Bassist Manolo Ciuti really appreciates metal music, and hard rock, but certainly also certain Italian scene of great expressive value.
“The music that interests me must touch the strings of the soul like some great Italian prog groups such as Le Orme, New Trolls and Lucio Battisti,”
he enthuses.
Manolo has a house in the countryside where his garden and taking care of the animals, goats and chickens is something he enjoys away from music.
“I really like being outdoors, maybe organizing some lunches, cooking for family and friends.”
Keyboardist Giovanni Casada thinks that his father was a great lover of Italian music, he especially loved Lucio Battisti and Fabrizio De Andre.
“I have the impression of knowing this forever. As I got older, I began to appreciate and be attracted to the sound of the piano and what I later discovered was Jon Lord’s Hammond organ. From there my study and assimilation journey began with the discovery of great artists such as Jimmy Smith, Keith Emerson, Tony Banks, and others. My inspiration for the record is not so much the harmonies, but the search for the sounds that these great musicians used. These famous sounds have been used extensively on our record,”
he expresses.
Besides music, the keyboardist is interested in astrophysics, sports such as basketball, F1.
“I dabble in DIY, carpentry, design and architecture, various arts (primarily graphics), as well as often enjoying strange drinks based on malt and hops,”
he smiles.
From a guitar point of view Martino Faedda think’s that he assimilated certain jazz fusion and crossover harmonies.
“I really like the prog trend of the Canterbury school, Gentle Giant, guitarists like Jeff Beck or Ry Cooder, but also bands like B’52, Jane’s Addiction, Living Colour, Voivod, Steely Dan or REM. In short, I like all of music and it would be a crime to shut yourself up in a perfectly defined genre. I think the guys in the band think In his spare time Martino really like reading books and he is also passionate about the Sardinian language, administrator of a Facebook page where you can learn the basic rules of writing in their language.”
“In a few years we have reached almost 20,000 subscribers. Sardinian is a particular language, very similar to Spanish or Catalan. Unfortunately, it risks disappearing because fewer and fewer young people use it. But there is a fierce movement that seeks to revitalize it, bring it into schools, back into the midst of island society. Traditions are important, but more generally I think culture in whatever form is,”
he expresses.
Capside’s new album ‘Ladyesis’ was born in a natural way, a spark that ignites, music and words that marry and find their way.
“New songs along with some songs that have been stopped for a few years because the right inspiration was missing. In general, during the lockdown, each of us worked on our own ideas and then we put the pieces back together and the result was truly amazing,”
marvels the guitarist.
The new album is more of a narrative album than in the past, more intimate and realistic.
“It speaks of desire, declined in the various aspects of everyday life; deals, in our own way, with the theme of femininity and its role in society,”
explains Valentina.
“It describes the fear of accompanying a child into adulthood, the disenchantment of those who bear the weight of a job they hate, and finally delve into the depths of the mind and spirituality. The title of the disc that recalls the Lady in music is not accidental.”
The band have their own studio where you can find everything you need to record music.
“By now it is easy to recover the right material and with adequate microphones, a sound card and a simple Personal Computer you can do magical things. Of course, it takes a little attention, will and great passion, because we are not professionals and we recorded after work, trying not to take away too much space from our families,”
expresses Roberto.
The mixing and mastering phase was handled by Andrea Pica, in the Officina 13 studio in Olbia.
“Andrea is a very good professional in great demand in Sardinia. He helped us power up and modernize our sound. We are very satisfied with the final result,”
he smiles.
It is difficult for Manolo to find a particular moment or a symbolic song to call his favourite.
“It’s like talking about your children and choosing your favourite, really impossible. All songs are important to us, each one different, each one with its own soul. If I really wanted to choose, I would say ‘Filastrocca di Periferia’ because you can find everything: an emotional text where Valentina urges us to believe in our desires despite the difficulties. And then the emphatic music that gives me serenity. It always gives me great pleasure to play it,”
he enthuses.
Finding dates for concerts on our island is a lot of effort, even more for a particular band like Capside.
“We try because we have a lot of fun live. The early years we were very serious, very focused on our intricate songs. For some time now, however, playing in concert has been a lot of fun, we have learned to smile and feel good with the public. There is a beautiful underlying lightness that strangely accompanies our music which is not simple. And the public appreciates it, because we move on stage exactly as in everyday life, and our characters emerge and an ironic vein that we carry with us in live shows,”
expresses Valentina.
Any promoter reading, should highlight consider booking Capside, and let the music and visual performance do the talking.
With the album now out, the band are trying to promote it properly, with concerts and media.
“New songs might come in the future, we know it’s going to happen, and it’s going to be great. We always have the idea of recovering some old material, with new arrangements and, who knows, maybe playing with an orchestra. In our artistic life we have composed so many songs, we are attached to each of them but not all of them have been recorded adequately in the distant past. But they know it and are waiting for us,”
concludes Valentina, bringing an end to our conversation.
‘Ladyesis’ is out now on vinyl and CD format as well as digitally from all the usual platforms.