Mina Caputo

Mina Caputo[1] (born Keith Caputo on December 4, 1973) is an American singer best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the New York City heavy metal band Life of Agony.[1][2]

Mina Caputo
Mina Caputo at Elbriot 2014
Background information
Born (1973-12-04) December 4, 1973
GenresHard rock, heavy metal, alternative metal, post-grunge
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
InstrumentsVocals, keyboards, guitar
Years active1989–present
Associated actsWithin Temptation, Life of Agony, Freax
Websitewww.MinaCaputo.com

Career

Caputo started Life of Agony in 1989 with guitarist Joey Z. and bassist Alan Robert. Drummer Sal Abruscato was recruited soon afterwards. After signing with Roadrunner Records, they debuted with the 1993 album, River Runs Red. Shortly after the release of a third album in 1997, Caputo claimed that her heart was no longer in the type of music they performed, and left the group.

Caputo also guested on the track "Free Speech (Will Cost You)", which appears on the album Memory Rendered Visible by the band Both Worlds, released on Roadrunner Records.

After leaving the group, Caputo formed Absolute Bloom, but that band broke up in July 1998. Later, she helped to re-form the Brazilian band Freax, which had broken up over ten years earlier. They developed a self-titled album in 2003.

Caputo also worked extensively on a solo career in the 1990s, and released two studio albums. The original line-up of Life of Agony reunited for two sold-out shows at New York's Irving Plaza on January 3 and 4, 2003. The reunion resulted in several more shows and appearances on European festivals, as well as the recording of Broken Valley (2005), the band's first new material since 1997.

In 2003, Caputo formed a group consisting of New York musicians Mike Shaw (Bass) and Dan Platt (guitars), along with Dutch musicians Jochem Van Rooijen (drums) and Jack Pisters (lead guitars) that toured and recorded what became the album Live Monsters (2004).

In 2005, Caputo provided vocals for the song "Tired N' Lonely" on the Roadrunner United: The All-Star Sessions album.

On May 1, 2006, Caputo released her third solo album Hearts Blood on Your Dawn which was only sold at her live shows, via mailorder through her website, and in the iTunes Store.

In 2007, Caputo recorded her fourth solo album, A Fondness for Hometown Scars, which includes a guest appearance by Flea (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) on trumpet, amongst others. In 2008, she toured in support of this release, with a band composed of Dutch musicians Ryan Oldcastle (guitars), Axel van Oort (bass guitar), and Jochem van Rooijen (drums). The album was produced by Martyn LeNoble and was released in Europe in April 2008 by Dutch label, Suburban Records. Caputo participated as a guest singer on Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation's track "What Have You Done", the first single (and second track) from their 2007 album The Heart of Everything.

In 2011, Caputo formed a side project with Ryan Oldcastle and Michael Shaw called The Neptune Darlings, and released an album on September 15, 2011 called Chestnuts & Fireflies.[1] The style of this CD has been called "geek rock" by The Advocate magazine.[1]

Personal life

In July 2011 Caputo came out as transgender.[1][3] For a while, her legal name was Keith Mina Caputo.[4][1] "When I was Keith, I certainly wouldn't allow myself to be as flowery or as vulnerable as I do now," said Caputo in a 2016 interview that appeared on the music website No Echo. "I'm a fucking sissy, get over it [laughs]! I no longer have this masculinity or this manhood to protect. This is a transformation I've been dreaming of my entire life."[5]

Discography

With Life of Agony

Albums

With Absolute Bloom

Albums
  • Demo (1998)

As a solo artist

Albums
  • Died Laughing (1999/2000)
  • Died Laughing Pure (2000) (acoustic versions)
  • Perfect Little Monsters (2003)
  • Live Monsters (2004) (Live performances)
  • Heart's Blood On Your Dawn (2006)
  • A Fondness For Hometown Scars (2008)
  • Dass-Berdache / Essential Rarities and Demo Cuts (2008)
  • Cheat (EP) (2009)
  • As Much Truth as One Can Bear (2013)
  • Love Hard (2016)

Singles
  • "Selfish" (1999)
  • "New York City" (2000)
  • "Why" (2001)

With Freax

Albums
  • Freax (2002)

With The Neptune Darlings
  • Album Chestnuts & Fireflies (2011)

Guest appearances
gollark: Using a Lisp-like language for this for no good reason?
gollark: Or something like that anyway.
gollark: Which I think is 128.
gollark: Basically, an analog input with voltage, say, 1.5V when the maximum is 3V, would be encoded as (1.5/3)*256, if you're using 8-bit linear pulse code modulation.
gollark: Integers and usually 8 or 16.

References
  1. Diane Anderson-Minshall (November 2011). "Agony and Ecstasy: A heavy metal rocker comes out as transsexual". The Advocate. Archived from the original on May 14, 2012.
  2. "Keith Caputo – A Fondness For Hometown Scars". The Sunday Mercury. July 21, 2008. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
  3. "Life Of Agony singer Keith Caputo set to become a woman". NME. July 15, 2011. Archived from the original on November 1, 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
  4. "Transsexuell: Aus Keith Caputo wird Keith Mina Caputo" (in German). Sonic Seducer. July 19, 2011. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  5. "2016 interview with Keith "Mina" Caputo on NoEcho.net". Archived from the original on November 24, 2016. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
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