Al Zioli’s musical odyssey has taken him from Brazil to London and from garage rock to jump blues. The leader of The Blasting Caps reflects on his journey and plans his rhythm and blues future.
WORDS BY DAVID WEST
When Al Zioli was ayoungster in São Paulo city, Brazil, aneighbour gave him atape featuring The Animals and Brazilian garage rockers Os Mutantes. Once the music bug bit Zioli, it never let go. “I really liked The Animals,” says the singer and guitarist. “I bought one of their records –‘Oh, that’s what they look like, that’s areally cool style.’ I started to pick up records with guys who looked the same on the cover. I wanted to dress like them.” He moved to London and played guitar in self-styled frat rock band MFC Chicken for over adecade before founding his raucous jump blues outfit The Blasting Caps. When he’s not tearing it up onstage, Zioli is the proprietor of Creation Music Studios in Kentish Town, where he maintains his luthier workshop specialising in the repair and maintenance of vintage guitars and amps.