Paul Cargnello

Paul Cargnello is a Canadian poet and singer-songwriter whose unique musical repertoire spans punk rock, reggae, blues and folk. Although English is his first language, Cargnello chooses to write and sing in both English and French, with French having gradually come to dominate his lyrics. To date, he has achieved modest success in this endeavour, and some have even described him as the next Jim Corcoran and the rightful heir to Quebec rocker Jean Leloup

Life and musical career
Cargnello was born in Montreal in 1979 to a Lithuanian mother and an Argentine-born father of Italian heritage. His musical career began at the age of fifteen when he and his friends Diego Di Gregorio and Adam Kardos formed The Vendettas. In 2000 the band released its first album It’s Happening to You, but weighed down by financial troubles, the group dissolved in 2002. However, three years later, the monetary support of one fan caused the group to reassemble for a final collaboration which spawned the album Say No to the Vendettas. Following The Vendettas’ break up, Cargnello released his first solo album, Lightweight Romeo. He has since released four more solo records: Between Evils, Live au Va et Vien, Brûler le jour, and Bragging. The particularity of his latest album lay in the fact that it is available only at his concerts.

An interesting trend in Cargnello’s music is the adoption of French as his preferred language of expression. The artist explains this choice by citing the francophone nature of his native city and reasons that writing in French has permitted him to express himself more simply and directly than in English. The shift began when Cargnello, who was educated in English, moved to the Plateau Mont-Royal, a very francophone quarter, at the age of nineteen. It took some time before Paul’s immersion really manifested itself in his music (his first two solo albums featured only one French composition each), but over time Cargnello embraced French as is demonstrated in his critically acclaimed fourth album, Brûler le jour, written almost entirely in French with only one English track.

Brûler le Jour is all the more noteworthy in that it marked the first time that Cargnello as a solo artist collaborated with other songwriters. These included Jim Corcoran, Vincent Vallières, Ève Cournoyer, Marco Calliari and Fred Fortin. The album was as successful as it was groundbreaking with the song "Une Rose Noire" making its way to the Top 5 on MusiquePlus just weeks after the album’s release.

Cargnello performed at Montreal's celebration of Saint Jean Baptiste Day on June 24, 2008. This was yet another indicator of Cargnello’s growing popularity especially given that Anglo-Quebecers are rarely invited to perform at such nationalist events.

Cargnello signed with Tacca Musique in 2009, and completed his first tour in France & Switzerland, followed by two more the following year.

In 2010, Paul Cargnello released his third French language album, La Course des Loups and it has been critically regarded as the most ambitious one to date. The title gives a nod to Jean Leloup and a quote from Che Guevara "On the route for wolves; one can succeed only at the cost of the failure of others."

Cargnello is an avid collector of hats. An article in Le Devoir from March 9, 2007 stated that he owns thirty. He also enjoys bowling.

Personnel
Cargnello performs with a band called The Frontline, whose members include Sandy Belfort (keyboard and vocals), Ryan “Ace” Fleury (bass guitar and vocals), José “le” Major (drums and vocals) as well as his brother Christopher Cargnello (seven-string guitar and vocals, occasionally drums and/or bass). The ensemble released a live album in 2005 titled Paul Cargnello and the Frontline Live au Va-et-Vient.

Political activism
Paul Cargnello is known to support the political left. In his youth he defined himself as a communist, but in 2007 Cargnello said that he no longer sympathizes with the extreme left although still considers himself a socialist and believes in “revolutionary politics.” Cargnello’s activism attracted attention when he, his wife (then girlfriend), and some band mates were arrested for participating in a police brutality protest in 2001. Four years passed before a formal acquittal. Cargnello acknowledges his wife Jessie, whom he has known since the age of fifteen, for introducing him to politics and feminism—as well as punk music.

Publications
Cargnello is also a standard poet. In 1997, he published his first collection of poems, Driving in Reverse, which was followed up with Old Hat in 2002.

Discography

 * Lightweight Romeo (2002)
 * Between Evils (2004)
 * Paul Cargnello and the Frontline: Live au Va-et-Vient (2005)
 * Brûler le Jour (2007)
 * Bragging (2008)
 * Bras coupé (2009)
 * La Course Des Loups (2010)