Aldo Nova

Websites:  https://www.facebook.com/AldoFreakingNova/
Origin: Montréal, Québec, 🇨🇦
Biography:

ldo Nova has always been an innovator. A creator of music that's refused to conform to trends or norms. Like all true artists, he takes risks, pushing the boundaries wherever possible.

Born Aldo Caporuscio on November 13, 1956, in Montreal, he speaks fluent English, French and Italian, which gives you an idea of his varied talents. Oh, and Aldo is a successful songwriter, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger, and studio engineer. Talk about a master of all trades.

Influenced by Jimi Hendrix, he got interested in playing the guitar when 13 years old.

“That was because my mother passed away. After her death, for the next two years, I didn't come of my room except for eating and going to school. I just practiced on the guitar and woodshedded.”

At the age of 16, the emerging talent of the teenage Aldo Nova began to blossom when he started to play gigs in local clubs, albeit while working at a day job. A significant break happened for him when he met someone with a record deal.

“This person asked me if I had experience in a recording studio. I said yes, even though I hadn't. He then asked if I had experience writing songs. Again, I said yes even though the truth was that I hadn't. You see, he had a record contract, but could neither write nor sing. So, I composed a song for him called 'XR7032349', which was very much in the new wave style, as that was very popular at the time. And I did the vocals on the finished recording as well.

“This came out as a single and did well on the radio. So we carried on working together. I got about seven or eight more tracks ready, and these were very synth oriented.”
But then the artist with who Aldo was collaborating disappeared. It left the fledgling artist with a problem.

“The studio where we'd been working gave me a choice. Either pay them $10,000 that was owed to them or else carry on recording and they'd take a percentage of any money made. Obviously, I chose the latter!”

What Aldo now did was to develop songs which were not only new wave but also a lot more in the hard rock vein. This included such future classics as 'Fantasy' and 'Under The Gun'.
“It was a bit of a mish-mash. Because I had both new wave and hard rock in there. So, I was asked me to concentrate on the rock stuff.”

Now signed as a writer to ATV Publishing, Aldo Nova completed what was really a set of high-grade demos in that studio. And now things really began to happen. His recording contract was sold to Portrait Records, and Tony Bongiovi was brought in to mix the tapes at his Power Station Studio in New York (the album was recorded at Bobinason Studios (Montreal) and Kingdom Sound (Long Island).

“Apart from the drums, I played everything on that album. And what was released were literally the demos I'd recorded. There was talk of bringing in Terry Brown, who worked with Rush, to produce new recordings. But when he heard what I'd already done he said 'This guy doesn't need a producer'. What Tony Bongiovi did was make them sound better.”

By the time the self-titled album came out (April 1, 1982), Aldo Nova had a band together and was out on the road. He was now managed by Sandy Pearlman, who also represented Blue Öyster Cult. “We toured with everyone. Hall & Oates, Sammy Hagar, Cheap Trick, .38 Special, UFO. So many others.”

The album sold more than two million copies in America, as it peaked at number eight on the chart. The single 'Fantasy' reached number 23 in the US chart.

On his second album 'Subject...Aldo Nova' again proved brilliantly inventive. Once more, Aldo played all the instruments on the recordings except the drums. Once more he showed he was a visionary in the way he used synthesizers in a rock format. This was issued on October 13, 1983. Two years later, he put out 'Twitch'. But then walked away from his relationship with Portrait, refusing to compromise his musical acumen for the sake of any transient trend as the label wanted. “So I moved back to Montreal and got work doing advertising jingles.”

But he was still very much in demand. In 1984 he'd played on the debut album from Bon Jovi, lending his credibility to the young hopefuls. Five years later, Jon Bon Jovi called on him to play a key role on his solo album 'Blaze Of Glory'.This came out in 1990, and Aldo's input was major. As a result, he was signed by Jon Bon Jovi to his new label Jambco, leading to the well-received 'Blood On The Bricks' album in 1991.

He has also been a major and constant factor in the career of Celine Dion, as a producer, musician, and writer. “I started working with her when she was 13 years old.” During his lengthy collaborations with her, Aldo has written songs such as 'Your Light', 'I Can't Fight This Feelin'', 'You And I'. “When she made her comeback in 2001, I penned 'A New Day Has Come', which was a massive hit for Celine everywhere.” Aldo also won a Grammy Award in 1996 as a producer of the Celine Dion album 'Falling Into You', which was Album Of The Year. Since 2008, he has been working on an exciting and challenging new project. A rock opera called 'The Life And Times Of Eddie Gage'. “I wrote more than 100 songs for this. And selected 23 for the final tracklisting.”

Typically, Aldo Nova has decided to do things his own way on this album. While most would have brought in vocalists to represent each character in the story, he is doing all the parts himself.
“I am doing different voices for each one of them. Moreover, no two songs are in the same style.” The man did take a brief break from this venture to record '2.0', an album that came out in 2018.
“I recorded turbocharged versions of the tracks on my debut album. It did get a mixed response. But a long time ago I realized whatever you put out, not everybody will like it.”

Now, Aldo is planning to release one song every two and half weeks from his rock opera. These will be on Spotify, with the process concluding in August 2021.

Aldo Nova has never accepted anything less than the highest standards. There are many musicians who've sold more records than him. But nobody – NO-ONE – can claim to have more foresight and integrity. He may have only released six albums in a 40-year career. But that's because quality is paramount to a man who will never accept anything but the highest standards.
-Malcolm Dome, London, August 2020