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Mina Caputo (born Keith Caputo; December 4, 1973) is an American singer best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of New York City
alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...
band
Life of Agony Life of Agony is an American alternative metal band from Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 1989 by singer Mina Caputo (then known as Keith Caputo), bassist Alan Robert and guitarist Joey Z. The band has released six studio albums to date, mos ...
. Caputo came out as
transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
in 2011 and transitioned to female.


Early life

Mina Caputo was born on December 4, 1973, in
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. Both her parents were of
Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...
descent. Both of her parents struggled with
heroin addict Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. O ...
ion, and when she was an infant, her mother died of a
heroin overdose An opioid overdose is toxicity due to excessive consumption of opioids, such as morphine, codeine, heroin, fentanyl, tramadol, and methadone. This preventable pathology can be fatal if it leads to Hypoventilation, respiratory depression, a lethal ...
and her father (who died in 2002 from similar causes) put Mina under the care of her grandparents, who lived in Mill Basin, New York. Caputo's upbringing was difficult, and her grandfather physically abused her and her grandmother. Despite the physical abuse, Caputo has since forgiven her grandfather; "My grandfather made up for how confused he made me as a kid. He only tried his best and forgiveness is present. I don't blame anyone." Between living with her grandparents, Caputo would also spend time with her cousin, Joseph Zampella (aka Joey Z.), who lived next door, where they would hang out together. Mina also took an interest in playing and studying
classical piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
. From a young age, Caputo suffered from gender dysphoria but had to keep quiet about it. "My grandmother used to dress me to go to school, and I asked her, 'Why can't you dress me in girls' clothes?' She says, 'You're not a girl. Don't tell Grandpa you want to dress up as a girl and go to school. He'll fucking kill you. He'll kill me.'"


Career


Life of Agony (1989–1997)

Caputo started Life of Agony in 1989 with guitarist Joey Z. and bassist Alan Robert. Drummer
Sal Abruscato Sal Abruscato (born July 18, 1970) is an American drummer, guitarist and singer, best known as the original drummer for Brooklyn metal bands Type O Negative and Life of Agony.Hart, Josh (2011)Interview: Sal Abruscato and Matt Brown of A Pale Hor ...
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 ''
Soul Searching Sun ''Soul Searching Sun'' is the third album released by Life of Agony in 1997 through Roadrunner Records. The album was co-produced and co-mixed by Life of Agony and Phil Nicolo of the Butcher Brothers at Studio 4 Recording in Conshohocken, Pennsy ...
'', Caputo left the band in September 1997. Caputo was struggling with internalized gender dysphoria and was becoming disillusioned with the masculine image of herself she was faking at the time. "What good is my success if I can't even enjoy my fucking soul and my body?' I wanted to come out then, but failed miserably and didn't have the courage or the knowhow. I didn't know what to do." Caputo decided to distance herself from the band completely; "It took me to quit the band because I wasn't being true to myself. I had to get away from my band, the label, everyone I worked with."


Solo career, ''Died Laughing'' and other activity (1997–2003)

Following her departure from Life of Agony, Caputo formed a short-lived band called Absolute Bloom, which broke up in July 1998.Caputo also guested on the track "Free Speech (Will Cost You)", which appears on the album ''Memory Rendered Visible'' by the band Both Worlds (featuring ex-
Cro-Mags Cro-Mags are an American hardcore punk band from New York City. The band, which has a strong cult following, has released six studio albums, with the first two considered the most influential. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among t ...
vocalist John Joseph), released on Roadrunner Records in April 1998. Soon after these events, Caputo started work on a solo album, called ''Died Laughing''. The album was released by Roadrunner Records on October 21, 1999, with an acoustic version of the album, ''Died Laughing Pure'', being released on January 9, 2001. Despite receiving generally positive reviews, the album was not a success. Caputo has been heavily critical of Roadrunner's promotion of ''Died Laughing'', and in a 2005 interview to Blistering.com said that Roadrunner "destroyed" her album's success. Despite her criticism of the label, she later returned to contribute vocals for "Tired n' Lonely" on '' Roadrunner United: The All Star Sessions'' in celebration of the label's 25th anniversary. After leaving Roadrunner, Caputo was recruited as the vocalist of the Brazilian industrial metal band Freax, which had reformed after being broken up for over ten years. They released a self-titled album in 2003.


Return to Life of Agony and other solo material (2003–2011)

The original lineup 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), 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). On May 1, 2006, Caputo released her third solo album ''Hearts Blood on Your Dawn'' which was only sold at her live shows, via mail order through her website, and in the
iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
. In 2007, Caputo recorded her fourth solo album, ''A Fondness for Hometown Scars'', which includes a guest appearance by
Flea Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...
(of the
Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...
) on trumpet, amongst others. Caputo participated as a guest singer on Dutch symphonic metal band
Within Temptation Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other inf ...
's track "What Have You Done", the first single (and second track) from their 2007 album ''The Heart of Everything.'' In 2008, she toured in support of this release, with a band composed of Dutch musicians Ryan Oldcastle (guitars), Axel van Oort (bass), 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.


Recent activity (2011–present)

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''. The style of this CD has been called "geek rock" by '' The Advocate'' magazine. In 2014, Life of Agony re-formed with Caputo singing, releasing the album '' A Place Where There's No More Pain'' in 2017, and '' The Sound of Scars'' in 2019 with Veronica Bellino replacing longtime drummer Sal Abruscato.


Personal life

In July 2011, Caputo came out as
transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
. For a while, her legal name was Keith Mina Caputo. "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 aughs I no longer have this masculinity or this manhood to protect. This is a transformation I've been dreaming of my entire life."


Discography


With Life of Agony


Albums

* '' River Runs Red'' (1993) * '' Ugly'' (1995) * ''
Soul Searching Sun ''Soul Searching Sun'' is the third album released by Life of Agony in 1997 through Roadrunner Records. The album was co-produced and co-mixed by Life of Agony and Phil Nicolo of the Butcher Brothers at Studio 4 Recording in Conshohocken, Pennsy ...
'' (1997) * '' 1989-1999'' (1999) * ''
Unplugged at the Lowlands Festival '97 ''Unplugged at the Lowlands Festival '97'' is a live album released by Life of Agony in 2000 through Roadrunner Records. The first 8 tracks were recorded live at the Lowlands Festival in Holland on August 23, 1997. Tracks 9 to 15 are bonus tra ...
'' (2000) * ''The Best of Life of Agony'' (2003) * ''River Runs Again: Live'' (CD/DVD) (2003) (Live) * ''
Broken Valley ''Broken Valley'' is the fourth studio album by American alternative metal band Life of Agony, released on June 14, 2005 by Epic Records. It is the band's first album in eight years, following 1997's '' Soul Searching Sun'', and first with the ...
'' (2005) * '' A Place Where There's No More Pain'' (2017) * '' The Sound of Scars'' (2019)


With Absolute Bloom


Albums

* ''Demo'' (1998)


As a solo artist


Albums

* ''Died Laughing'' (1999) * ''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) * ''The Mones'' (2020)


Singles

* "Selfish" (1999) * "New York City" (2000) * "Why" (2001)


With Freax


Albums

* ''Freax'' (2002)


With The Neptune Darlings

* Album ''Chestnuts & Fireflies'' (2011)


Guest appearances

* "Free Speech (Will Cost You)" (with Both Worlds) (1998) * "Red Ball in Blue Sky" (with Edenbridge) (2003) * "Tired 'n Lonely" (with
Roadrunner United ''Roadrunner United'' was a project organized by American heavy metal record label Roadrunner Records to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It culminated in an album released worldwide on October 11, 2005, entitled ''The All-Star Sessions''. Four ...
) (vocals and piano) (2005) * " What Have You Done" and "Blue Eyes" (with Within Temptation) (2007) * Additional vocals on ''
A Pale Horse Named Death A Pale Horse Named Death is an American heavy metal band from Brooklyn, New York. The band was formed in 2010 by Sal Abruscato (a former drummer for Type O Negative and Life of Agony) and produced/engineered by Matt Brown of Seventh Void and U ...
'''s debut album '' And Hell Will Follow Me'', a project by fellow LoA-member
Sal Abruscato Sal Abruscato (born July 18, 1970) is an American drummer, guitarist and singer, best known as the original drummer for Brooklyn metal bands Type O Negative and Life of Agony.Hart, Josh (2011)Interview: Sal Abruscato and Matt Brown of A Pale Hor ...
* "IDA" (with Gator Bait Ten) (vocals) (2014), a project by Science Slam Sonic Explorers


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caputo, Mina 1973 births 21st-century American keyboardists 21st-century American singers American heavy metal keyboardists American heavy metal singers American rock songwriters American singer-songwriters American LGBT singers LGBT songwriters Living people Transgender musicians Transgender women musicians American women heavy metal singers