Alexander Paul Kapranos Huntley was born on 20 March 1972 in Almondsbury, South Gloucestershire, the son of an English mother and Greek father.

[8] From the early 1990s, he was a fixture of the Glasgow music scene, running live nights at The 13th Note Café, most notably The Kazoo Club.

[citation needed] While working at the Glasgow's Anniesland College in late 90's, Alex Kapranos played in some of city's bands, including The Blisters (later known as The Karelia), The Amphetameanies and The Yummy Fur.

In 2019, he produced the single "Pista (Great Start)" by London-based band Los Bitchos, which he described thus: "Truly international with cumbia beats, Turkish psychedelia, a hint of Swedish pop and a touch of shoegaze shimmer.

Celebratory trills and whoops energise the vibrant Dick Dale-esque guitars and brass, making for a blistering escape to a rip-roaring desert session.

"[19] In September 2005, Kapranos began "Soundbites",[20] a weekly food column for G2 in The Guardian newspaper, which detailed his culinary adventures as Franz Ferdinand traversed the globe on their world tour.

Sound Bites: Eating on Tour with Franz Ferdinand, a book of the column and unreleased material illustrated by Andy Knowles, was released in 2006.

In 2016, Kapranos took part in a documentary about Glasgow music, and Chemikal Underground Records, called Lost in France.

Lost in France premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival to wholly positive reviews and was called "Funny, vital and sobering"[22] by Scotland's arts publication, The Skinny.

[25][26] In June 2005, Kapranos was detained for around an hour by officials at Domodedovo Airport in Moscow after being mistakenly identified as belonging on a U.S. "no-fly" list.