Caracol (Carole Facal)

Caracol is a bilingual artist who walks her own path. Born to an Uruguayan father and a Swiss mother, the Montreal-based songwriter/producer received several prizes and nominations over the course of her career: Genie, JUNO, Canadian Indie Awards, Félix, Miroir, GAMIQ, Canadian Folk Awards, etc. The talented multi-instrumentalist has toured extensively in North America and Europe, both as a headliner and as support for Half Moon Run, Beacon (Ghostly), Toro y Moi, Serena Ryder, The Bangles and more.

Coming from a musical family, her journey began as a child with 12 years of classical violin training. During her teenage years, she played electric guitar in punk bands and started experimenting with songwriting. After a few years on the road as a semi-professional snowboarding athlete, she settled in Montreal where she studied Sound Design at Musitechnic School. After graduating, she landed a job as an assistant sound engineer at Audio Z Studios, where she acquired precious knowledge about recording, post-production and film music.

Around the same period, she started her 1st band DobaCaracol, a world-pop act that would quickly get signed and release a #1 hit in Quebec (“Étrange”) and receive a gold record. After three years of touring the world, the group dissolved and Caracol went on to pursue a solo career. To this day, she has released five international albums and a multitude of EPs and singles, while continuously developing her production and songwriting career in parallel: writing songs for other artists (David Myles, Vacay, Eli Rose, Ludovic Bourgeois, The Voice QC, Star Academy, Canada’s Got Talent) and producing music for film and television (ladymusic.ca). She participated in numerous songwriting camps, including : SOCAN Ke-Nekt Canada and Quebec, S.A.C, Foyer Foyer, Camp Potera, writing residencies with Gilles Vigneault, SOCAN house Los Angeles, Nashville and Paris. 

During the pandemic, Caracol focused on elevating her production skills. In 2021, she graduated from Station Clip, an Ableton Certified School, and took additional online courses with producer Rachel K. Collier. She also obtained grants from CALQ and Canada Arts Council to develop an advanced live-performance / live-looping station (“The Mothership”) which also controls lights and video. She began producing for other artists more officially in 2023 (Amarante, Fuso, La Monarque). Additionally, she took the decision to claim more credit for her production work within her own artist project: she was always very involved in her own productions, but never took credit for it. 

Caracol is also active on the publishing scene. Her single Flooded Field, featuring Illa J, was recently featured in Dickinson on Apple TV, and she wrote the music for a nation-wide campaign for Telus Mobility. She’s currently working on her sixth album, due in 2024. Filled with eclectic pop gems embroidered with rich vocal arrangements, the record is infused with reggae and world flavors, representing her multi-cultural background and wide musical experiences. A unique blend of beats, organic instruments, and the artist’s signature vocals.