Feindesland web-zine, Spring 2004
Kirlian Camera - "No time to waste!"
Introduction: the new work "Invisible front 2005"
of Kirlian Camera appeared this year for Trisol and diffused very fast
in the faithful fan community, as well as those KC fans who didn't
give it a good disposition like at the times of "Das Schwarze Denkmal"
release. To discover enough reasons of Kirlian Camera in Italy, we can
provide an interview of Feindesland for you. Elena Fossi and Angelo
Bergamini were immediately ready to answer and chat with me. The
interview was organized and performed via mail by Raphael.
01. Why did you choose the name Kirlian Camera?
What is the intention?
ANGELO - The Kirlian camera is just a device supposed to be able to
photograph so-called "aura" of living bodies and even the traces left
by such bodies on to material surfaces. I really don't know if it's a
working system, but, at the times (1980) I was quite interested in
esoteric matters, and the concept behind such a machine gave me an
idea of great purity, and hope. Then, it was just a discreet name.
It had to resist throughout time and... stress!!!
02. When did you start the project Kirlian Camera?
The short story of Kirlian Camera, please.
ANGELO - I had been playing for a while as a keyboardist in metal and
metal-prog bands sounding like a combination of Hawkwind, High
Tide, Blue Oyster Cult and Motorhead but I did create my own combo pretty
soon, in 1979: it was named Suicide Commando (not to be confused with
today's belgian group). KC was born, in some way, although it came out
one year and a half later. I was influenced by German electronic musicians
like Klaus Schulze, early Tangerine Dream, David Vorhaus, Faust and
Kraftwerk. Surely Pink Floyd was my favorite band. Then I've been listening
to tons of different stuffs, ranging over all of the possible genres,
although - maybe - new wave was my preferred one. This band made many
records but not so many full-lenght albums. I also took part
in a project called Hipnosis, which got the Platinum Award, but I did
leave the band immediately after having reached the World Charts, because
going on with such a project could be the end of KC itself, in some way.
We changed many labels throughout time, working with many indies like
Discordia/Triton or E.N.D.E. and majors like Virgin, EMI and so on. Our
first line-up was so different: I'm the only survivor, as
today's line-up looks decisely younger and... surely more
involved in the real "kamikaze spirit" (not politically) of the origins.
I met Elena Alice Fossi (vocals, keyboards, engineering and co-author of
music and lyrics) around 2000, and that was a very important point, in
the history of Kirlian Camera. Sometimes all the work I made before
knowing her sounds like "making preparations" to the VERY soul of this
band. She's both a musician of rare talent and an incredible singer.
Anyway, better not paying her so many compliments, otherwise she might
even stop cooking that great food she's able to do and might start making
music full-time, driving us to some Mc Donald's nightmare, AH, AH, AH!!!
03. Kirlian Camera is only Elena Fossi & Angelo
Bergamini or exist any supporters in the moment? Your line up changed
during the creative process. Why?
ANGELO - yes, that's the basic duo, even if Kirlian Camera is aided by
some other people, occasionally, especially on stage, where we're used
to performing as 4, 5 or even 6 persons, now. Line-up changed when Emilia
Lo Jacono decided not to play with us any longer in concert and then in
the studio as well. Emy is too involved in her career, today: it's
understandable, then... I don't think this is the perfect music for
her, at the moment. We had some relaxed discussions about that, but
I didn't succeed in making her so enthusiast about our new plans: let's
say she's more "jazzy-oriented", and that weren't so perfect
to me, despite I respect her taste.
04. Why did you choose electronic music as way
to express yourself?
ANGELO - I've always been an electronic musician, since the very beginning
of my career. Many ones have taken us for a neofolk or "Brown Area" band
just because we made 3 or 4 songs with the acoustic guitar, but...
electronics are my own heart itself since many many times and I have
my own way to work with them, totally different from others'. I don't
like humanity in general, so... I'm happen that electronic spirit sounds
a bit less human, fortunately... That's a fine starting point to reach
inner realities. I don't feel part of this beautiful planet, as well as
I don't feel part of its flies, sheeps, pigs, zebras, sunsets, dawns,
people, gods, films, dreams... I try to respect it, but it's not a
good deal, for me.
05. Some projects detest the so called "Gothic
scene". Do you feel any affinity to this scene / Movement?
ANGELO - nothing against it, as many people from that area gave us
enthusiasm and affection, throughout the years, but I don't feel any
affinity with the bands involved in such an area, as well as I don't
feel any closeness to any other genre.
06. Your new album is published on Trisol? Why?
Did have problems with companies / producers or management?
ANGELO - Oh yes! Somebody forgot to pay royalties!!! This land is too
overfilled with maudit-like fools not having any sense
of responsibility: just little babies burping all around sitting on
their forgettable cars... but it's also to be said that sometimes some
labels die because somebody else doesn't pay them... Then... "somebody",
hidden somewhere has been doing a big work against this band,
throughout time, literally inventing this "politically uncorrect
sindrome" to hit us hard. He's a guy working in the music businness,
and sooner or later... we might reveal his name, if we feel forced to
doing that.
07. Do you think Trisol does support you
sufficiently? Is your work succesful enough to keep you financial
independent?
ANGELO - too early to say whether Trisol is a fine deal, for us.
Alex Storm seems to be a fine person, so... we hope everything will
run fine. Economically.... this is a very bad moment, due to the fact
we haven't a lot of planned dates, but Elena and I are working with no
pause, as there are things we attach great importance to.... We cannot
collapse now.
08. What is the intention of your new album "Invisible
Font 2005"? The music of your new album is very complex. What inspires
you?
ELENA - In this album, we tried to describe those places in which we,
terrestrial beings, aren't used to consider as possible those realities
which are existing in parallel to our solar system. Behind the line
looking like a barrier there are places where thoughts are pure. Those
spaces don't give any hospitality either to life or death, but to entities
having wider perceptions than ordinary ones. Earth's inhabitants are only
using a small part of their brain, according well-known studies. This
doesn't cause any lack of so-called "scholastic intelligence", but causes
a lack of a certain sensitivity/sensibility, unknown to the majority
of men. There's a big barrier between these two worlds, these
ways-of-life; there's just an invisible line, a border.
Beyond "the front" there might be acknowledge or, who knows, simply
a terrible ravine. Desperately try not to take anything for granted
and do succeed in discovering "new atmospheres and ways-of-thinking"
with all the possible strenght one may have...: that's just our "message".
Anyway, the album represents a space travel towards the end of the
man/humanity, as far as his current nature is concerned. Humanity must
be in a position of changing itself, but it looks not so able to doing
that, at the very moment, maybe not having the necessary will for making
any change, so... here we are, as somebody must smash the balls at
all costs, right?!? We like to imagine the existence of places to
be possibly located far from materiality, where beauty has a real
chance to coming to surface; beauty as a superior sensibility, totally
opposite to terrestrial animal-like trend. Such a concept might gets
clearer by looking at the front cover, on which the peaceful despair
of that female naked body excluded by everything and excluding
everything... dominates over any possible thing.
09. A lot of fans in germany are interested in
the intention of the song " K - Pax"? What is the story of this song?
ANGELO - Elena and I had a chance to see the movie called "K-Pax" and
we were really impressed by. It tells about a guy supposed to be fool,
but he's strangely a bit too intelligent to be exactly that way... so,
it comes out he probably is an astronaut coming from the planet "K-Pax",
a place which is completely different from our earth. The film is
touching, dramatic, tensely desperate, sometime. It is not a cinema
milestone, but given that we were thinking to such ideas, at the
time.... watching a flick like that was a bit shocking, as it were
so terribly close to strange theories regarding other inhabited
places, anyway. Satellite Europa might be an example, so to say...
"Our K-Pax" is anyway much more connected with everyday's
life and its memories. The problem is: what memories are we talking
about? Sometimes, memories are difficult to be told. "K-Pax"
is the "straziante" touch of this band and its recent and older memories.
It's a very listenable song, but in the same time it is also a very
"final" chant...
10. Can your fans in Germany hope for a live
event this year? Is the german "Antifa" a problem for you?
ANGELO - I don't know whether we'll be playing Germany so soon, Raphael...
but I guess Antifa is not a problem for us. I know it sounds strange,
but I guess there's something hidden acting against us and I do NOT
think left-wing in general is our enemy: we have lots of left-winged
fans!!! Well, we aren't politically interested in anything, so... why
a political group should keep on acting against people who are clearly
far from any political ideology??? I think time to understand things
better has come and (part of) Germany is near to feel ashamed about this
"exile" regarding Kirlian Camera. In fact, it's a shame. We have been
accused to be nazis because we like German culture... I guess this is
grotesque, as... aren't just German some of our stronger opposers?!?
"They" spread we used to do things we never did, none of them remember
we made a fine hotchpotch of left and right wing references, just
because... we're "alien" to those parts both!!! And then... we're
here to prove we're musicians, and that's it! Music is music and has
to be free. We're not used to playing any "swastikated-synthesizers"...
ah, ah, ah!!! Guys, politics apart... we have many enemies... because
they don't like our face, our reasons, our heart, and the real scorn
we have for this world. They wanna be part of a tribe and couldn't
accept one doesn't need the same. They even may accept snob people...
but always inside a society, a party, otherwise they become suspicious
till becoming dangerously angry, not realizing that danger itself is
walking behind them. They are so poor.
11. Why exist only some fanpages and no official
website of Kirlian Camera?
ANGELO - well, people is free to do whatever they like, and if they
are fans and do like making up a site, they're free to doing that,
but... we have no time for that, at the moment. Let's say that two
sites practically became semi-official, and I'm talking
about www.kirliancamera.net and the fan-site www.kirliancamera.com, as
they often receive updates directly by ourselves, so we suggest
listeners to visit such entities, which are led by reliable persons.
There are also some other sites, but I see they're not updated.
Siderartica is working around a new official site, always keeping
the same name : www.siderartica.net.
12. What will be your next publication? Which of
your projects will you choose?
ANGELO - Siderartica is close to release "Shapes and colours from the
land of God". Elena's new album sounds really intense despite it isn't
largely linkable to Kirlian Camera's current atmospheres. I must admit
with pleasure I like it a lot!!! As far as KC is concerned... we're
just working on a kind of sequel to "Invisible Front" containing brand
new tracks, plus versions and re-mixes, that is effectively a new album...
a strange one...
13. What is the different between Kirlian Camera
and Stalingrad?
ELENA - Stalingrad is the KC's spitzbube project! Well, let's say it's
a pretty ingenuous band, but... sometimes it succeeds in being so terribly
powerful, in my personal opinion! Kirlian Camera is passion, research,
love: a kind of an abyss not having any pity for itself and its astronauts,
any relax for mind, any lies to say. Kirlian Camera is a monster, if you
have no sincerity. Stalingrad is a sort of a lovable "games room" whose
entrance is reserved to childish innocent dreams only... if they're
really "innocent", otherwise... it becomes a further monster!
14. What art or style of music you hear in your
freetime? Which projects?
ANGELO - well, may sound strange, but music isn't my favorite relax,
as it's too often excessively idiot and gives no fun at all! I like
to listen to some things by Artemiev, Bach, Gnesin, Roslavets, Charpentier,
Brahms, Mahler, Wagner, Bruch, Schubert... and as far as recent music
is concerned... there's nothing so exceptional, especially in the
"scene"... though I think Antimatter sounds good. Cinema is coming
out with foolish things such as "Lost in translation" by Sophia Coppola,
which even took one Oscar!!! Situation is boring... so I'm spending
some time here and there during the rare relaxed moments, looking for
some unknown pictures or drawings by Edward Hopper, who's a pretty
inflated painter, today, but he's always a joy to my poor eyes, AH,
AH, AH!!!
ELENA - there's no much free time to waste away, but sometimes I like
to save some time for reading. I like Dostoevskij, Puskin, Süskind,
Queneau, Cechov, Kundera and some other ones. Angelo made me more
familiar with classic music and so I like to listen the ones he mentioned
above. I also like to listen to Angelo Badalamenti, Laibach, Ultravox,
Goldfrapp, Kraftwerk, Vacuum and some other recent stuffs. Arvo Pärt
is probably my favourite contemporary composer ever, although Gyorgy
Ligeti is grandiose...
15. How do you view the actual world wide political
situation? What do you think about italian soldiers in the war against
the terror?
ANGELO - I'm against war, especially these wars fought by mindless
cows having lust only for money, sex and crime in general. Sometimes
I wonder why TV spends so much time giving them so much honour. Well,
they're soldiers and go to war, so... why their families are so sad
when they fall down?!? Did they guess war was a game made for
invincible supermen? Did they guess their sons were supermen? They
died and that's all, they died after raping children and cutting heads,
and so not seldom one may guess. A few of them are lost somewhere
fighting wars against evil itself, disliked by their comrade-in-arms
themselves... but they're a few part of those fools, and no one will
cry for them, be sure. This is to be said about Italians, Americans, Iraqi,
Telebans and whoever doing absurdities like the ones we're seeing today
and in the past. Truth is only one. That's all.
My thanks go to Elena Fossi and Angelo Bergamini,
that gave the possibility to Feindesland to get this interview.
Raphael
Taken from: http://www.feindsland.de
English translation (only introduction and ending): Adalberto Orrigo - 01.12.2004