Interview
(Progressive Newsletter Nr.39 03/02)
excerpts from an interview with Philip Hubert (Keyboards)
This was a big loss for us: Andy was also the person behind the management of the band and this had some consequences. We need to re-create all the work Andy did in the past with this new album but it seems we're getting a big response for the new album.
Almost all of all the thirteen tracks of "Alone" are connected together with no intermission between them, which give the album a kind of constant flow, sounding like a concept work. Is there the idea of a concept behind "Alone" and if yes can you tell a little more about the story behind the songs?
Yes the album should be treated as a concept album even if there is no story behind it: Alone is a sort of reflection on life, family and friendship. All the songs speak about these concepts.
How long did it take to write, record and finally mix the album?
This is a difficult question: but let me say 10 months, consider also we can invest max 12 hours a week in the music.
Did you also try out new things with this album, e.g. concerning composing the songs, using new sounds, influences or elements?
Well, the new bassplayer, Nicola De Vita, brought also some frsh air in our music. The bass is more dynamic in this last album and i believe this makes somewhere our music a slightly bit different. It's also the first time we use a concept that's entirely written by Aluisio for the songs and we tried to recreate the atmosphere Aluisio wanted: In one way or another Aluisio guided us a little in the composition and arrangement of the songs and this was for us a new challenge.
"Alone" has a very unusual artwork. Who had the idea for using dead animals?
We tried several different ideas for the cover: this is the most interesting and innovative proposal we had and we decided to use it. You can look things from another point of view too: this covers represent also three different styles of life, on the cover the animals are all the same, dead and alone, but they can also nourish life. We also decided to use it because it was so special, usually in the prog scene many covers show a very complicated artwork but we needed something simple, something that could go togheter with the title: the fish, a very still animal, like part of us, the chicken, noisy, not too clever, like part of us, there's the octopus, who has several hands, like part of us.
In comparison to your last album, which has been distributed by SPV and Suburban, this time you do the distribution by yourself, like the with the first records. What was the reason for this decision?
It's not a decision, there are just two simple reason behind this: SPV was no longer interested in Clepsydra: Since Andy left also our contacts were lost: we need some time to re-create all the links we had 4 years ago!
Kristian Selm © Progressive Newsletter 2002