INTERVIEW WITH SPECTRA*PARIS

Well Elena, I guess everybody’s wondering….why did you decide to put out an album with christmassongs?

Elena Alice Fossi: it’s a old dream coming true. I guess that every Christmastime to come I’ll be re-issueing such an album, perhaps including some new things, kind of work-in-progress. I wanted to do a kind of “classic”, mainly for myself, as I’m a bit bored with listening to Christmas albums made by others which sound totally uninspired and commercial-only.

I always thought christmassongs are not that cool, you know…

EAF: I agree with you, as too many times Christmas songs are just a “job” for people to make some money. People whom are absolutely alien to certain atmospheres. That’s just the reason why I want to show my own interpretation of Christmas, which sound different enough to other stories, I think.

How did you come to that idea?

EAF: I noticed that Christmas is usually seen as a one-way thing... some love it and some hate it. Christians are often turning it into a sugary event and antichristians love to destroy this period’s atmosphere by means of blasphemy, grotesque images, and same old satanic boring stuffs. My Christmas is a magic event, filled with angels, monsters, killers, saints, demons. My Christmas is “Lucifer and the Archangel Gabriel playing chess in the lost night of another universe”. My Christmas is neither a good nor a bad thing. It’s just an unearthly thing.

The sole bad thing about christmasalbums is that you can only play them then….or do you think it’s okay to play it in summertime?

EAF: well, after all, my album is not an ordinary Christmas songs container. Many songs have not that much to do with Xmas: let’s say I found them fit to the project. So, 8 of the 10 songs can be absolutely listened at 40 degrees temperature... I guess they’d help in turning hot annoying summer into something fresher, with some help from a tasty ice-cream!

Are there christmas albumsout you like yourself?

EAF: Not exactly. Let’s say I prefer making compilations which include some songs I like. Globally, it’s rare that a whole album, whether including Xmas songs or not, goes to really fulfil my expectations.

If father Christmas comes knocking at your door, what will you tell him?

EAF: I’m dead. You arrived too late.

It can be me but I think Christmas can be quite depressive as well….

EAF: it’s possible that Christmas becomes a kind of a nightmare, sometimes. As for myself goes, I must say that in the last years I find that event more positive. It’s for me an occasion to celebrate the birth of a great person I totally respect the memory of.

Any special presents in mind?

EAF: a SAR-21 painted pink would be cool! But I guess I’ll gladly shift with a bottle of Louis Roederer...

Apart from the christmasalbum, what other plans are there in store from Spectra*Paris?

EAF: well, we’ve just released 2 new studio albums, so time has come to increase the SPECTRA*Paris activity on stage. Me, Alessia, Marianna and our collaborators are ready to go and in the beginning of January we’ll be doing a mini-tour Germany and Switzerland. It’ll be a mix of full-lenght shows and short showcases, then we’re gonna make a Eurotour around April, I suppose. Some of those concerts will be filmed, as we’re planning the release of a DVD/Blue Ray including live songs and special contents. Furthermore, a single might come out in Springtime.

Thank you Elena, any wishes for 2011?

EAF: I wish both SPECTRA*Paris and Kirlian Camera had a faboulous year, the best ever!