The band really was born in 1979, called Suicide Commando, but this name was dropped for the existence of a namesake band. So, when Bergamini started to interest to paranormal phenomena, he knew about a special device invented by Semion Kirlian to take photos of the aura of the human body and from this took the name of the group, suggested by Mauro Montacchini.
Other initial components of the band were the keyboardist Fabrizio Chiari and the bassist Mauro Montacchini. In 1980 the singer Simona Buja joined the band and the group was completed.
The first live apparition was in 1980 at Teatro Cristallo in Milan (Italy).
Considered the Fathers of the Italian Electronic Music, the long career of Kirlian Camera started recording and sending 25 copies of the Dawn tape to the main Italian labels.
Contemporary, Montacchini left the band and he was replaced by Giorgio Vecchi. So the band records the first miniLP Kirlian Camera, released by Italian Records.
New changes of line-up in 1982: Fabrizio Chiari left the band to join East Wall, and his substitute is the polistrumentist Paul Sears, while Bruno Bizzarri replaced Vecchi.
Meanwhile some records for various labels follow (note that Passing Masks was released under the name of Simona Buja because the band was still contracted with Italian Records) and finally the first full-length LP, It Doesn't Matter, Now, from which will be out two singles.
The official line-up is then Bergamini credited as keyboardist/writer and Sears that performs synths and bass. However present are the bassist Paolo Marchesi, and the producer/drummer (in a track) Charlie Mallozzi.
After this work, line-up changes again and together with the guide Angelo Bergamini and Paul Sears comes back Simona Buja as vocalist and the bassist Bizzarri. Furthermore, the electronic drummer Piero Canavera and the unofficial guitarist Renato Ollivo join the band.
It follows the hit-single Blue Room that gives a lot of popularity to the group in Europe, and some contrast inside: Paul Sears left the band, and with the new-entry producer/drummer Charlie Mallozzi (already present in It Doesn't Matter, Now) begins the sodalice with the new label, Virgin Music.
The band gained a lot of popularity and even TV appearances, especially in Italy. But this label tried to repeat the exploit of the previous single, refusing to release not-commercial material (like the entire materials then released in 1995 on 1985-1986 / I), and promoting possible hit-singles like Ocean and releasing Heldenplatz only thanks to the insistance of Bergamini.
While Simona Buja left the band, Kirlian Camera finally free from Virgin's contract releases the second LP, Eclipse Das Schwarze Denkmal, preceded by Austria single.
The line-up for this album is particulary consistent, and comprises the momentary return of Montacchini. The very important changing happens after some year, with the joining of vocalist Emilia Lo Jacono (also keyboardist), that becomes the second permanent member together of course with Bergamini, that plays always more instruments.
For the indipendent label of Lo Jacono, Heaven's Gate, it's released in 1991 the third LP called Todesengel The Fall Of Life that obtains good sales, permitting the band to continue his travel.
So, with the new permanent member Simon Balestrazzi, (percussions, guitar programming), the band releases an impressive amount of records, principally licensed by Discordia (The Label). These records often present contributions by other musicians, and sometimes Kirlian Camera collaborates with entire other groups, like Andromeda Complex, Dive, :Wumpscut:.
In parallel, the live activity was born and improved. In fact, apart Italy, the band often plays gigs in Germany and near countries like Austria, Switzerland and Holland, and its popularity grew. Many tours happen especially in Germany, like the tour in Summer 1993 with Mephisto Waltz (Nigra Nebula as supporter), and the "Dark X'Mas Festival" mini-tour at the end of that year with Dive, Die Form, Cat Rapes Dog and so on. Very intense are also the "Total Eclipse Tour" in 1995 with Second Decay as supporter, followed by the "Obsession Tour" to promote the split work with Dive, together with Dive itself and the supporter Arcana Obscura, in Germany and Belgium.
But it's to promote Pictures For Eternity that the band plays their best gigs, during the 1996 "Eternity Tour" in Germany and Austria, supported by Limbo, and during the "Pictures '97 Tour" in 1997, that reachs also Holland (supported by Camerata Mediolanense).
In 1997 there is another important line-up changing: Balestrazzi drops out, and Barbara Boffelli (vocals) and Ivano Bizzi (keyboards, already sporadic collaborator that soon won't play in band but continue to rotate around the group) join. Follow a pair of long miniCDs like The Desert Inside and Drifting and a long waited double retrospective (The Ice Curtain) that permits to hear what Kirlian Camera played almost two decades before.
After other concerts (like a Germany tour in Spring 1998 and even a Slovenia mini-tour), an incredible event happened: Germany press, the famous newspaper "Der Spiegel", throws racism accusation against the band (also against Death In June and Non), inviting the followers to boicottate the gigs and the band itself.
So, in the successive single The Burning Sea, Bergamini and the rest of Kirlian Camera were forced to insert a CD-ROM video that in absolute silence explains the absurdity and the lack of fundament of these accusations, moved by astute persons that try to control people with deceive for own interests (like the research of a scandal to improve the printing of their magazines/newspapers).
Of course the promotion of the following album Unidentified Light was condizionated by these unfortunate events and during the Unidentified Light Tour the band was forced sometimes to obey at the rules of the "politically correct" eye.
In 2000 again a new line-up change. The official formation includes of course Bergamini and Emilia Lo Jacono, but Barbara Boffelli drops out. She is replaced by Elena Fossi, already credited for Unidentified Light.
The next work was called Still Air and sees Kirlian Camera returning to the oppressive and chilly atmospheres of a past time, obtaining enthusiastic reviews everywhere. Unfortunatly some bad events continued, like the very unfortunate gig organized at Kassel (Germany) by Thaglasz, the Death In June fan-club, where the band was forced to play outside the factory where was projected the concert.
2000 however was a rich year for the band, because a very ambitious project was realized (and released the year after), a box called Kalte Container that is the right tribute for the 20 years of a band so little understood and always criticized with no real reasons.
Meanwhile a new miniCD called Absentee, that reachs full-lenght album timing, was released by this three-elements formation and, presented as the ideal companion of Still Air, for many it's even better.
In 2002 a series of re-releases is announced to allow many Kirlian Camera fans to get unfindable material. The most important of this is surely Uno that features, after 22 years of existence, the first demo and the first 12".
This year sees also the rising of many side-project releases, the most important are surely Stalingrad, the project of Angelo Bergamini, Elena Fossi and Ivano Bizzi, and Siderartica, Elena Fossi band with the help of Andrea Savelli and her brother Andrea Fossi.
Meanwhile lots of attacks come toward the band, the usual pseudo anti-nazi propaganda, that causes some concert deletation and various boring events.
Emilia Lo Jacono becomes a collaborator of the band due her charge of work.
At the beginning of 2003 Mauro Montacchini, older co-founder of the band, joins again Kirlian Camera, whose line-up then sees also Angelo Bergamini and Elena Fossi, while live line-up sees alternatively also Emilia Lo Jacono, Nancy Appiah, Roberta Astolfo (also known as Leutha), the new entry Lydia Dumfeh and the previous singer Barbara Boffelli. Later, Mia Karin Egger joins too.
Moreover, the band self-releases the first official live disc called Live In London, taken from a shocking concert in London in November 2003, as a special limited edition available at the concerts only.
After so many line-up changes, especially concerning live act, at the beginning of 2004 the band seems to reach a definitive studio formation: Angelo Bergamini and Elena Fossi of course, with the addition of Simone Mulè coming from "La Fille Biaise".
But this year will be remembered due the release of the masterpiece Invisible Front. 2005, album waited since three years that sees collaborations with Naevus, Jarboe and so on, and represents a new era for the band, as well as Still Air already traced the beginning.
With the powerful German label Trisol behind, this album sold something like 11,000 copies in about a month, and quickly became one of the most appreciated ever.
Most of the 2005 was spent into isolated but successful gigs along the Europe. Greece, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Holland saw perfomances of Kirlian Camera and/or Siderartica/Stalingrad, as well as a new creature, the solo-project of Angelo Bergamini called Uranium USSR 1972.
Meanwhile, always more insistent voices spoke about a follow-up of Invisible Front. 2005.
Finally, after a live preview of the new album held in Prato in October 2005, on the end of January 2006 the new amazing record saw the light. Called Coroner's Sun, the first limited edition (including a full-length Bonus CD with exclusive material) was declared sold-out just after few days since the release.
K-Pax
Kirlian Camera Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
your drowsy smile grey like a kiss
some weary lover would have given
to a glorious jewel from the abyss.
Where are the hours of your rising night...?
Worn-out and incredibly bright...
saying hello to our own world
a dust like gold was everywhere
filling the room, the reborn air
unseen a spetter was waiting
for that invincible soldier.
He had my eyes and my cruel heart
my secret days, my chilling flames
was near to you while staying apart
watching his days lost in a game
made for some ghosts looking like him
but I can swear he had a dream.
A sunny morning, maybe March
And now must turn my face to you,
I must realize what is that arch
enemy looking for your blue
but willing and merciful arms.
Don't say a word.
The world has gone.
The lyrics of Kirlian Camera's song K-Pax tell a story of a morning that almost feels like spring, with the singer observing their lover's drowsy smile, which is described as being grey like a kiss from a weary lover given to a glorious jewel from the abyss. The singer wonders where the hours of their rising night have gone and they describe themselves as both worn-out and incredibly bright. The second verse moves forward in time to when the couple wakes up and greets their own world. There is a sense of magic and renewal in the air, with the dust being like gold and the air reborn. However, the singer also introduces a spetter, which is waiting for an invincible soldier. The soldier is described as having the singer's eyes and cruel heart, and their secret days and chilling flames, and the singer watches as the soldier is near their lover but staying apart, lost in a game that seems to be made for ghosts like him. The singer can swear that the soldier had a dream. In the final verse, the morning is described again as being sunny, but now it's March. The singer turns their face towards their lover and realises that there is an archenemy looking for their blue, but the singer's willing and merciful arms are there for their lover's protection. The song ends with the instruction not to say a word, because the world has gone.
The meaning of the lyrics in K-Pax is somewhat elusive, and it's clear that there are a lot of references to mythology and philosophy that are open to interpretation. The references to the sun and the renewal of spring suggest a cyclical view of time, while the spetter and the invincible soldier could be seen as symbols of death and the struggle for life. The imagery of the lover's grey smile and the spetter waiting for the soldier also suggest that there is a sense of tragedy or foreboding hanging over the song. Some fans of the song have interpreted it as being about the singer of the novel and movie K-PAX, who claims to be an alien from the planet K-PAX, and the invincible soldier could be seen as a metaphor for the human condition that the K-PAXian is trying to understand.
Line by Line Meaning
A sunny morning, almost spring,
The day is bright and warm and it feels like spring is close.
your drowsy smile grey like a kiss
Your smile is tired and sad, like a kiss from someone who is feeling down.
some weary lover would have given
The kiss is something that a tired and lovesick person would have given.
to a glorious jewel from the abyss.
The kiss is given to someone who is beautiful but maybe also a bit dangerous or mysterious.
Where are the hours of your rising night...?
Where did the night go?
Worn-out and incredibly bright...
Even though you are tired, you still shine brilliantly.
And then again we both wake up
We have woken up from sleep.
saying hello to our own world
We each have our own lives to lead.
a dust like gold was everywhere
The air was filled with beautiful, sparkling dust.
filling the room, the reborn air
The dust has transformed the room into something new and fresh.
unseen a spetter was waiting
There was something hidden and ready to emerge.
for that invincible soldier.
For someone who is tough and strong.
He had my eyes and my cruel heart
This person is similar to me in some ways, including being cold or uncaring.
my secret days, my chilling flames
This person knows my private thoughts and feelings, including my darker or more negative aspects.
was near to you while staying apart
Although this person is close to you, they are also keeping their distance.
watching his days lost in a game
This person is pretending or playing a role in some way, and they seem to be drifting aimlessly.
made for some ghosts looking like him
The game or situation is something that other people have gone through before, and it seems like he is just replaying their experiences.
but I can swear he had a dream.
However, I believe that this person does have something they are striving towards or seeking.
A sunny morning, maybe March
The day is still bright and beautiful, possibly in the month of March.
And now must turn my face to you,
Now, I need to face you directly.
I must realize what is that arch
I need to understand what threat or obstacle is facing us.
enemy looking for your blue
This enemy is seeking to take something away from you, perhaps something emotional or spiritual.
but willing and merciful arms.
Despite this danger, I am willing to be kind and compassionate towards you.
Don't say a word.
There is nothing left to say.
The world has gone.
The world has changed and we must adapt to it.
Contributed by Levi O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.