User:Swissproggie/draft article on Clepsydra

Clepsydra is a Swiss neo-progressive rock band established in 1990 in Ascona, canton of Ticino. Despite their original self production and local intent, they soon were acclaimed across Europe, the American continent (epecially Canada) and Japan as one of the major representatives of the music influenced by Marillion, Pendragon and IQ.

Pre Clepsydra
Philip Hubert, Lele Hofmann, Andy Thommen and Pietro Duca made several musical experiences during the 1980s. In different lineup combinations they made every kind of music from experimental sinthesiser inspired by Tangerine Dream music to dance cover music. When the time was mature for a record production Aluisio Maggini was found as a singer, and with the band name "Delta Prophecy" they made a demo recording (later released as "New Day Part II" on the album "Hologram") just to test their studio capabilities.

Clepsydra
When the band started making music as Clepsydra in 1990 they didn't know about the world wide progressive rock scene. The surprise was big when the French progressive rock community started ordering their debut album "Hologram", and the French fanzine "Harmonie" put the band in full colour on the cover.

Hologram (1991)
Clepsydra first album was recorded in summer 1990 in Minusio in a small private recording studio of local folk and rock guitarist Marco Zappa. Already during the recordings Mr. Zappa advised the band to look for a professional studio with automated desk to mix the tracks because of their complexity. The band was then introduced to Etienne Bron, one of the house engineers of the Powerplay Studio in Maur (Switzerland), where the album was eventually mixed. Less known to the larger fan base is the production in November 1990 of 500 mini Compact Discs (8 cm) with advertisment of local stores on the back of the cover (sponsors). Those were intended to use as give aways. The cover and graphics were managed mainly by Lele Hofmann and Sandor Kwiatkowski, a painting artist and friend of the band. When the band decided to add a real 3D hologram on the cover, Oscar Academy Award winning artist HR Giger was contacted for an object to holograph: a small gliph for a belt-buckle. The first 1.000 albums had the manually reproduced holograms sticked one by one by the band members on the cover. A second run of 500 CDs were produced the same way, but following reprints had the picture included in the cover print. The album was highly acclaimed and praized by specialized progressive rock fanzines. The album was often described as a concept album, but on a musical side it was only later that the beginning and ending tracks were named "Sunrise" and "Sunset", and that three tracks were named New Day part I, Part II and part III, just because of similarities of the ambiances evoced. The words of the songs were mostly, but unintentionally, about the passing of time which could lead to classify it as a concept album, but the band confirmed in several interviews that this common theme led to the band name "Clepsydra", Greek name for the water clock.

Alone (2002)
Alone is a concept album produced in 2001. The album has been published in three editions (the fish, the octopus and the chicken). The lyrics talks about a man’s life-balance; a deep introspection into life, friendship, family, beauty and life’s contradictions.

Post Clepsydra
Despite several roumors and websites, Clepsydra did not split up and terminate their musical project. It is true that since the release of the last album in 2002 no concerts and no other visible activities have been noticed. The original clepsydra home page "www.clepsydra.ch" is not owned by the current band members. The new official Clepsydra home page "www.clepsydra-music.ch" confirmed in 2009 that the band still exists.

Current members

 * Aluisio Maggini - vocals (1990 - present)
 * Philip Hubert - keyboards (1990 - present)
 * Marco Cerulli - guitar & saxophone (1995 - present)
 * Andy Thommen - bass guitar (1990 - present)
 * Pietro Duca - drums (1990 - present)

Past members

 * Lele Hofmann - guitar (1990 - 1995)
 * Nicola Devita - bass guitar (1998 - 2001)

Guest Members

 * Nick Barrett of Pendragon recorded a poem written by Lele Hofmann on the answering maschine of Andy Thommen. This recording has been used on the outro of "Moonshine on Heights"
 * Ivo Berasconi - keyboards on the "Second More Grains of Sand Tour" from September to November 1995
 * Gigio Pedruzzi - drums on the "Second More Grains of Sand Tour" from September to November 1995
 * Nello Otupacca - keyboards on 2 concerts in Canada and Italy in July 1998
 * Marco Zappa - guitar solo on the outro of "Sunset", the ending title of "Hologram"
 * Stefano Zaccagni - saxophone solo on "The Nineteenth Hole" on the album "Fears" (only used for the Japanese edition)

Albums

 * Hologram (1991)
 * More Grains of Sand (1994)
 * Fears (1997)
 * Alone (2002)
 * 3654 Days (2014)

Singles

 * Pieces from the Hologram (mini Compact Disc, 8 cm)
 * Fly Man (1993 - CD single)

Japanese editions

 * More Grains of Sand
 * Fears (featuring an alternate saxophone solo on "The Nineteenth Hole" and a bonus track named "..."
 * Hologram

Other appearences and rarities

 * French Compilation
 * Molecole - an Italian progressive rock compilation published by..., featuring the song "Old Dream" that has never been released elsewhere
 * German Compilation
 * Live in Quebec City (bootleg)

TV appearence
Clepsydra had one single TV appearence. It was on the Swiss national TV (La 1, former TSI 1) in 1994 on a Sunday afternoon. They performed (playback) 2 songs: "Fly Man" and "Moonshine on Heights". Both videos can be found on YouTube.
 * Fly Man
 * Moonshine on Heights