In the contemporary prog scene, the name of Elisa Montaldo is one of the best known, both for her militancy in an important group such as Il Tempio delle clessidre, and for the individual path undertaken by exploring a myriad of sounds ranging from symphonic to electronic to the most refined pop. But the musician, originally from Genoa and based in Switzerland, is endowed with such an eclectic and imaginative personality that it seems reductive to identify her stylistic path only in the progressive genre, although it remains her favorite.
Music has a universal value, which cannot be codified through a trend and Elisa, for dynamism, is a fitting interpreter of this thought: composer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, performer, disc jockey: her art is a polychrome set of emotions that never cease to amaze. Currently, she interprets the path of a refined soloist with a repertoire of rare beauty and perspective. In this interview, the musician talks about her latest album Looking Back Moving Forward, highlighting its peculiarities and also telling some aspects of her spontaneous and lively personality.
Welcome to Elisa Montaldo
I finally have the pleasure of meeting one of the most talented musicians in our music scene. Your splendid full length Looking back moving forward has just been released, but I would like to start this chat by asking you to illustrate the work that immediately preceded it Il fascino dell’insolito, which brings back to the legendary 70s / 80s, to the cult of TV and related soundtracks. With your music you propose it in a new and compelling perspective. Can you tell us about it?
Dear Carlo, the pleasure is mine! Thank you for your interest in my musical activity. As you rightly say, the short album Il Fascino dell’Insolito (first printed September 2025) is a project born almost by chance. The journalist Enrico Pietra had proposed to me to reinterpret some of the theme songs of the famous dramas on mystery aired on Rai TV channels, as he was producing a series of interviews and content that dealt with these cult TV series (together with the writer Paola Amadesi).
The project behind Il fascino dell’insolito
Since I have always felt attraction for that type of drama (I watched them on DVD with my friends on Friday nights), I gladly accepted the “challenge”. Over the months I developed nine tracks adopting the method of the “literal translation” of the music. Indeed, took the original themes and arrangements and revised them in my own style. Staying on a choice of mostly vintage sounds but also inserting some “futuristic” nuances: I replaced acoustic sounds with electric synths, I added white noise in some points and “dueted” mellotron and modern sounds sampled in a peculiar way. For example a bass drum sound created starting from a ping pong ball falling on a table.
The project behind Il fascino dell’insolito [cont]
In short, I wanted to experiment but remaining in the “paraphrase” of the original songs, trying to respect them as much as possible. This album is also deliberately limited to the CD format (or digital with graphics) only on my Bandcamp store. Since the graphics are very important, the music and the images have been created in symbiosis, I wanted that for each song (except Voci Notturne) there was a dedicated illustration. The artist Maira Pedroni with whom I collaborated (author of all the graphics and the cover) was really perfect.
The new album Looking Back Moving Forward from Elisa Montaldo
So let’s come to the last album: those who had appreciated your cosmic journeys of Fistful of Planets (Vol. 1 and Pt. II), will have noticed that Looking Back Moving Forward pushes towards a more earthly dimension in which dream and reality blend in an intriguing evolution. Can you tell us how the idea of the work was born and how it developed?
As always happens in my case, everything comes from pure inspiration… by “voices” that echo in my mind and repeat the same concepts. Ten years ago it was the similitude of planets and a cosmic journey, this time it is the echo of these planets themselves that resonates in the mind of the human being. From there I developed the different compositional ideas freely and the “design” of the concept then formed itself.
Elisa Montaldo: “I tried to maintain a sonic uniformity”
Fourteen tracks and over an hour of music are not few, but you manage to attract the interest of the listener thanks to an evocative sequence in which the arrangements range from classical, electronic and psychedelic music, always elegant. Is there a common thread that unites these songs?
Yes and no: let’s say that having composed and recorded the whole album between 2024 and 2025, I tried to maintain a sonic uniformity that could dictate the general style of the album. But some compositions were completed later, others were born from the desire to take some melodies from the past Fistful and rework them as an echo of the past.
Hence the title of the album. It can be said that the real “common thread” is precisely the title, looking back and moving forward, that is, not forgetting one’s past, processing it by learning from mistakes and advancing with a new consciousness and a new and more sublimated version of ourselves.
The Dreamcore Bubble session
Tell us about the The Dreamcore Bubble section, the instrumental universe that dominates the second part of the album. How did this surreal and meditative concept come about?
I had long wanted to compose instrumental pieces that could be like a sort of “soundtrack of thoughts”. In which would accompany the listener at different times of the day. For example, traveling, in a moment of relaxation and detachment from reality, or before falling asleep. I worked a lot to create evocative arrangements with sounds that reminded me of childhood, or that made us think of a remote space or even a fantastic world underwater.
The Dreamcore Bubble session [cont]
I care a lot about this “dream bubble” because I believe in the power of music to make us dream and give us a new space in which we can think, reflect, let go and … feel. This hectic world makes us lose the desire to stop and take time for ourselves. Instead, with this music I would like to try to tell everyone “Stop, because the intuition and the idea you are looking for is already in your mind, but maybe you don’t give it space to grow and manifest itself”.
The song Al di là delle idee
The only song sung in Italian Al di là delle idee makes you fall in love immediately for its Mediterranean imprint, evocative melody and vocal expressiveness. You also made a nice video out of it! I found in this song an appeal almost like a soundtrack, what do you think?
Thank you for those words. It is a song that I care a lot about because it was born in a difficult moment of my life. Almost by chance, I simply started writing and the song “came out” like a river in flood. In the melody and sounds you can probably see my love for the ballads of Italian progressive rock. As for the soundtrack appeal, it’s not voluntary, but it could be given by the fact that in recent years I’ve been involved in soundtracks and the like.
The artistic expression of Elisa Montaldo
Your artistic expression takes shape through multiple activities and creative experiences: how do you manage to reconcile them?
To tell the truth it is not easy! I feel so eclectic and attracted by different forms of art and different styles of expression that often my brain is like a volcano that cannot contain itself! I have the continuous instinct to experiment, learn and discover still unknown sides of music and related arts. This gives rise to a constant feeling of instability and the desire to move and change place. With maturity I learned to manage it, but I am always in a race against time because ideas knock on the door of the mind. And I want to be heard, always and in any case!
Collaborating with other musicians on Looking Back Moving Forward
Your skills as a multi-instrumentalist emerge in a big way in this album where in addition to the beloved keyboards you also try your hand at rare chordophones and winds, but in Looking Back Moving Forward, you are also accompanied by other talented musicians. Would you like to introduce them to us?
Of course. In the beginning it was my intention to produce this album completely by myself, for reasons of logistics and fluidity of work. But then I realized that some wise “touches” of musicians with whom I worked well would be necessary and would enrich my work. For example, I collaborated with Mattias Olsson which is also the drummer of Il Tempio delle Clessidre and Anglagard on which he played on two tracks. Then Barbara Rubin included her beautiful viola and sang the chorus in the title track of the album. Lastly, Giacomo Castellano, already the producer for Fistful of Planets Part 1 and guitarist of the highest level and fame, co-produced and played on a song, which is then a cover of Frank Zappa.
The projects arpMANIA and Edoardo II
You are going to develop an interesting projects such as the electronic arpMANIA or synthetic/folk of Edoardo II made in collaboration with Samael von Martin. Will you propose these sounds again in the future?
Thank you for finding these kinds of productions interesting! So, since 2023 I have dedicated myself to the study and production of electronic music. Although my favorite genre is progressive rock or acoustic music in general, I have always appreciated the creativity of electronics and its derivatives.
On the occasion of the collaboration with Samael for the Albus Diabolus project, I had to deepen and expand my knowledge in all-round electronic arrangements. Therefore with regard to rhythm section, basses, effects. From there my personal sound research started and these are two experiments that will surely have a sequel, even if it is a “secondary” genre for me.
Elisa Montaldo and Il Tempio delle Clessidre
Are there any future plans for Il Tempio delle Clessidre? Will we have the opportunity to listen to something new from this legendary band, which has become one of the emblems of Italian prog and of which you are the backbone?
After my trip to Japan and the meetings with fans and enthusiasts in the most famous progressive record stores in Tokyo, a deep nostalgia re-emerged (which had never died out, to be honest) for the stage, the band and everything that my creature Il Tempio delle Clessidre represents for me.
As you probably know or can imagine, this project has stopped for reasons of logistics, life commitments and the difficulty of managing a group that is born in the rehearsal room with a personal meeting at a distance.
Elisa Montaldo and Il Tempio delle Clessidre [cont]
Years later, however, I’m beginning to feel a sort of “urgency” to return to express this side of the artistic personality. And I know I’m not the only one who thinks so. We are discussing it with my group mates, I don’t know if and what will come out of it, the difficulties are present but instinct is raising its voice. I don’t know if the public might be interested in a possible return of the Tempio. However, it would be nice to be able to receive opinions and advice on the matter 🙂
The upcoming projects for Elisa Montaldo
What does your solo career foresee?
As a soloist, I continue my main job (the one that allows me to survive in the “material” life) as a piano bar musician and DJ in the summer season. It is a very tiring job because it is constant over time. And often I do not find the energy to devote to my productions in my little free time, but my mind is full of ideas. From the exploration of music related to the brain (music for hypnosis, relaxation and imagination etc).
I will carry on some collaborations that I care about (Mater a Clivis Imperat, Albus Diabolus, Barbara Rubin with whom we are working on a rather ambitious project). In short, there is already a lot in the pipeline for this 2026!
Upcoming live appointments for Elisa Montaldo
What about live activity? Will we see you soon on some stage or even prog gatherings as a soloist or in a group?
Well yes !! I’ll be on the stage of Veruno ProgFest on September 5th together with Samurai of Prog. I will sing as a guest and as their collaborator in multiple songs, my song Washing the Clouds in the version arranged by them which it ispresent in my album Devoiler.
If the job allows it, it could be that I participate in some other live event, I sincerely hope so. The stage and sharing live music with the audience is too important. Especially in this historical era where music is undergoing a revolution due to the advent of Artificial Intelligence.
Pervasiveness of AI vs progressive rock music
Prog is undoubtedly returning to be the protagonist of the international rock scene, there is ferment and I have good feelings: I see many young musicians converging towards the genre. However, there is a consideration: in the 70s technology was motivating for the prog… But now? How do you see the pervasiveness of AI in the artistic field and especially in such a creative musicality? Are you afraid that for this avant-garde excessive technology is a limit to momentum or even a disincentive?
I believe that, as I mentioned before, a real revolution is underway (a bit like the industrial revolution or the advent of the internet) that is inexorably leading to big changes in many areas, not only artistic, and that will change the way we work and make art. As far as music is concerned, especially in the field of the possibilities of creating and obtaining finished and ready productions, there is a big step forward.
Pervasiveness of AI vs progressive rock music [cont]
But as often happens in this type of situation, too much power can lead to dispersion and overload of proposals. Perhaps with the loss of originality and style that in past decades was one of the main points of the musical proposal. I’m not saying that AI is totally bad, it depends on how it’s used. I myself am trying to learn how to integrate it into music production. Otherwise I would fall behind and I would not be able to compete with the new conditions of music production and creation.
Pervasiveness of AI vs progressive rock music [cont]
But at the same time I try to move more and more towards the “living”, naked and raw aspect of music, live, intuitive music, playing acoustic instruments. And making an even more difference to contrast everything that is artificial. I see that in the releases of albums of some important pop stars there is this choice (for example artists like Rosalia and Raye) and this gives me hope. Technology has always inexorably advanced the human being. But at the same time it has restricted him to what should be the basis of expression, that is, cosmic inspiration and pure intuition to itself.
Closing words for Elisa Montaldo
Thank you for giving us with your words, the many emotions of this musical universe so refined and eclectic, see you soon. Want to say hello to Femme Metal Webzine readers?
Thanks to you Carlo for this space and thanks to the readers of Femme Metal Webzine for taking an interest in the artists and for having the curiosity to read what is behind our music. A hug to all!
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