Lime Mascara Interview
Lime Mascara Volume 2: Issue 8. Summer 04
The Chelsea : Violin/Backing Vocals - Emilie Autumn
Lime Mascara: For those of us, like me, who hadn't heard of you until Courtney Love recruited you what should we know about you. Basically give us a mini bio.
EA: As much as I really want to spare you the whole "I was born at a very young age..." bit, I suppose it serves a purpose. I began with the violin at age 4, and I've been at that game ever since. I've been writing (music and words) most of my life as well, and singing for a small part of it. I've trained with master teachers from all over the world, but had some of the best and worst experiences of my life while studying as a teen at Indiana University's School of Music. I sold my horse so that I could devote myself entirely to music to an unnatural degree. When I was 17, I got a phone call from Nigel Kennedy, my violin hero. Ecstatic. When I was 18, I moved to England and was utterly disappointed in the Royal College of Music. Horror. Home was Malibu, CA, though it is now Chicago, which I perfectly adore because of the CTA. I am expecting a shipment of essential oils right now, including oil of green tea which I am very much interested in, and which is to serve as an ingredient in "Mistress," the perfume I am in the midst of designing. I am getting a puppy next weekend and do not want to go on tour for that reason alone. I ought to have been born in the 16th century so that I could have served at the court of my all-time idol, Queen Elizabeth I. I'm in love with my boyfriend, Annie Lennox, "So Hard" by The Pet Shop Boys, and high tea.
Lime Mascara: What kind of music can we find on your solo albums?
EA: My first release was purely classical, just fiddle and harpsichords and lutes and Bach and such. Very corsets-and-crumpets, my favorite. It does have a few of my own little compositions, which I suppose de-purifies it in the eyes of the classical cognoscenti, but whatever. My second release was an EP called "Chambermaid" because it featured the track of the same name (but in quite a different version) from my subsequent full-length album, "Enchant." The EP is worth your time mainly because of all the crazy remixes it's got on it, as well as a gothic cathedral choir number, and a sexy cover of a song from "Cabaret." Then, I put out a charity single called "By The Sword," which is all about avenging wrongs and female knights and things – it's for the 9/11 victims. The best part of this single is the video extra of another cover, "I Know It's Over," by The Smiths. Then comes "Enchant," my first full-length solo album in the alt-rock, or "fantasy-rock" vein. I love this record so much, I can't even tell you. It's not egotistical, I swear, it's just that it took me something like five years to make it due to stops and starts and different labels and other yucky things.
Lime Mascara: Other than violin, what instruments can you play?
EA: I can play the sewing machine and the whistling teapot. I can also play classical and jazz piano, viol da gamba, harpsichord, viola, electric, baroque, and modern fiddles, all manner of keys and computers, a bit of mandolin, and the riding crop.
Lime Mascara: Will you be adding violin to classic Hole songs on tour with Courtney?
EA: Absolutely, yes. I've already played several Hole numbers with CL in concert, and I think they've gone really well. "Violet" and "Celebrity Skin" are some of my favorites because I get to sing pretty much everything as well. I'm waiting for "Northern Star" which I really love, but we've been waiting on that one for some unknown reason...The Chelsea is an amazing band, and playing anything with them is a perfect pleasure.
Lime Mascara: When is the tour "supposed" to start?
EA: The "tour" is "supposed" to "actually" "start" on June 18th in...let me see...oh, in New Haven, CT. We've got 24 dates all across the US thus far, and then we're off to Japan for Fuji Fest where Belle & Sebastian is also playing, to my giddy delight.
Lime Mascara: How did Courtney find you?
EA: Courtney found me through my website, www.emilieautumn.com. The way she tells it, she was looking online at "gothic lolita" fashion sites, and it became apparent that those who like EGL also like EA, which I think is just lovely. She then wrote me a very long letter and the phone calls began. The first call I got was on the night of my CD release party for "Enchant," which is to say that I've never promoted my album properly because I've been running around with CL. It was a compromise, but I'm happy to do it for a friend I believe in.
Lime Mascara: How did the first meeting go?
EA: The first meeting...ah, bittersweet memories... The first meeting took place in France over the recording of "America's Sweetheart." Courtney was doing vocals when I walked into the Chateau and she was a bit preoccupied, but then so was I because I had the sweetest little Frenchman for a driver and I wanted him to live in my handbag. She started calling me "princess" which is coincidentally the name of her lapdog, and then played for me all of the demos that had been recorded by that point. Her energy very nearly blew me out of the room, but I‘ve since gotten used to that.
Lime Mascara: Do you have a designer for your outfits or do you design everything yourself?
EA: I have this little faerie who sits in my closet and if I feed her muffins she makes me corsets. Other than that, I do design and sew everything I wear onstage, and frequently off as well. Check out www.willowtechhouse.com or www.punkatorian.com if you're so inclined. It's got a bunch of my creations, some of which you can have for your very own.
Lime Mascara: So far, what has Courtney taught you about the music industry?
EA: You learn so much just be being on the road, and with Courtney, it's times ten. Sometimes I feel like I'm in the army, and others I just feel privileged to be playing with such a great group of ladies; it really depends on what day it is. I was no stranger to questionable industry dealings when I came into this, and certain bits of what I've seen behind the scenes has done nothing to elevate my opinions of the major music industry as a whole. However, I have met some fantastic people whom I greatly respect (Peter Asher and all at Sanctuary), and that's given me a bit of hope that perhaps you can operate on a large scale without losing your dignity. And I suppose it's hardly worth mentioning, but I've learned that the media is largely a misogynistic monstrosity that lies without shame on a regular basis (the microphone incident that never happened...). I've also learned that a girl band is so totally the way to go.
Lime Mascara: When can we expect your next solo record?
EA: Do you mind if I have breakfast while we chat? While I feel that "Enchant" had a good deal of wretchedness in it, my next rock release will certainly multiply that, for better or for worse. It's to be called "Opheliac," and it's all about the state of being in what I call the 'ophelia syndrome' of knowing what's right and what's good for you, and yet putting yourself in harm's way just so that you can later go mad on someone else's dime. Tracks will include "If I Burn," a sweet little number about the witch burnings of 1645, "Opheliac," the title track about the concept above mentioned, and "Mad Girl," a lullaby to that lunatic part of my psychology that I am constantly trying to put to sleep. I am also in the midst of writing a melodramatic track called "Willow" which is a duet I intend to beg Morrissey to record with me. I'm writing the part for him alone, and if he doesn't do it, the song will sit at the bottom of my sock drawer until the end of time because I'm not sharing it with anybody else. I plan to begin recording the new album once we arrive safely home from this impending tour. While I'm on the road, my new producer, Stuart Holverson, will be doing the preliminary mixing for a side project of mine to be released within the next couple of months. It's called "The Jane Brooks Project," and all I can say is that it's very, very divergent from anything else you've heard me do. I truly hope you like it. After that, I'm planning to record some more classical violin, namely, the complete unaccompanied Bach Sonatas & Partitas, and the Teleman unaccompanied as well. I figure you can never get too much of plain, unbuttered violin in your ear.
For more information on Emilie, check out her official website.