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Emilie Autumn for km.ru

Original Link Last Accessed: 3/31/24

Posted: September 5, 2013 Interview by: Natalia Stupnikova Photos by: Askarr Ibrahimov

NOTE: This article has been preserved in its original Russian format. If you speak Russian and care to translate, please reach out to me at @shefightslikeagirl !

Эмили Отемн: «Мы распространяем наш «вирус» по всему миру, меняя его в положительную сторону»

Буквально через неделю в Москву и Санкт-Петербург впервые с концертами приедет талантливая американская скрипачка и певица Эмили Отемн.

Стиль своей музыки Эмили характеризует как «викторианский индастриал» - сочетание скрипки, клавесина, электронных ударных в неоклассических и готических аранжировках, в сопровождении выразительного вокала. На сцене певица использует яркую образность – сочетание средневековых нарядов, яркого макияжа и тяжелую обувь. Влиятельный журнал Kerrang! отмечал эффектный контраст между мрачными текстами Эмили, ее ярким сценическим имиджем и экспрессивным, веселым действом на сцене. В свою очередь журнал Interview Magazine внес Эмили в число «14 исполнителей, которых необходимо увидеть».

Что ж, российским поклонникам Эмили впервые представится возможность увидеть это яркое сценическое действо 15 сентября в Санкт-Петербурге (клуб «Аврора») и 16 сентября в Москве (клуб Moscow Hall).

В преддверии этих концертов корреспонденту KM.RU удалось поговорить с Эмили о ее шоу, костюмах, фан-клубе и многом другом.

KM.RU: Привет. Ты в первый раз приезжаешь в Россию. Чего ты ждешь от этих концертов? Говорят, что русская публика самая лучшая в мире... Эмили: Привет! Я рада составить тебе компанию за чашечкой чая! Я тоже слышала, что русская аудитория сама поразительная и отзывчивая, а потому с нетерпением жду концертов в вашей стране. Россия является местом, которое большинство американцев никогда не получат возможность посетить, многие не могут даже мечтать об этом. Я очень благодарна тому, что у меня есть возможность быть одной из тех нескольких, которые побывают в вашей стране. Я надеюсь, я буду чувствовать себя в России как дома.

KM.RU: У тебя очень активный фан-клуб, знаешь ли ты, состоят ли в нем твои поклонники из России? Эмили: Да, я знаю, что и в России есть мои фаны - Plague Rats. Меня всегда поражало то, как что-то простое — песня или идея, - может связывать людей, которые никогда не видели друг друга по всему миру. Несколько лет назад мне прислали фото из моего фан-клуба в России. Они держали знаки, создавали сложные костюмы… просто дайте им знать, что я буду выступать и они будут ждать меня. Я хотела встретиться с ними в течение многих лет, и вот, наконец, такой шанс у меня появился.

KM.RU: Как ты думаешь, планируют ли твои постоянные фанаты поехать на твои концерты в России? Эмили: Это было бы довольно экстремальное путешествие для большинства американцев, но я не удивлюсь, если кто-то из американских Plague Rats появится на моих российских концертах!

KM.RU: Почему твоим тотемным животным стала крыса? И почему участницы твоего фан-клуба получили столь странное прозвище — Чумные Крысы? Эмили: Я довольно сильно идентифицирую себя с крысами...Их боятся, на них часто клевещут и несправедливо обвиняют... на них жестоко и неоправданно экспериментируют в течение сотен лет.. Все это вызывает во мне сочувствие, а также ощущение общности с ними, так как я тоже своего рода медицинский эксперимент, как и еще множество людей с психическими расстройствами, которых подвергли тому или иному лечению различными химическими веществами.

98 процентов нашей ДНК имеет много общего с крысиной, это является одной из причин того, почему в первую очередь на них испытываются продукты, предназначенные для нас. И люди никогда не уважают их, или высказывают им признательность, хотя, я считаю, мы обязаны это делать. Считается, что крысы являются переносчиками многих заболеваний, которые могут распространиться по всему миру, но я считаю, что вирус может быть как разрушительным, так и полезным.

Я проникаю в общество как «чума» со своей индивидуальностью, свободными и критическими взглядами о равенстве для всех, уверенностью в любви, страдании, творчества и красоты. В некоторых обществах эти черты характера считаются опасными, потому что они делают человека сильным. Как «чумные крысы» мы распространяем наш «вирус» по всему миру, меняя его в положительную сторону, считая, что личная сила каждого человека в отдельности создаст более безопасное, более сбалансированное глобальное общество. Ну и, кроме того, крысы очень умные существа, с большой способностью к любви и привязанностью. Я считаю, что они одни из лучших друзей, которые у меня когда-либо были.

KM.RU: Какое шоу ты приготовила для российских концертов? Это будет твое стандартное шоу тура «Fight Like A Girl» или ты приготовила для России что-нибудь особенное? Эмили: Это будет шоу «Fight Like A Girl», с которым я объездила весь мир, но, разумеется, будет несколько специальных номеров, которые планируются только для вас...

KM.RU: Смотря видеозаписи твоих концертов, мы не могли не заметить отсутствие на сцене живых музыкантов. С чем это связано? Они не вписываются в концепцию шоу? Эмили: Первая причина того, почему на сцене нет других музыкантов, это то, что их нет на моих оригинальных записях. Там нет ни акустических барабанов, гитар, баса, всего того, что используют стандартные рок-группы, и, в принципе, ни одна обычная рок-группа не сможет воспроизвести мой оригинальный звук.

Я недавно смотрела знаменитый мюзикл Эндрю Ллойда Уэббера «Кошки», и обнаружила, что он весь идет с предварительно записанной фонограммой, и только певцы поют в живую, и это именно то, что я делаю. В моем жанре только струны, клавиши и вокал могут идеально воспроизвести мою музыку, и эти инструменты я использую на сцене. Ну и, кроме того, разве кто-нибудь хочет увидеть на сцене хоть одного музыканта?! Я не думаю, что аудитория скучает по ним.

KM.RU: Как происходит создание твоих «музыкальных спектаклей»? Ты сама являешься их автором и режиссером? Имеют ли другие девушки право голоса при создании шоу? Что тебя вдохновляет при создании сценической концепции? Эмили: Все спектакли создаю я, но девушки из Bloody Crumpets - Captain Maggots и Naughty Veronica Varlow, - также помогли мне с созданием своих персонажей, а также оказали помощь в разработке и хореографии шоу. Декорации мне помогла разработать мой замечательный менеджер Мелисса Кинг, а наш директор по свету Beau King создает магию шоу, освещая сцену в так, как это необходимо.

На самом деле, все, что происходит на сцене, основано на историях, рассказанных в моей книге «The Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls». Когда мне нужно вдохновение для шоу, я просто возвращаюсь к книге и смотрю, какие сцены я могу взять из нее, чтобы показать больше мой Asylum мир, или рассказать истории его персонажей. Эта книга как Библия, и история, рассказанная в ней настолько эпична, что ее можно рассказывать всю жизнь. Но я попробую..

KM.RU: Есть ли на сцене место импровизации? Эмили: Да, разумеется! Независимо от того, насколько мы продумали подход к каждой песне или сценическое действие, или шутку, или водевильный скит, каждый вечер мы обязательно найдем что-то, что можно добавить, чтобы удивить друг друга. Мы можем начать смеяться над чем-то в самый неподходящий момент и не можем остановиться, или зрители сделают что-то, чего мы не ожидаем… и это всегда самые яркие воспоминания о прошедшем туре. Ну и в конечном итоге все эти моменты обязательно кто-нибудь запечатлел и выложил на YouTube.

KM.RU: Твое шоу рассчитано на небольшие «домашние» площадки или же оно больше подходит для большой, стадионной сцены? Эмили: Я всегда предпочитала театр… Не клубы, не арены, а именно театр, где можно видеть игру актеров – это может быть мюзикл, балет или классический театр… Мне кажется, что театр самое идеальное средство, чтобы рассказать историю. Люди традиционно ходят в театр, чтобы увидеть ту историю, которая будет разворачиваться перед их глазами. И для меня, для того впечатления, которое я пытаюсь создать, того единения со зрителем, большая арена – не вариант; на площадке, где соберутся десятки тысяч зрителей, это просто не будет работать. 

KM.RU: Можешь ли ты вспомнить самое странное или необычное шоу в твоей карьере? Эмили: Одно из самых странных событий произошло с нами в Бразилии. Сразу после шоу мы пошли за кулисы и только успели снять корсеты, как в гримерку влетел мужчина и спросил, не хотели бы мы съесть мороженое…

KM.RU: Известно, что раньше ты сама делала костюмы для шоу. Ты и сейчас выступаешь костюмным дизайнером для своих шоу? Эмили: Да, все костюмы делаю я. На самом деле сейчас я живу в гостиничном номере и я полностью разгромила это место, но не так как это делают рок-звезды… Я заполнила все пространство тканями, красками, блеском и кристаллами… и все это для того, чтобы создать новые костюмы для предстоящего тура.

KM.RU: Сколько экземпляров каждого костюма ты обычно берешь с собой в тур? Эмили: Мне страшно об этом говорить, но у нас все в единственном экземпляре – наши корсеты и головные уборы. Эти вещи невозможно воспроизвести, так как процесс настолько трудоемкий, что у меня никогда времени на то, чтобы создать второй экземпляр того или иного наряда. И именно поэтому кражи, которые случались у нас, буквально разбивали мне сердце.

KM.RU: Какова судьба уже не актуальных сценических костюмов, тех, которые больше не используются в шоу? Эмили: Многие костюмы хранятся в моем архиве, эти вещи напоминают мне о поездках, в которых мы были, о том, как мы выросли с тех пор... Другие вещи проданы с аукциона, чтобы они получили новую жизнь в чужих руках… Иногда я отдаю что-то «Чумным Крысам», как кусочек магии из мира The Asylum, иногда это все, что нужно, чтобы подтолкнуть их для достижения своей мечты.

KM.RU: Ты собиралась делать мюзикл по своей книге «The Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls». На какой стадии находится этот проект сейчас? Эмили: Да! Создание бродвейского мюзикла на основе моей книги является самым важным проектом в моей жизни на данный момент, и я как раз сейчас работаю над темой для злодея, доктора Стокилла. Все, что я делала раньше и все, что я делаю сейчас – все это ведет к этому театральному дебюту. Это была моя судьба еще с тех пор, как я была ребенком.

KM.RU: Есть ли площадки, которые заинтересованы в прокате этого спектакля? Эмили: Да, многие театры заинтересованы в моем мюзикле, и я думаю, что со временем мы сможем показать его в театрах по всему миру.

KM.RU: Будет ли у тебя время познакомиться с Москвой и Санкт-Петербургом? Какие места ты бы хотела посетить в первую очередь, при наличии свободного времени? Эмили: К сожалению, как в большинстве удивительных мест, которые мы посещаем во время тура, у нас будет мало времени на то, чтобы осмотреть достопримечательности и исследовать те красивые места, которые мы бы хотели. Но это также объясняет то, почему люди, которые приходят на наши шоу, настолько важны для нас. Ведь мы видим большую часть времени именно их, и запоминаем их, и я всегда знаю, что хочу больше времени провести в том или ином городе, когда я влюбляюсь в людей, что приходят петь вместе с нами.

Большинство моих знаний о России происходит из моего знания классической музыки и моей л��бви к истории. Многие мои любимые композиторы и писатели родом из России – Чайковский, Рахманинов, Стравинский, Прокофьев, Толстой, Достоевский, Владимир Набоков. Честно говоря, для меня было бы гораздо важнее просто погулять по улицам города, посидеть в кафе, понять то место, где я…

KM.RU: Спасибо, Эмили за такую интересную и содержательную беседу. Ждем с нетерпением твои концерты в России. Эмили: Спасибо вам за ваши вопросы, я была рада поговорить с Вами. Встретимся на концертах!

#2013 #flag era #russian #interview #emilie autumn #will add translation if anyone has it

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Emilie Autumn for Bubblegum Sl-t Zine

Original Link (Archive Post from Author) Last access 3/31/24 Originally Posted: Summer 2010

...I interviewed Emilie Autumn a few times in the mid-00s, although only once for Bubblegum Sl💛t. I think the photo of Emilie and me (seen on the left of the first slide) was taken after an interview for Alternative Magazine. Every time I saw Emilie, her gigs grew a bit grander and more bonkers. Consider that her entry point to the era’s music scene was a violin-and-vocal concept album - which concerned Shakespeare and mental ill health, and arrived accompanied by a semi-autobiographical novel, fusing psych ward memoirs with a Victorian fantasy world – and you get some sense of just how bonkers things got. By the time this was printed in 2010, her shows were bringing cabaret vibes and musical theatre production values to rock venues. Accompanied by the ‘Bloody Crumpets’ (a troupe of burlesque belles posing as asylum inmates), and an elaborate array of handcrafted props and costumes, she was greeted at every show by hordes of adoring ‘plague rats’ in bloomers and stripey stockings. Something I always found both inspiring and a little intimidating was just how hands-on Emilie was with every aspect of her ambitious shows. Right down to handmaking merch, she oversaw every last damn detail of her immersive fantasy world, putting in frighteningly long hours to make it happen. This was a big a theme of this very wordy interview.

Interview and scans below the cut.

Transcription note: this interview is long and EA's comments are interspersed throughout, so I've put her words in bold.

Wayward Woman

Released from her old record contract, our favourite asylum inmate Emilie Autumn has lately let her creativity run. And run. And run.

18 hour day corporate workaholics would be put to shame by the drive that Emilie Autumn exhibits in her many artistic endeavors. With each successive, increasingly grand tour I've witnessed (for which Emilie handles the design and production of lavish stage sets and costumes, the creation handmade merch and the choreography of dance routines and comedy set-pieces with her sidekicks 'The Bloody Crumpets', not to mention violin, harpsichord and vocal duties) I've felt, with crowing certainty, that superhuman powers are the only explanation for her quite extraordinary ability to maintain both the quality and vast quantity of her output. Speaking to the insomniac artist herself shortly after her Spring 2010 tour of Europe and Australia however, I've forced to entertain the more improbable, and frankly frightening notion, that her stamina is actually that of a mere mortal, as she recounts woefully how a throat infection forced her to cancel two shows on this most recent outing. The singer can't claim she wasn't warned; management -- characterized in popular music mythology as the business bods cracking the whip on the backs of their poor, cash-cow artist -- apparently made efforts to talk her out of undertaking such a lengthy tour before she had embarked up it, but inevitably such a suggestion was never given any serious consideration by a women who describes the experience of taking a few days off as "torturous".

"I wasn't allowed to speak," she elaborated on the horrors of her enforced spell of rest and relaxation. "I wasn't even allowed to whisper, so I had to write things down to communicate. As somebody who talks a lot--as you can tell--it was definitely torturous!"

Yes, I can definitely tell you that, amongst a great deal of many other talents, Emilie Autumn can really talk. Figuring out that much in the four previous interview I've got to admit that, while the kind of intense and frank debate and confessions she offers in volumes are a refreshing pleasure over any media-trained soundbite, I approach this latest encounter with as much dread as anticipation; dread that is for the figure that will appear on my phone bill when the receiver eventually goes down and Emilie and Chicago. And on this occasion there's more to talk about than ever before.

See, even within the biography of an artist who is prolific by nature the past few months can be considered a fully of activity. The tour aside, there's been the double dis re-release of Emilie's breath-through album 'Opheliac', while the publication of her long-awaited book 'The Asylum of Wayward Victorian Girls' requires epic discourse by itself. So more -- much more -- of the book later. Firstly, Emilie explains, the starting point for seeing this succession of projects come to fruition was opting to break away from former German-based label Trisol.

"Once all the house clearing went down I found, to my surprise, when the door opened I had a good amount of options," she recalls, swiftly skipping to the part where, having weight these up, she found and offer from New York's The End records the most attractive.

By signing on the dotted line she joined an oddball, distinctly arty roster, which also includes Mindless Self Indulgence, Dir En Gray and Dirty Little Rabbits, and celebrated seeing her music gain a release in her native Unite States at long last. Although "frustrated" by the prior limbo period, when her work languished on record stores' prices import shelves, she has to conceded that there's little evidence to suggest hefty taxes impeded the spread of the 'plague' (as she is wont to refer to the rise of her so-described 'violindustrial', with fans readily wearing the label 'plague rats').

"I was amazed to see the fanbase I have [here] when I first toured the US," she says. "The Plague rats are here, they're everywhere, and it's insane that this thing has spread almost without radio, without videos and without a label until now."

The fresh pressing of 'Opheliac' has also been granted a second release in Europe, where by contrast Emilie has enjoyed strong support from the alternative music media ever since the album was initially issued in 2006. Critics might assume a second coming so soon a little premature but, even without the addition of a wealth of bonus material, a record that can honestly by called a 'grower' -- rewarding revisits by revealing new depths to it's complex sonics and storyline -- makes a good case for being deserving of a second look. For Emilie herself "the 'Opheliac' record is still the most important thing" - the silver lining to the breakdown which followed her separation from musical collaborator turned lover Billy Corgan, traced to the eureka moment at which she began charting comparisons between her own increasingly troubled life and the misadventures of Shakespeare's archetypal 'difficult woman.'

"I think a couple times in your life, if you're lucky, you just get it right," Emilie reflects of the work now. "It's like creating the perfect quote that people will say 500 years later, because it still rings true. When I sing those songs onstage, or listen to that record it still strikes me that there's not a single thing I would change."

Such a definitive statement from the artist herself does rather invite the suggestion that the bonus disc can do little to enhance the piece; only encourage plague rats to pick up the second copy.

"The first disc is completely a concept album, where every sound is a puzzle piece within a big plan and everything relies on everything else around it," Emilie affirms. "So that second disc is like 'here's the mixbox' -- it's a complete jumble of things, like the inside of my head. But it is all very relevant to the suicidal theme of the album."

Specifically, she cites her unlikely rendition of an age-old song Billie Holiday mad her own, declaring "'Gloomy Sunday', - that's like the original suicide song, it couldn't be more relevant." With her version sitting alongside a cover of The Smiths' 'Asleep,' a solo violin rendering of Bach, several original acoustic recordings and samples of the spoken word, performances Emilie has lately been giving in support of her book release, she's not wrong in her assertion that the second disc is a 'mixbox' either. Set in contrast to the main album's heavy, literary study of her own human condition this new component is also reflective of the trademark scatter-brained and impatient intellect she overwhelms with when she chatters mile a minute.

By far the greatest justification for revisiting 'Opheliac' now Emilie excitably gabs is the long-awaited arrival of its companion and sequel, the Asylum book, viewed by it's author as a sort of key to decoding the shorthand hints embedded in the other releases in her catalogue.

A back-burner project in the Trisol offices for more than 2 years, the book looked so sure to be lost to the world for a time that Emilie's reaction when it eventually when into production under guidance of The End was to "go into shock - I've almost been in denial that i was ever actually happening.," she gasps. "I'd got so into saying 'wait for it, it's going to be great!' and not having it materialize that it was a shock when the new printing company put it together. It was torture to keep touring a keep releasing knowing that, even if I have a great fanbase who like what I'm doing, they really had no idea of what they liked was about at the time, They didn't know the full extent of how serious it actually was, how much i actually means and real it is."

Referring to the titular 'Asylum' -- most basically defined as a location in [Emilie's] imagination and art, but nonetheless deeply rooted in historical documentation of the treatment of Victorian madwomen, and the harsh realities of Emilie's own experience of the modern mental health care system -- she tells "there's this thing of assuming it's a fantasy world when, actually, it's for real. That was very difficult," she sighs, "to go on touring, knowing that there were so many things I couldn't do onstage that I actually might have wanted to, but because they were references to things in the book they would never make sense without it."

As much a novel, information manual for those wanting to pick up tips on surviving a mental health ward or swarm of leeches and detailed history lesson as it is an autobiography, the book was a massive undertaking --particularly for an author possessed of the perfectionist tendencies Emilie is. To put in perspective the length of the sentence 'The Asylum..." served in post-production hell, journalists received sample pages from Trisol's PR department, in preparation for an apparently imminent publication, way back in 2008. In the months it took for a released date to pass many other active and breathing public figures saw fit to issue second volumes to their autobiographies. Hence it figures that the finished Asylum on bookstore shelves now is a substantial development of those early previews.

"The story was there but with every day there was another delay and so more painting and ore words would go in just so that the time wasn't completely wasted," confirms Emilie. "If I had to wait I had to make the most of that time and now you have something that wouldn't have been quite as awesome if it had come a day earlier. It's not like the 'Opheliac' record, where I wouldn't add a note or take a note away -- this is the story of my entire life, it goes on -- I could always add another scribble in another corner. 'Opheliac' is a time capsule and this is everything, it goes [from] the beginning to beyond the end... the ultimate ending is still just a massive cliff-hanger because we don't know how it ends!"

Candor and openness being defining traits of the Emilie I've come to know it's surprising to hear that the other "big, open question mark," the book implanted in her head was a wave of self doubt--

"Like, 'okay, you think you know how you're going to react if people read this stuff by do you really ?' And for a couple of days there was this silence, on our sounding board--you know, the internet," she translates. "Everything was really quiet for a couple of days as people were reading it and digesting it and when they came back there was a kind of collective 'holy fuck - we though we knew what was going on by now... maybe not.' There's an increased understanding of me and what I do now - the colours of everything are a bit brighter, because it means more. It's a relief," she announces. " I've said it now, everybody knows all of these things about me now, and if you still like who I am, knowing that this is the life I've lived and things I've done then you like who I really am. It's just a relief to finally tell someone who you really are... like you might have wanted to pretend to be the little queen, or tired to be the good girlfriend, and when you give that up... well, it turns out that pressure is a lot scarier than telling the truth and doing whet comes naturally."

While she's in the mood to share, Emilie reveals the next stage in her grand plan.

"I'll tell you my secret," she relents, after a moments hesitation, reasoning. "I don't know if it's a secret, it's kind of obvious really. My plan, of why the book has to get so very much out there, is because we want to make a movie."

A nanosecond is spared for dramatic effect here before her enthusiasm spurs her on to laying out the blow-by-blow proposal, as though addressing her plague rats en masse.

"Here's what I need you to do," she instructs. "I need you to go buy me these 52 hundred copies of the Asylum book, because then we in the popularity contests--and that's how we get to the top of the bestsellers list. That's very simple, right? Because then, everyone knows, every single book that reaches the top of the bestseller chart is very quickly made into a movie. So if you want to see that movie you've got to help me and purchase that book!"

Emilie is right to think her plan is becoming 'obvious' at this stage. Always theatrical, her stage shows have now grown to a scale that their props are testing the limits of her one-woman workshop, and their stunts are insurance policies of venues only every intended to play host to the humble rock band. A theatre or screen production is the clear next step and, not one to restrict the creative outlets at her disposal, Emilie has not ruled out the former option.

"When we're hitting a new venue every night we have to wonder every night if we're going to be able to do the full show," she sighs. "It's 'are they going to let us to aerials here?', 'are we going to have to leave out the fire-eating because they won't let us do fire here?' It's becoming very clear that, at this level, there are limits to what you can do and the alternative to that is getting a theatre run where you're actually in the same place for 3 months. But there's a part of me that doesn't want tot do that because, however grueling life on the road is, there's that whole thing of the show coming to the people, which I love. SO I think maybe doing both is the ideal. Something I'm quite seriously working on," she impressed, before continuing, "is the possibility of being able to tour with my own venue. Circuses do it, so why can't I? It's a bigger production, and it's expensive, but if you know what you want there's always a way, and I've figured out what we need to do, which is embrace the fact that this isn't a rock show and begin putting it into a setting which reflects that."

Which reminds me, amongst Emilie's many interests is creating music, and between talking books, movies and big tops we've so far neglected to mention an additional iron in the fire, that is 'Opheliac's musical follow-up. Suddenly engaged on another new topic Emilie tells, "I'm about halfway through writing, but nothing has been recorded. It's still being added to because that's the next thing -- making sure that this album accurately represents my life right now. It ties in to the Asylum book, and 'Opheliac', which laid out 'this is the situation you're in,' so this next record is naturally saying 'okay, now what do you do about it?' So that's where it gets a bit more violent and bloody, because now it's about fighting."

Supporting Emilie's often re-iterated line that her seemingly disparate works are, truly, inter-connected and even inter-dependant, recent live shows have started to develop the theme of fighting. Most obviously performances on the Spring tour included a segment in which Emilie and her Bloody Crumpets tool up to become the Asylum Army, marching to a gruffly barked, yet uniquely feminine, drill chant.

"Now there' about 50% guys in the audiences," she notes. "And so when we ask there 'are you ready to fight like a girl?', and every one of them is screaming 'yes'... well, that's amazing. It's about taking that phrase -- that we've heard our whole lives a s derogatory thing, 'you fight like a girl', 'you throw a ball like a girl,' we're taking that and turning it on it's ass completely to make it like the greatest thing possible, knowing that actually, if a girl really has something to defend, there will be no chivalry, no rules, and she will use every tool possible.

For Emilie, these violent developments, as explored more graphically on the next album, represent "part tow of the adventure. It's still completely relevant, it has to be," she says. "When I put [the record] out it has to mean at least as much to me as 'Opheliac' did."

Here the perfectionist standards that her vast ambition demand surface once again, and she tells "I never want to do anything that doesn't have the same impact, on me that is. I want to get it right again. I can't fail, it's just not what I do. I would rather not put anything out. But that's not going to be a problem. I'm already working on the new record and we're gonna be just fine."

#emilie autumn #interviews #zine #2010 #bubblegum slt

[emilieautumnarchives]

Studio ROBBED And RANSACKED!!!

Posted: June 4, 2006 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

Dear Crumpets,

It is my great displeasure to relate to you a small tragedy of biblical proportions that occured at my home two weeks ago, and from which we, meaning myself as well as the band and the Traitor Records/EA staff are still recovering from, that tragedy being, namely, a robbery of all important life-running utensils, computers, gear, and databases.

Now, which one of you did it?

Just kidding. But truly, everything was in fact stolen, and while I was present as well, which is most shocking to me as it is a well known fact that I could take a small rabbit in a fight. Apparently the thieves were not aware of this, because they pranced right on in and cleaned out the studio from top to bottom while I was on the phone in another room, and the band was napping in yet another after the usual weekly asylum office party. All computers, all ability to get online, all ability to record, gone. But the worst of it is the priceless databases containing the orders yet to be shipped, and the fan contacts for all of you, you sweet sugarless chocolate raspberry cake bits. Not to mention the gigs of music and personal files lost forever. An absolute tragedy. We’ve been recovering slowly from this chaos with the purchase of new gear which enables me to finally be back online and for the label to get back to customer service and answering e-mails. Thus, the orders are back being shipped and your letters will be answered in the order they were received, as they say. Thank you all for your understanding, patience, support, and teacake during this time, it’s been an unexpected blow to progress and we all took the loss very hard, but with the help of you all, we can get it back up and running and better than before. I will be requesting that everyone re-sign up for the mailing list/Bloomer Brigade, and will likely have more requests for you in the near future as we attempt to figure out who'se order has been shipped and whose has not. My extreme thanks goes to Miss Caroline (our gracious hostess of order-shipping-outing) and the Crumpets (Lady JH and Mistress Tristen) for keeping the ship from sinking… With all the strength of adversity (or is it denial?), EA

#2006 #opheliac era #opheliac ep #journal archives #journal #journals #journal entries

[emilieautumnarchives]

YOU WILL SUFFER NOW!!!

Posted: January 22, 2006 Archived from The Official Asylum Forums

"OPHELIAC" Limited Edition Signed EP for muffins Only available for pre-order RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With the complete album facing an uncertain release date due to ongoing label negotiations, I simply could not sit on this material any longer, and so I unleash upon YOU ALL, the few, the brave, and the bloomered, the "Opheliac Limited Edition Signed EP for muffins Only" containing six songs of women, water, and madness. With both tracks straight from the album as well as the occasional sweetmeat which you will not find elsewhere, this is the sound of love, hate, and corsets. All pre-orders will be signed and will receive a personal love letter from ME because I love you. The EP will ship March by 15th, with the first 250 orders receiving this lovely free signed poster (if you want one, order NOW because they'll be gone within a couple of days): [image missing] Let the suffering BEGIN!!!

#journals #journal entires #journal archives #2006 #journal entries #opheliac era #opheliac ep

[emilieautumnarchives]

It's September, OPHELIAC is HERE!!!

Posted: September 6, 2006 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

Well, My Muffintins!!!

For you European cupcakes, IT’S HERE! For the rest of you, the girls of the Asylum are praying you do not become ill from the suspense…

Love & Bloody Crumpets, EA

NEWSFLASH FROM THE ASYLUM FOR WAYWARD VICTORIAN GIRLS:

Dearest Crumpets!

Do you know what today is?

Oh, I think you do…

Today is September, and that means that OPHELIAC is now available In-Stores in Germany, Austria, and Sweden, and that Orders are now shipping within 24-hours!

For the rest of you US and International fans, September 22nd (you-know-who’s b-day!) is still the date for In-Store and Mail-Order shipping internationally via Metropolis Mailorder, INFRAROT, MusicNonStop UK, Audioglobe, Amazon.de, and many more.

This stunning “OPHELIAC” set comes as a limited, luxurious double digipack with a glossy fold out poster, 28 page picture booklet, and bonus CD with exclusive tracks, live performance video, photo gallery, and behind-the-scenes footage into the world of EA (Emilie shows you how to apply her signature makeup, how to tie a corset, how to take a proper bath, and more!)

To get your copy before they’re gone and to learn about shipping dates and other pertinent details, please honour one of these fine mail-order shops with your presence!

And don’t forget the special EA CD/Magazine Package Deal brought to you byMetropolis Mailorder, Trisol Records, Music Non Stop UK., and Orkus Magazine:

The new Limited Edition Double CD “Opheliac” from Emilie Autumn, AND the new issue of Germany’s leading alternative publication, Orkus Magazine, in ENGLISH, which features a beautiful double-sided poster of EA who graces the cover of both the German and International Orkus Releases, for a special Package Deal Price! But be sure to order now before they are gone forever…and then won’t you be sorry?

Tips for the Overwhelmed with Information:

Please visit EA’s Official Website daily for more news, photos and sneak peeks from the new album.

To receive daily updates and more album details direct from EA AND to hear full length tracks from “OPHELIAC,” get over to EA’s MySpace page and BOOKMARK IT. Trust us, you don’t want to miss out.

#2006 #opheliac era #journal #journals #journal entries #journal archives

[emilieautumnarchives]

NEW SONG from Opheliac posted!!!!

Posted: September 12, 2006 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

This is just to say that I have swapped out one of the tracks on my MySpace page, with another from Opheliac, because I am simply too enthusiastic about your hearing it and I don’t wish to hurt myself this late in the day. You may now have a listen to my fingers going a million miles an hour on harpsichord arpeggiations in “God Help Me.”

In other news, we added even MORE outlets where you can get the new album. And so it grows…

In OTHER news, I’ve been designing the first piece of honest-to-god Opheliac merch…simple, deadly, black tee’s with…well, you’ll see shortly…

And yet in OTHERRRRR news, the Asylum very kindly let me out to go and see Dragonforce, which was awesome because I love them although! The sound at the LA Wiltern sucks my victorian arse. But still, trampolines!!!!! And then, I held balloons on stage for a knife throwing comedy show, has the world gone mad? I do hope so!

And finally, do you think that if we all signed a poll and sent it to Gibson, they would start making electric fiddles? Because the paucity of companies out there doing anything innovative with the violin is fucking tragic.

Goodness! I am so filled with surprises for you all that my stomach is beginning to eat itself in anticipation…perhaps I should digest a muffin and console my being unable to tell you about everything yet with the remembrance that the Striped Stocking Society wing of the Asylum received a huge shipment of striped stockings today and I’m going to model each pair for the rats until I pass out from the sheer bliss…ahhhhhh….

Love & Bloody Crumpets, EA from the Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls

#2006 #journal #journals #journal entries #journal archives #opheliac era

[emilieautumnarchives]

In Which: I Learn What Twitter Is & Give Twitterering Muffin

Posted: July 4, 2009 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

Dearest Muffins,

Well now, I’m not at all sure how I ended up on the top “Twitter Trends” for today…I only just learned what Twitter actually was (thanks, Otep), and I’m still not convinced I entirely understand what it’s purpose is…

And yet! I suspect that some of you net savvy Muffins had a bit to do with my ridiculously high rating, and so I am sharing a brand new CUPCAKE PHOTO (can we ever tire of these? Fuck no, bitches!) with the link revealed on Twitter only (you can search for me). Thus, I present to you Twittering Muffins a candid photo I shot mere days ago in L.A. with my girl Danielle DeFoe who is sure to be the next big thing in the world of photography (find her gorgeous and legitimately creative work here: http://hotbabysitter.blogspot.com and http://www.danielledefoe.com).

More to come…

With Love & Bloody Crumpets from the Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, Block B, Cell W14, Inmate A,

EA

P.S.

The Plague: Get it. Feed it. Spread it. Sluts.

P.P.S.

The Asylum Army: Are You Committed?

P.P.P.S.

NYC, August, Central Park: Let’s create the largest Tea Party in the history of the world. You in?

#2009 #opheliac era #journal #journals #journal archives #journal entries

[emilieautumnarchives]

Asylum eBay Auction: “Plague Rat Puppet”

Posted: January 14, 2009 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

Dearest Plague Rats:

Meet the very first Baby Albino Plague Rat!!!

He could be yours…

With Love & Bloody Crumpets from the Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, Inmate A, Block B, Cell W14,

EA

P.S.

The Plague: Get it. Feed it. Spread it. Sluts.

#2009 #journal #journals #journal entries #journal archives #opheliac era

[emilieautumnarchives]

It never ends.

Posted: February 1, 2009 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

Four o'clock…four o'clock…never let me sleeeeeeeeeep…..

#opheliac era #2009 #journal #journals #journal arrchive #journal entries

[emilieautumnarchives]

Life is...

Posted: January 16, 2008 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

I have just swallowed my nightly pills with champagne and Sir Edward is sitting next to me on the bed eating peas (his favorite) out of my hand.

Life is good.

Love from the Asylum,

EA

#2008 #opheliac era #journal #journals #journal archives #journal entries

[emilieautumnarchives]

WATCH TV OR BE KILLED IN YOUR SLEEP!

Posted: January 11, 2006 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

Last update before the show, muffins!!!

Watch my bruised up knees on TV tomorrow morning!

Off to dress-rehearsal!!!

You wil DIE when you see these costumes…then you will DIE again.

Love and caffeine (how many hours can I go without sleep? you just watch me),

EA

#2006 #opheliac era #journal #journals #journal entries #journal archives

[emilieautumnarchives]

(Journal Entry) NEWSLETTER: The Asylum Tour and Not So Brief Nudity

Posted: September 4, 2007 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

Dear Plague Rats,

Click the pic below to read the latest Asylum Newsletter, or you won’t know why I’m completely naked! This is not a joke…

In this luxurious new limited hardcover foil embossed double disc completely electronic edition, you will find such diseased trash as:

*Announcing the ASYLUM TOUR, Part: The 1st! Dates confirmed and adding!

*Answers to the Common Question: “Where Can I Get Tickets?“

*Secret DIE WARZAU Video: You’ll See Why It’s Secret (though it won’t be for long)

And to those of you who came to sing with me at the past several shows, you are adored, thank you for the sweet gifts, and for being the most beautiful fans any Wayward Victorian Girl could have. So remember, be brave, sing loud, and let’s show'em what goth really is, and it ain’t all moping, mousey, and maudlin.

Love & Bloody Crumpets from the Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls,

EA

#2007 #opheliac era #journal #journals #journal entries #journal archive

[emilieautumnarchives]

Six Feet Under?

Posted: January 21, 2006 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

Can you guess what the fuck is happening here??

I’ll be back with a show report tomorrow…

The E

#2006 #opheliac era #journal #journals #journal archives #journal entries

[emilieautumnarchives]

"The prettiest wretched whore you've ever seen..."

Posted: March 2, 2006 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

This is what happens when I sleep a grand total of 1.5 hours before a shoot - I dose off mid-pose. I am such a fucking joy to work with:

#2006 #opheliac era #journal #journals #journal entries #journal archives

[emilieautumnarchives]

In Which: Otep, Banana Chips, & Salty Seas are Discussed

Posted: July 1, 2009 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

Dearest Muffins,

For those three of you who haven’t found out on your own, it is quite true: I’ve contributed fiddles to a devastatingly beautiful song on the new album of my devastatingly fabulous friend, the lady Otep. Those of you who chanced to catch Otep’s live camera feed that day saw me writing out the score at the mixing desk, playing eighty violin parts (you hadn’t seen my baby, the old wooden fiddle, for a while…), and eating banana chips (Basil’s favorite – he is sleeping in my handbag right now, btw…).

Ahhh….what a trip to be back in Hollywood…salty sea air and palm trees – all of the things that I woke up to and so adored before being locked up…I’m not allowed to stay very long as I’ve only been granted a two-week pass, and, besides, the Plague Rats get depressed when I’m away, though fLee and Belly (Ms. Mini-fLee) gave them much love and attention during my absence from my cell…Belly is just a wee little lady (though still a fully committed member of the Asylum Army) and calls Sir Edward “Sir Eppers.” I’ve just been informed that she’s written a song about Sir E. and his faithful sidekick, Basil, whose name Belly can pronounce perfectly well.

Whilst in the City of Angeles, I witnessed Captain Maggot’s show with her own band, “Insects Vs. Robots,” and you all simply must give them a listen (Google them) because they honestly blew my feeble little mind…I twirled around the floor all night like an idiot and enjoyed every minute of it. Oh! And best of all was seeing that a troup of Muffins had come out to support our Captain! To those who came, I was elated to meet you, and Maggot was as well. I had fully and sincerely intended to be at L vs. R’s gallery show just a few nights later, but after being plied with margaritas by a dear friend as well as a very generous bartender (that is a shameful lie – I plied myself…), I was in no state to attend much of anything besides the bed, in which I was to be joined by my Captain a short while later (jealous??). You knew all the Crumpets slept together, right?

And so, I’ve collected my seashells, filled my combat boots with sand, purchased some jingle-jangles on the Venice Beach Boardwalk (with which I have adorned myself and can now be heard ten miles away), and have now returned home to my old familiar cell a happier and healthier Wayward Victorian Girl.

See you sooner than you think, Muffins;)!

With Love & Bloody Crumpets from the Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, Block B, Cell W14, Inmate A,

EA

P.S.

The Plague: Get it. Feed it. Spread it. Sluts.

#2009 #opheliac era #journal #journals #journal entries #journal archives

[emilieautumnarchives]

FETCH THE SMELLING SALTS!!!

Posted: May 10, 2006 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

Oh Muffincakes,

We have not eaten…

We have not slept…

We have not prayed…

You cannot possibly imagine all of the naughtiness we’ve got planned for you…oh? You wish to try? Well perhaps this will help you…this is a small ‘fainting’ clip of a treat that is waiting for those of you who have already received your OPHELIAC EP (you’ll see what I mean when you get it)..and for those who haven’t, I assure you, they are on their sweet way to you - we’ve even hired more staff to make certain they all get to the post in a somewhat reasonable manner and without anyone actually dying from dining upon the glue on the back of stamps…that can kill you, you know…

The Lady Joo Hee and I have been hard at work rehearsing for the tour, as you will see following…Mistress Tristen of the Netherworlds (whom you will all meet presently) is recovering well from her vocal surgery, and I’m happy to report that the state of our breasts is merry, sweet, and tightlaced…

From the Asylum with Love,

EA

#journals #journal #journal entries #journal archives #2006 #opheliac era

[emilieautumnarchives]

A pedestal???

Posted: March 14, 2006 Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives

There are some questions that people ask other people that make absolutely no sense at all given the context. Think of all the inane things you’re asked at the checkout line in the grocery, everything from “did you find everything OK?” (as though they’d do a little tap-dance or give you a lollipop if you were completely honest about just how long it took you to locate the cocktail cherries…are they by the canned fruit or the liquor? both? neither?) to “is that a tattoo?” (why? do you want one just like it? how will it really affect your life to know whether it’s a tattoo or not? we both know you’re saying it just for something to say, so let’s cut past the crap for a moment and just admit it), things people ask just for something to say…

For example: “just get out of work?” as I purchased my stock of red wine for the evening.

How am I supposed to answer that? No, I didn’t just get out of work. I don’t attend a usual 9-5 “work,” my role in society as an stupidly eccentric artist gets me quite out of this obligation. So, I can’t say “yeah,” because that would be untrue. But I can’t just say “no,” because that would make me appear secretive and leave the poor man hanging for something to say next, rather like a game of liquor store 20 questions. So, I have to say “no,” but then quickly come up with something to follow my monosyllabic answer so as to seem equally as social as he was by asking the stupid question in the first fucking place. “No…” - pregnant pause, wheels turning - “Just returning from a bit of shopping…antiques…I like old things, you know.” Which was in fact way too much information for the circumstance because the guy took this as an opportunity to tell me how he’s been looking for one of those things, you know, THOSE THINGS, for the past 20 years…you don’t know what it is, but you’ll know IT when you see it…“well, that’s the beauty of shopping,” I say. “Those things, he said, “that just sit there and you put stuff on them…you know those THINGS?” “A pedestal?” Yeah! That’s it, a pedestal! Can I see your ID?

In other news, BC Joo Hee and I were nestled into our corner at the 4S the other day writing love/hate letters from the asylum (and let me just say that some random few of you are in for some big surprises) and it struck us just how ridiculously photogenic the sofa in the lady’s room really was. This led to the inevitable “pose off”, which is just like a “bass off” but not.

See Exhibit eA:

BCJH starts things off with a demure bang, ever the lady, or is she…:

Accepting her challenge, I up the ante by employing the ever-edgy biting of the lip:

Shouts she, “you’re goin DOWN, bitch!” and pulls this sweet little move out of her handbag:

Not to be frightened off so easily, I respond with a blood curdling battle cry and the following:

What followed is quite literally illegal to tell you (how I wish I were joking), so I will have to halt this narrative here.

With bags packed and a giddy heart,

Your EA

#2006 #opheliac era #journal #journals #journal entries #journal archives