O Mistress Mine

XE: Where did your musical inspiration come from?

EA: When I was four, I asked my mom for a violin. I don’t know why, but my great-grandfather played the violin, so maybe he was laughing in the clouds that day. I grew up a classical concert violinist, but I always wrote music, and always messed around with synths and 4-tracks, so it was just a matter of time before it all got jumbled together into this pop/rock/classical hybrid. Once I’d gotten that far, it was a logical step to start singing as well. When I write, which is constantly, I am inspired by literally everything around me, books, pictures, migraine headaches, the patterns of my own birthmarks… There is music going on in my head all the time, and I don’t know where half of it comes from. All I’ve learned is to keep a piece of staff paper in my corset at all times.

XE: What has been your favorite experience while on tour?

EA: After the 9/11 tragedy, I had written a song called “By The Sword,” which we released as a single with proceeds going to the Red Cross. My birthday was on September 22nd, and I had a show that night for a couple hundred high school kids, probably the first time they’d gone out since the attacks. Before playing the song, I decided it might be appropriate to play the “Star Spangled Banner,” so I did the Hendrix version on my electric violin. The kids went wild and some were even crying after the show, a reaction I had never expected. I’m still getting fan mail from kids who were there that night. For all the talk about the younger generation and their merits or lack thereof, I felt a whole new sense of hope for the future based on the sincerity and real depth of feeling I witnessed. Also notable was the time I completely lost my voice halfway through a show, and I had to finish the set by playing all the vocal parts on my fiddle, or the time my hair got stuck to my wings, or when the sequencer lost power and I ended up playing Bach sonatas for 15 minutes while we got the gear working again, or when …oh, were these supposed to be favorite experiences?

XE: What is the highlight of your musical career so far?

EA: Hmmm. I guess finding a message on my answering machine from my hero Nigel Kennedy telling me that my music was “fucking phenomenal” was pretty near bliss. That high lasted for about a year. Besides that, I suppose I’m pretty ecstatic when I find that we’ve sold out of classical albums at one of my rock shows. But then starting up my own label (Traitor Records) was pretty satisfying as well.

XE: What are your plans for the rest of the year?

EA: I’m anticipating my full-length album release (“Enchant”) in the next couple of months, so were currently promoting the “Chambermaid” single through print and radio and all that sort of thing. I plan to tour for that album, but I’ve also got some projects in the works having to do with my label. We’re working on creating a free music industry resource site called “EnterAsk” which in the coming weeks should prove to be the largest free searchable database for all sorts of information independent musicians would find useful – my gift to fellow artists really. I’m also in development for “OpenMusicSource,” a resource for the musical equivalent of open source code. I’ve also got some videos to make, so the conclusion I have arrived at is that there are simply not enough hours in the day, and that sleep is overrated.

XE: Do you create all of your own music, or is it a group of people?

EA: I do in fact create all my own music; I’m very stubborn about that. Unbeknownst to some, even my albums are almost exclusively performed by myself, though when I tour I have a full band to accompany me. Regarding the writing process, I don’t play well with others. Regarding the band process, I don’t believe in inter-band democracy. I’m lucky enough to have found or been found by musicians that care to tour with me, but I never professed to be the ultimate outlet for anyone else’s creative contribution. I’m far too much of a dominatrix for that.

XE: What music has inspired you?

EA: Oh, so many things. Everything from Hildegard von Bingen to Elgar to Prokofieff to Eric Clapton to the delicious voice of Morrissey to Sting to operas I heard as a child. As far as female singers go, I’m an Annie Lennox girl all the way. I do find equal inspiration in things like film or poetry or tea, and I don’t think I’ve ever written a song without at least one Shakespearean reference hidden in it somewhere.

XE: Do you credit your success so far to a team effort?

EA: If anything, I credit it to a lack thereof. I’ve always been violently independent, and this has made me work harder than if I were part of a group. I’ve made good friends with solitude, and she gives me the time and space to work as rabidly as I like. I do however have a great team of friends (both real and imaginary), managers, and band mates who keep me just this side of sane.

XE: Do you have any advice to give to the listeners of XE?

EA: Yes! Support internet radio! Write, call, fax your congressman, whatever you need to do, just hold fast to your freedom and keep music out of governmental paws. While I’m on the soapbox, I’d also like to say that mainstream radio is irrelevant, major label A&R reps spend more time watching porn on their computers than they do scouting music, and Apple computers are a beautiful thing. So is soy ice cream.

XE: Is there anything you would like to add?

Moving with sinuous grace, shifting from a bell-clear lilt to a silvery snarl, Autumn sent her voice soaring above the pounding rhythm section of Jim Vanaria’s bass and Heath Jansen’s drumming. The metronome-steady foundation of their playing provided a solid base for her vocals and fiddle pyrotechnics to dance over. It was interesting to see the audience’s reaction to the admittedly unusual juxtaposition of a traditional rock ensemble against Autumn’s seemingly stepped-out-of-fantasy appearance and musical stylings. Throughout the 11-song set, guitarist Ben Lehl’s extremely facile playing perfectly complimented and supported Autumn’s captivating performance. Amazingly so, considering that Lehl plays without a left hand, attaching the pick to the end of his arm—but by the time I noticed, I took it for granted; it simply added to the unique nature of the performance.

Seated onstage to Autumn’s left was cellist Joey Harvey. While it is certainly unusual for such an instrument to be included in a rock show, Harvey’s skilled playing added immeasurably to the effect. Indeed, without him—intense, brooding, with long, Viking-like blond hair reminiscent of a Nordic warrior-minstrel—serving as the gatekeeper between the solid reality of the band and Autumn’s otherworldly presence, there might have been too much disparity between the band and their frontwoman.

The set contained several highlights: the previously mentioned "Across the Sky"; Autumn’s fiery, slashing violin solo during "Chambermaid", which also featured gorgeous vocal breaks interspersed between sharp, almost growling rapping by Autumn; and the closing trio of songs, "What If?", "By the Sword", and "Rose Red." The first of those three, which evokes a favorable comparison to singers such as Tori Amos, showcased Autumn’s ability as a musical storyteller and was wonderfully bracketed by Autumn and Harvey, both exuding a sincere, intense passion that infused the performance. "By the Sword" was the pinnacle of the evening, prefaced by Autumn’s electric-fiddle rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and her explanation of the song’s origin in response to the tragic World Trade Center disaster on September 11.

Although Autumn played with a bit too much flourish during "The Star-Spangled Banner", the audience responded with enthusiasm and loud, sustained applause to the touching offering, except for the few inconsiderate dimwits who insisted on continuing to yammer during the rendition. However, even they were silenced during "By the Sword", which was quintessential Emilie Autumn, combining passion and skill, bombast and delicacy in a wonderful mixture of thoroughly modern rock and mythic storytelling. The band, although sharp throughout, was at its tightest and most energetic here. At this point, the crowd was almost completely focused on Autumn and her able "brothers" on the stage.

The set ended with "Rose Red" and its chiming church-bell beginning under Autumn’s a cappella vocals, transitioning into thunderous drumming, exploding into a flurry of sound and motion from Emilie and her band. The finale waxed and waned in tidal fashion, building to a crescendo that truly deserved the oft-clichéd term "incendiary." While not a perfect show—Autumn took the barking rapping of "Heard It All" to an extreme that proved to be jarring rather than innovative, providing a poor segue to the sweet-voiced "What If?"—it was certainly interesting and crowd-pleasing. Autumn is a skilled musician, as are her band members, and her feral-but-ravishing, gothic-woodland-sylph image is captivating, as is her music.

3. I founded Traitor Records, an independent record label, for the purpose of releasing my albums without having to answer to major label record company executives. Traitor Records embraces the Internet’s potential for low cost, high volume marketing. Traitor Records’ recordings are only sold online, through our website at www.traitorrecords.com. Our catalog includes my classical recordings, my fantasy rock recordings, and recordings by Ravensong, the Jane Brooks Project, Convent and Dream & Sugar.

4. As an artist and a record label owner, I know a great deal about the music industry. Because I am a truly independent artist, it is my privilege and responsibility to speak out against actions that harm both artists and audiences.

5. The RIAA only represents the five major labels, not labels like mine. In my opinion, the major labels are afraid of Internet radio because the variety of different music heard on Internet radio leads to unpredictable record-buying behavior. They want to control radio to control the market for music.

6. Internet radio is the most trustworthy and honest outlet for exposing new and diverse artists to the public. What’s on Internet radio is, in large part, not what’s on commercial broadcast radio. There is no other outlet for independent, lesser-known artists or those in genres that are not Top-40. My recordings receive little, if any, airplay on commercial radio.

7. Internet radio is a great way for me to get music out in an honest way to a vital music audience. I know that Internet Radio promotes sales of my recordings because I receive many, many fan letters that say, for example, “I heard your song “Chambermaid” on Wolf-FM and I liked it and decided to buy the CD.”

8. To help Internet radio stations stay afloat, Traitor Records is offering the entire Traitor Records catalog to webcasters royalty-free. We can only do this because, unlike many recording artists, I hold the copyright to my work. Our policy is to be at the forefront of technological innovation in music distribution rather than falling behind the winds of change. I have confirmed, by obtaining their playlists, that 237 different Internet radio stations are now playing and streaming these recordings. I have also received a large number of orders for CDs directly from the people who run these Internet stations, even they already have electronic files of the records. Many of these are stations webcasting via Live365, including Power Hit Radio, Ness Monster Radio, Xenergetic Radio and NRG FM among dozens of others.

9. Our sales have tripled since we started the Internet radio campaign. I have also seen an increase in orders from Ireland, Scotland, the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries where I have made no special efforts to promote our music. These sales can only come as a result of buyers having heard my music on Internet radio. If Internet radio stations fall silent, I will lose all these sales.

10. I know that twenty-two Internet stations that used to play my recordings have already had to stop webcasting as a result of the rates and minimum fees set out in the Librarian’s Order. This harms me directly, because every day I am losing the chance to reach new listeners. Each such station that goes silent means a diminution in the potential audience for my work.

11. While I hope my actions will help, I do not believe many Internet radio stations can survive playing only content that’s been licensed royalty-free. Too few artists own their own copyrights, and some of those who do own them do not have the resources to produce high quality recordings. The only hope for Internet stations is a stay of the Librarian’s Order pending the Court’s decision on appeal.

12. The potential royalties from webcasting would be a trivial source of income for most recording artists. These small royalty streams are not worth the loss of exposure to a worldwide audience that will result from Internet radio stations ceasing to webcast.

13. The silencing of Internet radio stations also harms the public, because listeners have almost no other means of hearing new music that is not on commercial radio and discovering genres of music that are not mainstream, but could greatly enrich their lives.

SFR-Not too long ago Traitor Records was attacked by a hacker. Did you ever resolve the issue? And how did it make you feel that some person out there would want to mess around with you? EA: I never resolved the issue because it was unresolvable. It was not personal, I don't think. It came from someone who routinely steals domains and holds them ransom, and that's their source of income. If they had lived a few hundred years ago, they would have been the guy stealing the rings off the fingers of corpses blown up in the French Revolution. SFR-Since 911 allot has changed in the USA everything from boarder security to our human rights. What are your opinions on The Patriot Act (You can read about The Patriot Act at http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html  ) EA: OK, even being that it's used as an acronym in this case (though by no accident), the word "patriot" scares the hell out of me. Like "christian." Or "pop music." I'm the kid who wouldn't stand up in elementary school when the Pledge of Allegiance was spoken each and every morning, because someone had been so kind as to inform me that what I was essentially saying by reciting a bunch of mindless words in a droning voice was that I would die for my country, without question or reservation, if and when I was called upon to do so. I will not die for my country, and I won't lie just to conform. My country doesn't represent me. I don't even have to add the disclaimer that I'm proud to be an American, of course I am, given the options. But until my country is lead by someone who is not necessarily male, not necessarily conservative, and not necessarily violence-driven, then this is not MY country. MY country will happen someday, and if I didn't think it would then I'd have to just give up and jump off the nearest bridge right now. But it won't happen if we don't collectively realize that THIS isn't it. In the meanwhile, we don't live in the socialist, egalitarian society I might have hoped for, nor did we ever. I used to say I was an anarchist until I found that nobody knows what that means. Regarding the specific points laid out in the Patriot Act, I do tend to agree with the sometimes held viewpoint that it takes advantage of an opportunity within this country, within a society that is somewhat more inclined to give up it's rights in the face of danger than it might have otherwise been. I mean, of course. I just find it all so predictable, and I'm not shocked in the least by anything that's happening. It's practically boring - we live in a world, not only a country, that is ruled by force, by a singular gender, and you simply can't have that go on for thousands of years without the whole system mutating into something horribly ill. It was always ill, but now we have the weapons to self-destruct, so it's a little more dire. I'm going to stop now before I get into trouble. SFR-In the last 2 years the RIAA has overgrown their own pants sorta say. Do you think the RIAA has finally gone to far in their war against file sharing?

EA: Of course they've gone too far, they were too far on day one. The real issue here is that we're not being told not to file share by an entity which supports and is good for musical artists, we're being told not to file share by an entity that cheats them out of every penny it can. It's always been an issue of control, and as is the case with most governing entities, what is good for the people (including the artist) would demand more change than the entity is really comfortable with. To me, it's not even a question of whether file-sharing is right or wrong anymore, all of that is over-ridden by the very true and simple fact that file-sharing is GOOD for artists. It's been proven to be good for artists time and time and time again. It has never been NOT good for artists, but it does cut down on the control the RIAA/Major Labels have on what the public hears, likes, and buys. The RIAA getting into the anti-privacy realm is just a last pathetic gasp on their part, more laughable than anything else. SFR-The RIAA is also still trying to shut down the Online Radio Industry. And they still want to charge Online Stations more money then Commercial. Do you belive that the RIAA is determined to put an end to anything that could improve the Music Industry?

Silverfox: Could you tell us more about yourself and the people in your band or group?

EA: Certainly. I've had quite a lot of people playing and recording for me over time, including Sting's drummer, Vinnie Coliuta, and other great instrumentalists like Dean Parks, Lee Sklar, and the great baroque cellist, William Skeen. Though most of my recording takes place in solitude, with my playing as many of the parts as possible, when I perform live, I have a full band with me who does their best to turn my largely electronic records into human-powered sound. My current tour lineup consists of six members, if you count my iBook, "Puppy." I have two drummers who alternate performances, Heath Jansen and Graham Brisben. Heath is an inspirational musician, very skilled in jazz and other experimental forms, and Graham is fabulous as well, playing with more energy and sheer love of good music than anyone I know. Not only has Graham worked in the studio with me as session drummer on a lot of the "Enchant" album, he also does double duty as my manager, poor thing. Then there's Ben Lehl, my guitarist. He and Heath have been playing together for practically ever, so there's some great synergy there, and they also have their own project together called "Breathe." Ben can play the stockings off of just about anyone out there, and my only challenge with him is that he's a truly great showman, and I have to work pretty hard to prevent him from upstaging me. My cellist is Joey Harvey, the Nordic god, or so the critics like to call him. He has a classical background as I do, and it's very important to me to have that element in any group that I'm in. Joey's quite experimental himself, and has a very successful group called the Mass Ensemble (massensemble.com). My bassist is Jim Vanaria, who, as well as providing the heart of the band, also has by far the most technical experience of any of us. A computer programmer by day, when on stage, Jim handles the iBook and sequencer, making sure things run smoothly, and bearing the brunt of my burning glares when they don't. He's got a musical project of his own as well, called Birdfeeder (birdfeedermusic.com), which is extremely electronic. He also wears goggles sometimes, and at others can be found in a Boy Scout uniform. Which brings us lastly to "Puppy," my beloved Apple iBook. Puppy's gotten quite a lot of press recently from the Mac mags, and I'm really thrilled with how he's been able to control all the electronic elements of my show with such elegance. We couldn't do it without him. So that's my band at present, and I'm really damn lucky to have them all.

Silverfox: What are your main influences when you sing and write songs?

EA: I really don't have musical influences per se, in the way that many people are inspired to create work "in the vein of" someone they admire. There are lots of people I respect and adore, and whose work makes me work harder at mine, and these include musicians like Sting, Annie Lennox, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Nigel Kennedy, The Smiths/Morrissey, David Bowie, Jo Stafford, numerous medieval and renaissance instrumental groups, composers like Vivaldi, Bach, Corelli, Elgar, Prokofieff, Barber, Mendelssohn, and so many more I can't think of right now because I'm out of green tea. When I need to write, it's like a luminescent ball of light deep in my abdomen, and I'm rabid until I get the chance to sit down and work it out of my system. I never think about "music," I think about an idea that I want to portray, and this could be done in any number of ways, from dance, to painting, to film. Because my chosen format is music, it's then my job to choose from the impossibly massive number of different notes and sounds until I (hopefully) end up with the perfect combination to express the mental image I want to instill in the listener. Writing is perhaps my most favorite activity, nothing is so satisfactory as to find yourself alone in a corner, penning a whole song in an hour, and thinking to yourself, "Well, aren't I a clever wench!" It's really lovely, like being able to finish the crossword puzzle and then getting a prize at the end of it. My subject matters tend towards the fantastical a lot of the time, and I think that's mainly because it's something I need. My mind needs that space to wander and dream and just romance itself with the possibilities of what could be if only we had the eyes to see.

Silverfox: What band or group would you like to team up with and play at a concert with?

EA: Ahhh...how can I choose? Some days it's Annie Lennox, some days it's Eric Clapton, but today, it's Morrissey. I am a huge, huge Smiths/Morrissey fan, and I've covered three or four songs in performance already. I would just explode at the chance to open for him, and, in my fantasyland, perhaps duet on something nice like "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out." We cover that song live in almost every show, and I've Emilie Autumnified it by adding church choir and whole chunks of baroque strings, just enough to make it unrecognizable until you're really hearing the first verse. Besides, I think we have a similar sense of sarcasm, and we could eat tofu together.

Silverfox: What was the greatest place you ever played music?

EA: The setting most conducive to spiritual enlightenment would have to have been when I was performing in Wales, in a medieval castle by the sea. I've had some great experiences in rock clubs in the states however; it's really all up to the audience. If I sense that connection with a crowd, we could be playing a dungeon and I'd be having the time of my life. Actually a dungeon doesn't sound all that bad…

Silverfox: Are you a part of any charities?

EA: I'm an active member of both PETA and Amnesty International. These are two organizations that I feel a personal need to be a part of, and contribute to. I'm a vegan, and I'd choose animal company over human any day of the week, so PETA is a given. I love what they do, and I can only imagine how much worse off our society would be without them, though there is far more to be accomplished for animal rights than has already been done. Amnesty is a really challenging organization to belong to because, if you go beyond just making the annual contribution and actually get involved in campaigning for the causes you believe in, you open yourself up to a whole world of atrocities that is potentially damaging for any civilized person to see unless they know how to properly digest this kind of truth. I can read about the rape epidemic in Kenya, and the sexual mutilation of female prisoners in various parts of the world, but I have to make a conscious decision when I go to bed at night to turn off the part of my brain that has just absorbed all of this, otherwise it completely overtakes me and I'm seething with anger and disgust at what men can do. There's a fine line between being aware, and being so aware that it destroys your own existence.

Silverfox: Where do you see yourself in 4 years?

EA: I don't really know, things seem to change so unexpectedly. I mean, who knows what the state of the music industry will be in four years; will there even be one, or will we all just be independent merchants, selling our wares? I'd certainly like to have established my label (Traitor Records) as a trustworthy organization that fights for art over mass consumerism. I suspect I'll have developed a slight righteous complex, and my friends will have to keep me in check from time to time. I'll also have gone through 500 pairs of wings, become a certified yoga instructor, and built a halfway house for wayward crows.

Silverfox: Do you believe people look up to you as a role model? If so, why?

EA: I don't think that's a rampant danger at this point. For one thing, I'm really not famous. When I walk down the street, yes, everyone stares, but it's not due to recognition, it's because they're wondering whether I'm human or not. I do get a lot of fan mail from a lot of lovely people, and some of them claim to look up to me in that way, and it's very flattering of course. For those people, I think they sense the difference between actual music and manufactured noise, but I also think it has to do with the fact that I'm a woman who does her best to stand for strength and independence, and I also have the keys to the fantasy world that so many desire to enter.

Silverfox: When you're away from home how often does it have an impact on your singing?

EA: I love touring, being on the road. I sleep better in hotel beds than in my own, I'm not sure why. I also really enjoy being in different environments but still surrounded by the people I'm most fond of, my band.

Silverfox: Do you ever write poetry or has it ever had any impact on your music?

EA: I actually have a book of poetry for sale on my website right now. It's a small volume called, "Across The Sky and Other Poems." I find that writing good poetry is very different from writing good lyrics, so the two don't cross as much as you might imagine. I am very much inspired by poetry in general, Shakespeare, Shelley, Poe, Wilde, and many more. I've always written ever since I was quite young, and I hope to keep developing my literary side to the point where I can release volumes on a regular basis.

Silverfox: What are the 5 most things you think our government should focus on to help not only the US but the other countries as well?

EA: That's funny, I think someone just asked Britney Spears this question too. It's difficult to make a political "to do" list, because as the state of the world rapidly changes so do our priorities. The things I do feel strongly about are as follows:

1. We need to stop feeling guilty over the fact that our country has an amazingly brilliant constitution as opposed to most other countries in the world, which do not. People fought and died to make our country a reality, and I think it's high time we take a little pride in that, instead of constantly kicking ourselves in the ass for being "better off" than many others. We are not "rich, fat, stupid Americans," though the media still finds some commercial benefit in telling us that we are.

2. If the world is ever to take on some semblance of harmony, we need to obliterate patriarchy and balance things out a bit. I want to see an end to the incredibly damaging media which targets and exploits women, I want to see all sexual predators castrated and jailed for life without exception, I want all men who use the words "woman," "girl," "cu**," or "p***y" in a derogatory manner, or as a way to insult other men, to be shunned as the very dregs of society, no less than we currently do to someone who uses the word "nigger." And, if at all convenient for everyone, it would be ever so charming if women at some point got equal pay for equal work, if that's not too much trouble. Thanks.

3. I believe that utilizing our own resources for oil would not be a mistake, though it was recently stated as such and denied. I am an environmentalist, but I also don't like war, and we need to be more self-sufficient than we currently are in order to be able to step out of other countries when the only thing keeping us there is our trade with them. I feel that the damage that would be inflicted on our country's environment is far less than that which comes as a result of our dependence on the mercy of our current oil providers.

4. We must halt the development of human, or other, cloning, test tube babies, and other such fuckings about with nature. If you think this is the appropriate next step in medicine, you're probably also on the board of the RIAA. We can't even cure AIDS, we don't need to be duplicating people.

5. Losing your personal privacy and freedom in the name of security, be it from supposed threats or internet piracy, is just that: a loss. 1984???

Silverfox: Please feel free to comment now on anything you wish. Anything you would like to add?