#v mix

V-Mix: You’re one of the few artists that have not only embraced Internet radio, but have successfully harnessed its potential power. What do you think the future of the medium is, and as an artist, how would you like to see it evolve?

EA: Sadly, internet radio is undergoing some really tough times as a result of the latest fines imposed upon it. I think that, three years from now, we will look back on this era as one of the most ridiculous times in music. I mean, the vast majority of mainstream music takes “shit” to a whole new level. The major labels, after experiencing some financial losses in the past year, are petrified by the wrath of their shareholders and will accuse anyone in order to get out of the hot seat themselves. Of course, the RIAA exists solely to support and protect the major labels, so their conniving blather is to be expected. It’s all about control. The majors could capitalize on the advance of the internet (radio, downloads, etc.) and turn the new diversity offered to listeners into increased cash flow, but they can’t have that because, despite their potential gains, they would then be losing the absolute control of the public ear. When people have the opportunity to expose themselves to a larger variety of music than mainstream radio offers (via internet radio programming and various file sharing services), they will not buy less music, they will buy more, but their tastes will also not be as easily dictated, predicted, and manipulated, resulting in loss of marketing control for the labels. They can’t operate in a system where they can’t predict what will be successful. It’s what their whole empire depends upon, and the moment you introduce that question mark into the equation, they’re running around like decapitated chickens, accusing everyone with a modem of thievery. Ultimately, every single artist on, or affiliated with, a major label, is a pawn on the chessboard of global society. I’m not saying all artists on major labels are rubbish, because that isn’t true; some artists happened to get their break on major labels, and have gone on to produce quality music. Still, their releases are coordinated by the label to suit the label, their media is orchestrated by the label to suit the label, even (and especially) their controversies are hatched by the label to suit the label, and their ultimate purpose is to control what you hear, what you see, what you think, so that they can go to their shareholders and say, “We guarantee that this will sell, we guarantee that next year this will sell, we guarantee that the year after that this will sell, and because we dictate public taste through our omnipotent control of ALL media (which everyone knows is the most powerful entity in the world), we will never fail.” That’s what shareholders want to hear, and that’s what the majors are going to tell them, at the expense of internet radio, independent media, independent artists, artistic creation of any kind, and ultimately, YOUR freedom. Fight like hell.

V-Mix: You’ve been touring the Midwest quite a bit recently. Any Mid-Atlantic tour plans in the works?

EA: I’m actually contemplated touring schedules as we speak, and I’d love to expand my normal touring regions into the Mid-Atlantic and beyond. I think it’s about time.

V-Mix: Who, if anyone, inspired you to become the incredibly diverse musician that you are today?

EA: I don’t believe I can point to any one or two musicians in whose footsteps I have followed, though I am certainly an admirer of many. I’ve gleaned inspiration from a handful of artists that came before me and combined what I learned with my own claustrophobia when it comes to being boxed in to a certain mindset, a certain category. I’m inspired by the strength and gorgeous female power of Annie Lennox. I’m humbled by the songwriting craftsmanship of Sting. I’m intoxicated by the unnaturally beautiful voice of Morrissey, and I learned how to play the violin more from the albums of Nigel Kennedy than from my master teachers. Put that and a pinch of Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Etta James, Eric Clapton, Hildegard von Bingen, and a Celtic reel all together in a snow globe filled with glitter, shake it up, and smash it against a wall. Add wings, and you have me.

V-Mix: What artists do you enjoy listening to now?

EA: Anything I can illegally download. Just kidding. I listen to the old as much as the new, so my iTunes playlist is populated by a combination of Vivaldi (Fabio Biondi doing “The Four Seasons”), Erasure (I’m covering “Love To Hate You”), The Smiths (“The Queen Is Dead”), and the new Moby album.

V-Mix: You’ve played everything from small intimate clubs, to some of the great concert halls of the United States and Europe. Which do you prefer, and why?

EA: Both types of venues have their charms as well as drawbacks. In concert halls, you have the honor inherent in playing such beautiful venues, and you get to play music that would never fly in a rock club, for example, Barber’s Violin Concerto with full orchestra. The drawback is that you have the distinct feeling that you are not reaching the whole of society, but only those that can afford season tickets to the opera. I respect those people for helping to keep high art alive, but they are not the only people that count. In rock clubs, the nice ones anyway, you get to be wild and loud and shocking, and you feel like you are actively changing the outlook of the people you’re playing for. The drawback is that, at least when you play the violin, you have to convince people that they’re in the right place.

V-Mix: In terms of songwriting, at what moments do you find yourself most inspired?

EA: I find that, unlike a lot of musicians I’ve read about, I am most creative when I’m actually nearing happy. Only then do I have the proper distance from a sad or difficult situation to actually write intelligently about it. The only exception to this was in the case of “By The Sword,” which was composed and recorded on 9/11/01. In general, I think what makes a real songwriter is the ability to transpose oneself into an infinite number of dimensions and record accurately and with elegance what one experiences. I’ve purposely developed my mind so that I can float from one world to the next, constantly gathering seeds, and then arrive back home to plant them, usually inexplicably dressed with one striped sock on and a “My Little Pony” T-shirt I didn’t know I had. It’s nothing more than advanced daydreaming.

V-Mix: You’ve been pursued by major labels, but chose to follow your own career path. Why did you decline major label backing, and have you ever regretted the decision?

EA: I’ve actually worked with major labels in the past, which is why I feel somewhat qualified to criticize them so harshly. I was first courted by a major in my teens and spent a summer locked in a studio, writing songs that were promptly torn apart by the producers, a team of fat, rich, Europeans who thought it was fine to slap my ass. I wrote “Rapunzel” (from the upcoming album “Enchant”) at that time, but it was rejected because they said that “Rapunzal” was an ugly word, that no one knew who it was anyway, and that it would never go over well in Japan. They hated “Chambermaid” because it was supposedly about “lords and ladies.” I was told to stop introducing my fiddle into my songs because they said that the general public was intimidated by anything that remotely reminded them of “classical” music. I was told that I had to add more words like “love” and “baby” to my songs because “that’s what people want,” and again, so that it would do well in Japan (their theory was that those are the only words that the Japanese would understand, and you have to give them something to sing along to). I was told to get a tan and cut my hair so that I would resemble the average fashion model as opposed to something more exotic. When I questioned the system, I was told that if I did not comply, I would never be able to buy my mother a house. When I complained, I was told to shut up because I was embarrassing them in front of their backers. Bearing in mind that this particular brand of hell is the norm, not the exception, who in their right mind would regret any decision that enabled them NOT to work with people like this?

V-Mix: What do you most hope to accomplish?