Emilie Autumn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Emilie Autumn
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Autumn performing live at Nachtleben in 2007
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| Also known as | Emilie Autumn Liddell |
| Born | September 22, 1979 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1997–present |
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Emilie Autumn Liddell (born September 22, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and violinist. She is also a poet and author. Emilie Autumn describes her music as "Fairy Pop," "Fantasy Rock," or "Victoriandustrial." Her style is inspired by glam rock, plays, novels, and especially the Victorian era. When she performs, she includes elements of classical music, cabaret, electronica, and glam rock. Her shows are very theatrical and feature her all-female backup dancers, The Bloody Crumpets.
Emilie grew up in Malibu, California. She started playing the violin at age four. Five years later, she left regular school to become a world-class violinist. She practiced for many hours each day and read a lot of books. She later began writing her own music. Emilie studied with different teachers and attended Indiana University. However, she left because she disagreed with how classical music performers were expected to look. In 1997, she released her first classical album, On a Day: Music for Violin & Continuo, through her own record label, Traitor Records. In 2003, she released her album Enchant.
In 2004, Emilie Autumn joined singer Courtney Love's band, The Chelsea, for her America's Sweetheart tour in Europe. In 2006, Emilie released the album Opheliac with the German label Trisol Music Group. A year later, she released Laced/Unlaced. This album included a re-release of On a Day... (called Laced) and new songs played on the electric violin (called Unlaced). In 2009, she joined The End Records and released Opheliac in the United States. Her album Fight Like a Girl came out in 2012. She also acted in the films The Devil's Carnival (2012) and its sequel Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival (2015), playing the character of the Painted Doll.
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Early Life and Musical Journey
Emilie Autumn was born in Los Angeles, California, on September 22, 1979. She grew up in Malibu, California, surrounded by nature and the sea. She believes this helped her become a "free spirit." Her mother was a seamstress. Her family enjoyed many types of music, even though they were not musicians themselves.
When Emilie was four years old, she started learning the violin. She once said she asked for a violin but didn't even know what it was. Four years later, she performed as a solo violinist with an orchestra and won a competition. At age nine or ten, she left regular school to focus on becoming a world-class violinist. She practiced for eight or nine hours every day, took lessons, and read many different books. She was home-schooled.
Emilie started writing her own music and poetry when she was about thirteen or fourteen. She never planned to sing her songs. She studied with various teachers and went to Indiana University. However, she left after two years. She felt that performers should be able to express themselves through their clothing and appearance, and that this would not disrespect the music or the audience.
When she was eighteen, Emilie decided to sing on one of her songs. She wanted to show a music producer how it should sound. But she was unhappy with the changes made to her songs. So, she decided to start her own independent record label, Traitor Records. In 1997, she released her first classical album, On a Day: Music for Violin & Continuo. She recorded it when she was seventeen. The album's title means it took only one day to record. It features her playing the baroque violin with other musicians. She also released her poetry book Across the Sky & Other Poems in 2000. It was later re-released in 2005 as Your Sugar Sits Untouched with an audiobook that included music.
Albums and Collaborations
In 2001, Emilie Autumn moved to Chicago, Illinois. She liked the city's public transportation and music scene. She released the EP Chambermaid in 2001. She also wrote the charity single "By the Sword" after the events of September 11, 2001. She said the song is about strength and making an unbreakable promise to do what is right.
On February 26, 2003, Emilie released her album Enchant. This album mixed different music styles like "new-age, pop and trip hop chamber music." She wrote Enchant when she was a teenager. It was about the supernatural world and how it affects modern life. Emilie called it "fantasy rock," dealing with "dreams and stories and ghosts and faeries."
The night Enchant was released, Emilie learned that Courtney Love wanted her to record an album and go on tour. Emilie played violin and sang backing vocals in Love's band, The Chelsea, for the 2004 tour. She performed live with Courtney Love on Late Show with David Letterman and at Bowery Ballroom. In September 2004, her father passed away. Later in 2004, she appeared on a TV show called Crafters Coast to Coast. She showed how to make faery wings and sushi-shaped soap, which she sold online. On December 23, 2004, she was on the TV station WGN. She was part of a string quartet backing up Billy Corgan and Dennis DeYoung for a song.
Opheliac and Other Releases
Emilie Autumn started working on her album Opheliac in August 2004. She recorded it in Chicago. In August 2005, she designed costumes for Billy Corgan's music video "Walking Shade." She also played violin and sang on his song "DIA" from his 2005 album TheFutureEmbrace.
In January 2006, Emilie performed a song from Opheliac, called "Misery Loves Company," on WGN. The album was released by the German label Trisol Music Group in September. She released a special preview EP of Opheliac through her own label, Traitor Records, in spring 2006. Emilie said Opheliac was about a "life-changing and life-ending experience." Her song "Opheliac" later appeared on other albums. In October 2006, she appeared on the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse as a guest artist. In November 2006, she released the EP Liar/Dead Is the New Alive, which had remixes and new songs.
Emilie released her instrumental album, Laced/Unlaced, in March 2007. It had two discs: Laced, which was a re-release of On a Day..., and Unlaced, which had new songs for the electric violin. She performed live at German music festivals like Wave Gotik Treffen and M'era Luna Festival in 2007. She then released A Bit o' This & That, an album of rare tracks. It included her cover songs by The Beatles and The Smiths, classical pieces, and her own songs. In 2008, she released the EP 4 o'Clock. It had remixes, new songs, and a reading from her book The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls. She also released another EP, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun &Bohemian Rhapsody, that same year. In 2009, Emilie joined The End Records and re-released Opheliac in the United States. This version included extra pictures, bonus songs, and a video.
Emilie also worked with other musicians. She sang backing vocals and played violin for the band Die Warzau. She also played violin on a song for OTEP's 2009 album. Two of her songs were used in film soundtracks: "Organ Grinder" in the European edition of Saw III and a remixed "Dead Is The New Alive" in the international version of Saw IV.
Books and Recent Projects
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Emilie Autumn's first novel, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, was published in late 2009. A second edition came out in 2010. The book combines Emilie's own real-life journal entries with the diary of a fictional Victorian-era asylum patient named "Emily." Emilie said the book shows that there isn't much difference between asylums for women in 1841 and today. She also wanted to show that mental health is still not fully understood. Emilie has spoken about having bipolar disorder in interviews.
In June 2010, Emilie announced the title of her album, Fight Like a Girl. She said the title means "taking all these things that make women the underdogs and using them to your advantage." The album is based on her novel, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls. It tells a story about women in an asylum who realize their strength when they work together. In August 2010, she had to postpone her North American tour because she needed jaw surgery. In September 2011, she shared the lyrics for the album's title track, "Fight Like a Girl." On April 11, 2012, she released the single "Fight Like a Girl," with "Time for Tea" as a B-side.
In April 2012, Emilie announced plans for a three-hour musical based on her novel. It was planned to open in London's West End theatre in 2014. She planned to play both main characters, Emilie and Emily.
In late 2011, a preview was released for the film The Devil's Carnival. Emilie Autumn played The Painted Doll, which was her first big acting role. The film was released in April 2012. Members of her Bloody Crumpets band also appeared in the film. On June 13, 2012, Emilie announced that Fight Like a Girl would be released on July 24, 2012.
In 2013, Emilie created and starred in her first music video for the song "Fight Like a Girl." The video was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. In 2014, Emilie appeared at some dates on the Vans Warped Tour with "The Asylum Experience." This show included music, burlesque, circus acts, and theater.
On September 22, 2018, she released The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls: Behind the Musical. This album had songs made for her upcoming musical. In 2018, she also published a short story called The Gown. On November 3, 2021, Emilie released the single "The Passenger," a cover of a song by Iggy Pop. This was her first official release in three years. In January 2022, she released "We Have Instructions," "Who's a Little Leech?," and "Portraits."
Musical Style and Influences
Emilie Autumn's music includes many different styles. Her singing voice is a contralto, but she can also sing in the dramatic soprano range. Her vocal style has been compared to singers like Tori Amos and Kate Bush. She has released two instrumental albums (On a Day... and Laced/Unlaced) and four albums with her vocals: Enchant, Opheliac, A Bit o' This & That, and Fight Like a Girl. Her 2003 album Enchant used "new age chamber music, trip hop baroque, and experimental space pop." Emilie often layers her voice and uses electronic sounds and effects in her music. She also combines strings and piano in some songs.
Emilie is a classically trained musician. She is influenced by plays, novels, and history, especially the Victorian era. She enjoys the works of Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, and Edgar Allan Poe. She uses sounds that sound like Victorian machines, such as locomotives, which she calls a "steampunk thing." When she was young, she admired violinist Itzhak Perlman. Her main musical inspiration is the English violinist Nigel Kennedy. Her favorite singer is Morrissey from The Smiths. She gets ideas for her songs from her own life experiences. She also adds "layers and layers of references, connections, other stories and metaphors."
Emilie Autumn has described her music and style as "Psychotic Vaudeville Burlesque" and "Victoriandustrial." She also calls it glam rock because she uses glitter on stage. She says her music "wasn't meant to be cutesy." It is called "industrial" mainly because of her use of drums and yelling.
Her live shows feature handmade costumes, fire tricks, and theatrical performances. Her all-female backing band, The Bloody Crumpets, has included various performers like Veronica Varlow (The Naughty Veronica) and Maggie Lally (Captain Maggot). Emilie wants her live shows to be a statement of "anti-repression" and empowerment.
Personal Life
Emilie Autumn has a ritual of drawing a heart on her cheek. She says it is a symbol of protection.
She became vegetarian at age eleven. She couldn't understand why people would eat farm animals but not their pets. In her late teens, she became vegan. She believes there is a connection between how women and animals are treated in society. In August 2014, Emilie said she had developed copper toxicity. Because of this, she was no longer vegan, but she remained a committed vegetarian. In 2021, Emilie adopted a Toy Manchester Terrier dog, whom she named Darjeeling.
Discography
- Enchant (2003)
- Opheliac (2006)
- Fight Like a Girl (2012)
- The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls: Behind the Musical (2018)
- On a Day... (1997)
- Laced/Unlaced (2007)
Concert Tours
- The Asylum Tour (2007)
- The Plague Tour (2008)
- The Gate Tour (2008–2009)
- The Key Tour (2009)
- The Door Tour (2011)
- The Fight Like a Girl Tour (2011–2012)
Filmography
- 11-11-11 as 11'er in Video (2011) Uncredited
- The Devil's Carnival (2012) as Painted Doll
- Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival (2015) as June / The Painted Doll
See also
In Spanish: Emilie Autumn para niños
