Support Women Artists Sunday: Emilie Autumn

Emilie Autumn is an American singer-songwriter, poet and musician. The Los Angeles-born musician is also eccentric and label-defying in the best possible way.

As a young girl, it was Emilie´s dream to become a top-notch violinst. At fourteen, she entered the Music Conservatory at Indiana University, but she left after two years because her opinions on individuality in classical music clashed with those of The Powers That Be. Emilie contributed backing vocals and violin to Courtney Love and Billy Corgan´s 2003 and 2004 albums, respictively. 2003 she released a full-length album called Enchant, which was re-released in 2007 and is now available on iTunes. Her songs have also been featured on the Saw 3 and Saw 4 soundtracks. She has been named one of "14 Artists to Watch" by Interview Magazine. Her most significant work to date is her third full-length album, Opheliac, which served as a creative outlet to address many of the traumatic experiences she has gone through, including sexual abuse and being a psych ward inmate. The musical backdrop to her dark and intense lyrics is hard to describe- she herself has coined it Violindustrial, a nod to the Victorian age and her electric violin playing. She owns her own record label- Traitor Records- on which she hopes to eventually sign other artists. 2009 Emilie published The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, a novel based on the same personal experiences that made Opheliac popular in the alternative music scene.

Emilie has toured predominantly in Europe, but she is also beginning to become well-known in North America. She incorporates plenty of theatrics into her shows, which can be best described as part burlesque show, part circus and part concert. She is also supported by a back-up group called the Bloody Crumpets, a group of women who dance, sing and add to the visual spectacle of her performances. What´s interesting about Emilie Autumn from a feminist perspective is also the way she utilizes her sexuality. Several of the Bloody Crumpets have backgrounds in burlesque and art modeling and Emilie and her Crumpets are often dressed in elaborate yet scanty costumes. But the way they interact with each other is playful and within the context of being subversive, ie girl-on-girl kissing where you get the feeling that the girls in question actually *gasp* like it beyond just titillating the audience. Whatever project Emilie is tackling, you always get the feeling that she is the one in control. You´re just along for the ride.

Misery Loves Company Opheliac Dead is the New Alive Emilie Autumn on iTunes: