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Emilie Autumn
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Background Information
Name Emilie Autumn Liddell
Born September 22, 1979
Birth Place Malibu, California, USA
Instrument(s) violin, piano, vocals
Label(s) Traitor Records
Trisol Music Group GmbH
The End Records
The Asylum Emporium

 Emilie Autumn Liddell (born as Emily Autumn Fritzges, whose name has since been legally changed to Emilie Autumn Liddell) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, author, and poet most well known for her works relating to the theme of The Asylum. As of 2016, she has released five studio albums, a number of EPs, a poetry book, and her novel, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, an autobiography and historical fiction thriller.

Life and Career[]

Early life and musical beginnings[]

Autumn was born in Malibu, California in September 1979. She is the daughter of costume designer Janice Longmire and diner owner Wolfgang Friztges. She is the second oldest of four siblings.

In her autobiographical novel, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian' GirlsAutumn comments on how auditory hallucinations, stemming from bipolar disorder, came to her at a very young age. She would drown out these voices by playing Pachelbel's Canon in D in her head until she could sleep.

When Autumn was 4 years old, she started learning the violin by her own choice stating that she didn't know why she wanted a violin, but she was glad she had it. When Autumn was 10, she left school to focus on her musical training.[1] At this time, Autumn attended the Colburn School of Performing Arts, studying chamber music, jazz and theory. [2] Autumn attended Indiana University at the age of 15, but dropped out after a short time due to her professors critiques on her "unorthodox appearance" while performing. [3]

At 18, Autumn was signed on to a classical recording label, which she would leave for the same reason she left Indiana University. Autumn has also spoken on some occasions about experiences with a "major label" in which she described as "horrible" due to a lack of creative control. Autumn elaborates that the label wanted her to play her violin less and less, as they saw it as "possibly intimidating" to audiences. The label would also hire other songwriters for Autumn's projects against her will. [4]

Enchant era & The Chelsea (1995-04)[]

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Emilie performing in 2001

Autumn had begun to write and record Enchant as early as 1995, though the album would not be officially released for another 8 years. In the meantime, in 1997, Autumn self-released her debut instrumental album, On a Day: Music for Violin & Continuo (more commonly referred to as: On a Day...), when she was 17 years old. Its title refers to both the Shakespeare song and the fact that the album took only a day to record. It consists of Autumn performing work for the baroque violin, accompanied by friends on the cello, harpsichord, and lute.


In 2000, Autumn was signed on to Seraph Records, with whom she would release the Chambermaid EP in 2001, and the single By The Sword in response to the 9-11 terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. All proceeds for By The Sword went to Red Cross. At this time, Enchant was ready for release, but the project was held back due to conflicts with Seraph Records.

In 2003, Enchant was self-released upon departing from Seraph Records. The album's artwork contained the Enchant Puzzle, which offered a reward of the Faerie Queene's clothing if the listener could decipher Autumn's puzzle. The prizes included The Faerie Queene's wings, ruff, fan, and scepter. To this day, the puzzle has not been solved, though Autumn still insists that the puzzle is "solveable."

Autumn and a close friend, known as Queen fLee, would begin small independent fashion houses known as WillowTech House and Alter, a "shrine" to Recycled Fashion, where items such as shirts, jewelry, perfume, hair accessories, and faerie wings were sold through these venues. The most notable release was Autumn's first perfume, Mistress. Autumn also had a Cafe Press website that hosted Traitor Records, WillowTech House, and Emilie Autumn goods from approximately 2001 to 2005.

In 2004, Courtney Love stumbled upon Autumn's violin abilities and insisted that Autumn come work with her band The Chelsea for their new album, America's Sweetheart. Autumn complied and joined The Chelsea for recording and touring about Europe. However, much of Autumn's violin work did not get released on their album. Autumn commented: "This had to do entirely with new producers taking over the project after our little vacation in France, and carefully discarding all of our sessions." During this time, Autumn would appear on The Late Show With David Letterman and perform in venues that would have otherwise been unavailable to a fledgling artist. 

Later in 2004, Autumn appeared on WGTV's Crafter's Coast to Coast in which she demonstrated how to make faerie wings and sushi soap.

In 2005, Autumn would re-release Across the Sky in the form of a poetry book, with some additional poems such as Your Sugar Sits Untouchedwhich was sold through CafePress.com as a WillowTech House product. It featured a full-length spoken voice double-disc release with the book, wherein Autumn read all her poetry with minor musical background.

Opheliac & Laced/Unlaced (2005-11)[]

In 2005, Autumn was signed onto the German Record label, Trisol Records. Her work on Opheliac from 2004 would continue in Chicago with friend and sound engineer, Inkydust at Mad Villian Studios. 

Other collaborations in 2005 included costuming Billy Corgan's Walking Shade music video and the violin and vocals for the track Gates of Eternity on Attrition's album, The Voice of Mary Ann Cotton. Autumn later shamed the release of her work, as it was "unapproved and altered" from her original work and intended for a separate release with Martin Bowes.

In January of 2006, Autumn would perform Misery Loves Company on Chicago's WGN network to promote her album shortly before it's release in September of 2006. Autumn also released her own Opheliac EP of the album through Traitor Records (which would be Traitor's last release) in April to promote the album, which featured six songs from Opheliac. The album's fifth track did not work due to a malfunction with the printer. While these EPs were shipping out, Autumn's home was robbed, which caused a delay in the shipping and production.

A double feature EP was released, Liar & Dead is the New Alive, in 2006. The EP featured two tracks from Opheliac, and a sneak-peek at Autumn's upcoming instrumental album, Laced/Unlaced. Following this EP release in October of 2006, Autumn's violin work was featured in Brendon Small's and Adult Swim's Metalocalypse. Autumn covered the television's shows intro music, and was featured for a single episode. Autumn's violin is present in the 2007 release of The Dethalbum. Following this, Autumn worked on Laced/Unlaced during her stay with Small. The instrumental two-disc "violinindustrial" album would be released in 2007. The tracks Unlaced and Face the Wall were added to Autumn's live show. The first disc, Laced, was a re-release of Autumn's debut instrumental album, On a Day...

Autumn later released A Bit O This & That in 2007, a compilation of her covers, classical pieces, and her own vocal songs. In 2008, Autumn released the EP 4 o'Clock, which contained remixes of songs from Opheliac, new songs, and a reading from her autobiographical novel The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls. Autumn also released another EP, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun & Bohemian Rhapsody, the same year. 

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Emilie, Aprella, Veronica Varlow, and Contessa on the first North American tour

In 2009, Autumn broke away from Trisol Music Group to join The End Records, re-releasing Opheliac as a deluxe album on October 27 for the United States as it was previously only available to Americans as an import. The re-release included extras such as pictures, bonus tracks, an excerpt from The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, and a video of a puppet singing one of her songs.

In late 2009 and early 2010, the autobiographical novel The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls was released after much anticipation. At nearly 5-pounds, the hardcover book is printed on glossy paper and features Autumn's journal writings, designs, sketches, and story about her time spent in a psychiatric ward and the events that occurred within. Autumn's experiences remain highly controversial to fans and critics, who wonder on the truthfulness and accuracy of her descriptions and thoughts of the medical health care system in America.

2009 also saw the release of Autumn's The Opheliac Companionwhich was a nine-hour commentary with herself and Inkydust about the 2006 release. It covered all the songs on the first disc of the original album. 

During this time, Autumn went on extensive touring with Opheliac, touring both North America and the Europe seven times.  

F.L.A.G. & The Asylum Army (2011-14)[]

The first news of Autumn's new album came in the tracks of The Opheliac Companionwherein Autumn stated that the new album might be called "Fight Like A Girl." In 2010, Autumn released the acronym "F.L.A.G." on Twitter before revealing the album's full title: Fight Like A GirlThe album was released on July 24, 2012, after a two-track digital single early on in the year. 

The album is based on Autumn's aforementioned novel, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian GirlsIt is also meant to serve as a blueprint for an upcoming musical Autumn plans to debut on London's Westend before bringing it to the States and formulating a movie script from the play.

Autumn has performed on two tours with this album and is coming up on her third, which will be a European tour. The title track, Fight Like A Girl was also performed during on of Autumn's last Opheliac Concerts in Australia when she was participating in the Harvest Music Festival in 2011.

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A music video for the title track was released in April of 2013, having been filmed in December 2012 in a theater in downtown LA. Many co-stars from The Devil's Carnival were featured in the seven-minute video, including Marc Senter and Dayton Callie. It was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, friend and collaborator of Autumn. Fans were given the chance to appear in the music video through an online screening and casting call.

In 2013, Autumn relocated from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Autumn opened an Official Fan Club (Asylum Army Fan Club) in May of 2013, with registration costs of $100 for a life-time membership and in February of 2014 monthly and quarterly memberships replaced the lifetime membership. Fan Club members had access to a small number of private posts and videos and could participate in video chats with Emilie. The Fan Club was discontinued September 8th 2014.

Behind the Music (2018-Present)[]

In 2018 she released The Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls: Behind The Musical.

On November 3, 2021, Autumn released the single "The Passenger", a cover of the song by Iggy Pop, marking her first official release in three years. In January 2022 she released We Have Instructions, later on she released: Who's A Little Leach? and Portraits that very same year.

Personal Life[]

Family History and Controversial Claims[]

Autumn claimed on several occasions that her family "died in a fire," though it has since been reported that her mother and siblings are alive. Autumn's father Wolfgang passed away from lung cancer in 2004. There has been much speculation amongst fans as to why Autumn made this claim about her family perishing in a fire, but an official statement has yet to be made by Autumn. According to the audiobook The Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls, it appears that Autumn ditched this claim, simply responding "None" when asked about her family.

In the early 2010s, Autumn became a subject for ridicule upon a suggesting claim she made in her book, The Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls, that her real last name is "Liddell, yes, THAT Liddell." Consequently, this left many fans to believe that she is a direct descendant of Alice Liddell. Though Autumn never officially made that claim, many fans looked into Autumn's family history and became upset at what they considered to be another false claim with no explanation as to why.

Relationships and Fan Speculations[]

Autumn has been involved in heteroromantic relationships throughout her career, despite coming out as asexual. This may likely be due to trauma she has claimed to face in her relationships, including sexual assault as a child. Her most notable partners are the following:

Jimmy Vanaria (2003-2005)

Jimmy Vanaria was the bassist in Autumn's live band when Autumn was touring with her Enchant album in 2003 and 2004. Autumn and Vanaria owned a house together and had a dog, Willow. Vanaria retained ownership of both when the couple split. It is believed that Autumn left Vanaria to be with Billy Corgan, a longtime crush of Autumn's.

Billy Corgan (2005)

Corgan is a friend and ex-boyfriend of Courtney Love, and had met Autumn while she was with Love's band in 2004, and the two were living together a year later. Autumn's song In The Lake is speculated to be about her stay at Corgan's lakeside property where she tried to drown herself whilst in a manicdepressive episode, leading to her forced admission in a psychiatric facility. Songs on Opheliac are believed to be about Corgan severing ties with Autumn during this time, most notably Liar and I Know Where You Sleep. There is a line in both tracks in regards to comparing one another's poetry, lyrically linking the two songs together. I Know Where You Sleep also directly jabs at Corgan's hit with The Smashing Pumpkins Bullet With Butterfly Wings, with the lines "You can fake it on stage" (in reference to the line, "Can we fake it for just one more show?") and "Crawl from your cage," (in reference to the line, "Despite all my rage, I'm still just a rat in a cage").

Brendon Small (2006-2007)

In 2006 and 2007, Autumn was living with Brendon Small in Los Angeles. She collaborated with Dethklok on their song "Dethharmonic" and her string work was featured in an episode of Adult Swim's Metalocalypse. In 2007, she appeared live with them and performed violin for the song. A good portion of Laced/Unlaced was recorded in Small's house.

Marc Senter (2011-current)

Autumn met Senter on the set of The Devil's Carnival in 2011. It has never been officially announced that Autumn and Senter are dating; however, it is has heavily been implied through their interactions on Twitter and Instagram. Senter was featured in Autumn's music video for her song, Fight Like A Girl and the two have formed a band known as Platonic Friends. On June 24, 2012, Autumn conducted a live webcast for her Asylum Army Fan Club from Senter's residence.[5] She also talked about how she and Senter washed their faces together in the mornings when asked about her skin routine.

Influences and Style[]

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Autumn has influences that are highly classical, from Mozart to Bach. Autumn's lyrics are heavily inspired by Shakespeare's works, most noteably Hamlet, and she is a lover of Edgar Allen Poe. Autumn's earliest music has a highly classical Renaissance/Baroque influence, while works such as Opheliac seem to be influenced by the goth and industrial culture. Laced/Unlaced seems to be most akin to heavy metal industrial music (though it is self-proclaimed "victoriandustrial" music), while Fight Like A Girl is heavily stylized to Broadway musicals. Autumn's influences are far and wide in the musical world.

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Overall, Autumn's music is best described as a mix of classical, industrial, and glam rock (excluding Enchant), however, Autumn herself has described her music and style as "Psychotic, Vaudeville [and] Burlesque." Autumn's vocal range is contralto. Autumn's live performances are best described as a "mix of rock and burlesque, as well as a bit of dinner theater" as the band and lead singer throw tea, cupcakes, and other baked goods into the audience. One member of Autumn's live band, Veronica Varlow, performs a burlesque routine each night.


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Autumn's musical taste is also varied, as she is a fan of bands such as Moi Dix Mois, Nigel Kennedy, and Morrissey, all of whom practice very different styles of music.  

Discography[]

Studio Albums


Compilation Albums


EPs/Singles

Singles[]

  • Prick! Goes the Scorpion's Tale (on The Devil's Carnival soundtrack)
  • Fight Like a Girl (2012)
  • The Passenger (Iggy Pop cover, 2021)
  • We Have Instructions (2022)
  • Who's A Little Leach? (2022)
  • Portraits (2022)

Music videos[]

  • "Fight Like a Girl" (2013)

Books and Broadway Musical[]

Autumn has written three books to date, which include one full-length novel and two poetry books. She also has other writing projects she speaks about on occasion, such as The Alphabet Book of Ex-Boyfriends and a "tea book".


Her most recent title, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, is the inspiration and basis for her newest album, Fight Like A GirlTogether, both the book and the album are to lead up to the creation of a musical about The Asylum... that Autumn intends to launch in 2014 on London's Westend. After the musical there is rumored to be a movie, both of which will be directed by Darren Bousman.

Collaborations[]

Other Musical Projects[]

Emilie has been associated with many other musical projects throughout her career, most of which have not come to see the light of day. These projects include:

The most recent of these projects, Platonic Friends, is a collaboration between Emilie Autumn and her Devil's Carnival co-star and significant other, Marc Senter. Platonic Friends also is very likely to simply be an inside joke of Emilie and Marc's and not an actual project at all.

Links[]

References[]

  1. http://www.musicaldiscoveries.com/reviews/emilieautumn.htm - I had an odd scenario happen to me in that, at some point, around age ten, my musical training and my general education became one. By this I mean that, due to my complete involvement in and commitment to the study of music, the school life was nothing more than an inconvenient distraction. And as I hated it anyway, what with the status as "weird," "antisocial," and the physical threats, there seemed to be no reason to go anymore, so I just didn't. I stayed at home, took lessons, had orchestra practice, practiced on my own up to eight hours a day, rode my horse, and when I wasn't doing either of those, I was reading everything under the sun from music history to feminist literature to Shakespeare, which is why I'm not a complete idiot at this time.
  2. http://bonnytymepyrate.tumblr.com/post/154781333314/emilie-autumn-enjoying-busy-summer Autumn, who studied chamber music, jazz and theory at the Coburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, toured Europe when she was 12. A few years later, she was accepted at Indiana University’s School of Music at Bloomington. But dressing provocatively drew the ire of professors. Autumn eventually left the college. 
  3. http://emilieautumnarchives.tumblr.com/post/23793446959/when-emilie-was-under-the-label-seraph-which From Seraph Record's website - Original version no longer online "At 15, Emilie won a place at top music conservatory, Indiana University, but eventually left school when her unorthodox music and by now notorious fashion sense, a disturbing mix of corsets and combat boots, clashed with the university authorities"
  4. http://www.musicaldiscoveries.com/reviews/emilieautumn.htm "That experience was very unpleasant. One might say, "horrible." I really began working when I was still quite young, and I've had so many managers and would-be producers it's truly disgusting. People in the industry were always, always, always telling me that I would be so very saleable if only I would sing as well as play the violin. This of course only strengthened my resolve to never sing because I was defiant and I felt that my skill on the violin, something I had spent all my life slaving over and bonding with, really ought to be enough. Then one day I get the bright idea to record one of my songs onto my four track and sing the vocal parts myself, just so that this one record label who had asked to sign me could get the idea of what the song was supposed to sound like. This tape gets to a producer under contract with another label, a major, and I'm called in for a meeting. I play for them. I sing for them. I show them my material. They flip and tell me I'm beautiful, perfect, don't need to change a thing, blah, blah, blah. I'm 18 and not at all sure I want to do this, but now I'm committed to singing, and I'm getting used to my voice, and I'm having fun with it. But things deteriorate rapidly when another writer is flown in, another arranger is flown in, and suddenly my songs don't sounds like mine anymore, and my violin is being thinned out because the producers wholeheartedly believe that the general public is "threatened" by any reference to what could be seen as "classical." Of course, I balk, and where I was once treated like a princess, I'm now dealt with as a rebellious ingrate who has to be kept in line with constant monitoring and excessive restraints. I go to my manager, my first from the big leagues, for help, and his heart is so set on the cash from the deal and subsequent touring that he tells me I'm crazy for complaining and that he can't support me if I choose to break the deal. I broke the deal."
  5. Again, it was not confirmed as his place of residence. However, he appeared in the webcast with her and they spoke of him going to take a shower. When Autumn tried to communicate to Captain Maggot (who was a guest) where to find things around the house, she repeatedly whispered the name of the person she was referring to.
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