MacFormat Magazine Interview, September, 2002
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FANTASY FIDDLER
Concert violinist and fantasy rocker Emilie Autumn is young, gifted and taking her musical and technical talents to the Mac. Rob MacFie finds out more.
When Nigel Kennedy heard Emilie Autumn's album of Baroque violin works he placed a versatile four-letter expletive in front of the word 'phenomenal' to describe what he heard. Since I'm no music critic, and Nigel Kennedy is one of the world's leading violin virtuosos, we'll take it as a given that the girl can play. Her talents, however, don't stop with the violin.
The Chicago-based musician has packed a lot into her 22 years. At 17 she released her first album, On A Day. This year she releases her alternative rock debut album, Enchant. She's also the president of her own record label, Traitor Records, as well as being a singer, songwriter, producer, pianist and world-class violinist.
In a world dominated by prefabricated pop and slimy record executives, Emilie's eclectic mix of sounds and styles, combined with her unconventional dress sense - Tinkerbell meets Tomb Raider - defines a new catagory of rock music that she likes to call Fantasy Rock.
Computer literate from an early age, when she isn't playing her electric violin a la Hendrix she can be found hard at work on her Apple Mac. She's a hands-on kind of girl, and provides the creative input and relentless drive on numerous projects.
In addition, she's a fanatical tea drinker and firmly believes in the existence of faeries.
MASTERING THE MIX
Emilie has used Macs to record all her albums. To record live audio she runs ProTools software on her G4. She stipulates that the Mac is truly the musician's mate, and has some advise for those getting started. Apparently, multiple monitors are the key when you're mixing. "Multiple monitors are a tremendous help, especially if you're working with a consistent 64 tracks of audio like I am," she explains.
ProTools is not Emilie's choice for MIDI but for recording audio, it's her pick of the moment. "I love messing around with a whole slew of plug-ins, but I've learnt that a superior reverb can be obtained using outboard gear." She claims that this is a good thing, since in her experience, the RealVerb plug-in is the number one devourer of CPU power.
When programming electronics, either for use on her albums or in her live shows, she opts for Cubase on her G4, or for portability, through her iBook. "Cubase is a great tool for programming electronics. I can plug in any number of synths using a USB MIDISport, sit on the bed with my iBook, and go to work."
It appears that the combination of Cubase and the Mac have re-introduced her to MIDI. "My first love will always be live recording, whether playing the fiddle or warping synths in real time, but I am now finding that MIDI doesn't have to equal 'sterile and mechanicle' unless, of course, you want it to."
FINAL CUT
Wherever there is music, there are music videos. And to ensure total satisfaction, Emilie crafts her own. "I make videos for several different reasons: publicity material, live show documentation, TV ads for albums and as footage to be projected on stage. She began making her videos on iMovie, but has since gone on to master FinalCutPro, which she tells me she adores.
Since she's not trying to reproduce the shiny, happy Nigel Dick look in her own videos, she has the freedom to experiment. In the past she has recorded her concerts with a digital camcorder and then combined the footage with supplementary material. She describes the result as 'really interesting visuals'.
"When I construct footage to accompany the live shows I tend to go for spacey things like cosmic travel footage, exploding stars, and the like. I just think that suits my style, though I'm always collecting new footage and morphing it into something else." She informs me that she's found some public-domain weather footage of tornados that she is really keen to use. "The beauty is that with FinalCut, if I can imagine it, I can make it."
PUPPY LOVE
Emilie's iBook is listed on her website as an official band member, and it accompanies her onstage at all times. "It's just so comforting to look over and see the Apple logo lighting up the stage." In their professional relationship the iBook works essentially as a sequencer, sending directions via MIDI to a keyboard, which in turn goes out to the house sound system.
In their private relationship, the iBook, daubed 'Puppy', is her deputy dog and the keeper of her deepest, darkest secrets. "I really wanted an Italian greyhound dog, but I was touring and didn't think the van would accomodate another passenger."
To make up for the lack of canine affection, she cheered herself up with a shiny new iBook instead. "Little did I know that it would go on to join us onstage and be a driving force in my performance."
Emilie has strong links with Apple and admires what they do. "I believe in their products, their vision and what they stand for. The entire Apple community has been really generous to me, and I believe that says a lot about the product - as hyper-honeyed as that may sound."
Traitor, Emilie's label, has been in contact with Apple and together they are working on plans for a series of in-store performances. "No dates set in stone as of yet, but I am really quite excited at the prospect of being able to demonstrate to customers how very possible it is to use Macs in so many beautiful and creative ways."
WEB WORK
Emilie is responsible for the design and upkeep of both her websites: www.emilieautumn.com and www.traitorrecords.com. She admits that she does get help with certain aspects, but stresses that design is something she feels strongly about. "It's really and issue of control. I don't want somebody misrepresenting me, even with the best of intentions."
Internet savvy, she appreciates the power of good Web design. Aware that impressions are made quickly, for better or worse, she strives to get the look and feel of her sites just right. "I really love graphics and Web design and am always trying to better my skills at both." She feels liberated by the fact that if she wants something changed or even redone, she can do it herself.
Still on the subject of websites, we discuss her favourites. She recommends that I check out the Tea Home Page at www.tea.co.uk. Adding, "unless of course you don't like tea, in which case you're mad." I'm duly informed that this site is a must for all true tea freaks.
For musicians she recommends a site called StarPolish, www.starpolish.com. "They provide just about all the information a struggling musician needs to survive in the business. And they're not cluttered with ads telling you how to get a man's private parts enlarged." I don't ask what sites she's seen these ads on.
When the topic turns to sites she doesn't like, she states that she is amazed at just how many badly built sites there are on the Net. Her three big gripes are with www.mp3.com. "They were a one-time musician's aid that sold out and is now nothing but a sham." Two other sites fall under the cosh, PhillipMorris.com is one, and the Microsoft url is the other.
CRIMINALISING THE CUSTOMER
Given her strong computer background and her understanding of the Web, I asked Emilie for her opinion on copyright infringements and the illegal recording of MP3 files from the Internet. Since Emilie's work is only available over the Net, I figured she'd run for the moral high ground. However she states: "I was thrilled when I first found my song Chambermaid on Napster."
What's more, she doesn't believe that downloading an MP3 file makes you a theif, either. "Speaking for myself, I'm much more likely to buy a record if I have heard a track or two and liked it. Even if I have a burnt CD containing an album, I will still buy the real thing." She explains that, as yet, MP3s are not equivalent in sound quality to a bought CD. "And besides that, I want the packaging, the artwork, the liner notes, the whole thing."
Unlike the view held by the music industry's big boys, Emilie believes that their alleged five per cent loss is not due to theft. If theft were the issue, she tells me, the sales of CDs would surely be down much more than that.
The argument that Emilie supports is that their sales have decreased because people all over the world are being exposed to a greater variety of music and so have a larger choice than before. She's incensed by the arrogant assumption that, if their sales are down, it can only be due to theft.
Out comes the soapbox. "Could they consider that perhaps sales are down because their music is hideously boring, predictable, and without quality or merit? No, people must be stealing."
I'm informed that Traitor Records are working on a new way of selling music over the Internet. They plan to make a downloadable version of your chosen album available while you're waiting for the hard copy to arrive in the mail. A solution Traitor Records hopes will make everybody happy.
FUTURE RELEASES
Busy is perhaps the best way to describe Emilie's future. She's getting ready to release her debut rock album. She's already working on material for her second rock album and is preparing to release a classical album with her band, Ravensong.
In addition to her musical commitments, Emilie is working on two Web-based projects called, EnterAsk and OpenMusicSource. Both are still in development, but she hopes they'll go live this year. EnterAsk is a searchable information resource for musicians. "It will be completely free to the user, and its purpose is the sharing of information in one of the toughest and most hostile businesses on the planet."
OpenMusicSource is the musical equivalent of open source code, and Emilie is excited about the future of this concept. "I am interested to see what people will do when allowed to alter, and build onto, other people's music. I also think it could be a very beneficial resource for student film makers and other who need good music, but don't have the funds to buy a licence."
Given her extensive workload, Emilie is probably the busiest woman in the music business. When she tells me that in the future she wants to incorporate more computers in her live performances it starts me thinking.
Is she genuinely looking for more processing power, or just brooding for another Puppy?