Voices calling from across the sky, singing stars, towers scaled by the aid of a maiden's hair... To most, these are the figments of fairy tales. To one, once upon a time is real. To Emilie Autumn, once upon a time is now.
Richly talented, multifaceted, innovative, eclectic and unconventional - singer, songwriter, producer, pianist, and world class violinist Emilie Autumn is that rarest of musical breeds...a true original.
This is a singer with the power to change the world of rock music as we know it. Whether she is writing and performing original songs that bring together an extraordinary mix of sounds and styles; performing concerts in the great classical music halls of Europe and the US; or bringing down the house with her own electrifying violin rock creations, 22-year-old Emilie Autumn makes music that defies categories, breaks down barriers and builds a bridge to a new era of music with a truly globe-spanning sound.
The proof is on glorious display with Emilie Autumn's dazzling debut album "Enchant", featuring such standout tracks as the hip-hop "How Strange", a rapid-fire view of mankind's lack of respect for the supernatural; "Chambermaid", a scathing rock track utilizing renaissance imagery and backed by Emilie's electric fiddle wizardry, and the haunting ballad "What If", featuring a heartbreaking violin and piano performance.
Along with Emilie's distinctive vocals which fluctuate between preternaturally mature soul singer and sultry siren, her debut album highlights her mastery of several instruments including an array of violins, piano, harpsichord, and her own invention, the fiddleguitar. Also an accomplished visual artist, Emilie's work is featured on the album sleeve which includes the Enchant Puzzle, the first ever album-based mystery puzzle of its kind, complete with a magnificent prize for the first person to solve it. With 14 tracks of groundbreaking variety Emilie Autumn's stunning new album heralds the arrival of a major young artist and the very beginning of a brilliant career.
That career was fortold virtually from the cradle when Emilie, a native of Malibu, California, was raised in a highly unconventional family that stressed artistic freedom and self-expression. Attending school only up until her ninth birthday, she educated herself, making her knowledge of literature and her formidable abilities as a writer and poet even more astounding.Evincing an early and impressive ability on the violin, playing everything from a wide classical repertoire to electric Hendrix-influenced jazz, Emilie enrolled in the prestigious Colburn School of Performing Arts at age ten. It was during this period that she began to experiment with a free form improvisational approach to her instrument, taking her cue from internationally renown virtuoso Nigel Kennedy, who later met and became friends with the fledgling artist.
Far too free-spirited for the formal strictures of school, Emilie began playing professionally at age 12, touring the UK. Although she attracted critical and popular raves for her mastery of classical violin, Emilie was already moving into new musical realms, polishing her vocal skills by listening to Jo Stafford and writing songs that recall the sophisticated styles of Annie Lennox and Sting. At the same time, she began her lifelong exploration into medieval, renaissance and baroque music, becoming one of the youngest champions of the period performance movement and earning a classical recording deal by age 18.
Never content to sit still, this young prodigy had already formed her own renaissance rock band, Ravensong, and regularly pack house on the Hollywood club circuit. 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. Refusing to cut her knee-length red hair, Emilie went on to further explore and expand her musical vocabulary, writing rock, jazz, and symphonic originals and, on occasion, even conducting the orchestras that would perform her work.
Lending her compositional talents to film scores, Emilie recently started to bring her music to a wider audience. Prodded by friends in the recording industry to record some vocal demos, Emilie went into the studio to record three songs and emerged with the beginnings of ''Enchant", her self-produced debut album available from Traitor Records. The music remains as paradoxical as Emilie herself, blending electronics with instruments from the 16th century, celestial imagery with ferocious outbursts. Emilie sings, "See beyond the moment, think beyond the day...", and, with this collection of songs penned while still in her teens, cleverly combines the angst of her generation with the transcendental philosophies necessary for growth. The result announces, in no uncertain terms, the arrival of a mesmerizing young artist with creative horizons that enchant listeners and reach to the stars. |
