gothicgoddess

I had been preparing for my interview with Emilie Autumn for quite a while. I think I had been preparing for it way before I even knew I would be lucky enough to conduct one with her. I had been following her activities, music and musings on myspace and vampire freaks for years, and more recently on her official web site and forum.

I was a bit nervous and intimidated in my eager anticipation of my encounter with Emilie. She provides inspiration for women in a male-dominated scene and industry where they find it difficult to find a voice. To me she seemed larger than life, and how could I possibly digest it all?

The eagerly anticipated day finally arrived. My angst turned into both excitement and a certain calm and collectedness. I had been immersing myself in the Asylum Netherworld of her Victoriandustrial alter ego, and what previously may have seemed alien to me now almost felt familiar and inviting. I was meant to meet and interview Emilie at this point in time, and everything would work out the way it was meant to!

The band arrived late. In fact, the bus had just arrived before I got to the Highline, an hour before my appointment. There were two interviews ahead of me, but I was still certain that all would fall into place. And it did!

Emilie came down a bit after our scheduled appointment, and we continued upstairs to the theatre’s balcony where it was quiet and far from the chaos of the stage.

VIP Plague Rats at Start of Their Asylum Tour at The Highline Ballroom in NYC 10.13.09

She was very friendly and accessible, fantastically creative and sharp as a whip. She knows what she wants, how to get it, and how to convey it to her fans. They even want to look like her. They want to dress like her. They want to BE her. She makes them forget about their everyday problems by transporting them into her upside down Asylum. In a world full of loneliness, isolation, and struggle, Emilie makes her fans feel that they aren’t alone. She has also experienced her share of strife and still does along with the rest of us. There is something for everyone to identify with, including myself!

Emilie Autumn is not a band, it’s a theatrical extravaganza and personal experience, and she is taking the world by storm!

I hope you enjoy listening to the interview as much as I enjoyed conducting it. Perhaps you might even learn something new from it!

Uncut, unedited, unadulterated.  Just pure Emilie!

To learn more about Emilie Autumn, please visit:

www.emilieautumn.com/

www.myspace.com/emilieautumn

Eternally yours in darkness,

Gothic Goddess

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Ronan of VNV Nation was kind enough to grant me an interview with him before their show at The Nokia in NYC this past Saturday 7.18.09.  It was a unique experience.

I was shown into this large lounge-like room with virtually no light.  I grappled my way to a seat and got my self situated before he entered.  The first thing he remarked upon his arrival was the lack of light!  We both fumbled around to see where we could find an active light switch until he finally found one on the little lamp between the couches where we were to sit.

He had much to say that he just wanted to spill that night.  I could tell immediately the moment he opened his mouth to speak to me.  It needed to be said and it needed to be heard.  There just was no stopping him, and I was only to happy to hear what he had to say.  I don’t know how or what he felt after the interview was over, but while we were talking in that dark room, I knew there  was an immediate “click”.  And Ronan did not disappoint.

I saw VNV for the first time at The Music Hall in Williamsburg in November of 2007.  It was about a month or a bit more after my Dad died.  I always had been moved by VNV’s music, but when I saw them (and specifically Ronan) live, the musical experience became an even more intimate as well as uplifting one. And this time was no less.

There is something unique about Ronan and the way he is able to reach out to his audience.  I don’t think he can stop a show until he feels that he has truly connected with them and “conveyed his message” of the moment.  I felt that especially this past Saturday.  He was in rare form, just as he was in a different kind of rare form for the interview.  It was very interesting to listen to and later watch on stage. When he felt that he had truly connected and conveyed - that while he was “still talking”, they INDEED were “just listening”, the show came to an end.

Ronan is an old soul.  He claims not to be religious or spiritual, but I think he is one of the most “spiritual” people I have ever met.  I don’t mean it in the traditional “religious” sense at all.  I mean it in the absolute purest meaning of “spiritual”- “relating to the soul or spirit, usually in contrast to material things”, “connected by an affinity of the mind, spirit, or temperament” - Microsoft Word dictionary

I learned much from this man and feel there was a reason for my meeting with him at this point in time.

At one point in the interview he asked whether we should return to talking about the new album…what he did not perhaps realize was that we had covered quite a bit of it as well as answers to most of my questions which I had prepared for the interview but had not yet asked!  Now THAT was a strange feeling… What was even stranger was that the more we spoke, the more I wanted to know.  I think we could have gone on for hours, and that would have been fine with me!

Did I get what I wanted and achieve what I set out to achieve with this interview?  Absolutely. Podcasts, interviews, reviews, and other such editorial are meant to get me and my fans closer to and better appreciate artists and their work. By getting to know better WHO they are and not just what they do through the interview, I, my fans, and the artist’s fans do get closer and better appreciate the artist and his/her work.  I did with Ronan, and I hope VNV fans will feel the same.

Don’t worry Ronan, Of Faith, Power, and Glory will get  its own time with a proper review very very soon for I still have much to say about the album that I have not yet articulated and that I feel needs to be heard.

But meanwhile everyone, enjoy the interview!  I know I did!

Eternally yours in darkness,

Gothic Goddess

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I came across DJ Kevin out of the UK when Sin’Drella of Imprint posted that he had put together a video including one of her songs “America The Beautiful“.  I went onto his podcast site, downloaded the video, and then  saw this cool music podcast as well.

To view Kevin’s podcast weblog, please visit:

http://www.clickcaster.com/kev36663

To read my review of Imprint’s Wisdom Out of The Wound on Gothic Goddess Media, please visit:

Gothic Goddess Reviews Imprint’s Wisdom Out of The Wound

Podcast 22 Playlist:

Gothminister - Devil (live at M’era Luna 2006) Jagged - In this Room The Kick - My Darkest Hour Attrition - The Head of Gabriel Nothing Nada - Red Amraggedon Rosa Nocturna - In My Darkest Dreams (live at MLFR) Dolium - You’ve got Holes Xandria - Save My Life Aesthetic Perfection - The Great Depression Escarlatina Obsessiva - Winter The Catholic Comb - Vampire Life Imprint - Sleep Dr Steel - EP 3

Note: Attrition, Aesthetic Perfection, Imprint…

Enjoy!

Gothic Goddess

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