Which does beg the question of, coming from your training, how did you end up adding gothic and metal esque music to your works?

(laughs) That’s the strange thing, we have never considered ourselves or the show as gothic, most of our audience are very Goth and rock, which is cool. I love and respect the responsibilities and the pageantry that goes with that lifestyle, and the whole appreciation of the dark side, which of course I have, but we have this rule on stage of no black clothing or anything gothic really, its all vibrant colors and frilly clothes and just everything sparkly. That’s also intentional though, to add the duality and to go against the fact that all my lyrics and influences are so intensely dark, so to make that work, you have to balance it out with some ridiculously fabulous.

When I wrote ‘Opheliac’, which to me is my most important recording, I made it as a sort of survival tactic, but I never had any pre-conceived ideas for which direction it should take, or what types of people would listen to it, if indeed any one would. But that’s awesome, because when you don’t give a fuck about who listens to it, then you tell the truth, and do something that’s actually real, and people always respect and respond to that. I have complete faith in audiences understanding and reacting to the truth when it’s presented like that. I would never say I’m anything special or unique, but chances are if I think something about something, then someone else is going to think that to, either because they’ve had the same experience or they can relate to things in other ways, and that honesty helped. I never though the goth and rock fans would respond like they have, I know the music is very electro-industrial, so I get that. I categorise it more Glam-Rock, but you always find that the rockers are more open and honest people who aren’t afraid to express themselves, and neither am I. I’m calling it more dare theatre at the moment, because if your in the front few rows you are going to get served from our mad tea party, there is a lot of throwing of baked goods, amongst other things, we actually put that on the catering rider to procure nice cup cakes and muffins to throw, along with the contents of the tea pot, which isn’t tea by the way (laughs).

You’ve also worked with quite a few of the alternative music stars, Courtney Love, Billy Corgan, Otep Shamaya, and of course the DethKlok animation…

Your into DethKlok? That’s so cool, it was created by Titmouse productions, and directed by my friend Jon Schnapp. I don’t really work with that many people unless I’m sleeping with them (grins ecstatically), hey I’m honest…. But that’s natural, you work together, you share you art and you guest on each other’s things, but Brett Small the animator of that project was my boyfriend at the time, so that’s how that happened. But it’s a little weird, because on one of the episodes he killed the London Philharmonic with a laser, so its always ominous when your boyfriend cuts a love of your’s in half with a laser (laughs), and that was the same deal with Billy Corgan as well. It’s genetically encoded in me I think, that I have to be the front woman or the person in the spotlight, so for me to record on anyone else’s things, they have to be pretty spectacular already. The deal with Otep, which was one of the most gratifying, and she had a massive appreciation for what I could bring to this track that meant a lot to her, with me again writing all the string parts and recording them, and we became great friends. She has that powerful confident bitchy rock chick thing, and I can totally relate to that. If I could I’d love to resurrect Freddy Mercury, and work with him, but as far as living people go, my favorite band is Morrissey and the Smiths, but I’d love to work with David Bowie, he’s so colorful and talented. I make all my own outfits, like the crazy glam rock crystal infused boots I wear on stage, and I think he would so relate to that, and I think we would have a lot in common, and for fashion sense alone I think we should work together. That’s pretty much it I think.

Are you ever tempted back to classical world?

I don’t think that the classical world and what I do now are that mutually exclusive. When I’m finished touring with this music that I have written right now, I will absolutely do a classical tour, but it will be on my terms, with an orchestra that I create. But that’s where we fell out in the first place is my constant need to be in charge, and not be told by a conductor how to play something, and I prefer to do it that way and offer my own interpretations of what I consider to be the values true to that particular piece or work. But allowing yourself to have a personality and to bring something unique to that is what I love most, and that’s not necessarily accepted in that world, it’s usually frowned upon, but I think that’s exactly what it needs. I think people would find it would sell a lot more if it had more of that, it’s almost like it [classical music] makes an effort to be fucking boring, and I don’t blame people for hating it, a small change of perspective could change that whole thing.

I sometimes meet musicians or people who are like, I’m really good, why don’t I have a record deal or fans, and that is so revolting to me, because no-one is owed fucking anything, the universe is not out to get you or with you. Why should people give a fuck what you say - do you actually have something to say? That’s the whole point, are you interesting? And that’s my ultimate goal, be interesting and unique. That’s it.

Obviously it’s one thing doing an album, and having to go through that stage of ’shit, we’ve made this, now the whole world is going to hear it’, and being prepared for that, but alongside you record, you are also promoting your-soon-to-be released in Europe, semi-autobiographical novel “The Asylum for Wayward girls”… Is it a different thing sharing something so personal with the world?

Well the book is a million times scarier than my music, but it’s such a fucking relief to finish; it took a few years to get out of me in the form that it needed to be this like gorgeous graphic novel. But it’s also a real biography, just with mystery and time travel added, it’s so epic, but now that its finally here, I realize that a lot of people know so many intimate things about me and facts. It’s like they know me better than like my best friends, I hope I don’t regret it, but I don’t think I will, it’s that whole honesty thing again you know. I’d rather have 5 people at a show that love it, and likewise 5 people who read and understand or can relate to what I have to say; brutal, horrid truths about what really goes on in an asylum; it’s is really fucking uncomfortable, and I’m not going to sugar coat it. I think a lot of people may not know what they are in for when they buy it, it is funny and entertaining, but with the truths that go along with that, and when I did ‘Opheliac’, it was my truth and my obsessions, and the book is the same. It doesn’t try to pretend that it’s something it just clearly isn’t, which is all charming and pretty and nice, and all the things a supposed young woman should be. But I don’t give a fuck, it’s either this or death, and that’s what I’m trying to convey. It’s not daunting to share that with the world, it’s my relief that it’s out there now, so people know. I guess it comes down to that childish wish, or want to be noticed and be the centre of attention.

Ok, so Finally, your album and book are intensely personal affairs that have drawn influence from your life and experiences therein. Where do you think your next batch of creation will draw from?

That’s easy…Chapter Two.., well everything I do and always will do, will be inevitably interconnected. I mean once you get into the asylum, you’ll never get out (grins evily), and that’s never going to change, it’s always about what happens next. In the Asylum the hundreds of poor girls where contained by the small number of doctors who abused them mentally and physically, but in the next part, it’s about what happens when the girls get out, and what no-one realizes, is that inadvertently they (the doctors) have created a serial killer mindset in these poor victims. So that will be where this goes, and I hope everyone’s prepared, because it’s going to be darker, dirtier and more vile than what has come before… so I hope you’re all prepared….

Emilie Autumn’s Latest Release ‘Opheliac’ double CD, is out now via The End Records, and her Book ‘The Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls’ is due out later this year in the UK.

Ade Perrie