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carpe noctem issue 2, volume 4

interview by indigo

autumn ~ethereal with an edge~

tess records’ latest offering, the promising minneapolis darkwave trio autumn, craft a heavy, foreboding brand of music dripping with angst, energy and power. their music is fueled by the powerful operatic voice of julie plante and the intense atmospheres generated by guitarist/drum programmer neil mckay and bassist jeff leyda (who plays "a touch of cello"). autumn combine ethereal beauty with hard rock crunch - it’s atmosphere with a bite. for a small unit, the band possess a big sound, enhanced not only by technology but by their musical skills. jeff and neil met in the fall of 1989, went through a couple of bands and numerous singers, and finally met julie in the winter of 1994. despite having had 15 years of piano and clarinet experience, julie had no vocal training and had never sung in front of anyone before. however, her natural talent shone through at her audition and she got the gig. by 1995, the group were signed to tess, and a year later they recorded the hating tree, an album produced by william faith and chad blinman, which was released last fall. autumn are planning a three-stage tour, starting with bethany curve, then playing on their own, and finally hooking up with this ascension on the west coast. they hope to go all over the states (during 1997-98), so be on the lookout for them at your local gothic haunt.

c.n.: your music is very dramatic and epic in scope. it kind of reminds me of a lot of metal, even though you don’t have the hard edges on guitar. what are autumn like live? how does your material translate to the stage?

jeff: i think the material comes over fairly well in our live shows. it’s surprising how much sound can come out of three people and a drum machine. there are times when neil actually plays two distinct guitar parts at the same time, which fills out the sound really well. i also play a lot of chords and use effects on the bass, which fills in some of the gap where a second guitar or keyboard would normally be. we don’t use any backing tapes or keyboards live. also, julie has a very powerful, emotional stage presence.

neil: as for me, i really don’t feel as though i have much stage presence. i’m too busy on the guitar to really move around, and i have those crazy foot pedals and drum machine foot switch to deal with. i think our material translates very well to the stage. except for "a waiting time", all of ours songs sound like they do on our cd. it has always been my intention to take one guitar part and make it sound like two guitars.

c.n.: while you certainly have specific structures to your songs, you avoid the trappings of modern rock songwriting by frequently offering new words for repeated passages. how closely do you match the lyrics to the music? which comes first?

julie: sometimes i’ve been inspired to write lyrics along a certain wavelength by a guitar or bass line neil or jeff was toying with. other times i’ve written lyrics without even knowing that later on i would want to use certain passages in a song, but the process has been different for every song we’ve done so far. the words for "seconds" were actually taken from a piece i wrote for some composition course when i was a freshman in high school. i never imagined they would end up on a record!

jeff: the music is usually first, partly because neil and i have had some of these songs in our back catalog for many years now. lately we’ve been experimenting with writing songs differently, with the lyrics first or written during the music. julie usually whips out one of her journals and digs something out from her previous writings for a lyrical idea.

neil: sometimes she’ll hear us jamming and just start writing while we’re playing.

c.n.: what inspires you musically?

julie: not to be overly simplistic, but the lyrics tell a story about my life. many stories in fact. more than anything else, the lyrics have been a medium through which i have dealt with a lot of things that have happened in my life. they tre all very personal, even though i sometimes use metaphors and illusions to convey the experience itself or the emotions it evoked within me. the concept of "the hating tree" came about when i realized that the songs we were putting on the album, as a whole, represented a very difficult period of my life, a time in which my circumstances led me to a place where i became aware of myself as being very dead inside-very sad and very bitter. the "hating tree" metaphor is really a metaphor for the part of me that was, at one time, swallowed up by my depression, by my anger. people are quick to think that i wrote "dark lyrics" to be all "gothic" or something like that. my lyrics come from my experiences, and that’s all.

c.n.: considering that autumn’s music has a heavy, brooding atmosphere, do you think it contains a therapeutic aspect for either yourselves or your audience?

neil: i have always viewed music as therapeutic. my music is an extension of my spirituality. i believe that music is a gift from the creator and that is good medicine for all who enjoy it. music (mainly the album medusa by clan of xymox) has helped me through rough times. i think it only natural that i should contribute.

julie: as far as myself, both the writing and the performing of our songs has a therapeutic effect on me. a lot of people have told me that a certain song makes them cry every time they hear it, so hopefully it means the music is able to affect others on a more personal level, too. as far as i’m concerned, that’s the only "measure of success" i care about. i just want someone to feel something when they hear us.

c.n.: where does your name come from?

neil: back in the fall of 1992, jeff and i were working with another vocalist and we were really bashing our heads on a band name. my wife donna and i were just starting to date and were talking about the nice woodsy smell in autumn that comes from the trees going to sleep and people burning wood here in minnesota. it’s my favorite smell. anyway, we thought autumn would be a good name since our music seems to fit the season.

c.n.: what do you do to relax outside of the group?

julie: meditate, read, go out into nature and just be.

jeff: i’m a huge computer geek. i have been for 15 years now, and i can’t stop. my day job is programming, and i always seem to be doing some kind of computer related something-or-other whenever i get the chance. i’m also an avid mountainbiker.

neil: i try to spend time with my wife, friends, and family. my personal activities include playing classical guitar, studying my dakota language and culture, playing with my star wars toys, and going on road trips to 7-11 - there are none here in minnesota.

c.n.: is there anything you think your fans would be surprised to know about you outside of the context of your music?

julie: first of all, i’m not a huge fan of most of the bands we get compared to. i don’t really care for this "gothic" category we get lumped into, and would definitely not consider myself a part of any sort of scene.

neil: i’ll soon be graduating from the university of minnesota with a degree in american indian studies. i’m also a big star wars geek. i’ve stayed up till 3 a.m.way too many times playing x-wing fighter and tie fighter on my computer.

jeff: when i was younger - like in 7th grade - i used to listen to stuff like quiet riot and the scorpions. one day my older brother beat the hell out of me and said things like "don’t be such a moron! listen to echo & the bunnymen and new order and joy division!!!" from that day on i was a changed person. i owe all of this to getting beaten up! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .