1979–2000: Beginnings '' (pictured) mentally every night. on September 22, 1979. and she has said that her father was a German immigrant While not musicians, her family enjoyed various genres of music. Four years later, Autumn made her musical debut as a solo violinist performing with an orchestra, and won a competition. On her time at the school, she remarked, "I hated it anyway, what with the status as 'weird,' 'antisocial,' and the physical threats, there seemed to be no reason to go anymore, so I just didn't." She considered it "more of a demo despite its length", and released it as "a saleable album" after fans who enjoyed her "rock performances starting asking for a classical album so that they could hear more of the violin."
2001–04: Enchant and collaborations As part of a recording project, Autumn traveled to
Chicago, Illinois, in 2001, and decided to stay because she enjoyed the public transportation system and music scene there. On the night of the
Enchant release party, Autumn learned that
Courtney Love had invited her to record an album, ''
America's Sweetheart'', and embark on the tour to promote it. Much of Autumn's violin work was ultimately not released on the album; she commented: "This had to do entirely with new producers taking over the project after our little vacation in France, and carefully discarding all of our sessions." She performed live with Love and The Chelsea on
Late Show with David Letterman on March 17, 2004, and at
Bowery Ballroom the next day. In September 2004, her father died from lung cancer, even though he had quit smoking twenty years earlier. On December 23, 2004, she appeared on the Chicago-based television station
WGN as part of the
string quartet backing up
Billy Corgan and
Dennis DeYoung's duet of "
We Three Kings".
2005–09: Opheliac, Laced/Unlaced, and ''A Bit o' This & That'' (above) from the play
Hamlet, whom Autumn felt a connection to, Autumn began work on her concept album
Opheliac in August 2004, In August 2005, she created the costumes for Corgan's music video for the track "
Walking Shade"; she also contributed violin and vocals for the track "DIA" from his 2005 album
TheFutureEmbrace. In late 2005, Autumn also recorded vocals and violin for "The Gates of Eternity" from
Attrition's 2008 album
All Mine Enemys Whispers: The Story of Mary Ann Cotton, a concept album focusing on the Victorian serial killer
Mary Ann Cotton. In January 2006, Autumn performed a song from the album, "Misery Loves Company", on WGN, before the album's release by the German label
Trisol Music Group in September. She released the limited-edition, preview EP
Opheliac through her own label, Traitor Records, in spring 2006; while the
Opheliac EPs were being shipped, Autumn claimed that her offices had been robbed, causing the delay in the album release and the shipping of the EPs. According to her,
Opheliac "was the documentation of a completely life-changing and life-ending experience". Her song "Opheliac" later appeared on the 2007 albums
13th Street: The Sound of Mystery, Vol. 3, published by
ZYX Music, and
Fuck the Mainstream, Vol. 1, published by
Alfa Matrix on June 19. On October 9, 2006, she appeared on the
Adult Swim cartoon
Metalocalypse as a guest artist and on the subsequent 2007 album
The Dethalbum. November 2006 saw the release of the EP
Liar/Dead Is the New Alive, which featured remixes of songs from
Opheliac and new material. Autumn released her instrumental album,
Laced/Unlaced in March 2007; it consisted of two discs:
Laced, the re-release of
On a Day..., and
Unlaced, new songs for the
electric violin. She decided to re-release
On a Day as
Laced because she "felt that it made a nice contrast to the metal shredding fiddle album, "Unlaced", and [...] loved that it was the perfect representation of "then" versus "now". She later released ''
A Bit o' This & That: a rarities album of her covers, including songs from The Beatles and The Smiths, classical pieces, and her own songs. In 2008, she released the EP 4 o'Clock, which contained remixes of songs from Opheliac
, new songs, and a reading from her autobiographical novel The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls. She also released another EP, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun &Bohemian Rhapsody
, the same year. A year later, Autumn broke away from Trisol Music Group to join The End Records and re-release Opheliac
in the United States on October 27, 2009; previously, it was only available there as an import. The re-release included extras such as pictures, bonus tracks, an excerpt from The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls'', and a video.
2010–present: The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls and Fight Like a Girl , April 2012 Autumn's debut novel,
The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, was self-published in late 2009, with a second edition following in 2010. Because of the book's nature and possible autobiographical sections, she claimed its release was delayed because some did not want it published. The book combines Autumn's own real life journal entries, including those chronicling her time in a
psych ward, and the diary of a fictional Victorian-era asylum inmate named "Emily". before revealing the full title as
Fight Like a Girl. In her words, the meaning behind the title is "about taking all these things that make women the underdogs and using them to your advantage". In September 2011, she posted the full lyrics to the album's title track, "Fight Like a Girl", on her Twitter account. Autumn appeared at the 2011
Harvest Festival in Australia, and had planned to debut two songs from
Fight Like a Girl during those performances. On April 11, 2012, Autumn released the single "
Fight Like a Girl", with the song "Time for Tea" appearing as a
B-side. On April 16, 2012, Autumn announced her plans to debut a three-hour musical adaptation of her autobiographical novel on London's
West End theatre in 2014. According to her interview with Mulatschag, she has plans to play the roles of both protagonists, Emilie and Emily. In late 2011, a twelve-minute teaser was released for
Darren Lynn Bousman and
Terrance Zdunich's project ''
The Devil's Carnival'', featuring Autumn as The Painted Doll, her first major acting role. The film was released in April 2012. Bloody Crumpets members Beth "The Blessed Contessa" Hinderliter and Maggie "Captain Maggot" Lally also appear in the film as “Woe-Maidens”. On June 13, 2012, Autumn announced on her blog the release date of
Fight Like a Girl, which was on July 24 of the same year. In 2013, Autumn produced and starred in
her first ever music video, directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, for the song "Fight Like a Girl". Also appearing in the video are Autumn's ''Devil's Carnival'' co-stars
Dayton Callie and
Marc Senter, as well as
Veronica Varlow, among others. In 2014, it was announced that Autumn would be appearing at a handful of dates on the 2014
Vans Warped Tour with an installation called "The Asylum Experience", which will include music,
burlesque, circus sideshow attractions and theater. On September 22, 2018, she released
The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls: Behind the Musical, an album with songs made for her upcoming musical. In 2018, she also published a short story titled
The Gown. On November 3, 2021, Autumn released the single "
The Passenger", a cover of the song by
Iggy Pop, marking her first official release in three years. In January 2022, she released “We Have Instructions”, “Who's a Little Leech?”, and “Portraits”. ==Influences and musical style==