Leech
Hirudo medicinalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Annelida
Class:	Clitellata
Subclass:	Hirudinea Lamarck, 1818
Infraclasses
Acanthobdellidea Euhirudinea (but see below)

Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea.^[1] Like other oligochaetes such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. Nevertheless, they differ from other oligochaetes in significant ways. For example, leeches do not have bristles and the external segmentation of their bodies does not correspond with the internal segmentation of their organs. Their bodies are much more solid as the spaces in their coelom are dense with connective tissues. They also have two suckers, one at each end.

The majority of leeches live in freshwater environments, while some species can be found in terrestrial^[2] and marine environments, as well. Most leeches are hematophagous, as they are predominantly blood suckers that feed on blood from vertebrate and invertebrate animals.^[3] Almost 700 species of leeches are currently recognized, of which some 100 are marine, 90 terrestrial and the remainder freshwater taxa.^[4]

Leeches, such as the Hirudo medicinalis, have been historically used in medicine to remove blood from patients.^[5] The practice of leeching can be traced to ancient India and Greece, and continued well into the 18th and 19th centuries in both Europe and North America. In modern times, the practice of leeching is much rarer and has been replaced by other contemporary uses of leeches, such as the reattachment of body parts and reconstructive and plastic surgeries ^[6] and, in Germany, treating osteoarthritis.^[7][8]

Taxonomy and systematics[link]

Haemadipsa zeylanica, a terrestrial leech found in the mountains of Japan

Leeches are presumed to have evolved from certain Oligochaeta, most of which feed on detritus. However, some species in the Lumbriculidae are predatory and have similar adaptations as found in leeches. As a consequence, the systematics and taxonomy of leeches is in need of review. While leeches form a clade, the remaining oligochaetes are not their sister taxon, but in a diverse paraphyletic group containing some lineages that are closely related to leeches, and others that are far more distant.

There is some dispute as to whether Hirudinea should be a class itself, or a subclass of the Clitellata. The resolution mainly depends on the eventual fate of the oligochaetes, which as noted above, do not form a natural group as traditionally circumscribed. Another possibility would be to include the leeches in the taxon Oligochaeta, which would then be ranked as a class and contain most of the clitellates. The Branchiobdellida are leechlike clitellates that were formerly included in the Hirudinea, but are just really close relatives.

The more primitive Acanthobdellidea are often included with the leeches, but some authors treat them as a separate clitellate group. True leeches of the infraclass Euhirudinea have both anterior and posterior suckers. They are divided into two groups: Arhynchobdellida and Rhynchobdellida

• Rhynchobdellida) are "jawless" leeches, armed with a muscular, straw-like proboscis puncturing organ in a retractable sheath. The Rhynchobdellae consist of two families:
  • Glossiphoniidae are flattened leeches with a poorly defined anterior sucker.
  • Piscicolida have cylindrical bodies and a usually well-marked, bell-shaped, anterior sucker. The Glossiphoniidae live in fresh-water habitats; the Pisciolidae are found in seawater habitats.

• Arhynchobdellida lack a proboscis and may or may not have jaws armed with teeth. Arhynchobellids are divided into two orders:
  • Gnathobdela: In this order of "jawed" leeches, armed with teeth, is found the quintessential leech: the European medical (bloodsucking) leech, Hirudo medicinalis. It has a tripartite jaw filled with hundreds of tiny sharp teeth. The incision mark left on the skin by the European medical leech is an inverted Y inside a circle. Its North American counterpart is Macrobdela decora, a much less efficient medical leech.^[9] Within this order, the family Hirudidae is characterized by aquatic leeches and the family Haemadipsidae by terrestrial leeches. In the latter are Haemadipsa sylvestris, the Indian leech and Haemadipsa zeylanica (yamabiru), the Japanese mountain or land leech.
  • Pharyngobdella: These so-called worm-leeches consist of freshwater or amphibious leeches that have lost the ability to penetrate a host's tissue and suck blood. They are carnivorous and equipped with a relatively large, toothless, mouth to ingest worms or insect larvae, which are swallowed whole.
    The Pharyngobdella have six to eight pairs of eyes, as compared with five pairs in Gnathobdelliform leeches, and include three related families. The Erpobdellidae are some species from freshwater habitats.

Anatomy and physiology[link]

The leech and its nervous system

The number and position of eyes are essential for distinguishing the leech species.

Like other annelids, the leech is a segmented animal. But, unlike other annelids, there is no correspondence between the external segmentation of a leech's body surface with the segmentation of its internal organs.^[1] The body surface of the animal can be divided into 102 annuli, whereas its internal structures are divided into 32 segments.^[10] Of the 32 segments within the body, the first four anterior segments are designated as head segments, which include an anterior brain and sucker. This is followed by 21 midbody segments, which include 21 neuronal ganglia, two reproductive organs, and 9 pairs of testes. Finally, the last seven segments are fused to form the animal's tail sucker, as well as its posterior brain.

Reproduction and development[link]

Leeches are hermaphrodites, meaning each has both female and male reproductive organs (ovaries and testes, respectively). Leeches reproduce by reciprocal fertilization, and sperm transfer occurs during copulation. Similar to the earthworms, leeches also use a clitellum to hold their eggs and secrete the cocoon.

During reproduction, leeches use hyperdermic injection of their sperm. They use a spermatophore, which is a structure containing the sperm. Once next to each other, leeches will line up with one's anterior side opposite the other's posterior. The leech then shoots the spermatophore into the clitellur region of the opposing leech, where its sperm will make its way to the female reproductive parts.

The embryonic development of the leech occurs as a series of stages. During stage 1, the first cleavage occurs, which gives rise to an AB and a CD blastomere, and is in the interphase of this cell division when a yolk-free cytoplasm called teloplasm is formed.^[11] The teloplasm is known to be a determinant for the specification of the D cell fate.^[12] In stage 3, during the second cleavage, an unequal division occurs in the CD blastomere. As a consequence, it creates a large D cell on the left and a smaller C cell to the right. This unequal division process is dependent on actinomycin,^[13] and by the end of stage 3 the AB cell divides. On stage 4 of development, the micromeres and teloblast stem cells are formed and subsequently, the D quadrant divides to form the DM and the DNOPQ teloblast precursor cells. By the end stage 6, the zygote contains a set of 25 micromeres, 3 macromeres (A, B and C) and 10 teloblasts derived from the D quadrant.^[14]

The teloblasts are pairs of five different types (M, N, O, P, and Q) of embryonic stem cells that form segmented columns of cells (germinal band) in the surface of the embryo.^[15] The M-derived cells make mesoderm and some small set of neurons, N results in neural tissues and some ventral ectoderm, Q contributes to the dorsal ectoderm and O and P in the leech are equipotent cells (same developmental potential) that produce lateral ectoderm; however the difference between the two of them is that P creates bigger batches of dorsolateral epidermis than O.^[12] The sludgeworm Tubifex, unlike the leech, specifies the O and P lineages early in development and therefore, these two cells are not equipotent.^[16] Each segment of the body of the leech is generated from one M, O, P cell types and two N and two Q cells types.^[12]

The ectoderm and mesoderm of the body trunk are exclusively derived from the teloblast cells in a region called the posterior progress zone.^[17][18] The head of the leech that comes from an unsegmented region, is formed by the first set of micromeres derived from A, B, C and D cells, keeping the bilateral symmetry between the AD and BC cells.^[18]

Digestion[link]

Mouthparts and sucker

In most blood-sucking leeches the digestive system starts with the so-called jaws, three blades set at an angle to each other. In feeding they slice their way through the skin of the host, leaving a Y-shaped incision. Behind the blades is the mouth, located ventrally at the anterior end of the body. It leads successively into the pharynx, then the esophagus, the crop, the gizzard, and the intestinum, which ends at the posterior sucker. The crop is a distension of the alimentary canal that functions as an expandable storage compartment. In the crop, some blood-sucking species of leech can store up to five times the body mass of blood. The leech produces an anticoagulant that prevents the stored blood from clotting, plus other agents that inhibit microbial decay of the blood. These measures are so effective that a mature medicinal leech does not need to feed more than twice a year. Possibly as an adaptation, its digestive process is extremely slow.

The bodies of predatory leeches are similar, though instead of jaws many have a protrusible proboscis, which for most of the time they keep retracted into the mouth. Such leeches often are ambush predators that lie in wait till they can strike prey with the proboscises in a spear-like fashion.^[19] Some kinds that live on small invertebrates or detritus have neither proboscis nor jaws, but simply engulf their food with the mouth.

Bacteria in the gut were long thought to carry on digestion for the leech, instead of endogenous enzymes that are very low or absent in the intestine. As discovered relatively recently, all leech species studied do produce endogenous intestinal exopeptidases,^[3] which can unlink free terminal-end amino acids, one monomer at a time from a gradually unwinding and degrading protein polymer. However, unzipping of the protein can start from either the amino (tail) or carboxyl (head) terminal-end of the protein molecule. The leech exopeptidases (arylamidases), possibly aided by proteases from endosymbiotic bacteria in the intestine, starting from the tail or amino end, slowly but progressively removing many hundreds of individual terminal amino acids for resynthesis into proteins that constitute the leech. Since leeches lack endopeptidases, the mechanism of protein digestion cannot follow the same sequence as it would in all other animals in which exopeptidases act sequentially on peptides produced by the action of endopeptidases.^[3] Exopeptidases are especially prominent in the common North American worm-leech Erpobdella punctata. This evolutionary choice of exopeptic digestion in Hirudinea distinguishes these carnivorous clitellates from Oligochaeta.

Deficiency of digestive enzymes (except exopeptidases), but, more importantly, deficiency of vitamins, B complex for example, in leeches is compensated for by enzymes and vitamins produced by endosymbiotic microflora. In Hirudo medicinalis, these supplementary factors are produced by an obligatory symbiotic relationship with two bacterial species, Aeromonas veronii and a still-uncharacterized Rikenella species. Nonbloodsucking leeches, such as Erpobdella punctata, are host to three bacterial symbionts, Pseudomonas, Aeromonas, and Klebsiella spp. (a slime producer). The bacteria are passed from parent to offspring in the cocoon as it is formed.

Behavior[link]

Leech climbing a door by Lake Leake, Tasmania

Leeches are able to display a variety of behaviors that allow them to explore their environments and feed on their hosts. Exploratory behavior includes head movements and body waving.^[3]

Feeding[link]

Leech attacking a slug

Most leech species do not feed on human blood, but instead prey on small invertebrates, which they eat whole. To feed on their hosts, leeches use their anterior suckers to connect to hosts for feeding, and also release an anesthetic to prevent the hosts from feeling them. Once attached, leeches use a combination of mucus and suction to stay attached and secrete an anticoagulant enzyme, hirudin, into the hosts' blood streams. Though certain species of leeches feed on blood, not all species can bite; 90% of them feed solely on decomposing bodies and open wounds of amphibians, reptiles, waterfowl, fish, and mammals (including humans). A leech attaches itself when it bites, and it will stay attached until it becomes full, at which point it falls off to digest. Due to the hirudin that leeches secrete, bites may bleed more than a normal wound after the leech is removed. The effect of the anticoagulant will wear off several hours after the leech is removed and the wound is cleaned.

Leeches normally carry parasites in their digestive tracts, which cannot survive in humans and do not pose a threat. However, bacteria, viruses, and parasites from previous blood sources can survive within a leech for months, but only a few cases of leeches transmitting pathogens to humans have been reported.^[20] A study found both HIV and hepatitis B in African leeches from Cameroon.^[21]

Removal and treatment[link]

A land leech can be removed by hand, since they do not burrow into the skin or leave the head in the wound.^[22] A sore develops and lasts for about a week.^[23] Grande Ronde River, Oregon (U.S.)

One recommended method of removal is using a fingernail or other flat, blunt object to break the seal of the oral sucker at the anterior end of the leech, repeating with the posterior end, then flicking the leech away. As the fingernail is pushed along the person's skin against the leech, the suction of the sucker's seal is broken, at which point the leech will detach its jaws.^[24][25]

Common, but medically inadvisable, techniques to remove a leech are to apply a flame, a lit cigarette, salt, soap, or a chemical such as alcohol, vinegar, lemon juice, insect repellent, heat rub, or certain carbonated drinks. These will cause the leech to quickly detach; however, it will also regurgitate its stomach contents into the wound. The vomit may carry disease, and thus increase the risk of infection.^[24][25][26]

An externally attached leech will detach and fall off on its own when it is satiated on blood, which may be anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours or more. After feeding, the leech will detach and depart.^[26] Internal attachments, such as inside the nasal passage or vaginal attachments, are more likely to require medical intervention.^[27][28]

After removal or detachment, the wound should be cleaned with soap and water, and bandaged. Bleeding may continue for some time, due to the leech's hirudin. Bleeding time will vary, with location, from a few hours to three days. This is a function of the hirudin and other compounds that reduce the surface tension of the blood. Anticlotting medications also affect the bleeding time. Applying pressure can reduce bleeding, although blood loss from a single bite is not dangerous. The wound normally itches as it heals, but should not be scratched, as this may complicate healing and introduce other infections. An antihistamine can reduce itching, and applying a cold pack can reduce pain or swelling.

Some people suffer severe allergic or anaphylactic reactions from leech bites and require urgent medical care. Symptoms include red blotches or an itchy rash over the body, swelling around the lips or eyes, feeling faint or dizzy, and difficulty breathing.^[26]

Medicinal use of leeches[link]

The European medical leech Hirudo medicinalis and some congeners, as well as some other species, have been used for clinical bloodletting for thousands of years. The use of leeches in medicine dates as far back as 2,500 years ago, when they were used for bloodletting in ancient India. Leech therapy is explained in ancient Ayurvedic texts. Many ancient civilizations practiced bloodletting, including Indian and Greek civilizations. In ancient Greek history, bloodletting was practiced according to the humoral theory, which proposed that, when the four humors, blood, phlegm, black and yellow bile in the human body were in balance, good health was guaranteed. An imbalance in the proportions of these humors was believed to be the cause of ill health. Records of this theory were found in the Greek philosopher Hippocrates' collection in the fifth century BC. Bloodletting using leeches was one method used by physicians to balance the humors and to rid the body of the plethora.

The use of leeches in modern medicine made its comeback in the 1980s after years of decline, with the advent of microsurgeries, such as plastic and reconstructive surgeries. In operations such as these, problematic venous congestion can arise due to inefficient venous drainage. Sometimes, because of the technical difficulties in forming an anastomosis of a vein, no attempt is made to reattach a venous supply to a flap at all. This condition is known as venous insufficiency. If this congestion is not cleared up quickly, the blood will clot, arteries that bring the tissues their necessary nourishment will become plugged, and the tissues will die. To prevent this, leeches are applied to a congested flap, and a certain amount of excess blood is consumed before the leech falls away. The wound will also continue to bleed for a while due to the anticoagulant hirudin in the leeches' saliva. The combined effect is to reduce the swelling in the tissues and to promote healing by allowing fresh, oxygenated blood to reach the area.^[29]

The active anticoagulant component of leech saliva is a small protein, hirudin. Discovery and isolation of this protein led to a method of producing it by recombinant technology. Recombinant hirudin is available to physicians as an intravenous anticoagulant preparation for injection, particularly useful for patients who are allergic to or cannot tolerate heparin.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hirudinea

Wikispecies has information related to: Hirudinea

The Wikibook Dichotomous Key has a page on the topic of Hirudinea

• Leech fact sheet, Australian Museum
• North American leeches
• How to remove a leech
• Biotherapy with leeches and maggots
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Leech". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• Leeches in Reconstructive Surgery

Ryan Leech (born February 20, 1979 in British Columbia, Canada) is a professional trials mountain bike rider. At age 14 he began racing cross-country mountain bikes, inspired by Team ORB. Leech began getting increasingly involved in trials riding throughout the mid 90's. At age 16 Leech became one of the youngest trials event organizers ever after he organized and won a competition which he held in his front yard. In the spring of 1996 Leech joined Team ORB which subsequently changed into The Norco Factory Team in 1998. At age 24 Leech married Caryn Tressel. He has performed in many events across North America and has made appearances in many different mountain biking films including: The Kranked Series, Ride to the Hills, The Collective and Roam, among many others. In 2004 Leech produced and starred in his own film: Manifesto where he attempted to transform trials riding by eliminating setup and recovery hops. In late 2005, Leech released his DVD Mastering the Art of Trials, which was an instructional compilation of 38 trials related skills. He still remains active in the mountain biking community, although no longer competitively. In 2006, Leech created a school program called Trials of Life, a presentation that essentially combines his regular action trials show with an inspirational message oriented toward children. The core of the message boils down to listening to your heart. In 2007, Leech finished filming for his new film, Crux. The film features riders such as Thomas Ohler, Dylan Korba, and Leech himself. Crux is a follow up to his last film, Manifesto.

External links[link]

• Official website
• Trials of Life - Ryan School Presentation
• Ryan Leech's Norco Team Website
• Ryan Leech's New DVD, Crux
• West Coast Style DVD

Emilie Autumn
Autumn performs live at Nachtleben 2007
Background information
Also known as	Emilie Autumn Liddell
Born	(1979-09-22) September 22, 1979 (age 32) Los Angeles, California
Genres	Classical, Dark cabaret, Electronica, Industrial
Occupations	singer-songwriter, musician, writer, poet, actress
Instruments	Vocals, violin, keyboard, piano, viola
Years active	1997 - Present
Labels	Traitor Records Trisol Music Group The End Records
Associated acts	Ravensong The Jane Brooks Project Convent The Chelsea Courtney Love Veronica Varlow
Website	EmilieAutumn.com

Emilie Autumn Liddell^[1] (born on September 22, 1979 in Los Angeles), better known by her stage name Emilie Autumn, is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and violinist. Autumn draws influence for her music—the style of which she has alternatively labeled as "Victoriandustrial" and glam rock—from plays, novels, and history, particularly the Victorian era. Performing with her all-female backing band The Bloody Crumpets, Autumn incorporates elements of classical music, cabaret, electronica, and glam rock with theatrics, and burlesque.^[2]

Growing up in Malibu, California, she began learning the violin at the age of four and left regular school five years later with the goal of becoming a world-class violinist; she practiced eight or nine hours a day and read a wide range of literature. Progressing to writing her own music, she studied under various teachers and went to Indiana University, which she left over issues regarding the relationship between classical music and the appearance of the performer. Through her own independent label Traitor Records, Autumn debuted with her classical album On a Day: Music for Violin & Continuo, followed by the release in 2003 of her supernaturally themed album Enchant.

She appeared in singer Courtney Love's backing band on her 2004 America's Sweetheart tour and returned to Europe. She released the 2006 album Opheliac with the German label Trisol Music Group. In 2007, she released Laced/Unlaced; the re-release of On a Day... appeared as Laced with songs on the electric violin as Unlaced. She later left Trisol to join New York-based The End Records in 2009 and release Opheliac in the United States, where previously it had only been available as an import. Currently she is on tour for her upcoming album titled Fight Like A Girl. She played the role of Painted Doll in Darren Lynn Bousman's 2012 film The Devil's Carnival.

Life and career[link]

1979–2000: Beginnings[link]

Autumn attributes her ability to write music in her mind to the fact that as a child, she played Pachelbel's Canon in D (pictured) mentally every night to suppress her auditory hallucinations caused by bipolar disorder^[3] and sleep.^[4]

Emilie Autumn was born in Los Angeles, California,^[5] on September 22, 1979.^[6] Autumn grew up in Malibu, California,^{[note 1]} and according to her, "being surrounded by nature and sea had a lot to do with [her] development as a 'free spirit.'"^[8] Her mother worked as a seamstress and Autumn says she is a descendant from the Liddell family.^[6][9] Her father was a German immigrant,^[9][10] and Autumn says that she did not share a close relationship with him.^[10] While not musicians, her family enjoyed various genres of music.^[8]

When she was four years old, she started learning the violin, and later commented: "I remember asking for a violin, but I don't remember knowing what one was. I might have thought it was a kind of pony for all I know, but I don't remember being disappointed."^[4] Four years later, Autumn made her musical debut as a solo violinist performing with an orchestra, and won a competition.^[8] At the age of nine or ten,^{[note 2][3][11]} she left regular school with the goal of becoming a world-class violinist.^[11] 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."^[8] She practiced eight or nine hours a day,^[8][11] had lessons, read a wide range of literature, participated in orchestra practice, and was home-schooled.^[3][8] Growing up, she owned a large CD collection of "violin concertos, symphonies, chamber music, opera, and a little jazz."^[8] She began writing her own music and poetry at age thirteen or fourteen, though she never planned to sing any of her songs.^[8][12] She studied under various teachers and attended Indiana University in Bloomington, but left after two years there, because she disagreed with the prevailing views on individuality and classical music.^[11] She believed that neither the audience nor the original composer would be insulted by the clothing and appearance of the performer.^[11]

While convinced that she would only play violin, eighteen-year-old Autumn decided to sing on one of her songs as a way of demonstrating to a major music producer, who wanted to sign her on a label, how it should sound.^[8] She became unhappy with the changes done to her songs, and decided to break away from the label and create her own independent record label, Traitor Records.^[8] Through it, she debuted with her classical album On a Day: Music for Violin & Continuo, which she recorded in 1997 when she was seventeen years old;^[6][8] its title refers to the fact that the album took only a day to record.^[8] It consists of her performing works for the baroque violin accompanied by Roger Lebow on the baroque cello, Edward Murray on harpsichord, and Michael Egan on lute.^[8][13] 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."^[8] She also debuted with her poetry book Across The Sky & Other Poems in 2000, later re-released in 2005 as Your Sugar Sits Untouched with a music-accompanied audiobook.^[12][14][15]

[edit] 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.^[8] She released the 2001 extended play (EP) Chambermaid while finishing Enchant—she alternatively labeled the musical style on Chambermaid as "fantasy rock" and cabaret—and wrote the 2001 charity single "By the Sword" after the events of September 11, 2001.^[6][8] According to her, the song is about strength, not violence; the act of swearing by the sword represents "an unbreakable promise to right a wrong, to stay true."^[8]

On February 26, 2003,^{[note 3]} she released her concept album Enchant, which spanned multiple musical styles: "new age, pop and trip-hop chamber music".^[3] Written during her late teenage years, Enchant revolved around the supernatural realm and its effect on the modern-day world. Autumn labeled it as "fantasy rock", which dealt with "dreams and stories and ghosts and faeries who'll bite your head off if you dare to touch them".^[8] The faery-themed "Enchant Puzzle" appeared on the artwork of the album; her reward for the person who would solve it consisted of faery-related items.^[8] Her bandmates consisted of cellist Joey Harvey, drummer Heath Jansen, guitarist Ben Lehl, and bassist Jimmy Vanaria, who also worked on the electronics.^[8] At the same time of Enchant's release, Autumn had several side projects: Convent, a musical group for which she recorded all four voices; Ravensong, "a classical baroque ensemble" that she formed with friends in California; and The Jane Brooks Project, which she dedicated to the real-life, 16th-century Jane Brooks—a woman executed for witchcraft.^{[8][note 4]}

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.^[8] Contributing violin and vocals,^[21] Autumn appeared in Love's backing band The Chelsea—Radio Sloan, Dvin Kirakosian, Samantha Maloney, and Lisa Leveridge—on the 2004 tour.^[3][22] Much of Autumn's violin work did not get 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."^[23] 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.^[24] In September 2004, her father died from lung cancer, even though he had quit smoking twenty years earlier.^[10] Near the end of 2004, she was filmed for an appearance on an episode of HGTV's Crafters Coast to Coast, showing viewers how to create faery wings and sushi-styled soap—both products she sold in her online "web design and couture fashion house", WillowTech House.^[8][25] 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".^[26]

[edit] 2005–09: Opheliac, Laced/Unlaced, and A Bit O' This & That

The title of Opheliac is a reference to Shakespeare's character Ophelia (above) from the play Hamlet, whom Autumn felt a connection to,^[27] and the archetype of the "self-destructive" woman.^[28]

Autumn began work on her concept album Opheliac in August 2004,^[18] and recorded it at Mad Villain Studios in Chicago.^[29] 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 The Future Embrace.^[30] 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.^[31][32] Autumn later protested the release of the song, claiming that it was unfinished, "altered without her permission," and had been intended only as a possible collaboration with Martin Bowes.^[32]

In January 2006, she performed a song from the album, "Misery Loves Company", on WGN,^[33] before the album's release by the German label Trisol Music Group in September.^[34] She released the limited-edition, preview EP Opheliac through her own label, Traitor Records, in spring 2006;^[35] 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.^[36] According to her, Opheliac "was the documentation of a completely life-changing and life-ending experience".^[27] At one time, Autumn did have plans to film a music video for her song "Liar", which included "bloody bathtubs".^[37] 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.^[38][39] On October 9, 2006, she appeared on the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse as a guest artist^[40] and on the subsequent 2007 album The Dethalbum.^[41] November 2006 saw the release of the EP Liar/Dead Is the New Alive, which featured remixes of songs from Opheliac and new material.^[42]

She 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.^[43] 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."^[4] She also performed live at the German musical events Wave Gotik Treffen and M'era Luna Festival in 2007.^[44][45] She later released A Bit O' This & That: a compilation album of her covers, including songs from The Beatles and The Smiths, classical pieces, and her own songs.^[20] 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.^[46] She also released another EP, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun &Bohemian Rhapsody, the same year.^[47] 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.^[27][28][48] The re-release included extras such as pictures, bonus tracks, an excerpt from The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, and a video.^[48]

In addition to releasing her own material, Autumn collaborated with other musicians. She contributed backing vocals and violin to the track "Dry" by Die Warzau and made an appearance in the band's music video for "Born Again".^[49] She played violin on the song "UR A WMN NOW" from OTEP's 2009 album, Smash the Control Machine.^[21] Additionally, two of her tracks appeared in film soundtracks: "Organ Grinder" from 4 o'Clock on the European edition of Saw III and a remixed version of "Dead Is The New Alive" from Opheliac on the international version of Saw IV.^[21]

[edit] 2010–present: Fight Like a Girl

Autumn performs "Liar" in Manchester, England, April 2012

In June 2010, Autumn released the acronym of her upcoming album, F.L.A.G., on her Twitter account,^[50] before revealing the full title as Fight Like a Girl.^[51] 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."^[52] Based on her autobiographical novel, The Asylum for Wayward Victorican Girls,^[53] the album has been described as "an operatic feminist treatise set inside an insane asylum, wherein the female inmates gradually realize their own strength in numbers."^[52] On August 30, 2010, she announced that she would be undergoing jaw surgery, and recovered from it.^[54] In September 2011, she posted the full lyrics to the album's title track, "Fight Like a Girl" on her Twitter account.^[55][56] Autumn appeared at the 2011 Harvest Festival in Australia,^[57] and had planned to debut two songs from Fight Like A Girl during those performances.^[58] On April 11, 2012, Autumn released the single "Fight Like a Girl", with the song "Time for Tea" appearing as a B-side.^[59]

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.^[53][60] According to her interview with Mulatschag, she has plans to play the roles of both protagonists, Emilie and Emily.^[61]

She also appeared in the twelve-minute teaser for Darren Lynn Bousman and Terrance Zdunich's upcoming project Devil's Carnival,^[62] and for which she played the role of The Painted Doll.^[52] Bloody Crumpets members Contessa and Captain Maggots also appear in the film as Woe-Maidens.

Influences and musical style[link]

Autumn in Frankfurt, 2007

Her music encompasses a wide range of styles.^[2] Autumn's vocal range is contralto, but can expand to dramatic soprano,^[7] and her vocal work has been compared to Tori Amos,^[63][64] Kate Bush,^[64] and The Creatures.^[63] She has released two instrumental albums (On a Day... and Laced/Unlaced), and three which feature her vocals: Enchant, Opheliac, and A Bit o' This & That. The 2003 album Enchant drew on "new age chamber music, trip-hop baroque, and experimental space pop".^[63] Autumn layers her voice frequently, and incorporates electronics and electronic effects into her work on Enchant; she also combines strings and piano for some songs, while others feature mainly the piano or violin.^[8] The 2006 release Opheliac featured "cabaret, electronic, symphonic, new age, and good ol' rock & roll (and heavy on the theatrical bombast)."^[64]

A classically trained musician, Autumn draws influence from plays, novels, and history, particularly the Victorian era.^[9][27] She enjoys the works of Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her husband Robert, and Edgar Allan Poe.^[9] She incorporates sounds resembling Victorian machinery such as locomotives, which she noted was "sort of a steampunk thing".^[27] While a young Autumn cited Itzhak Perlman as an influence because of the happiness she believed he felt when he played, her main musical influence and inspiration is the English violinist Nigel Kennedy.^[8] Her favorite singer is Morrissey from The Smiths.^[11] She takes inspiration for her songs from her life experiences and mixes in "layers and layers of references, connections, other stories and metaphors".^[9] Autumn describes her music and style as "Psychotic Vaudeville Burlesque."^[65] She alternatively labels her music and style as "Victoriandustrial'", a term she coined, and glam rock because of her use of glitter onstage.^[27][49][66] According to Autumn, her music "wasn't meant to be cutesy" and is labeled as industrial mainly because of her use of drums and yelling.^[27] Her adaption of "O Mistress Mine" was praised by author and theater director Barry Edelstein as "a ravishing, guaranteed tearjerker."^[67]

For her live performances, which she calls dinner theatre because of her practice of throwing tea and tea-time snacks offstage, Autumn makes use of burlesque—"a show that was mainly using humour and sexuality to make a mockery of things that were going on socially and politically"^[66]—to counterbalance the morbid topics such as abuse and self-mutilation.^[3] She incorporates handmade costumes,^[66] fire tricks, theatrics, and a female backing band, The Bloody Crumpets: Veronica Varlow, Captain Maggot, and The Blessed Contessa, and formerly Lady Aprella, Little Lucina, Jacinda, Lady Joo Hee, Captain Vecona, Mistress Apnea, Little Miss Sugarless and the model Ulorin Vex.^[2][49][68] Her wish for the live shows is to be an "anti-repression statement" and empowerment.^[28]

Personal life[link]

Autumn performing in Essen Zeche Carl

Autumn has bipolar disorder, which caused her to experience drastic mood swings, insomnia, and auditory hallucinations,^[3][37] and for which she takes medication.^[3] Some of her songs—"Manic Depression", "Swallow", and "Misery Loves Company" from Opheliac—deal with living with the disorder.^[5] While she would "prefer to not have it [...] and probably be a lot happier," she believes that it gives her a different perspective on life and plans to "use it for all it’s worth so that [she is] not a victim of it."^[28] Autumn experienced abuse, which began when she was six years old, and is a survivor of rape.^[69] She keeps a ritual of drawing a heart on her cheek as a symbol of protection.^[3]

Autumn identifies as asexual.^[70] She went vegetarian at age eleven after being unable to rationalize why she should eat farm animals but not her pet; in her late-teens, she turned vegan.^[71] She believes that there is a link between the treatment of women and animals in society.^[71] She cares for two pet rats, Sir Edward and Basil, and a cat named Fish/Fishy,^[71][72] and endorses companies such as Manic Panic and Samson Tech.^[68]

Hospitalization and autobiographical novel[link]

Returning from Courtney Love's 2004 tour, Autumn resumed working on her own career and became pregnant, although she had been on birth control.^[3] Terrified of pregnancy and childbirth and unwilling to pass on her bipolar disorder, she decided to have an abortion.^[3] Later, she attempted suicide, which caused her to be admitted to a psychiatric ward at a Los Angeles hospital and kept on suicide watch.^[3][66] On her experience there, she commented: "No one tried to break me out or contact me, and I wasn’t allowed to call anyone. Now, I watch One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and realise it’s actually a pretty accurate portrayal of a modern-day asylum."^[3]

After being released, she had her cell block number tattooed on her right arm as a way of remembering what happened to her^[3] and penned her autobiographical novel, The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, which was published in 2010.^[51] Because of the book's nature as an autobiography, its release was delayed because some did not want it published.^[27] Based on her diary written in red crayon while institutionalized, the book incorporated talking rats and the diary of a fictional Victorian inmate named "Emily".^[3][71] Autumn explained that "one of the main messages is" that many of the patients were not insane and that the subject of mental illness remains misunderstood.^[28]

Discography[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Across the Sky & Other Poems (2000)
• Your Sugar Sits Untouched (2005)
• The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls (2010)

Filmography[link]

• 11-11-11 as 11'er in Video (Uncredited)
• The Devil's Carnival as Painted Doll

Notes[link]

References[link]