Other people have written that you find inspiration for your multi faceted performances from plays, novels and especially history. Do you agree with this?
EA: Most definitely I do. In the case of plays and novels and the like, it isn’t that I am inspired to write about what the author of those plays and novels have written about, because they’ve already done that. Rather, I study the way in which different art forms are used to tell stories. When I was growing up, I wanted more than anything to become a great violinist. Later in my life, I wanted still to be a violinist, but wanted more than anything to become a great singer. Later still, I wanted still to be a violinist and a singer, but wanted more than anything to become a great writer. And now, in what I feel is my most evolved state to this moment, I still want all of those things, but I want more than anything in the world to become a great storyteller.
Besides this, everyone writes about history. Everyone. We have to, because it’s all we know. We know our past. Even if you are writing a simple song about a break up, you are writing about history. I just go back a little bit farther than some.
What are you aiming to convey to your audience? Why do you do what you do?
EA: This is actually a brilliant question, because it is so very simple, and I think that even the most complicated, lofty, intense goals and desires can be broken down into something exquisitely simple. What I am aiming to convey is individuality. What I want to do is turn terrible things into beautiful things.
You cover a lot of grounds with your creativity, writing, acting, playing. Which art form do you identify with the most?
EA: I identify myself the most with my violin playing, still, after all of these years of developing in all of these other varied ways, and I think there’s something very appropriate in that.
After your show what do you want your audience to take with them? What’s the most memorable response to your work you’ve had so far?
EA: I would like most for the audience to take away a very strong sense of empowerment, and I cannot describe how proud I feel of these people, my Plague Rats, most of which are doing just that. The response is honest, overwhelming, and very personal, and I am beyond honored to be a part of something that brings people together in this way. Unity through individuality.
Professionally, what’s your goal? What do you plan to be doing at the end of this year?
EA: By the end of 2012, I will have completed much of the “Fight Like A Girl” Tour, Part II, and will have completed the libretto to the “Asylum…” musical which will debut in 2014.
