AURELIO VOLTAIRE Interview

«Yeah, I’m definitely not Justin Bieber»

Alena Fadeeva: Hi! Really nice to see you in Saint-Petersburg! The first one is my favorite question: What are you feeling in here? In Saint-Petersburg? Maybe some atmosphere? Many people are telling about the special atmosphere.

Aurelio Voltaire: Hi! Well! Saint-Petersburg is a very European city, you know, the architecture is very beautiful. And the view from my hotel is very beautiful, too! Your streets are very-very wide. In New-York all buildings are very close together and very high so there is not much sunlight when you walking down the streets. I was in a cab and I pointed at a building and said to the promoters,"that seems like an important building? They replied: "Well, yes. It's the city hall.” I pointed at another building and asked ”Is that an important building, too?” "No, it's quite ordinary building,” they replied.  So a lot of Saint-Petersburg is very beautiful,  and there is a real quality about a great many of the buildings here. They have an aristocratic feeling.

Alena Fadeeva: In the last interview, you told your favorite city is New York. Right?

Aurelio Voltaire: Well, I live in New-YorkCity. I do love it there.

Alena Fadeeva: Which city mostly reflects the mood of your music? Except for New York.

Aurelio Voltaire: That's hard to say. Because I make many different types of music. You know, I mean I have the folk songs, and I have songs that sound like they are in a gypsy style and I have songs that sound steampunk and songs that are like New Orleans jazz. I have even written a reggae song! I don't think that there is any one city that typifies my musical style. I think maybe the country of Vorutania! (Vorutania is a fictitious land where the events in the album To the Bottom of the Sea are set) . I think its the perfect place for my music! It's not a real country. I made it up.

Alena Fadeeva: I want to ask you about your amazing "Gothic HomeMaking show". I watched a few episodes and its really awesome show! Wow!

Aurelio Voltaire: Oh! Thank you!

Alena Fadeeva: Please tell me how the show is progressing? What's the reaction of people?

Aurelio Voltaire: Well, the show is very expensive to make. So I fly to many countries to film things, and of course, I buy a lot of things to show in the Lair of Voltaire. So it's a very expensive show to make, and it takes thousands of hours to make it. So when I began I thought it would be more successful and actually, after 5 episodes I was so depressed, I almost quit. And then I realized that I love making the show and I shouldn't worry so much about it becoming very popular, I should just focus on the enjoyment that I have while making the show. Also, the subject of the show is my apartment. The longer the show continues as nicer my apartment becomes. So I continue to make episodes of "Gothic Homemaking" and I realized another thing: people don't necessarily want television length episodes. Now I don't bother making them half an hour long anymore, I just make little featurettes about the shoes that I buy or decorating with insects, or when I went to Thailand I filmed some snakes and things you can decorate your home with.  So, I don't worry about the length anymore, I make episodes I think people will enjoy. I think the word is getting out. And it’s maybe starting to become more popular. But it's something that I very-very much enjoy doing.  And the youtube channel just hit over one hundred thousand subscribers, so that’s very exciting and encouraging!

Alena Fadeeva: Wow! That's great, I think. So, I want to ask you about your suit and make-up. You look like a pirate!

Aurelio Voltaire: Yeah, maybe. I don't know! I don't think about it too much. These days I’m dressing in kind of a typical gothic style, I think. I used to dress like a pirate in my show. I have a pirate hat and eyepatch and the dressed exactly like a pirate.

Alena Fadeeva: What about the idea of this image? Where did it come from?

Aurelio Voltaire: I don't know. Seems like that when I was a teenager. I really loved "Adam and the Ants" and he dressed kind of like a pirate. And I loved David Bowie and his style. And "The Sisters of Mercy" and "Bauhaus". So, you know we all imitate our heroes, that's how it starts, that's our beginning.  And then as you become more mature, you start to evolve, you start to build and have your own style. No man is an island. If we don't live in a cave, you are inspired by someone and maybe someone gets inspired by you.

Alena Fadeeva: What about the popularity? Is it good or bad? Personally for you.

Aurelio Voltaire: Popularity? It's very bad for privacy but it's great for paying the rent. The more popular I become the easier it is for me to pay the rent. And I'm not rich. I live like most people do. So, it's very important to me when I can pay my rent. When people buy tickets and come to my show and buy the CDs after, it helps me to pay my rent and to help my son with the things that he needs. So, popularity is very useful. And I love to connect with the people who like what I do. Meeting someone who likes what you do is magical. I love that, but popularity is not great for privacy. The more popular you become the more people in the world have strange ideas about who you are and what your role is in their lives. It can become a bit creepy at times.

Alena Fadeeva: Well, the style of your music connects with a small audience people.

Aurelio Voltaire: Yeah, I’m definitely not Justin Bieber. Ha-ha! Unfortunately for my bank account!

Alena Fadeeva: Do you like to play with your family circle?

Aurelio Voltaire: You know, I live to make music and art.  I am approached all of the time by different people who want to help me with my career.  And they tell me: "Oh! we can make you very famous, we can make you very popular!" but I don't want to be famous and popular, I just want to reach people who like what I do. That’s the difference. What is the population in Saint-Petersburg, a few million people for example? I don't need for their to be millions of people in the audience, I want only the people for whom this music means something to. And if it's ten or if it's ten thousand it's doesn't matter to me, I would rather have ten people in the audience who really-really love the music, then ten thousand people in the audience who don't really care.

Alena Fadeeva: It is very important to hear such words from you. So thank you so much for our interview! Have a great show and see you soon!

Aurelio Voltaire: My pleasure! Thanks for the chat!

Беседовала: Алена Фадеева

Фотографии: Елена Карпова.

Выражаем благодарность Infinity CA за организацию интервью.