Interview with the "Ultimate Goth"

This is our first interview and I chose Amy, writer of The Ultimate Goth Guide as first victim. :P I'm sure you stepped at least once in her blog, looking for make-up or clothing tips or because you had a doubt on something regarding the goth world! If you are a goth that site will become your bible! :P

♥ So why and when did you start writing The Ultimate Goth Guide?

I started the Ultimate Goth Guide on Piczo when I was a sixteen-year-old babybat (almost four years ago!)... I had just segued from my mallgoth stage and as a know-it-all Gothling I felt inclined to impart my knowledge to others... *sigh*

The whole idea stemmed from meeting a girl slightly younger than me at a party... she was just getting into Goth and had LOADS of questions so I ended up coming home and typing up all my answers to give to her. While I was at it I added a bunch of photos, a title and such. I have attached the 'front cover' of this very first format of the Guide for you to giggle at! I stole the image from Gloomth...

When I was discussing the idea with Dan, he suggested that I make it into a book or website. Being a raging egomaniac, I couldn't resist!

♥Would you call yourself a goth? Do you like labels in general?

I would indeed. Goth and proud! ^^ Whether other people would agree with that is entirely up to them.

'Like' isn't the right word... I feel that they are a harmless form of social shorthand that it's impossible to escape from and don't mind them being applied to me as long as they're reasonably accurate. I don't feel that belonging to a subculture is the same as being 'labelled'. Actually it annoys me when people refer to Goth as a 'label' because there is a lot more to it than just a tag to slap on people!

The only time I really have a problem with labels is when people start to think that a label should define their behaviour - "I can't do X thing because it isn't Goth." Or when someone else says, "she probably does X thing because she's a Goth." There's a lot more to a person than anything a single term can convey!

♥What kind of goth are you? Do you follow a style in particular?

I usually refer to myself as a perkygoth because I'm quite an upbeat person, probably verging on annoyingly smiley. :-P

I have never been able to stick to one style! Although I guess I will be a Victorian Goth next year for Kitty's (Bloggery of a Gothcat) Filthy Victorians 2012... On the whole I love so many styles - Neo-Victorian, Glitter Goth, Ice Goth, old-school, cyber, deathrock... heh, I love everything!

I'm also inspired by vintage fashion, Lolita, steampunk, and other alternative styles such as Visual Kei, cyberpop, faerie, decora and probably a few more. That has to be the best thing about Goth, for me - it's so open to experimentation. I rarely wear the same style from day-to-day, although poofy skirts and sparkly things feature heavily in my wardrobe!

♥How long have you been a goth?

The short answer is 'about five years'. I had brief attempts to experiment with Goth aged eight and ten, and have always been fascinated with the subculture. But just after my fourteenth birthday I decided I was 'going Goth', for good, and did! I haven't looked back since. ;-)

♥Who inspires you? Who are your idols?

My two biggest idols are definitely Adora BatBrat and Jillian Venters - I love their personal style and the fact they are both irrepressibly cheerful and fun (not usually something that people associate with Goth culture!). I also adore the model Wednesday Mourning.

Since joining Blogger I have found many of my fellow bloggoths inspiring - Sary of The Walrus Room, Kitty of Bloggery of a Gothcat, Steph of If I Only Were A Goth and VictorianKitty of Sophistique Noir to name but a few.

I also can't ever flick through Gothic Beauty Magazine without wanting to go shopping and put on more make-up, and I read the Gothic and Lolita English Bibles obsessively, although I find them difficult to get hold of. I love seeing what different people wear day-to-day! I also love looking at image galleries from big Goth festivals, the outfits that people create and the make-up designs that they come up with are amazing!

♥Is there anything you dislike about the goth culture?

I wish people would stop snarking at others for how much or little they dress up! Some of us are casual, some of us more dressy - get over it!

Also, a pet peeve of mine is something you recently mentioned on Gothic Divine - how Goths react to each other when they meet in the street. I'm on a bit of a personal campaign to bring back what Gothic Charm School refers to as 'the mutual freak nod', or y'know, just a smile, or a compliment... If you see another Goth in the street, there's no point sneakily checking out each other's outfits ad trying to work out which of you is higher up in the Gothy hierarchy - just smile and say hello, for goodness' sake! This person obviously has some similar interests to you so why glower or ignore them? Honestly...

♥Are you the first goth in your family?

Well, my cousin had a Goth phase in her late teens... My mum is a bit of a closet Goth, I often come home and find her listening to The Cruxshadows and there are definitely a few things in her wardrobe I want to steal.

I have two primary-school-age second cousins whom I've seen once in my life, and my aunt (their grandmother) recently commented, completely out of the blue, that I shouldn't encourage them to wear black nail varnish (I never have!). "I think they're a little young for that, Amy," she said in her most concerned, disapproving tones. I'm now keeping my fingers crossed that one or both of them will discover Goth in their teens... yes it's petty, but never mind...

♥Do you parents suppport your being a goth?

My mum does, and always has. At the beginning my dad wasn't impressed and often made snarky comments, but over the last few years he's come round and started keeping an eye out for clothes, records and other bits and bobs for me, and this year, having seen the success of my blog, he often e-mails or rings me with a snippet of info or a website link that he thinks I could use. Once I was having coffee with a friend and Dad rang me up to ask if I knew that Dracula was written in Whitby! <3

My family was concerned after the murder of Sophie Lancaster and I think they feel I would be safer if I wasn't a Goth, but they have never been unsupportive.

♥Did you ever have any particular trouble for being a goth?

Thankfully, no. I have had stones thrown at me by some young boys and that was about the worst of it. I was bullied badly in school for being well-read, but that was before I discovered the Goth scene. I live in a small town and people often stare or make comments, even in my workplace, but I'm getting used to it.

♥Is there anything in particular that you like collecting?

I collect Gothy vinyl records (my dad found me an Alien Sex Fiend double-disc album in mint condition last month, yay!), fluffy toy monsters and bats, vampire and faerie books, and *ahem* My Little Pony. I have over 400 My Little Pony figurines which I have collected ever since I was a little girl. Ssh!

It could also be said that I collect clothing as I have too many clothes to physically fit in my (five) wardrobes.

♥About music, what are your favourite bands? and who are your favourite female and male singers? 

All-time favourite song?

Oh god, I hope you weren't expecting a short answer! My favourite bands include but are not limited to The Cruxshadows, The Birthday Massacre, Johnny Hollow, The Cure, Fields of the Nephilim, Abney Park, Wolfsheim, The Sisters of Mercy, Alice Moving Under Skies, Dreams Divide, Crazy Town (ssh! ;-) ), Bak XIII, Ashbury Heights, Mind.In.A.Box, The Candy Spooky Theater, Evanescence, Diva Destruction, Inkubus Sukkubus, Enigma, Faith and the Muse, Sopor Aeturnus, HIM, Roxy Music, Alice Cooper, I:Scintilla, Iron Maiden, In Flames, Kissing Violet, L'Ame Immortelle, Qntal, Linkin Park, Mindless Self Indulgence, Carfax Abbey, Fear Cult, Rasputina, Poets of the Fall, Raggedy Angry, Purple Fog Side, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Rammstein, The Rasmus, RazorBladeKisses, Rising Shadows, Scary Bitches, Cinema Strange, Seraphim Shock, Sex Gang Children, Skeletal Family (with Anne-Marie Hurst), Unter Null, Pretentious,Moi?, Dyonisis...

My favourite male singers are Dr Steel, Rogue (The Cruxshadows), Robert Smith, Faderhead, Ville Valo, Marilyn Manson, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Bryan Ferry, Voltaire, Gerard Way, Kurt Cobain, Brian Molko, Dave Gahan and the chappie from The Faces of Sarah.

My favourite female singers are Emilie Autumn, Chibi (TBM), Penny Dreadful (Alice Moving Under Skies), Amy Lee, Hannah Fury, Amanda Palmer, Anna-Varney Cantodea, Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Katy Perry, Loreena McKennitt, Melora Creager, Tarja Turunen (although I don't like her solo stuff), Floor Jensen, Siouxsie Sioux, Dolly Parton and Lady GaGa.

Um, sorry for this huge list! :-P

All time favourite song is definitely Winter Born by The Cruxshadows, although I will always have a secret soft spot for Butterfly by Crazy Town...

♥Do you believe in paranormal things like aliens, ghosts or demons?

Sure! I definitely believe in aliens - my friends and I spent last summer UFO-watching, it took us several months to realise that we were actually filming and enthusing about sky lanterns... d'oh. Not sure about demons but I believe in ghosts. And fairies. People think I'm joking when I say that, but sadly I'm not. The only time I'll stop believing in, well, anything, is when I'm shown solid proof that it doesn't exist. Other than that I try to keep an open mind.

♥Thank you for letting me interview you! You are very kind :) anything else you'd like to say to your fans? 

You're welcome, it's been fun! :-D

 Heh... I have fans? Thanks everyone for your support and for checking out the Goth Guide, I love getting all your comments and feedback. Stay spooky! ;-D