Halloween *mini* Interview Part 3: Melle Noire

TAMD: What is the story behind your modeling alias?

Melle Noire:  Melle is the short form of Melanie, my real forename. Melanie means: The black, the dark, the black dressed (Greek: Mela = dark). My mother gave this name to me because I had black hair when I was born (now it's dark brown). She couldn't know how good the name would fit to me when I was adult.  Since I was 18 I've been in the German gothic scene, so at most times I wear black, I love black and dark things (for example my furniture is black, decorated with skulls and roses).

At the beginning of my modelling career my pseudonym was just Melle.

It's my sobriquet in daily life too. When I lived near Kassel in a small rural town, there all Melanies were called Melle. That was a normal thing. Oneday I thought it would be fine to have a surname for my modelling too, so I was searching for a good name. "Noire" was the idea of my boyfriend, he is a half French and Noire means black. So you can see that my whole life is black.

I think everything falls into place, my modeling alias is harmonious to my life.

TAMD: Besides modeling, what do you do in your spare time?

MN: My hobbies are: Watching TV (I love movies and many TV series), going to the theater to watch movies, surfing the Internet, listening to music (darkwave, future pop, electro, industrial, noise, EBM, gothic, goth rock, metal, middleage crossover, folk...), going out to parties, hanging with friends, drawing, writing poems, reading, crossword puzzles, and cooking.

TAMD: What about alternative modeling do you find appealing?

MN: I can make pictures different from the mainstream, I can dress up and play weird roles. I can show my dark side, I can be evil or I can be nice, I can show different faces. I can plan with own ideas for shootings if I want. That's all so fantastic and I have the chance to be creative, it's a free and easy thing. 

TAMD: Describe Halloween in Germany.

MN: It's definitely not the same as it is in America, there's no trick or treat. But for several years there are have been Halloween parties in Germany too. You can buy Halloween accessories, there are Halloween and horror shops on the Internet, it's already very commercial here. Of curse there are also separate gothic Halloween parties. When you are watching TV on Halloween, you can see many horror movies and Halloween specials.

An interesting thing from my childhood near Kassel was a custom named "Glowesabend". It's every year on St Nicholas' Day. The children wear costumes and fantasy masks, ringing on every house and doing a hackneyed saying to get sweets. It's very similar to Halloween but a regional custom in Germany.

TAMD: Tell us about the photo that is being featured.

MN: It was taken on my last shooting date: 09 / 12 / 2012. It was a great fantasy shot, the photographer bought the costume and lent it to me. The idea was that I am an evil witch..