CARLY SMITHSON On WE ARE THE FALLEN: I've Never Felt So Meant To Be Somewhere

Music Remedy recently conducted an interview with WE ARE THE FALLEN, the group formed by EVANESCENCE co-founder Ben Moody (guitar) and other former members — John LeCompt (guitar) and Rocky Gray (drums) — along with "American Idol" powerhouse vocalist Carly Smithson and bassist Marty O'Brien, whose recording and touring credits include DISTURBED, KELLY CLARKSON, STATIC-X, METHODS OF MAYHEM and TOMMY LEE. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On WE ARE THE FALLEN's formation:

Ben Moody: "This is the band we've always wanted to be in. We just wanted to be back doing what we love the most. From the very beginning it was clear we were going to take everything that we loved about our musical past and we were going to make it faster, we were going to make it heavier, we were going to make it catchier and we were going to make it better. That was kind of our goal — bigger, better, faster and more of it."

Marty O'Brien: "Obviously, Ben played with John and Rocky for years, and Ben and I have been working on stuff for six years together. So it all worked when we came together, and Carly was that final piece of the puzzle. She just clicked with everybody instantly."

On Carly's initial discussion with Ben Moody that led to her joining WE ARE THE FALLEN:

Carly Smithson: "Creatively, we were in sync that night from the first word of our conversation. Our musical and visual ideas for our future were so alike it was a no-brainer answer when Ben asked me to come on board and complete the lineup. I'd been creating my own solo record for most of that year but for me it was always missing that magic, that element of sparkle and excitement. The songs I was writing were great but for me that’s where it ended. I felt like I was missing something in the bigger picture. That night by the end of myself and Ben's conversation it was not only bright outside but it was very clear I had found that element and a new home in WE ARE THE FALLEN."

On WE ARE THE FALLEN's band name:

Marty O'Brien: "Our band name, WE ARE THE FALLEN, definitely has a strong meaning to all of us. I feel that each member was brought into this band because of past situations that either fell apart, disbanded, or musical projects we had going on that didn't work out the way we had hoped. I feel like we are somewhat of a band of misfits coming together to create something special that we could not have created individually."

On the band's songwriting process:

Ben Moody: "The great thing about this band is that everyone is capable of doing more than one thing. There are a lot of different times where two people will do something together and bring it to two other people, or sometimes it'll be this track that comes out in 20 minutes and Carly goes off and writes lyrics and melodies on her own. There are times when I'll just sit down and write a piano ballad or Rocky, the drummer, will come up with entire guitar pieces and huge chunks of a song arrangement...So it's a very unique band dynamic."

Carly Smithson: "I've never had music flow out of me so easily nor have I ever felt so meant to be somewhere. There is just no effort to it with these guys, we work so perfect together."

On Carly bringing in a song she had been working on, "Bury Me Alive", which turned to be the band's first single:

Ben Moody: "That was a big moment for us. That was the first thing she brought to the table, and it really solidified that this would not just be her singing over our ideas. We realized, 'Holy shit, we just wrote our first single,' and we knew that we had completed a real band and weren't just some guys who used to be in another band who got a singer from a TV show."

On WE ARE THE FALLEN's live performance:

Ben Moody: "It's going to be every bit as big as the record times ten, because we'll be playing twice as hard and twice as loud. It's just going to have an entirely new dimension of energy."

Carly Smithson: "We want to create a live show that people will come to see again and again. This music is so powerful that it gives us so much room to dabble in stage production and get creative. Putting on a real 'show' is our main goal for the future — fusing music with visual arts and theatrical elements."