EVANESCENCE Frontwoman Has No Interest In Solo Career

Jason Levine of SonicCathedral.com recently conducted an interview with EVANESCENCE frontwoman Amy Lee. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

SonicCathedral.com: How has it been going with the new band members?

Amy: Incredible. It's been really great. Troy and Will are very, very talented musicians. I want to only say the positive things about them. I want to be nice. (laughs) They're really, really great and it's given us a lot of ability. I've felt like we were kind of trapped before, because things kind of got to a stagnant point. Like when nothing was moving forward it was kind of like just barely getting through every show. There was some misery in the band and John and Rocky just didn't want to be doing it anymore. So it was really frustrating for the rest of us, because we love the band and love the new songs and want to be here rocking out in front of thousands of people. I mean, how can you not? So it's really cool to have not only two very talented guys in band, but also two people that really appreciate and love this music and this band. So we're having a lot of fun. We get along and we play scrabble together. We're going camping tonight. So it's been a really good time. It feels like a breath of fresh air.

SonicCathedral.com: You have a good collaboration with Terry already. Do you plan to collaborate more with everyone in the band now?

Amy: I don't know. I don't want to jinx myself and say that again, because I said that before "The Open Door" and that didn't work. So you never know how it's going to be writing with people. We've successfully been able to make up little pieces here and there. Segues into other songs. I mean it just comes naturally for us. We're all pretty open-minded and creative and we sort of think on the same page and like the same bands. So I can easily see us all writing together, yes. But there's no plan, just because by the time we finish not this tour but the one after that we were talking about. We're just gonna take some good time off for I don't know. Indefinitely. Until we figure out the next thing to do. So we'll see.

SonicCathedral.com: With "The Open Door" you had a lot of issues you brought out during it about your relationship with Shaun. Now that you're married and happier, can we expect a different style or different lyrics in your newer writing?

Amy: You can always expect a different style. I never want to put out the same record twice. I always want to be reinventing myself and pushing myself to the new limit. But as far as writing happy songs and putting out a Sarah McLachlan record. It's just not really me. I want to be doing something different, but I also still want it to be interesting and unique and challenging. I don't know. I like giving people the exact opposite of what they think they expect. (laughs) So we'll see. Maybe I'll just put out a clarinet record or something. (laughs) A whistling choir.

SonicCathedral.com: Have you thought about working with Wind-Up on something solo in addition to the EVANESCENCE work, following such other frontwomen as Gwen Stefani and Fergie by releasing a solo album?

Amy: That's not me. I definitely think I could work by myself on something, but it wouldn't be in this music world. It wouldn't be in this sense of touring. I don't know. It would be completely different. Everything that I want to do as a rock musician I get to do with EVANESCENCE. If I was ever to do something on my own or with different people, it would be because it was completely different. Such as I really have always wanted to get into scoring. I would love to score a film and I'm gonna try to do something completely different than EVANESCENCE along those lines at some point. So there's that, but I don't know if that counts as being a solo artist. Definitely not in the sense that Fergie or Gwen Stefani are solo artists. I'm not really interested in that.

SonicCathedral.com: We've been seeing a lot more female fronted bands come over to America this year. Your band has paved the way so all of these bands can come over from Europe. Revolver just put on a female metal tour. Where do you see yourself in the female scene and how you fit in?

Amy: I don't know really how to answer that. I don't really look at it like it's a whole different genre because I'm a girl. I think that is something that I've always felt was an advantage for us because we had something different than most of the bands out there. It's cool to be on this bill and be one of two females total, because it changes it up and there's something that we have that they don't which is just this sort of passionate femininity. So it's cool to have that. I've always looked at it as a positive thing. But I don't know where I stand and all that stuff.

SonicCathedral.com: Would you tour with other female bands?

Amy: Absolutely. I would love to. How cool would that be. I definitely have always had a lot of female artists that I love and admire. A lot of them are older now or are in a completely different style of music so I don't know how the tour would work. (laughs) I think we'd be the heaviest band on the bill for sure.

SonicCathedral.com: When you're done with this touring cycle are you planning to go right back into the studio?

Amy: No. I really don't want to do that. Even less than last time. Last time I was exhausted after touring. A lot more than we will be this time, because we were just being driven into the ground. But even still after just like one month I was so motivated. So many things had happened that affected me personally and I finally had the freedom to really write whatever I wanted, that I was just dying to write the new record. We just spent a long time on it. This time I'm definitely musically inspired and want to work, but I don't want to go right back into doing the exact same thing. I think I'm just going to take it easy. I just got married three months ago. Take a break. Be normal. Buy groceries. Go to the movies. You know.

SonicCathedral.com: Has your marriage changed your attitude or views on life?

Amy: Um, yeah. Absolutely. I don't know. You get a better perspective on what's the most important and it's not all about you and I think that's actually a big relief. It's a lot less pressure as far as messing up and the career is concerned. I think I was already starting to get that perspective anyway, but it just helps make it even clearer when it's not all about you all the time. So I like it. (laughs)

SonicCathedral.com: And how has the change been in terms of moving to New York. Do you plan to stay there?

Amy: Yeah, I love it there. I don't know what to say. I absolutely love it there. I haven't gotten to spend a ton of time there, because we've been just touring pretty much almost the whole time I've lived there. But it's a lot more me than Los Angeles. I lived in California for five years. Again I'm not there very much. And yeah, it was alright, but definitely not my personality. I'm laid back and everything, but it's a lot about who you know and the whole Hollywood thing. And I just… I don't fit into that at all. I'm just the girl in the corner wishing I could go home. (laughs) So it's a lot cooler to be in New York where there are so many different cultures and music and art and just people from all over the world. It's actually really cool and everybody has something that they think is a lot more important going on than looking at you. So I can completely blend in. Just walk down the street and be normal.

Read the entire interview at www.soniccathedral.com.