EVANESCENCE's AMY LEE Says 'Synthesis Live' Tour Is 'Really Special'

EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee spoke to Forbes about the fan response to the band's "Synthesis Live" tour, which features a reimagining of some of EVANESCENCE's best-loved songs with the spotlight on full orchestra, electronics combined with the band and her virtuoso piano and voice.

"I think our fans like it a lot," she said. "It's a way to experience this music, for them and for us, in a different way. We've been playing the straight-up original versions of our songs for many years now. So to have an opportunity to go to a different venue for most of these shows, go to a concert hall, sit down and listen to it, it's a lot more like going to a show, like going to a movie, than going to a rock concert where you're gonna jump up and down and make noise. There are parts that are very intimate before it goes big and epic and 28 orchestral musicians are going off. So it's a very personal experience. The reaction I've seen has been really good, but it's definitely different. It feels still weird to us on stage, we're getting completely used to it. It's definitely not a rock and roll show, but I think it's really special and I'm absolutely positive I'm gonna remember these performances and this very special experience for the rest of my life."

Asked if she sees herself wanting to write more orchestral works or film scores after completing the "Synthesis Live" tour, Lee said: "It's kind of the other way, that's what I've been doing. Between the last EVANESCENCE record and now I've been doing a lot of stuff on the side, doing the more film soundtrack score world and working more in that way just to please myself. I enjoy doing it very much. And this is me being a little less intimidated by that and ready and brave enough to kind of mess with our music. So I just wanted to because it felt good. There's really no big plan. It's really expensive, it's probably not smart marketing wise. I had a creative idea and it felt good so we did it. I really like contrast. I really like extremes. So it's cool to be able to take this this total contrast from European metal festivals we were playing this summer and then go totally full orchestra concert halls later in the year. It feels really good to me, so I'm just saying whatever comes from us next and what this means for our trajectory I don't know that it means going deeper into this world. I think this is just a really cool moment in time."

The "Synthesis" album was released on November 10. The effort features full orchestration in a completely synthetic world of beats and sounds, with help from arranger and composer David Campbell.

"Synthesis" contains two new EVANESCENCE songs in addition to fan favorites re-recorded with a live orchestra and electronica.

The "Synthesis Live" tour launched on October 14 on the West Coast.