Bringing Evanescence to life again was easier said than done for Amy Lee.
The 29-year-old frontwoman admits she contemplated quitting music and letting the band die after their 2006 CD The Open Door.
“I had some real soul-searching to do after we finished the last tour,” explains the raven-haired, black-clad singer, who co-founded the group in 1995. “By 2007, my life had revolved around Evanescence since I was a teenager. And there had been incredible experiences. But I was missing out on the less-incredible experiences of normal life, you know? I had just got married, and we hadn’t even got to live together off the road yet. So in a big way, I wanted to step away from the whole thing. And I thought maybe it was the end. I was straight with the guys. It was: ‘Hey, I don’t really know when this is going to happen again. Or if it will. I need to find myself.’ ”
But going cold turkey was easier said than done. “To get out of the limelight and get in touch with myself was super-good,” says the 29- year-old Arkansas native, who lives in New York City. “But at the end of the day, a year of not writing became impossible. After a while, I just started doing it. And eventually, I started taking it seriously and going, ‘OK, I want to make something.’ ”
That something evolved into Evanescence’s self-titled third album, which signals the group’s creative rebirth — or as Lee calls it, “renaissance” — by updating their sweeping, theatrical alt-rock with edgier electronics and more prominent grooves. On the eve of the album’s release — and the band’s return to the road after four years — Lee sat down to discuss backing away from music, keeping up with the boys and reawakening her inner rock star.
When you walked away, did you give up music altogether?
To be truly honest, I did back away a little. But it was more in terms of backing away from the radio and keeping track of what was cool and that whole thing. I was still playing piano. And I started taking harp lessons because I wanted to learn new things. I missed learning. When you’re always writing and creating, you’re not absorbing. You’re not bringing anything else in. I wanted to further myself. I thought about going back to school. I didn’t. (Laughs) And I spent a lot of time painting and appreciating other people’s work — going to concerts and museums and just absorbing. And I was listening to very different music like folk — Neil Young and Emmylou Harris, Band of Horses and Ray LaMontagne and other indie artists.
Was there a specific point when the music switch flipped on again?
There was. At the beginning of 2009, I wrote a song with this friend of mine who’s a programmer and producer. And it was a completely different direction for me. It was electronic-driven and I loved it so much. I remember listening to it over and over, just obsessing over it the way I used to obsess over Evanescence music. That was the spark for me — and the spark to go in the electronic direction and bring some of that into what Evanescence is doing.
Does the music mean more now than it did before?
It does. It’s always meant so much to me, but if we’d finished touring the last time and just gone right back into it when my heart wasn’t there, it would have sucked. It wouldn’t be anywhere near where it is now. Now I’m doing it absolutely because I love it and want to — not because I have to, not because I need the money or I feel like I have anything to prove. I don’t. I’m really happy with our history. This is really just about my passion for the project I’ve been working on for the better part of my life.
Did you approach writing this album differently than the previous ones?
I’m a very intimate writer. It’s usually just me and one other guy.
This time, we had a lot of sessions where everybody was at their instruments spitting out ideas. That was scary to me in the past. You have to be fast to keep up and I didn’t have that confidence, which is funny, because I’ve played music all my life. Plus, everybody hasn’t always agreed on what they wanted the band to sound like. But now, we’re all on the same page and everybody brings something good to the table, so working like that made for special moments I couldn’t have come up with myself.
What’s the biggest challenge of getting back onstage after four years?
It’s mental. It’s me thinking, ‘Can I still do this? Am I still that girl? Have I forgotten how to connect with the audience and be a rock star?’ Because I haven’t been living like a rock star for years and it’s weird. We just did our first show in two years, and I was nervous, but it snapped right back. It was like, ‘Wow, I remember this. We know what we’re doing. It’s pretty good.’
So, how are you going to make sure your personal life and marriage don’t get out of balance while you’re touring for two years?
That’s a good question; I should probably think about that. (Laughs) My husband is going to come out on the road a lot of the time, so we’ll get to have this adventure together. That will be fun.
Do you see yourself having another crisis of faith?
No, I already did that. I’m really happy with where we are and who we are — and honestly just starved to do this again. I stepped away big- time and was willing to let it all go. And that’s what made me realize what I loved about it and fall back in love with it again.
Source: torontosun.com
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