Grammy Award Winner Amy Lee to Receive Icon Award
at Annual Meeting in New York City
 
WASHINGTON—The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) will honor Grammy-Award winning singer/songwriter Amy Lee with its 2008 Songwriter Icon Award at the NMPA’s Annual Meeting to be held in New York City June 18. NMPA also announced today U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has been selected to receive the 2008 President’s Award.

“The NMPA is in many ways a bridge between policymakers and the music publishers and songwriters we serve, so it’s a privilege to recognize an outstanding representative from each of these groups in conjunction with our annual meeting each year,” said NMPA President and CEO David Israelite. “This year we are honored that the multi-talented Amy Lee will join us in New York City not only to receive this award but to perform as well. We are also so pleased to present Senator Leahy with the President’s Award. He a friend of the industry, and a true fan of music.”

Amy Lee is the co-founder and lead singer of Evanescence. She is a singer-songwriter and a classically trained pianist.  The album “Fallen” sold more than 15 million copies, spent 43 weeks on the Billboard Top 10, and has been certified Platinum 6 times. Amy Lee and Evanescence won two Grammy Awards in 2004 for Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance.

The second Evanescence album, The Open Door, debuted at the top of the Billboard charts selling more than 447,000 units in its first week and reached platinum status in just over a month. The album is defined by Amy Lee’s beautiful melodies, compelling lyrics, poignant piano and stunning vocals, fused with Terry Balsamo’s urgent yet intricate guitar to form a seamless, ethereal mixture that perfectly channels the band’s hard rock and classical sensibilities. The album’s musical elements include a classically-infused choir and strings on several tracks, giving further color to songs of introspection, longing, doubt, self-respect and, ultimately, empowerment. “Sweet Sacrifice,” a post-relationship catharsis and the third single from The Open Door was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 2007 Grammy Awards.

Amy Lee truly speaks to an international audience.  In support of The Open Door, Amy and Evanescence performed for audiences in more than 25 countries, including the US, Canada, France, UK, Spain, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Israel, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, South Africa, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.  The Open Door is about to reach sales of 2 million copies in the U.S. and more than 4 million copies worldwide.

The Icon Award recognizes outstanding songwriters for personal achievement and who personify the vision of NMPA and the goals of its members. Former recipients include Jimmy Webb and Neil Sedaka. (...) 

The NMPA Annual Meeting will be held from 3-5 p.m. at the Marriott Marquis, 1535 Broadway, followed by a cocktail reception from 5-7 p.m. Members of the media are invited to both the meeting and reception.

About the NMPA
Founded in 1917, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) is a trade association representing more than 800 American music publishers. The NMPA’s mandate is to protect and advance the interests of music publishers and their songwriter partners in matters relating to the domestic and global protection of music copyrights.

About the Songwriter Icon Award
The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) established the Songwriter Icon Award in 2006 to recognize outstanding songwriters for personal achievement and who personify the vision of NMPA and the goals of its members. Former recipients include Jimmy Webb and Neil Sedaka. (...)

Source: http://www.nmpa.org/pressroom/showrelease.asp?id=157

The National Music Publishers' Assn. will honor Grammy Award-winning songwriter/singer Amy Lee with its 2008 Songwriter Icon Award and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) with the 2008 President's Award.

The group will present Lee with her award during the NMPA general membership meeting, which is open to all publishers and songwriters, next week in New York City.

"The NMPA is in many ways a bridge between policymakers and the music publishers and songwriters we serve, so it's a privilege to recognize an outstanding representative from each of these groups in conjunction with our annual meeting each year," NMPA president/CEO David Israelite says.

"This year we are honored that the multi-talented Amy Lee will join us in New York City not only to receive this award but to perform as well," he continues. "We are also so pleased to present Senator Leahy with the President's Award. He a friend of the industry, and a true fan of music."

The Icon Award, which recognizes outstanding songwriters for their personal achievement, is presented to those who personify the vision of the NMPA and the goals of its members. Former recipients include Jimmy Webb and Neil Sedaka.

The NMPA established the President's Award in 2005 to recognize an individual who has been a leader on issues of importance to music publishers and songwriters, and who works diligently to strengthen intellectual property protection.

The group will present Leahy with his award in Washington, D.C. The annual meeting is set for June 18 in New York City.

By Susan Butler, N.Y.
Source: Billboard.biz

But very few do it as publicly as Amy Lee, lead singer of the goth-rock band Evanescence.

Lee was just 19 when she signed her first record contract, and barely 21 when the band's major-label debut, "Fallen," flew up the charts in 2003. The album, co-written by Lee and (now ex-boyfriend) Ben Moody, connected with fans across the globe and netted the band two Grammy awards, including best new artist.

Its hard-driving mix of brooding, spiritually-tinged darkness and dramatic classical orchestration offered fans a window into Lee's psyche. Or so many of them thought.

"Everyone knows a lot about me without actually knowing me at all," says Lee, now 24.

Her celebrity status as a singer of edgy songs left her surrounded by teenage fans in search of a role model.

It takes only a few minutes in Lee's presence to see what drew them: Her porcelain skin and shimmering, pale blue eyes are set off by a mane of black hair, and she seems to embody both confident strength and a delicate femininity.

Think Angelina Jolie with extra eyeliner.

But despite the image of hard-rocking power that Lee projected during her first years in the spotlight, she was struggling with unhealthy relationships and the overwhelming experience of success. And she was still practically a teenager herself.

Then things went from complicated to just plain ugly: within months, Moody abruptly quit the band while on tour. The two have barely spoken since. There were other troubles to deal with as well: Last year, she sued her former manager, accusing him of charges ranging from sexual battery to misusing her money; he has denied the charges.

It's part of the reason why Lee decided rather than rush out another album to preserve her fledgling stardom to take a break: "I just cut myself off from the world a little bit. Unplugged all the phones."

(She also declines to talk about Moody or the lawsuit in an interview, worried that she that it has made her dark image even darker: "The things that are out there are almost all things I've shared. But I realize by reading interviews that it sounds a lot more negative than it is. So much drama.")

Lee eventually began working with a new writing partner, guitarist Terry Balsamo (formerly of Cold and Limp Bizkit), who had joined Evanescence. But there were more roadblocks ahead: Before a sophomore album could be finished, Balsamo suffered a stroke in 2005. He's now nearly recovered, but the experience was life-changing for them both.

It strengthened Lee, she says, making her music even more intimate and confessional: "It really made the album more meaningful. You totally get a new perspective."

Balsamo says writing with Lee was a more rewarding experience than his collaborations with his other bands because "she was willing to try new things and not do the same old (stuff), and that's something I'm really a big fan of."

Last week, "The Open Door" finally hit stores, and this week, it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts, selling almost 450,000 copies in its first week. "The Open Door" offers vulnerability from Lee, and even a healthy dose of hope.

"I'm at the best place I've been," she says, smiling. "Not that I think all the songs from now on are going to be happy and cheery, of course."

Evanescence fans will be glad to hear that. Although the band's lineup has changed considerably since "Fallen," (bassist Will Boyd quit earlier this year), the music remains consistent.

"It's still, first and foremost, coming from my heart," Lee says. "But you can definitely say it's feeling different since Ben's leaving. The guitars are a completely new style. Terry rocks. It's innovative, but not so out there that you can't relate."

Many tracks on "The Open Door" explore the process of learning not to sacrifice yourself for the sake of love, something Lee says she's learned about in recent years. She doesn't regret sharing that experience with strangers, though it's odd to be looked to for advice at an age when most women are seeking mentors of their own.

"It's really wild. I never went into this thinking, 'I'm gonna set a good example,'" she says. "I started creating art because I was searching for answers, and it was that searching that led to my music. From a lot of my lyrics, I feel like I don't understand how people are really looking up to me. Because it's all questions.

"But I do encourage people to care. There's a lot of apathy in our youth. A lot of people living with situations they're in without doing anything about it. In the new album, I go for, 'What's the solution? How do I get out of this?' I'm hearing myself grow within the music and also personally grow."

Lee says she's always been an adviser of sorts.

"I think part of my job probably is counseling. I don't want to say more than I should. I mean, I don't have a medical degree. But I'm sort of a friend, like an advice columnist," she says. "In high school, I was the person a lot of people would come to, even people who didn't know me that well. They wanted to spend the night at my house and talk."

Despite that experience, it can be jarring to hear that her music has helped fans through their darkest times, even saving some from considering suicide. But Lee is glad to be there for them.

"It's important to let out what you're feeling, to tell somebody or write a song or write a poem, and read it to your class. Better to do that, rather than pretending it's fine and kicking yourself later," Lee says. "React to the world. The world is a scary place.

Source: http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/12175407

Two days ago, Amy Lee was dying in a cemetery. “It was a shoot for the new Johnny Cash video,” she explains. “The concept is all these celebrities – Justin Timberlake, Tony Hawk, P. Diddy- dressed in black like Johnny Cash. You know, expressing the pain of the world. They said I could do whatever I wanted, so I said, ‘Why don’t I go to a cemetery and lay some flowers on a grave?’ We shot it at Trinity Church”, she says, referring to the soaring neo-Gothic cathedral three blocks from Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. “It was really creepy,” which, coming from her, is high praise.

Lee, 24, is the singer from Evanescence, the most popular goth-rock band in the world. Sitting in a park on a blindingly sunny July day, however, she couldn’t look less like a princess of darkness. She’s wearing pink shades, a purple and white stripped tank top, a flowing black skirt and flip flops, and her raven tresses are pulled back into a loose ponytail, revealing a pale, pretty face. She’s nibbling on a double meat turkey and cheese Subway sub- a foot-long, because “I’m going to save the second half for dinner,” she says. If it weren’t for the silver death’s-head pendant dangling from her neck, she could be any NYU coed lazing away a summer afternoon.

“Anyway,” she says about the video shoot, “I really wanted to wear this coat I’d just bought- long sleeve black velvet, very dramatic. But it turned out to be the hottest day of the year, like a hundred degrees. So I’m walking around in this ten pound coat buttoned all the way up, tail dragging behind me, just so, so hot. But I had to wear it- it used to belong to Tim Burton.”

She looks up from her sandwich and lets out an ironic laugh: “God. I am so goth.”

For the past three years, Lee’s life has been straight out of a Lemony Snicket novel- one unfortunate event after another. First she broke up with her boyfriend. Then her band imploded. Next came stalkers and therapy; then another breakup; a bandmate’s stroke; an alleged sexual assault and ensuing seven figure lawsuit; another bandmate’s retirement…

“It’s been an eventful couple of years,” she says, grinning and tossing crumbs to some pigeons.

Back in 2003, Evanescence were the unlikeliest success story in music. Five shaggy kids from the aptly named Little Rock, Arkansas- a town whose most famous musical export up to that point was a certain sax-blowing ex-president- the were either dismissed as a cash-in gimmick (Linkin Park with a cute chick) or ignored altogether. But then “Bring Me to Life,” a monster collision of snarling guitar riffs and Lee’s icy, ring-wraith vocals, landed on the Daredevil soundtrack, and faster than you could say “Bennifer II” they were skyrocketing to the top of the charts. Lee became an overnight icon for legions of fourteen year old girls with Emily the Strange posters on their walls and black lipstick in their purses, and Evanescence’s debut, Fallen, went on to sell 6.5 million copies, win two Grammys and park in the Top Ten for nearly a year.

But it all came crashing down in October 2003, when Ben Moody, the band’s guitarist and Lee’s co-songwriter, decided he’d had enough and quit the band mid-tour. It was a doubly painful blow for Lee; she and Moody had been best friends since 1994, when they met at a church summer camp. The pair dated briefly but eventually grew to be more like siblings- a rock and roll Pugsley and Wednesday. Lee soldiered on after the split, insisting it was a long time coming and best for everyone, but at the time she was devastated.

“I don’t hate Ben,” she says today, eyes glistening. “I just don’t ever want to speak to him again. He was truly kind of poisonous. Some people just aren’t good for you- it doesn’t mean they’re Satan, but you can’t have them in your life.” She says they haven’t spoken in nearly two and a half years, since the night of their Grammy triumph. Moody has left her a few voicemails, but she doesn’t respond. “It’s manipulative. We need to just live our separate lives.”

Lee has been staring intently at her fingernails, slowing chipping away at the dark blood-red polish. Suddenly she looks up, embarrassed. “Wow, I’m being so bad right now. I’m going to burn for it. I’m going to get a pig heart in the mail from his mother after this interview. But it’s the truth.

“Relationships are fascinating to me,” she continues. “You pour your heart into someone, share everything, and it feels so good at first. But then you realize, “I am completely vulnerable. This person can destroy me.’ That inspires me.”

If she’s right, then last winter must have been inspirational beyond belief. In late November, Lee and the band fired their longtime manager, Dennis Rider, just one album into a three album deal. When Rider sued Lee for breach of contract, seeking $10 million in damages, she struck back with a countersuit detailing exactly why he was being given the boot- and it’s a doozie. It alleges Rider “neglected Lee’s career and business and focused his efforts on having extramarital affairs… becoming intoxicated during business meetings, physically abusing women and boasting about it… and using Lee’s corporate card to purchase gifts for his mistress,” one of which was an $18,000 car. And there’s more: The suit also accuses Rider of making “overt and unwelcome sexual advances” toward Lee, including once when he “put his head in Lee’s lap and ran his hand up her leg” and another time when he said “he wanted to perform a gynecological examination on her.”

When we ask about the case, Lee goes even paler. “I should absolutely not talk about it,” she says. “It’s possible I could have no money by the end of this thing. I could be destitute.”

Rider had been the band’s manager since 2002; he shepherded them through every step of their career and wielded enormous power. “I was very young and vulnerable,” Lee says. “And to have my trust be completely dashed and thrown back in my face- that’s what hurt the most.”

(Rider strongly denies the allegations and quickly issued a statement calling them “appalling,” “untrue” and “disappointing beyond words.” When reached for further comment, his attorney told Blender, “I think we will stick with our previous policy of allowing the matter to play out through the court system,”)

“Dennis was a good guy and I think he meant well,” says new guitarist Terry Balsamo. “I personally didn’t see a lot of that stuff going on, but he and Amy obviously had their differences.

Emphasizing that she’s speaking generally, and not about anyone in particular, Lee admits that she has “allowed people to take advantage of me. I’m learning as I grow up that some people are really hurtful and mean and evil. People aren’t always going to have a conscience and be good to be. They’ll put their heart on a shelf and do what they have to do to get ahead.”

But as sordid as this is the suit’s most startling revelation might have come in what was essentially a footnote: a copy of Rider’s termination notice that Lee’s attorneys included as evidence. “As you are well aware,” it reads, “Ms. Lee was recently in an abusive relationship with Ben Moody. She has no intention of associating with any persons who engage in that sort of… illegal conduct.”

Does that mean that Ben was physically abusive, we ask? Lee inhales sharply: “I’m not going to answer that. Sorry.”

In February 2005, Amy Lee vanished. Evanescence had just finished another exhaustive round of world touring to promote a live CD and DVD, and the label was already pressuring her to start making the next album. Overwhelmed, she retreated to her house in L.A.’s Topanga Canyon, locked the door and pulled the phone out of the wall. Lee spent the next 10 months writing songs. “That’s my favorite part,” she says. “I go into this kind of weird, dark, obsessed with my own sadness funk.” She painted stuff like the five by six foot anatomical heart spewing a fountain of blood that currently hangs in her apartment. She composed some music for the Chronicles of Narnia movie, only to have Disney brass reject it as “too dark” and “too epic.” And she did something her mom had been asking her about since the last album; She started going to therapy.

“For the first, I don’t know, lots of sessions, I’d just go in and cry,” Lee says. “Everytime. I guess I was letting out all the ghosts of my past.”

It’s a slightly surprising admission, if only because she’s already so fearlessly confessional in her lyrics. Evanescence’s debut was largely about an abusive boyfriend, full of tortured screams and pleas for salvation; it may have sounded like typical teenage Sturm and Drang, but there was real anguish underneath.

The band’s new album is also intensely personal. But where Fallen was a cry for help. The Open Door is a liberation statement. “It’s so clear now that I’m unchained,” Lee sings in the very first verse, and more than one song sounds laser-targeted at Ben Moody.

Much of the album also addresses Lee’s breakup with Shaun Morgan, singer for the South African hard-rock band Seether, whom she dated from mid 2004 until last fall. “It was good for a while,” she says. “But it ended really, really wrong. It’s just that fatal thing- girls are so attracted to assholes.” Morgan recently announced that he was canceling a tour to enter rehab, and The Open Door’s first single, “Call Me When You’re Sober,” addresses his troubles- a sassy, almost flirtatious kiss-off to a manipulative lover.

On Fallen, Lee was like a vampiric Kewpie doll, haunted by her demons but also fragile and sexless. “When you’re young, you’re so awkward about yourself and your body,” she explains. But now she’s getting less shy about embracing her feminine side- and about being sexy. “I feel so much better now, so much more confident. So free.”

The black cloud that’s haunted Lee hasn’t blown over completely, though. Balsamo suffered a stroke in November, when a blood clot in one of his neck arteries entered his brain; he says he’s only about 60 percent recovered and still has some paralysis in his left arm. And in July, bassist Will Boyd announced he was quitting to spend more time with his family, leaving the band scrambling for a replacement.

But Lee isn’t worried. “I’ve really broken down the door of being afraid all the time,” she says. “I’m not going back to where I was- ever.”

The next afternoon, Lee phones Blender. It’s a wet, gray Friday, and she’s playing the piano and listening to the drizzle on her window. “I love it,” she says, laughing. “I’m only happy when it rains.”

She’s at her brand new apartment near Manattan’s Germency Park that she shares with her cats, Shermine and Stella. (Her last pet, a kitten named Zero, was killed by coyotes before the move from California.) The building is part of a converted church, complete with turrets, a spire, stained-glass windows and her favorite, a massive marble bathtub. “It’s like you’re being baptized,” she gushes.

Lee also has a new boyfriend, Josh, a 28 year old therapist who lives in New York. They’ve been friends since Lee was a teenager, and she’s always kinda-sorta had a thing for him but could never bring herself to admit it. “To be honest, I felt like I wasn’t good enough for him,” she says, “He’s kind, he’s a good listener, he makes me do breathing exercises when I freak out. It’s the first stable relationship I’ve ever been in.”

Josh is also, she admits at the risk of sounding “like a stupid obsessed weirdo,” her secret muse. She wrote “Bring Me to Life” about him, and inspired one of The Open Door’s most touching moments, a tender, album-closing ballad called “Good Enough”. It’s the sound of a woman who may have finally found true love- probably as close to contentment as a death-obsessed goth princess is going to get. “When I first heard it, I was worried- like ‘This is corny, it doesn’t fit our image,’” Lee says. “But you know what I’m realizing? Sometimes it’s okay to have a happy ending.”

*****

Due giorni fa, Amy Lee soffriva in un cimitero. “Era uno shoot per il nuovo video di Johnny Cash ,” spiega lei. “Il soggetto sono tutte queste celebrità – Justin Timberlake, Tony Hawk, P. Diddy- vestite di nero come Johnny Cash. sai, esprimendo lpena per il mondo. Dissero che potevo fare ciò che volevo, quindi dissi, ‘Perchè non andare in un cimitero e lasciare un po' di fiori su una tomba?’ L'abbiamo girato alla Chiesa della Trinità”, dice, rriferendosi alla nuova cattedrale Neo-Gothic eretta a tre isolati da Ground Zero nella bassa Manhattan. “E' stato davvero da brivido,” che, detto da lei, è un gran complimento!

Lee, 24, è la cantante degli Evanescence, la band goth-rock più popolare del mondo. Seduta in un parco in una giornata velata di luglio, comunque, lei non può sembrare di meno una principessa dell'oscurità. E' abbigliata con ombre rosa pink shades, un top a riche porpora e bianco, una gonna nera svolazzante e ondeggiante, and la sua capigliatura corvina è chiusa in una coda di cavallo che rivela un volpo pallido e bello. Lei mordicchia un panino con doppia fetta di tacchino con formaggio lungo un piede, berchè“Ne salvo metà per il pranzo,” dice. Se non fosse per il ciondolo d'argento con un teschio che porta al collo, potrebbe essere una normale NewYorkese che si gode pigramente il sole estivo.

“Comunque,” dice riguardo agli shhot del video, “Volevo davvero rivestire questo ruolo, ho appena comprato un abito con lunghe maniche di velluto, molto drammatico. Ma è venuta fuori la giornata più calda dell'anno, sembrano 100 gradi. Quindi sto girando con questa giachina da dieci sterline abbottonato fin su, che mi trascino dietro, così tanto, tanto calda. Ma devo indossarla - appartiene a Tim Burton. [wooow]

Guarda oltre il suo panino e ride in maniera ironica: “Dio. Sono così goth!!”

Per i passati tre anni, la vita della Lee sembra venuta fuori da una novella di Lemony Snicket - un evento sfortunato dietro la'ltro. Prima rompe col suo ragazzo. Poi la sua band implode. Poi arrivano inseguitori e tarepia; poi un'altro fatto; un ictus ad un componente della band; un presunto assalto sessuale and e 7 cause legali; il ritiro di un altro membro della band…

“Sono stati due anni molto movimentati,” dice lei, sorridendo e tirando briciole ad alcuni colombi.

Indietro nel 2003, Evanescence avevano un ingresso nella storia della musica non simpatico. Cinque ruvidi ragazzotti da Little Rock, Arkansas- una città da cui famosissimi musicisti sono esportati per suonare come un certo sassofonista ex-presidente, erano l'unica eccezione tipo Linkin Park con una bella pollastrella o venivano ignorati tutti insieme. Ma quando “Bring Me to Life,” una miscela mostruosa di riff graffianti di chitarra e la gelida voce della Lee’s, vocalizzi arminici e urla, approda sulla Soundtrack di Daredevil, e molto più velocemente di quanto tu possa dire “Bennifer II” sono schizzati alla Top delle charts. Lee è diventataun'intramontabile iconaper le legioni di ragazzine che hanno i poster di Emily the Strange appese ai muri, rossetti neri nelle loro borse , e l'album di debutto, Fallen, vendette 6.5 million copies, vinse due Grammys e si fermò nelle Top Ten per un anno.
Ma tutto ciò si distrusse nell'ottobre 2003, quando Ben Moody, il chitarrista della band e co-autore delle canzoni con la Lee’, decide di averne abbatanza e lascia la band nel bel mezzo del tour. E fu un colpo terribile per la Lee; lei e Moody erano stati migliori amici sin dal 1994, quando si incontrarono in un campo estivo della chiesa. La coppia stette insieme per un po' ma alla fine crebbe per diventare come fratello e sorella- una rock and roll Pugsley and Wednesday. Lee tiene duro dopo lo scoppio, insistendo che sarebbe arrivato un periodo migliore per tutti, ma nel contempoera devastata.

“Non odio Ben,” dice oggi, con occhi luccicanti. “Semplicemente non mi sento di volergli più parlare. E' stato veramente qualcosa di velenoso. Certe persone semplicemente non vanno bene per te - questo non significa che loro siano Satana, ma non puoi averle nella tua vita.” Lei dice che non hanno parlato affatto da due anni e mezzo fa,dalla notte del loro trionfo ai Grammy. Moody le ha lasciato un piccolo messaggio sulla segreteria telefonica, ma lei non ha risposto. “Abbiamo solo bisogno di vivere le nostre vite separatamente.”

Lee presta attenzione alle sue unghie , lentamente pulisce via un po' di sangue rosso scuro. Improvvisamente guarda su, imbarazzata. “Wow, sto così male ora. Brucierò per questo. Manderò un cuore in una mail a sua madre dopo quest'intervista. Ma è la verità.

“Le relazioni sono molto affascinanti secondo me,” continua lei. “Dai il tuo cuore a qualcuno, dividendo tutto, ed è così bello all'inizio. Ma poi realizzi, "Sono completamente vulnerabile. Questa persona potrebbe distruggermi.’ Questo mi ispira.”

Se lei ha ragione, quest'ultimo inverno ha avuto molta ispirazione. Nello scorso Novembre, Lee e la band hanno cacciato il loro vecchio manager, Dennis Rider, occupatosi di un solo album su tre. Quando Rider ha citato in giudizio la Lee per la rottura del contratto, chiedendo $10 millioni di danni, lei lo ha incastrato descrizione dettagliata dei perchè. I documenti accusano Rider di“negligenza verso la carriera della Lee ed aver posto la sua attenzione verso suoi affari extramatrimoniali… di esserci intossicato durante una riunione di lavoro, di aver abusato fisicamente di donne ed essersi vantato di tutto ciò… ed aver usato la carta di credito della Lee per comprare regali alle sue amanti,” uno di questi sarebbe una macchina da $18,000 . E c'è di più: i documenti acusano Rider di aver fatto “palesi e non apprezzate avances sessuali” nei riguardi della Lee, inclusa una volta che “mise la sua testa sulle gambe della Lee e mosse la sua mano sungo la gamba” e un'altra volta che disse che “avrebbe voluto fare un esame ginecologico su di lei.”

Quando le abbiamo chiesto del caso, Lee è diventata più pallida. “Io non dovrei assolutamente parlare di lui,” dice. “È possibile che potrei non avere più soldi alla fine di questa cosa. Potrei essere destituita.”

Rider era è stato il manager della band sin dal 2002; lui ha condotto ogni passo della loro carriera e maneggiò enorme potere. “Io ero molto giovane e vulnerabile,” dice Lee. “Ed vedere la mia fiducia completamente buttata e gettata di nuovo in faccia - è quello che fece male di più.”

Enfatizzando che lei stia parlando in generale, e non circa qualcuno in particolare, Lee ammette che lei ha.. “permisi alle persone di approfittare di me. Sto crescendo e sto imparando che alcune persone sono veramente cattive. Persone che non hanno una coscienza ed non sono buone. Loro metteranno il loro cuore su una mensola e faranno quello che loro devono fare per andare avanti.”

(?)Ma squallido come questo è la di più sorprendente rivelazione che sarebbe potuta arrivare ed era essenzialmente una nota a piè di pagina: una copia dell'avviso di terminazione di Rider che gli avvocati di Lee hanno incluso come attestato. “Come Lei è ben consapevole,” legge, “la Sig.ra Lee era recentemente in una relazione abusiva con Ben Moody. Lei non ha nessuna intenzione di associarsi con persone che prendono parte in quel genere di… condotta illegale.”

Questo significa che Ben era fisicamente abusivo? Lee inala bruscamente: “Non risponderò a questa domanda. Mi spiace.”

A febbraio 2005 Amy Lee scomparve. Gli Evanescence avevano appena finito un altro tour mondiale per promuovere un CD live e DVD, e l'etichetta già le faceva pressione per cominciare a fare il prossimo album. Sommersa, si ritirò a casa sua in L.A. ' s Topanga Canyon, chiuse la porta a chiave ed estrasse il telefono dal muro. Lee passò i prossimi 10 mesi scrivendo canzoni. “Questa è la mia parte preferita,” lei dice. “vado in questa specie di strano, scuro, ossessivo stato con la mia triste paura.” Dipinse roba come un cuore anatomico di 5 o 6 piedi da cui fuoriesce una fontana di sangue che attualmente è appeso nel suo appartamento. Compose della musica per il film Le Cronache di Narnia, solo per avere uno sfrontato rifiuto dalla Disney perchè “troppo scuro” e “tropp epico.” E ha fatto qualcosa che sua mamma le stava chiedendo di fare fin dall'ultimo album; andò in terapia.

“Alla prima, non so, molte sessioni, andavo e piangevo soltanto,” dice Lee. “Ogni volta. Suppongo stessi lasciando fuori tutti i fantasmi del mio passato.”

È un'ammissione lievemente sorprendente, solo perché lei è già così impavidamente confessionale nei suoi testi. L'esordio degli Evanescence era dovuto (?) in gran parte ad un amico abusivo, pieno di grida di tortura e richieste di salvezza; poteva sembrare come un tipoco adolescente Sturm and Drang, ma sotto c'era vera angoscia.

Il nuovo album della band è anche intensamente personale. Ma dove Fallenera un grido di aiuto, The Open Door è una diachiarazione di liberazione. “Ora è così chiaro che sono libera dalle catene,” Lee canta nei primi versi, e più di una canzone sembra puntare come bersaglio Ben Moody.

Gran parte dell'album è anche indirizzata alla rottura di Lee con Shaun Morgan, cantante dell'hard-rock band sudafricana Seether, con cui lei è stata insieme dalla metà del 2004 fino allo scorso autunno. “Andava bene per un tempo,” lei dice. “Ma finì molto, molto male. È solo per una cosa fatale - le ragazze sono così attirate dagli stronzi.” Morgan ha recentemente annunciato che ha cancellato un tour per andare in riabilitazione, ed il primo singolo di The Open Door, “Call Me When You're Sober,” gli indirizza i suoi guai - un bacio sfacciato e flirtante prima di allontanarsi dall'uomo - via da un innamorato manipolatore.

In Fallen, Lee era come una bambola vampira di Kewpie, infestata dai suoi demoni ma anche fragile ed asessuato [non penso sia il termine corretto, ma che vi aspettavate da una biologa? :P]. “Quando sei giovane, sei così goffo (o impacciato) su te stesso e il tuo corpo,” lei spiega. Ma ora sta diventando meno timida riguardo la sua femminilità e l'essere sexy. “Mi sento molto miglio adesso, molto più fiduciosa. Così libera.”

La nube nera che è infestava Lee non è completamente sparita, tuttavia. Balsamo soffrì di un ictus a novembre, quando un grumo di sangue in una delle arterie del collo entrò nel cervello; lui dice di aver recuperato solo per il 60% ed ancora ha alcune paralisi al braccio sinistro. Ed a luglio, il bassista Will Boyd ha annunciato di voler passare più tempo con famiglia sua, lasciando la band che cercherà poi un sostituto.

Ma Lee non è preoccupata. “Ho buttato giù la porta dell'aver sempre paura,” lei dice. “Non sto tornando dietro dove ero prima - mai.”

Il pomeriggio dopo, Lee telefona Blender. È un venerdì bagnato, grigio, e sta suonando il pianoforte e ascolta le gocce di pioggia cadere sulla sua finestra. “Io l'amo,” lei dice ridendo. “Io sono solamente felice quando piove.”

E' nel suo nuovo appartamento, vicino Manattan’s Germency Park, che divide con i suoi gatti, Shermine e Stella. (il suo ultimo animale domestico, un gattino di nome Zero fu ucciso da un coyote prima di lasciare la California.) L'edificio è parte di una chiesa convertita, completo con torrette, finestre che si alzano a punta di vetro macchiato e il suo preferito: una vasca da bagno marmorea e massiccia. “È come se ti stessi battezzando,” .

Lee ha anche un ragazzo nuovo, Josh, un terapeuta di 28 anni che vive a New York. Erano amici sin da quando Lee era un'adolescente, e lei ha sempre avuto una cotta per lui ma non l'aveva mai ammesso. “Ad essere onesta, sentivo che non andavo bene per lui,” lei dice, “Lui è gentile, è un buon ascoltatore, lui mi fa fare esercizi di respirazione quando sono troppo emozionata. È la mia prima relazione stabile.”

Josh è anche la sua musa segreta, lei ammette al rischio di sembrare “come un persona stramba, ossessionata e stupida”. Lei scrisse di lui in “Bring Me To Life”, ed inspirò uno dei più toccanti momenti di The Open Door, una tenera ballata di chiusura dell'album:“Good Enough”. E' il sound di una donna che finalmente ha potuto trovare il vero amore - probabilmente così vicino all'appagamento ottenuto come una principessa gotica ossessionata alla morte. “Quando lo sentii la prima volta, ero preoccupata - come ‘Questo è sdolcinato, non va bene con la nostra immagine, '” dice Lee. “Ma sai di cosa mi sto rendendo conto? Qualche volta va bene per avere una fine felice.”



Thanks to Onyrika (EvBoard) for the transcript
Grazie a Pink86 e La Signora di Avalon (EvanescenceWebsite.com) per la traduzione

Amy Lee is sitting cross-legged in a lounge chair on the roof of New York's Dream Hotel. She's decked out in worn jeans and a Joan Jett T-shirt, and her pale-blue eyes are translucent—a sharp contrast to her long dark hair.

In the past three years, her band Evanescence has skyrocketed to fame thanks to its 2003 Wind-up debut, "Fallen," which won two Grammy Awards and has sold 6.5 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. But as quickly as the band hit the big time, the threads that held its members together began to fray. Co-founder Ben Moody abruptly left mid-tour in 2003; his replacement, former Cold guitarist Terry Balsamo, suffered a stroke last year; and bassist Will Boyd, whom Lee has known since middle school, opted out of the group in July.

Adding to the drama, Lee split from her boyfriend, Seether frontman Shawn Morgan, and changed managers. But the artist says the trials have made her stronger and more independent. "It took me a while to figure out who I was," she says. "I'm the youngest person in the band. I'm the leader of the band. I'm a chick. I learned how to say no and draw boundaries."

Indeed, Evanescence's new album "The Open Door," due Oct. 3, is an ode to a stronger Lee. As Wind-up founder/CEO Alan Meltzer notes, "She is the female voice of her generation. She's come into her own as a writer and a singer. She made this record with no label involvement. It was all her." >>>"Fallen" was a multiplatinum smash. Were you under pressure to produce a follow-up that could stand up to it?

I think people sometimes lose the love of what they do and just try to put out another record. That's a crime. If you don't feel it, wait until you're hungry for it. What's the point of making a huge piece of music if it's not for the love of the art.

It took longer than I thought. But, I am a perfectionist. We took all the time we needed and wrote and wrote and wrote. If it wasn't good, I threw it away. I wanted every piece of it to be as good as it possibly could be. We accomplished what I wanted, which was to do something that I was more proud of than what I'd done before. I constantly have to top myself, it's just the way I am.

Is "The Open Door" thematically different from "Fallen"?

What music is for me and what Evanescence has been is me purging all of the negative and hard, difficult experiences that I've had in life. Naturally that's still coming across; I'm still purging the trials. I feel like this album comes from a place that is not so hopeless. The first album, I was talking about the hard stuff, but I was also wallowing in it. I wasn't strong enough to take a stand and say no in a lot of situations.

I listen back to "Fallen" now and definitely hear all the vulnerability and the fear and all the childish things in me that are just human. But I've grown so much now. The lyrics on the new album are looking for the answers, looking for the solutions, looking for happiness. It's not, "I'm miserable, end of song." It's more, "I'm miserable, and what do I have to do to work this out and get out of this bad situation."

Have you matured?

Yes, I've learned how to say no. This is a bad situation. See the signs and say, "I'm out of here." Especially in relationships. You have to be willing to jump off the cliff and know that when you get to the bottom that it's going to be way better, and know it could also be crash and burn. Those are the times in my life that I've really broken through and had great joy, because I took those chances. At least when you're at the bottom and all alone again and starting over, it's a clean slate.

What is it like having such a different configuration of the band?

The biggest difference is Ben [Moody]. We formed the band together. We were the main writers. Without him, it wasn't like I was thinking, "Oh, my God, what am I going to do?" It really had gotten to the point where it was so horrible and dramatic, it was a relief and I knew the band could continue. When it came to writing, I had so much by then to write about, it was spilling out of me. I didn't know how to stop writing.

I have so much more freedom to do everything myself this time, for a lot of reasons. I wanted to prove that not only could I do it myself, but I could make a better album than before. I've never really tried to sit, say OK and just start writing and go for it and not have anyone to answer to, at all. I'm the boss. Here we go! If it sucks, I figure it out.

Terry Balsamo replaced Moody and has become your songwriting partner. How do you guys write together?

It's a completely different writing process [than with Moody]. He's completely laid-back. There's no pressure of wanting to rule the world. It's just about writing great music.

Terry and I will just sit in a room and jam. As simple as that is, it's completely different for me. I was so insecure at the time, though I didn't realize it then. I thought I was strong. It's so hard to let yourself be vulnerable. In front of a huge audience, it's not so bad, because it's just a sea of people. But in front of two people you know, it's impossible. It was a first for me to just make music as we go.

Why are there so few female rockers today?

In the music industry today, there are a lot of holes. There are things I miss, like great female rockers like Joan Jett. She totally inspired me and inspired guys and everybody everywhere. Where did they go? It seems like if there were any women in music, it was either R&B or easy listening. No one was rocking. No one had the real power, not the sex appeal, the real power of rock'n'roll. We need chicks in rock.

"Fallen" was first released in the Christian market. Do you consider Evanescence a Christian band?

Can we please skip the Christian thing? I'm so over it. It's the lamest thing. I fought that from the beginning; I never wanted to be associated with it. It was a Ben thing. It's over. It's a new day.

You are prepping for a major tour. What are your expectations?

We just started rehearsals. I was really stressed. It's been two years since I've been onstage.

More than that, Terry had a stroke. It's been about nine months and he's doing great. We had our first day of practice and he's playing guitar on every song. That is such a big step. There was so much pressure, but I didn't want to hire another guitar player. We wrote this record together. I knew he was going to get better. I knew he'd make it just in time. The doctor couldn't believe he was still alive.

Our band has been through so much together by now, we couldn't be more tight onstage. We love each other.

You were still in your teens when "Fallen" broke. You seemed overwhelmed by the fame and glitz. Are you more comfortable in your skin now?

I don't feel that nervous about it anymore. In the beginning, I was so wide-eyed. It's fun now. I used to think I didn't belong, like everyone thinks I'm a dork, everybody hates me.

When we won those Grammys, I remember standing there after winning best new artist, and people were clapping, but they weren't sure why, they didn't know who we were. I remember trying to get out my thank-yous to this sea of faces who were thinking, "Who are you, and why should I care?" I don't feel like that anymore. Especially after writing this album, I feel like I am an artist, and I respect myself a lot more.

BY TAMARA CONNIFF



Source: http://www.billboard.biz/bb/biz/magazine/index.jsp
Thanks to Phat239

A couple of years have passed since Evanescence toured the globe in support of its multiplatinum 2003 debut, "Fallen," and the band is eagerly awaiting round two. "They're very excited to get the [new] music out there and have a chance to play it," says manager Andy Lurie of 110 Management.

The rockers haven't long to wait; another worldwide trek is in the works. This time around Evanescence will take a slightly different, more relaxed approach to global domination. "They intend to tour smart this time," Lurie says. "I think they suffered from a little burnout last time because they didn't build in any reasonable breaks. They pretty much toured nonstop for up to 18 months."

Seventy concerts reported to Billboard Boxscore between Feb. 25, 2003, and Aug. 14, 2004, show that Evanescence pulled in $8.6 million. Twenty-three of those gigs were sellouts.

Two days after "The Open Door" hits stores Oct. 3 via Wind-up Records, Evanescence will embark on the first leg of its jaunt, playing 17 dates in 1,200- to 3,300-capacity venues across the United States and Canada. Tickets range from $25 to $35, and New York-based band Revelation Theory supports on all dates. The idea was to start off light and give Evanescence's "core crowd" a chance to see the band up close and personal. "This is sort of their way of thanking fans for being so patient," Lurie says.

Creative Artists Agency's Jenna Adler, who represents the band in North America, says New York's Hammerstein Ballroom and Los Angeles' Wiltern LG sold out immediately following the Aug. 19 general on-sale. "It definitely created the buzz we wanted," Adler says. "They had such a huge first record that people were wondering if, on the second record, they could continue this growth pattern. It's quite obvious they have."

Along with the upcoming trek linked to the release of "The Open Door," Adler says she strategically coordinated with Wind-up to give the album's first single, "Call Me When You're Sober," radio play to build interest in ticket sales. "What you see happening more and more is labels and agencies collaborating more in terms of setting up an artist and making sure all the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted," she says.

After the North American run ends Oct. 29, Evanescence will head to Europe to play 2,000- to 4,000-capacity venues. From there the band will return stateside for radio concerts (including top 40 radio station WHTZ [Z100] New York's annual Jingle Ball ) and TV appearances. Then it's off to Japan, Australia and New Zealand to ring in the new year, according to Lurie, who says dates are still tentative. Geoff Meall of the Agency Group books the band worldwide (except South America) out of TAG's London office.

Once spring rolls around, Evanescence plans to revisit North America to play 5,000- to 7,000-seat buildings. The intent is to hit secondary markets for a six-week run, says Adler, who explains that it's better to take gradual steps before jumping to amphitheaters and arenas. "We don't want to go zero to 60 in a second," she explains. "I think it pays to take the appropriate steps at the appropriate time, and leave people wanting more every time." Ticket prices will most likely stay in the range of $25-$35, she adds.

Another key place of interest is South America. Lurie notes that Evanescence has a strong following in the region, and didn't have a chance to tour there the last time around. The band is also scheduled for a two-song appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards Latin America, which takes place Oct. 19 in Mexico City.

BY MITCHELL PETERS



Source: http://www.billboard.biz/bb/biz/magazine/index.jsp
Thanks to Phat239

Lee credits producer Dave Fortman, who also worked on Fallen, with being the “missing link” in the studio, challenging her to further develop, change and rearrange songs. His sense of humor also eased any tense moments in the studio, this is a man who has said that a reunion of his former band Ugly Kid Joe probably couldn’t happen because there wasn’t enough hair left in the group.
“It’s just stand-up comedy in the studio every time,” enthuses Lee. “And he gets it. I feel a lot of people get certain aspects of our sound, who we are, and where we’re going, but not a lot of people get the whole thing. I really feel like he gets it. I feel like he gets me, which is important.
In the past, Lee felt constrained by Moody in terms of songwriting, and the duo also had to worry about their label looking over their shoulders on the first album. “It was harder because we couldn’t say ‘No, we’re gonna do this’ about anything really,” she recalls. “Luckily, they didn’t try to completely change songs.”
There were minimal compromises this time around for bandmates Balsamo and John LeCompt (guitars), William Boyd (bass), and Rocky Gray (drums). When told that the original, rap-free demo of “Bring Me To Life” from Fallen is better, she concurs. “It wasn’t our choice”, Lee reveals of the song’s final and most famous version. “That’s all I say. I didn’t want to do it, and we kind of had to do it. It was the only thing on the last record where I felt like I sacrificed something, and it wasn’t my original vision. I hated myself for it for a while, but then I said, ‘Whatever, we’re doing really good, so okay.’ I’ll never do it again. We had to do [only] one thing that we didn’t want to do to get Fallen out.” And it was not the only hit single
That said, fans might be surprised by the R&B-flavoured vocal melody and piano chords that introduce the lead single “Call Me When You’re Sober”. But it’s not really a stretch once those crunchy guitars kick in, and the soulful chorus breaks new ground for the band without straying from its signature style. “I don’t think it represents the sound of the whole album, because all the songs are different. They all have a different feeling. That one has more soul. I remember thinking when I was first writing the melody that it wasn’t for our band. But it said what I wanted to say so well, and it was so fresh and different. Terry wrote a badass riff, and we made a rad song out of it.”
The music on The Open Door spans the R&B feel of the rocking lead single to the crunching, Goth-flavored metal of “Cloud Nine” to the Tori Amos moments of “Lithium” to the reinvention of “Lacrymosa” from Mozart’s Requiem, which utilizes choral loops from one performance of the piece meshed with rock instrumentation and new lyrics by Lee. There are plenty of heavy guitars on the album, although Lee’s piano plans a more prominent role now, and her current melodies tend to focus on piano and vocals. There are still orchestral strings and choir present on some tracks, just as on Fallen, but they are not as bombastic and dominant as they were before. Thus all the requisite Evanescence ingredients are to be found, but this time, they serve up a tasty concoction of a different flavour. And the group even recorded enough material for three planned B-sides – “Together Again,” “If You Don’t Mind,” and “The Last Song I’m Wasting On You”.
The earlier Tori Amos comparison is an appropriate one. That now legendary performer has inspired young women with her empowered, feminist lyrics. When asked if she feels any sense of responsibility in terms of performing to her own female fan base, Lee – who, like Amos, dresses girlishy but stylishly, without bearing cleavage or exposing thongs like many other female pop/rock singers – is mixed on the idea.
“It’s hard, because I don’t write music to get a message out there, to get somebody or something or tell somebody how they should live,” Lee asserts. “I’m writing about my own life and trying to solve my own problems, and in the end, I think that helps some people solve their own. During that song [“Lithium”], I was definitely thinking about my personal life, which I always do. I’m trying to tell myself stuff, to tell myself to myself to get out of it and let it go. I never really try to hurt myself. I try to get better.”
Despite all that has transpired in her life (more on that below), Lee seems like a happy person today, although she uses the word “stable.” “I did the therapy thing, used it, and I don’t need anymore,” she discloses. “It’s good for you. Some people really need it and don’t use it, and other people use it and rely on it and don’t even get better. There are times in life when people need it, and I needed it when I went. I’m glad I did it. I learned about myself. Now I’m dating a therapist,” she adds with a laugh. “He’s awesome. He’s very stable. We talk about stuff, and I let him talk to me about his stuff too. That’s new for him.”
The Open Door is definitely an apt title given Lee’s tumultuous life during the past three years. “So many things have changed in my life by now,” she acknowledges. “A lot of things about the band have changed. The writing process was completely different. I felt free to do whatever I wanted, and I felt confident to try whatever I felt. I didn’t feel trapped in a box like I really have in so many areas of my life.”
The past year has certainly been full of drama for Lee. She broke up with her boyfriend of two years, Seether frontman Shaun Morgan, with whom she re-recorded the ballad “Broken,” which became a hit for his band. Then her guitarist Terry Balsamo suffered a stroke, from which he has steadily been recovering. Finally, her former manager sued her for monies allegedly owed, to which she countered with charges of sexual harassment and professional negligence, among other claims. After that list is rattled off, Lee flashes a kind of distressed smile, as if to say, “Heavy stuff, huh?”
Naturally, all of this behind-the-scenes upheaval certainly stoked her creative fires. “It seems like the struggles in my lie make the best music,” contemplates Lee. “I fortunately had plenty of struggle to write about throughout our whole time off. You know what? I don’t look at it like I’ve had a bad year or anything. I’ve just grown and learned a lot. All the lyrics are about personal experience, most of them about what is happening right then.”
While the track listing reflects Lee getting over her previous relationship, starting with “Sweet Sacrifice” and “Call Me When You’re Sober,” then going through the other personal turmoil she recently experienced, the songs were not written in chronological order but fell into place later. Lee dwelled heavily on her relationship for a time and can look back on it with clearer vision.
“It was hard at first, but at least I felt like he could understand and not feel guilty,” Lee recollects of dating the Seether singer. “I didn’t have the guilt that I was used to because it wasn’t like he didn’t know or understand why I couldn’t call if I was busy all day. At the same time, it ended up being hard on my end because he was always busy, and I felt like I wasn’t getting any attention. But then again, we toured together for a long time. We went to Europe, so we got to be together.” She says they have not spoken for a long time.
Many of the songs on The Open Door move past relationship woes. The hard rocking “All That I’m Living For” focuses on the band itself. Its genesis came from a realization Lee had one say that her band was her life. “I don’t do anything else,” she says. “I’m writing for the band, touring for the band, doing an interview about the band, or thinking about the next thing I want to write. It’s my life, and I love it, but it’s a love/hate relationship.”

While The Open Door maintains the dark, brooding vibe that made Fallen so appealing and eerily seductive, the closing ballad “Good Enough” is decidedly upbeat and showcases an Amy Lee that is letting someone in and who sounds happily in love. She thinks it is the bravest track on the album. “It’s totally scary to be so vulnerable when I know however many metalheads are going to diss it because it’s not the exact same thing [as the other songs],” Lee says. “And it doesn’t end with, ‘And then he died’ or ‘I pushed him off a cliff’ or ‘He’s a ghost really.’ It’s so cool to me and weird to me. I’ve never written a happy song, ever.
The idea of an upbeat song closing the dark album actually makes sense. It was the last song written, reflects her current life, and is also a logical extension of “Bring Me To Life,” which was calling out to someone to thaw her from the depths of an emotional iceberg. “Good Enough” also caps off her personal evolution over the last year. “I was struggling with this relationship constantly, then breaking up, and in the end realizing that I’m allowed to feel good,” Lee says. “And it’s such an amazing realization to me because I’ve spent my whole life feeling that I have to be unhappy. I know it’s partially because of music, and also I think it’s my guilt. I have always had guilt and fear that has kept me down.”
When asked to pinpoint the source of her guilt, Lee muses, “The mistakes I’ve made, the people that hate me, just whatever. I think about it too much. I’m finally at the point where I don’t care. I don’t care if you hate me. I don’t care if you hate this song. I love it! I’m allowed to be happy.”
“It’s kind of hard to let go of, ‘What are they going to think of me?’” she confesses. “I don’t care anymore. I’ve gained a lot of confidence just through letting people say mean things to me or whatever behind my back. I’ll just be like, ‘I don’t care about you. You’re a miserable person.’”
The vocalist also tries to stay grounded in terms of her perspective on herself and her art. “I love what I do, I love the fans and I love seeing their reactions,” Lee concedes, “but I’ve never have gotten so egotistical like, ‘Yes, I do deserve all this. You love me for me.’ I think what they really are embracing is the music and a piece of me. You can’t really know someone just from hearing their songs.”
While she thinks that “Good Enough” is the bravest song lyrically, the most personal on The Open Door is “Like You”. “It is about something that’d hard to even talk about but feels good to write about,” explains Lee. “It’s about my sister who passed away when I was a little girl. I was 6 years old and she was 3. It’s affected my life and definitely affected my music writing, and it’s made me who I am. It’s one of those things that happens early enough in life that it forms you. I think in a lot of ways I made it a thing that I can use in a positive way in my life. I’ve learnt from it and grown up, and I’ve always felt older. Twenty-four sounds young to me, it’s weird.”
Having lost a sister at such a young age put things in perspective for Lee, who says she cherishes making music and wants to love. “What else is there?” she ponders. “I don’t care about the stupid things as much as I would if I hadn’t been through that. The song [‘Like You’] is about me from the perspective of a child back then, and I go back to that place a lot of times. I went there and wrote the song that way. It’s not the kind of thing that I would normally say on a megaphone in front of millions of people.”
“It’s something that changes you,” the singer stresses. “I love her, and I will always love her. Her spirit is always with us. I feel like I’ll always want to have a little place for her on every record. On the last record, it was ‘Hello,’ and I wrote that from the perspective of a child. I was talking about it in a little bit of a different way, but it’s the same inspiration.”
One other song that actually did not make the album, but was also written with children in mind, was the unreleased tune that Lee was asked to contribute to the soundtrack for the blockbuster film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. The untitled song was ultimately rejected, although she also wrote “Lacrymosa” for the film.
“I thought it would be awesome for the opening scene, but they wanted something original,” says Lee of the Mozart cover. “I wrote something else that was moody, dark and really cool, and the director wanted something that felt more hopeful. The song was about saying goodbye and moving on, and that’s what they’re doing in [the beginning of] the movie when they’re leaving their parents and going into some scary, unknown place. That’s how I wrote it, from their perspective. I thought the song was perfect. And it wasn’t like I put a bunch of guitars in it. I made stuff that was cool and vibey but was still haunting, and I think that’s the part they didn’t like.”
On the other hand, there are probably millions of fans dying to hear it, and it will be interesting to hear what they think of The Open Door once it is released. Lee has been anxiously awaiting the album to surface, but she is also being patient in terms of Balsamo’s recuperation and physical therapy following his stroke. He needs to regain his guitar chops, and his progress has been positive. He should be ready for battle by the time the band commences their world tour, which is scheduled to start the day of the album’s release, October 3rd. Balsamo’s stroke certainly surprised everyone, especially as it struck someone so young. “It’s really been an eye opener for all of us, not to party so hard for one thing,” remarks Lee. “But also, life is short. It was a shocker for all of us.” Such real-life drama has certainly provided fodder for Lee’s dark music. Indeed, one might coin her a “closet Goth,” perhaps by her outlook more than her lifestyle, since she never dove too deeply into that shadowy musical world and has never called herself a Goth, despite a childhood fascination with Halloween. “This is a horrible thing to say, but I’ve never been one of those people that searched really hard for some random, indie thing and gotten into a genre so much that you’re just all about these little new bands,” remarks Lee. “I loved certain things that touched me and have held onto them and still listen to a lot of the same CDs I’ve always listened to. I love Depeche Mode, they’re Goth to me. And I love Portishead, they’re Goth to me.”
Evanescence does share some of the goth angst generated by such European headbangers as Nightwish and Within Temptation. One band that they have been routinely compared to is Lacuna Coil, the Italian band that some metalheads have accused Evanescence of ripping off. “When we started touring, I [first] heard Lacuna Coil,” recalls Lee. “I’d never heard of them, ever. I don’t listen to them or have their CDS. But I guess they’ve been around for a while, and then we were in Europe, this Italian fan gave me a CD, and I listened to it. I think it’s good.”
The Evanescence singer has become familiar with the aforementioned Goth-metal bands and respects them, even if she is not really a big fan. “I like them, but all of them to me, and this is just me, go a little bit further beyond the line of cheesy Goth,” Lee believes. “I embrace certain elements of gothic music, but I’m not trying to play a part. I don’t want to become a character. I still want to write about me and be able to write ‘Good Enough’ – and have that okay because that’s who I really am – instead of dressing like a vampire all the time and playing a part of someone who’s singing from a tomb. I want to be real.”
When told that she seems so upbeat for someone who writes such sad songs, Lee cheerily counters, “But I have so much fun being dark. I have so much fun being sad.” Upon being teased about the next album turning into a happy pop record since she seems more at ease, she vigorously denies the possibility. “I feel like I’ve got that out of my system. I’m happy. I feel good now. I feel free. That’s why the album is called The Open Door because I feel like all the doors in my life I pushed open, and now I can do whatever I want.”

*****

La maggior parte delle interviste vengono fatte in quartieri angusti, come recording studios o sale da conferenza, a volte in presenza del label o dell'industria che produce. In una rinfrescante e liberante giravolta, Amy Lee conduce liberamente un'intervista in un noto coffe shop vicino a Union Square a Manhattan, accompagnata da nessuno. Poco dopo il mio arrivo, la ventiquatrenne cortesemente interrompe la conversazione che stava avendo e comincia la sua Metal Edge Discussion. Comunque, la padrona nota il cambiamento di tavolo di Amy e ci dice di andare nel retro, che non è ancora aperto.
Non è decisamente una scenetta da rock-star, ma a Amy non importa. Che la padrona sappia o non sappia con chi sta parlando non importa. Al contrario di molte altre celebrità, Amy non fa nessuna scenata sullo stile "Sai chi sono io". Non è il suo stile. "Non mi importa abbastanza per essere cattiva" ammette "Non voglio essere quel genere di persona. Voglio essere normale e stare coi piedi per terra." Dev'essere difficile considerando dato che il primo album della sua band è salito in cima alle classifica tre anni fa e da allora ha venduto 12 milioni di copie nel mondo, metà America. Ma Amy, che è casualmente vestita con una maglia e un gonna con i suoi lunghi fluenti capelli neri legati dietro, in contrasto con il suo personaggio drammatico che ha vita sul palco, non dimostra nessuna pienezza di sè tipica delle rockstar che ha fatto fortuna scrivendo canzoni epiche e trasportanti. Sembra più una buona amica che vuole solo chiaccherare. Infatti nel backstage footage di ABH rivela che Amy non è solo intelligente e artistica, ma anche pazza quando si ubriaca e distrugge un backstage con la band, lune dopo lo show, e prende in giro sè stessa e la band in tour.
"sì lo so, sono scema" dice "Lo guardo ora e dico "oooh" ma dovevo farlo. Mio padre e io lo stavamo guardando e siamo arrivati alla parte "Evanescence Unleshead". Poi si è scusata ed è andata a letto mentre lui continuava a guardare "Non ne ho parlato il giorno dopo, e lui neppure. Mai." anche se il filmato non è scioccante, lei enfatizza che "è difficile guardarlo con tuo padre quando sei una ragazza!
Suo padre non dovrebbe essere sorpreso dai comportamenti della figlia, visto che a 25 anni lui era un cantante, chitarrista e principale songwriter di una band country chiamata The Hard Luck Band. Aspirava ad avere una carriera musicale, ma quando sa moglie rimase incinta di Amy (Seguita poi da altri 4 figli) il piano è cambiato e lui ritornò al suo impiego più stabile. "E da lì io ho preso la torcia" dice Lee "Lui vive con me". Ci sono state molte esperienze nella crescita di sua figlia fino a diventare una star. Da quando era un'adolescente, Lee e Ben moody scrivevano e suonavano diverse canzoni, che risultarono nel loro auto-prodotto album Origin da 2000 copie. Collaborando da sei anni, il duo dell'Arkansas catturò l'attenzione della Wind-up che aveva già prodotto i Creed e il Drowing Pool. il guru della Wind-up Diana Meltzer prese la band sotto la sua ala, che allora era composta anche da David Hodges, e diede loro un anno per pubblilcizzare le loro canzoni e passare del tempo a L.A. Dal marzo 2003 Fallen (prodotto da Dave Fortman) apparì sugli scaffali.
Fallen salì immediatamente al sesto posto della top200 di Billboard- grazie al primo emozionante singolo "BMTL" che era caratterizzato da un featuring con Paul McCoy dalla band dei 12Stones – e rapidamente catapultò la band nel regno delle star. Alla fine del 2005 gli Evanescence aveva girato il mondo per un anno e mezzo in tour, venduto sei milioni di copie di Fallen, fatto 4 video e vinto 2 grammies, per non parlare della schiera di premi internazionali. Ma ci fu un lato negativo in questa ascesa al regno delle star. Moody diventò molto infelice sulla strada -in seguito rivelò che oltre alle differenze artistiche con Lee, stava combattendo la droga e la doppia personalità - e decise di andarsene nel bel mezz del tour europeo. L'ex chitarrista dei Cold Terry Balsamo prese il posto di Moody come chitarrista e song-writer. Lee non si lamentò dell'abbandono di Moody troppo pesantemente. Ma ora deve sopportare il peso di scrivere un nuovo album, il seguito di uno dei debutti più grandi della storia del rock senza il suo collaboratore. è stato detto che tu hai avuto tutta la vita per preparare il primo album e poi un solo anno per fare il secondo. Lee ignorò queste cose mentre scriveva e registrava The Open Door e decise di non affrettare il processo creativo, che ha preso 2 anni e le ha permesso di crescere come vocalist e di esplorare nuove idee di songwriting. Mentre il nuovo album degli Evanescence è meno palesemente metal di Fallen, è un degno successore che si apre il suo spazio distintamente.
"Non mi sono messa limiti" dichiara Lee sulla creazione di TOD, prevalentemente scritto con Terry Balsamo "credo che abbia richiesto molto più tempo di quello che solitamente ci vuole per un secondo album. Ho solo cominciato a scrivere e mi son detta "non mi interessa se ci dovessi mettere 5 anni, voglio fare un album che sia fantastico, che amo, e che sento essere degno di essere un capolavoro".

Lee dice che Dave Fortman, che ha anche lavorato in Fallen, è l'anello mancante nello studio, che la aiutava a canalizzare i nuovi lavori, cambiare e ri-arrangiare le canzoni. Il suo senso dello humor ha anche facilitato i momenti di tensione nello studio, questo è un uomo che ha detto che una riunione della sua ex-band Ugly Kid Joe non sarebbe stata possibile perchè non c'erano abbastanza capelli rimasti nel gruppo (eheheh).
"Sembra una commedia nello studio!" dice Lee "A lui capisce tutto. Credo che molta gente capisca solo un certo aspetto del nostro sound, chi siamo, e dove stiamo andando, ma che non capisca la cosa intera. Credo davvero che lui capisca e mi capisca, cosa che è importante."
In passato Amy si sentiva costretta da Moody in termini di songwritin e il duo doveva anche preoccuparsi del label che guardava dalle loro spalle nel loro primo album. "Era più difficile perchè non potevamo dire "no, faremo questo riguardo a ogni cosa, davvero" ricorda Lee "fortunatamente, non hanno provato a cambiare completamente le canzoni". Ci sono stati molto pochi compromessi questa volta con i bandmates Balsamo, LeCompy, Boyd e Gray. Quando le viene detto che la prima versione di BMTL, senza rap era decisamente meglio, lei concorda. "Non è stata una nostra scelta" rivela Lee "Questo è tutto ciò che dirò. Non volevo farlo e abbiamo dovuto farlo. è stato l'unica cosa che ho sentito di dover sacrificare nel primo album, una cosa che non era davvero mia. Ho odiato me stessa per un po', ma poi ho detto "Chissenefrega, stiamo andando molto bene, perciò va bene" non lo farò mai più comunque. Abbiamo dovuto fare una cosa che non volevamo per fare uscire l'album." E non fu l'unico singolo a essere una hit.
Detto questo, i fans potrebbero rimanere sorpresi dall'intro un po' R&B del primo singolo "CMWYS". Ma non è molto perchè poi le chitarre entrano in gioco e il ritornello pieno d'anima da un nuovo tocco alla band senza allontanarla dal suo sound originale. "Non credo rappresenti il sound dell'album intero (GRAZIE A DIO!!! NDT) perchè tutte le canzoni sono diverse tra loro. Hanno tutte un sentimento diverso. Questa ha più anima. Ricordo di aver pensato quando stavo scrivendo la melodia che non era proprio per la nostra band. Ma poi la canzone ha cominciato a dire quello che volevo dire perciò è stato nuovo e rinfrescante. Terry ha scritto un riff da paura, perciò ne abbiamo creato una canzone grandiosa."
La musica di TOD va dall'R&B sentito nel primo singolo al Gothic Metal di "CLoud Nine" ai momenti stile Tori Amos in "Lithium" e alla reinvenzione di "Lacrymosa" dal requiem di Mozart che utilizza un maestoso coro mischiato a strumenti rock e nuovi testi di Amy. Ci sono molte chitarre fortissime nell'album anche se il piano di Lee ha un ruolo molto più importante ora, e le sue melodie tendono a basarsi principalmente sul piano e sulla voce. Ci sono ancora violini e cori presenti in diverse tracce, come in Fallen, ma non sono forti e dominanti come prima (COME NO??!!). Questi sono gli ingredienti della ricetta base degli Evanescence, ma questa volta si mischiano in combinazioni dai sapori diversi. E il gruppo ha registrato abbastanza materiale per altri tre B-Sides: "Together Again", "If you don't mind" e "THe last song I'm wasting on you". Il confronto con Tori Amos è appropriato. La leggendaria performer ha ispirato giovani donne con i suoi forti testi femministi. Quando le viene chiesto se sente un certo tipo di responsabilità nei confronti della sua base da fan femminile, Lee -che come Amos, vestita da ragazza ma con stile, senza esporre tanga come molte altre cantanti- è combattuta dall'idea.
"è difficile, perchè io non scrivo musica per dare un messaggio là fuori, per dire a qualcuno come vivere la propria vita" dice Lee "io scrivo della mia vita e cerco di risolvere i miei problemi e alla fine credo aiuti qualcuno con i suoi. In quella canzone (Lithium)stavo pensando alla mia vita personale, come sempre. Cerco di dire a me stessa delle cose, di dire a me stesse di uscire fuori e esprimersi. Non cerco di farmi del male, cerco di stare meglio."
Nonostante tutto quello che è successo nella sua vita, Lee sembra una persona felice ora, anche se lei preferisce usare la parola "stabile". "Ho fatto terapia, l'ho usata, ma non mi serve più." dice "è utile. Alcune persone la fanno e non la usano, altre la usano ma non stanno meglio comunque. Ci sono periodi in cui la gente ne ha bisogno. E sono felice di averla fatta. Ora sto uscendo con un terapista" aggiunge "è fantastico. è molto stabile. Parliamo di tutto, lo lascio parlare a me delle sue cose. é una cosa nuova per lui."
TOD è definitivamente il titolo adatto data la vita tumultuosa di Lee negli ultimi tre anni. "Così tante cose sono cambiate nella mia vita ora!" dice "anche nella band sono cambiate molte cose. Mi sono sentita libera di fare quello che volevo, mi sentivo sicura e ho voluto provare tutto ciò che mi sentivo. Non mi sentivo intrappolata in una scatola come ho fatto per molto tempo."
Il passato è stato sicuramente drammatico per Lee. Ha lasciato il suo fidanzato di due anni Shaun Morgan, con cui ha ri-registrato Broken. Poi il suo chitarrista Balsamo ha avuto un ictus, ma ora sta recuperando benissimo. Infine, il suo ex-manager ha utilizzato i suoi soldi, per cui lei l'ha citato in causa per abuso sessuale (ODDIO NON TROVO ALTRI TERMINI, PERò AVETE CAPITO. NON L'HA VIOLENTATA ECCO...NDT) e negligenza professionale. Dopo aver detto questa lista, Lee fa un sorriso senza stress, come per dire "Roba dura eh?"Ovviamente questi avventimenti l'hanno ispirata! "Sembra che le difficolta nella mia vita mi fanno creare la musica migliore." dice Lee "Fortunatamente ho avuto molte difficoltà di cui scrivere in questo tempo fuori dalle scene. E sai cosa? sono cresciuta molto e ho imparato molto. Tutti i testi riguardano esperienze personali, molte delle quali sono accadute in questi anni." Mentre la traclkist riflette Lee che si rifà della sua ex-relazione, cominciando con "Sweet Sacrifice" e "CMWYS" (MEGLIO NON ABBREVIARE Sweet Sacrifice...esce SS!!!! ahahahahah NDT), per poi passare ad altri tormenti personali che ha sperimentato recentemente. Le canzoni comunque non sono poste in ordine cronologico. Lee ha combattuto seriamente nella sua relazione e ora può guardare indietro con una visione più chiara.
"è stata dura all'inizio, ma almeno mi sentivo come se potessi capire e non sentirmi in colpa" Lee dice "Non avevo colpe perchè non è che non sapesse che non avrei potuto chiamarlo se fossi stata impegnata tutto il giorno. Ma è stata comunque dura perchè anche lui era impegnato e mi sentivo senza attenzioni. Ma poi siamo andati in Europa insieme per fare il tour e siamo stati bene insieme". Dice che non parlano da un bel po' di tempo. Molte delle canzoni di TOD si concentrano sulle sue ex-relazioni. La hard-rocking "All that I'm living for" si concentra invece sulla band stessa. La sua nascita venne da una realizzazione di Lee che disse che la band era la sua vita. "Non faccio altro!" dice "Scrivo per la band, faccio il tour con la band, faccio interviste per la band. Ma è un sentimento di amore/odio!"

Mentre TOD mantiene le vibrazioni dark che hanno reso Fallen così seduttivo, la ballata finale "Good Enough" è decisamente posiiva e mostra una Amy Lee che sta dando confindenza a qualcuno e che sembra felicemente innamorata. Lei crede sia la traccia più coraggiosa dell'album. "è totalmente spaventoso essere così vulnerabili quando so che comunque molti metallari non apprezzeranno perchè non è proprio la stessa cosa rispetto alle altre canzoni" dice Lee "e non finisce con "E poi lui morì" o "L'ho buttato giù da un burrone" o "In realtà è un fantasma". è veramente bello e strano per me. Non ho mai scritto una canzone felice. Mai.
L'idea di una canzone felice a chiudere un album dark in realtà ha senso. è stata l'ultima canzone a essere scritto e riflette la sua veta attuale, ed è anche l'estensione logica di BMTL, che era un grido d'aiuto perchè qualcuno la liberasse dallle profondità del suo iceberg emozionale. "Good Enough" rappresenta anche la sua evoluzione personale negli ultimi anni "Stavo combattendo in questa relazione costantemente, poi c'è stata la separazione, e alla fine ho realizzato che posso sentirmi felice" dice Lee "ed è una realizzazione magnifica per me perchè ho speso la mia vita sentendo di dover essere infelice. So che è parzialmente colpa della musica e credo anche sia colpa mia. Ho sempre avuto colpe e paura che mi hanno tenuto giù."
Quando le viene chiesta la fonta della sua colpa Lee dice: "gli errori che ho fatto, la gente che mi odia, qualsiasi cosa in realtà. Ci penso troppo. E finalmente sono arrivata al punto in cui non mi interessa. Non mi interessa se mi odiate. Non mi interessa se odiate la canzone. Io la adoro. Posso essere felice!"
"è difficile lasciarsi andare dal "Cosa penseranno di me?", confessa "ma non mi interessa più. Ho guadagnato sicurezza lasciando che le persone dicessero cose cattive su di me alle mie spalle. Farò tipo "Non mi interessa, sei una persona da compatire."
La vocalist cerca anche di stare coi piedi per terra in termini di prospettive su sè stessa e sulla sua arte "amo ciò che faccio, amo i fan e amo vedere le loro reazioni" dice Lee "ma non sono mai stata egoista, tipo "si, mi merito tutto questo. Mi amate perchè me lo merito." Credo che quello che loro amino sia la musica e un pezzo di me. Non puoi conoscere davvero qualcuno solo ascoltando le sue canzoni." Mentre pensa che Good Enough sia la canzone più coraggiosa riguardo ai testi, la canzone più personale di TOD è "Like You". "parla di qualcosa di cui è difficile parlare ma su cui mi fa bene scrivere" spiega Lee "parla della mia sorellina che è morta quando aveva tre anni e io sei. Ha influenzato la mia vita e il mio scrivere musica, e mi ha reso chi sono. è una di quelle cosa che succedono così presto nella tua vita che ti forma. Credo che in molti modi l'abbia resa una cosa che posso usare in modo positivo. Ho imparato da essa e sono cresciuta. 24 anni mi sembrano pochi, è strano.
Avendo perso la sorella così giovane mette le cose in prospettiva per Le, che dice che dice di amare fare musica e di voler amare. "Cos'altro c'è la fuori?" dice "Non mi interesserebbero le cose stupide anche s non avessi passato questo. La canzone (Like You) parla di me dalla prospettiva della bambina di allora, e vado in quel posto molto spesso in realtà. Sono andata lì e ho scritto la canzone in quel modo. Non una cosa che direi normalmente con un megafono davanti a milioni di persone."
"è una cosa che ti cambia" dice "La amo, e la amerò sempre. Il suo spirito è sempr econ oi. Sento che vorrò sempre un pezzo di lei in ogni disco. Nell'ultimo era "Hello", e l'ho scritta dalla prospettiva di un bambino. Parlavo di quello in un modo diverso, ma è la stessa ispirazione." Un'altra canzone che non è entrata nell'album, ma è stata scritta nello stesso modo, è quella che Amy ha scritto per The chronicles of Narnia. La canzone senza titolo fu rifiutata, anche se lei scrisse anche Lacrymosa per il film.
"Pensai che sarebbe stata grandiosa per la scena iniziale, ma vollero qualcosa di originale" dice Lee della cover di Mozart "scrissi qualcos'altro che era triste, dark e davvero bello, ma il regista voleva qualcosa di più speranzoso. La canzone parlava di dire addio e andare avanti, ed è quello che fanno all'inizio del film, dicono addio ai genitori e vanno in un mondo spaventoso e sconosciuto! Questo è il modo in cui l'ho scritta, dalla loro prospettiva. Credo che la canzone fosse perfetta. E non è che ci abbia messo chitarre eh! Ho creato una cosa che era bella e vibrante ma comunque spettrale, e credo che sia questo che non sia piaciuto."
D'altra parte, ci sono milioni di fan che muoiono dalla voglia di sentirla, e sarebbe interessante sentire cosa ne pensano di TOD una volta uscito.
Lee aspetta con ansia quel momento, ma è anche paziente per quanto riguarda il recupero di Balsamo. Dovrebbe essere comunque in tempo per il tour mondiale che comincia il 5 ottobre. L'ictus di Balsamo ha sorpreso un po' tutti, spercialmente per una persona così giovane. " è stato davvero illuminante per tutti noi, di non fare troppo casino per una sola cosa" dice Lee "ma anche che la vita è corta. è stato uno shock per tutti". un dramma del genere ha sicuramente ispirato la Lee nella sua musica dark. Infatti, la si potrebbe chiamare Goth, per il suo aspetto esteriore più che per il suo modo di vivere, visto che non è mai entrata nell'oscuro mondo musicale e che non si è mai definita Goth, nonostante una fascinazione giovanile per Halloween. "è una cosa orribile da dire, ma non sono mai stata quel genere di persona che cerca delle band indipendenti ed entra in un genere così tanto che ascolta solo quello" dice Lee "adoravo certe cose che mi toccavano e che mi sono rimaste e che ascolto tuttora. Amo i Depeche Mode, sono Goth per me. Mi piacciono i Portishead, sono Goth per me."
Gli Evanescence condividono alcune delle angosce goth di alcune band europee come i Nightwish e i Within Temptation. Una band che sono stati accusati di copiare sono i Lacuna Coil. "Quando abbiamo iniziato a fare il tour li ho sentiti per la prima volta" dice "Non li avevo mai sentiti. Non li ascolto e non ho loro CD. Ma credo che siano in giro da un bel po' e poi siamo stati in Europa, questo fan italiano mi ha dato il CD, e l'ho ascoltato. Credo sia bello."
La cantante degli Evanescence ha fatto conoscenza delle succitate Goth-metal bands e le rispetta, anche se non è una grande fan. "Mi piacciono, ma tutte secondo me, ed è solo una mia opinione, vanno un po' oltre i limiti del Goth morboso" crede "Abbraccio certi elementi della musica goth, ma non voglio interpretare una parte. Non voglio essere un personaggio. Voglio scrivere riguardo a me stessae voglio essere capace di scrivere Goof Enough e mi piace farlo perchè è ciò che sono, invece di vestirmi da vampiro sempre e interpretare la parte di qualcuno che canta da una tomba. Voglio essere vera."
Quando le viene detto che sembra troppo allegra per scrivere canzoni così tristi lei replica "Ma mi diverte così tanto essere dark! Mi diverto troppo a essere triste". Quando il nuovo album viene annunciato come un album pop felice nega vigorosamente e nega questa possibilità. "Sento che non è possibile. Sono felice, mi sento bene ora. Mi sento libera. Questo è il motivo per cui l'album si chiama TOD perchè sento che molte porte sono state aperte da me nella mia vita, e ora posso fare ciò che voglio."


Thanks to Ketan (www.evanescence.it/bboard) for the transcript
Grazie a LostWord (www.evanescence.it/forum) per la traduzione

EVANESCENCE singer AMY LEE is still mad at herself for staying in an abusive romance with ex BEN MOODY for three years - because her own lyrics were telling her it was time to move on. The couple, who formed the goth-rock group together, split shortly before Moody quit the band in 2003, and Lee has never been happier. But she accepts she could have been happier a lot earlier in her life if she'd taken heed of the songs she wrote with Moody. She tells America's Spin magazine, "After I recorded those songs, I was listening to my own words on GOING UNDER. When it goes to the chorus, what I would have loved to hear myself sing is, 'I'm leaving and I'm not going to put up with this anymore.' But instead the line is, 'I'm going under, drowning in you.' "I was thinking to myself, 'You know what you need to do, and you're not doing it.'" Lee admits the night she heard her ex was planning to quit the group in the middle of a tour, she refused to beg him to stay. She adds, "Ben is all about the drama. He's done a lot of irrational things, so you learn not to be surprised by anything. "Ben was a really unhappy person. When you're miserable, you don't want anyone around you to be happy. So, with him gone, we felt like a weight had been lifted. I have pictures from that day. We all look giddy." Lee admits she hasn't spoken to Moody since meeting him briefly at the Grammy Awards in 2004. Moody, now an in-demand songwriter, declined to comment for the Spin article. Lee signs off on her relationship with Moody on new track THE LAST SONG I'M WASTING ON YOU.

*****

La cantante degli Evanescence Amy Lee rimpiange ancora la sterile collaborazione musicale con Ben Moody durata per ben tre anni - erano i suoi stessi testi a dirle che era giunta l'ora di voltare pagina. La coppia, dopo aver fondato insieme il gruppo rock gotico, ebbe vita breve in quanto Moody lasciò il gruppo nel 2003 rendendo Amy più felice che mai, anche se ammette che sarebbe potuta essere ancora più contenta se avesse tralasciato le canzoni scritte con Moody. Così si rivolge alla rivista americana Spin: "Dopo aver scritto quelle canzoni, stavo riascoltando il testo di Going Under e, arrivati al ritornello, avrei voluto sentire la mia stessa voce dire 'Vado via, non voglio più averci niente a che fare' invece di 'Affogando in te'. "Pensavo tra me e me 'Sai benissimo quello che devi fare ma non lo stai facendo'". Amy ammette che la sera che aveva saputo dell'abbandono del suo ex compagno nel bel mezzo di un tour non era riuscita nemmeno a pregarlo di rimanere e aggiunge: "A Ben piace molto essere teatrale. Ha sempre fatto un sacco di cose che mi hanno irritata, perciò ho imparato a non sorprenderti di niente. "Ben era davvero una persona infelice e quando sei triste non vorresti nessuno accanto a te che sia felice. Così, una volta andato via, ci siamo sentiti con un peso in meno. Conservo delle fotografie di quel giorno in cui tutti sembriamo eccitati al massimo!". La cantante afferma di non aver più rivolto parola a Moody fino al loro breve incontro ai Grammy Award del 2004. Moody, ora cantautore, ha deciso di non rispondere all'articolo pubblicato su Spin. E del suo rapporto con Moody, Amy ce ne parla nella sua nuova canzone The Last Song I'm Wasting For You (L'ultima canzone che spreco per te).



Source: http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/abused%20lee%20upset%20she%20didnt%20follow%20clues%20in%20her%20own%20songs_1007632
Thanks to Luca
Grazie a Dioniso per la traduzione

Fallen’ sold 14 million copies and made Amy Lee a global star.
Now the voice of Evanescence is back, more driven and determined than ever.

What most notice about Amy Lee in person are her piercingly clear pale blue eyes, almost turquoise.
Sat in a room on the 18th floor of the swanky W Hotel in downtown Manhattan, dressed in a Disney ‘Snow White’ T-shirt, the Evanescence front woman is surprisingly sprightly for someone who has spent the last couple of days doing up to 11 interviews a day. “I’m being cooperative because I’m not burned out right now”, she explains. “But if this came in the middle of the tour, I would be like; “No way”
The feeding frenzy is unsurprising. October 2 will see the release of “The Open Door”, the Goth troupes long waited first new record since 2002’s “Fallen”, which transformed two unknown Arkansas kids, Lee and since departed writing partner/guitarist Ben Moody, into household names, selling a whopping 14 million albums, an almost unheard of feat in today’s fragmented market.

Last time we met with Lee in LA two years ago, Evanescence were on top of the world, and Lee was in high spirits; since then, it’s been a litany of line-up changes break ups, court cases and illness – guitarist Terry Balsamo was hospitalized after a stroke last November. But right now, Lee seems to be on top once again. She’s recently moved to New York to live in – wait for it – a converted gothic church. She has a new live and a new boyfriend, having split with Seether’s Shaun Morgan earlier this year.
And in spite of the doubts over whether Evanescence will come close to replicating “Fallen’s success, the 24-year old star is looking to the near future with hope and enthusiasm.
In conversation she’s friendly, chatty and laughs a lot at herself and others, frequently pausing to imitate voices or break into song; a far cry from the cold, controlling siren she’s sometimes portrayed as.

How long have you been living in New York?

“Actually, I stayed in this hotel for like a month, in March, while I was looking at apartments, then I moved into my place – its rad. It’s this old building that used to be a church and they turned it into apartments. It’s got vaulted ceilings, it’s cool. I love New York – there’s so much culture and class. I think my taste is maturing. LA was cool at first, but after a while I was like, ‘Man, I need to get out of here’.”

So how are things going in general?

“Really good. I’m really happy. I kind of had a lot of stuff building and building and weighing me down last year and then I finally just said, ‘That’s it’, changed everything, sold my house, sold a bunch of my stuff and kicked a couple of people out of my life and moved here.”

Are you concerned about coming back with the new album?