Evanescence on Letterman

Kelly Clarkson Vandalizes Amy's House & More

Cool new pics of Amy :

By the way, Amy is in the December Issue of the American CosmoGirl magazine. She is not on the cover (Lindsay Lohan is), but there is a 2-page article inside; "The world according to Amy Lee"

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Mtv now has the lithium video! Let's get to work! Please start voting for Evanescence on TRL now by casting your vote for Lithium at the bottom of the scroll box on the TRL Voting Page at mtv.com !

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A video has surfaced on You Tube this weekend that shows Kelly Clarkson riding in the back of a van with known adult filmmaker and singer for Society 1 Matt Zane and Ben Moody en route to vandalize Evanescence's lead singer Amy Lee's house. The clip seems to be an excerpt from a reality show entitled "In The Studio". During the teaser Kelly actually throws numerous rolls of toilet paper into the trees and over the house while laughing. Even Zane seems surprised when he states "I can't believe American Idols Kelly Clarkson is riding in the back of a van going to commit vandalism!"

And here's the vid:

Lithium video

Lithium video leaked

Lithium video leaked!

UnOfficial TOD Game

Click here to download (Megaupload) or here for more info on the game.

Please Read the "Very Important Readme" file, everything you first need to know is in there. Also if you find any bugs it the program please tell FatherTime from Evthreads here in this thread. Thanks to FatherTime!

Enjoy!

Making of TOD cover

More pics here!
Thanx to evthreads.com and evenescence.it

EV doing WWE

The new theme for wrestler Christian Cage: "My Last Breath (Instrumental Version)" by Evanescence!

Amy in Johnny Cash video

Here's the Johnny Cash video 'God's Gonna Cut You Down'... Amy looks amazing!

Some great news: The Open Door is officially certified platinum in the US!

The Late Show With David Letterman

Show: The Late Show With David Letterman
Episode: 2006/12/14
Network: CBS Television
Date: Thursday - December 14, 2006
Time: 11:35/10:35c PM
Duration: 1:00


The Late Show With David Letterman: 2006/12/14
Actor Will Smith; musical guests Evanescence.

Evanescence... the top secret organization...

Evanescence is the code-name for a top secret organization that pretends to be a sort-of-OK-I-guess rock band from America. The name is rumored to mean "disapperance," which serves to heighten the secrecy of the organization.

( ... )

In a recent interview, Amy Lee said that where first album "Fallen" was "a cry for help", second effort "The Open Door" is "a cry for attention". This is shown best in the track "I Lose Control", in which Lee plays on the strengths of previous track "Imagine Me" in a desperate attempt to hide the fact that the song is, well, crap.

( ... )

Available for a limited period only, the official "Evanescence Hamster" can be ordered from the band's online store and delivered directly to your desk.
You can select from a limited range of colours:
- Black
- Black
- A slightly different shade of black, but one which is only perceptible to cats
- Black metal
The hamster is delivered on a special presentation crucifix and you can choose to have a 3 word greeting message shaven into the hamsters fur. You can give it any name you like, but it will only answer to "Amy".

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Ben, Amy and.... Avril?

According to wikipidea, Avril Lavigne's song 'Nobody's Home' from her album 'Under My Skin' (released released on May 25, 2004) was written about Amy Lee. The song was written by Avril and ... yeah... Ben Moody. Keep in mind - Ben left the band on October 22, 2003. The reasons for his departure were reportedly "creative differences". Ben and Amy has no desire to get in touch and has not spoken again after his departure.

Judge for yourself...

I couldn't tell you why she felt that way,

She felt it everyday.

And I couldn't help her,

I just watched her make the same mistakes again.

What's wrong, what's wrong now?

Too many, too many problems.

Don't know where she belongs, where she belongs.

She wants to go home, but nobody's home.

It's where she lies, broken inside.

With no place to go, no place to go to dry her eyes.

Broken inside.

Click here to read all the lyrics for Lavigne and Moody's song 'Nobody's Home'.
Click here to visit the 'Nobody's Home' page on Wikipedia

Making of 'Lithium'

MTV Article & Pic - Lithium Video

After Facing Big Bad Wolf, Amy Lee Faces Herself In Evanescence Clip

Watch out, Nirvana: Lee's 'Lithium' could be even more depressing.

Amy Lee is returning to the forest, only this time there's no Big Bad Wolf.
"There's the me in all white and it's really wintry," the Evanescence singer said on the set of the "Lithium" video on Wednesday, pointing to an elaborate array of snow-covered trees. "And then there's the all-in-black Amy under the surface of the water of this lake in the forest. So it's the happiness and the sorrow and we're almost singing to each other, trying to figure out how both of us can work."
Unlike the Little Red Riding Hood concept for the "Call Me When You're Sober" video, which was an abstract take on somewhat literal lyrics, the follow-up is a literal take on somewhat abstract lyrics.
"So it's not so in-your-face to make the video more literal," Lee justified of the video, which Paul Fedor (Sarah McLachlan, Seether) directed based on her concept. "Really, though, I think it's all about touching somebody and I hope it does that." "Lithium," the second single from the recently released The Open Door, is about making the choice between the comfort of sorrow and the idea of happiness. "You get in these cycles where you're stuck in bad situations or relationships or whatever and it's hard to make yourself get out even though it's negative and hard," Lee explained. "So that's sort of what it's about, (...) FULL ARTICLE HERE

(MTV Article, thanx to evanescence.it)

Lithium video news!

EVANESCENCE has selected Paul Fedor (DEFTONES, ALICE IN CHAINS, ADEMA) to direct "Lithium", the second video from the band's "The Open Door" album!

Mexico City Airport Pix

Thanx to evanmexico.com.mx

Evanescence Peps! Smash

PREPARE YOURSELF: Amy raps!

Amy Lee raps... Enjoy!

MTV VMA 2006 Latin America Vids

YouTube vids:

Click here to see Amy & Terry present

You Heard It Here First!

Despite rumors, 'Lithium' is not coming out until 27th november, sorry guys!

Source

The Last Song I'm Wasting On You in Japanese

Click here to hear a Ev fan sing 'The Last Song I'm Waisting On You' in Japanese! (youtube)

More Ev sheet music

Click here for Evanescence sheet music, including Call Me When You're Sober, Good Enough, Lithium and The Last Song I'm Waisting On You.

MTV Latin Awards & new article

Just a reminder, Ev will perform at the MV Video Music Awards Latin in Mexico City (Oct. 19) !

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Translated article: Evanescence: Separation with the help of the manager

In the interview with laut.de betrays Evanescence Frontfrau Amy Lee detail over the separation from Shaun Morgan, with which she was two and a half years friendly.

Cologne - Evanescence entered with its new album “The open Door” at place one the German Charts. Thus they exceed still the success of the predecessor “traps”, who reached only place two. But before recent success the Nu Metal Youngster had to cross a long and dark valley. Above all Amy Lee went through a heavy phase in her private life.

In the interview with laut.de betrayed it these days new details of their separation from the Seether singer Shaun Morgan, which her in the new single “call ME When You're Sober” (call on, if you are sober) processed.The difficulties with Shaun obviously brought the small singer to the edge of their forces, so that you remained at the conclusion no more other choice to make than conclusion: “You get broken sometime either to it, or you must resist and terminate the thing.”In the discussion Amy Lee describes the expiration of the separation, and does not throw thereby necessarily a friendly light on its ex: “Toward end it was even nearly impossible to speak with it in the sober condition. I am not any more up to it filled, and in the wahrsten sense of the word. I had to speak with its route manager, in order to let Shaun know that between us conclusion is.”The complete interview, in which the Evanescence singer among other things over the wrong conceptions of the “Narnia” - Macher and “Sex in the voice” speak, appears in the coming days on laut.de.

Amy & Will dancing (youtube vid)

Enjoy! (Thanx to evanescence.it)

New promo pic!

Here it is: THE FULL BAND! Enjoy!

E!E!U!pdate

Was three years just a little too long?

That was the question on the minds of several industry insiders last week when Evanescence released The Open Door, the follow-up to their 2003 breakout Fallen an album that has sold close to 6.6 million copies in the U.S. alone. (...) some wondered whether Amy Lee's goth-rock outfit still had a strong enough fanbase to open up on top. But the fans were there to clear a path for The Open Door (...)

FULL ARTICLE HERE

(...) before the fans — which ranged from sweet little angels to Hell's Angels — would catch a glimpse of the woman they'd come here to see: Ms. Lee. And that glimpse would be accompanied by about a hundred camera flashes, which illuminated the songstress as she floated across the stage to her microphone stand. (...)

READ REVIEW FROM MTV.COM HERE

ALSO: Remember to vote for Evanescence on MTV TRL ... Only 6 days left!

How to vote:

Go here, so you can vote multiple times.

At the top of your webpage go to TOOLS and select Internet Options. In the Box that pops up, select Privacy thats at the top. Then select Sites that's in the middle of the box and another Pop up box will appear. Next in the space saying "Address Of Website" type in www.mtv.com, select BLOCK and then OK. This now will block cookies and allow you to vote more than once on MTV. If you live outside the US you will need to use a Zip Code from the States to join MTV. Use anyone from the US because I don't think they're checking. A lot of people have been Using the one from the show Beverly Hills 90210. Help the band out and vote for them on TRL!

Watch Ev live! Lacrymosa, Snow White Queen, All That I'm Living For, CMWYS and Lithium. Enjoy!

(Scroll down to see the great news- TOD number #1 on Billboard 200!)

#1 on Billboard 200

EVANESCENCE OPENS DOOR TO TOP OF CHART

Ok guys, great news! The Killers and George #2-3, but Evanescence bows at No. 1 on The Billboard 200! The band's debut, 2003's "Fallen," spent 104 weeks on the big chart, peaking at No. 3.

Going, going, Goth.

"The Open Door" also marks the 700th No. 1 album on The Billboard 200 since the magazine began publishing the weekly chart 50 years ago. "TOD" had an impressive 408 000 debut, which was enough to set back Island’s The Killers, as the Vegas boys’ Sam’s Town chalks up one of the largest #2 debuts of the year with 318 000. Evanescence is also the fourth best selling debut this year- with Justin Timberlake in the second spot, Beyonce in the third and Christina Aguilera in the 5th.

(Pics from the Toronto show - thanx to evanescence.it )

TOD on the charts

TOD on the UK charts...

A week after introductory single Call Me When You’re Sober reached number four, Evanescence’s long-awaited second album, The Open Door, debuts at number two on sales of 94,409. Although that means it hasn’t yet matched the peak of their debut album Fallen, which reached number one in June 2003 on its eighth week on release, it has comprehensively beaten that album’s number 18 debut on sales of 15,589. Fallen rockets 79-35 this week to make its first Top 40 placing for 134 weeks, with sales of 7,052 lifting its total to 1,154,571.

Other Charts Update:

U.S: #2 - U.K: #5 - Sweden: #7 - Switzerland: #2 - Portugal: #4 - Austria: #3 - Norway: #6 - The Netherland: #2 - Luxembourg: #4 - Italy: #5 - Ireland: #5 - Greece: #3 - France: #3 - Finland: #4 - Spain: #5 - Germany: #6 and #7 - Denmark: #2 - Canada: #3 - Belgium: #8 - Australia: #1

International Chart: First Week Sale.

JAPAN: First week sale landed The Open Door at #4

IRELAND: The Open Door debuts at #3, (Scissor Sister #2, The Killers #1)

Setlist

Thanx to Evanescence News Blog here is the setlist: (pic thanx to evanescence.it)

Sweet sacrifice
Weight of the world
Going under
Snow White Queen
Haunted
Whisper
The only One
Lithium
Good enough
Call Me When You're Sober
Bring me to life
Imaginary
Lacrymosa

Ecore: My immortal - All that I'm living for

Evanescence on the road again

Toronto last night - EV live!

Go here (youtube) to watch Evanescence perform 'Lithium' @ Kool Haus last night, and Sweet Sacrafice here

CMWYS live!

* video removed * Sorry guys!

Podcast Kerrang

Kerrang!Pic

There you go!

Terry on EvBoard

http://www.evboard.com/showthread.php?t=35495

Post from Terry on EvBoard (on 30 Septemeber 2006 - Sorry guys I'll fix the date problem)

"i have been wanting to get here and say whats up so im trying this post to make sure im doing this right because im a jackass with computers ,im gonna come back and post in a day or so if i do it right and just say whats up and tell you a little of whats going on......see ya"

Thanx to
CryingWishXXXXXXXXX

TOD cover option

Rumoured that this was also a cover option, but declined.

Jane Girl of the Month

There's a trend with female singers, when their band becomes supersuccessful, to abandon the rest. See Gwen, Fergie, Beyonce. So you might've expected Amy Lee to do the same after her group, Evanescence, sold 14 million copies of ther dramatic debut. "There's no reason to", she says, "I couldn't do it without Terry's guitars, but Evanescence is me." The band's new album The Open Door- wich Amy (24) describes as "harder and bigger than people probably expect"- is about life changes including the departure of guitarist and ex-boyfriend Ben Moody. Take first single "Call Me When You're Sober." "It's me putting my foto down at the end of a relationship and saying, 'that's it'" she says. "I give so many second, third, fourth million chances, but I end up sacrifising too much of myself. So saying no was a big deal." And best of all? "The record ends on a happy note, wich is wild. I finally feel good."

AMY LEE HAS FIGURED OUR A WAY TO BE DARK, BROODING AND HAPPY. WE WANT LESSONS.

Round 2: Paris vs Amy

{Scroll down for 'Madonna vs Amy'}

AMY LEE or PARIS HILTON?

New promo pics

All pix from evanescencewebsite!

Amy @ TRL and new Blender pic

Amy will be on TRL next week for Spankin' New Music Week !!

CMWYS AOL Sessions

Thanx to our anonymous comment...

'Call Me When You're Sober,' the first single from Evanescence's forthcoming album 'The Open Door,' boasts all of the shredding guitars and banshee vocals you'd expect from the multi-platinum powerhouse. But when Amy Lee and the boys visited our Sessions studio last month, they proved that the song could be just as compelling (if not more so) with the volume turned way down. With just a piano, cello and guitar at their disposal, the band performed a haunting acoustic version of the track for our cameras, stripping it down to an ethereal essence that was as raw as the words Amy sings (...)

FULL ARTICLE HERE

'TOD' full cover - first on the net!

FIRST thanx to EXCLUSIVE EVANESCENCE !

http://img98.imageshack.us/my.php?image=628100evanescencetheopendoorcovers2006th3.jpg

Happy Watching!

Amy with fans in Milan at TOD premiere... thanx to evanescencewebsite.com



Amy at VH1 Take2 (thanx to u guys from Evboard!)




Enjoy!

Next Single Acoustic

Lyrics!

Provided By MetroLyrics

Evanescence - Lithium (Acoustic Live @ VH1)

Amazing interview, new pic & single

The next single:
LITHIUM



Great article / interview from evanescenewebsite here (pic & article from Blender)

"(...) 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. (...)"

New pic!

New promo pic thanx to Evboard!

VOTE NOW FOR 'CMWYS' ON MTV TRL!

Billboard Mag

EVANESCENCE on the cover of the new Billboard Magazine!

E!E!U!pdate & Fanart

Great Link --- Check it out!

BringMeToLife.com - The Official French Evanescence Site - English Version

Goth-rocker AMY LEE accepts her lyrics can be dark and depressing at times - but she has learned they actually help save lives too. The Christian EVANESCENCE singer hopes her songs about loneliness and desperation help troubled fans realise they're not the only ones going through difficult times - she's been there too. But now Lee has a more upbeat view of life, she's thrilled to hear suicidal fans have chosen life over death after listening to her songs. She explains, "I'm all about making people feel like they're not alone. One fan told me they were seriously contemplating suicide, but that night they were playing our album, something pulled them back from the edge. "I know how it feels to be completely alone and helpless, and the last thing you want to hear in that situation is, 'It's going to be OK.' "The only thing that seems to really help is that someone else who has felt that low expressing those feelings to you." - Source

BITCHY enough without actually calling anyone out. That's how Amy Lee coyly describes her new song, Call Me When You're Sober (...)

Full article HERE thanx to evanescencewebsite.com

All pix thanx to the creative guys from Evboard! (Not real promo pics!)

Ev to save the musical retail season?

In the first six months of the year, U.S. album sales declined 4.2% compared to one year earlier, according to Nielsen SoundScan, so labels have pushed their biggest releases into the final four months of 2006, hoping that holiday shoppers will want to rock out.

(...)

in a retail season that also brings new releases from Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, Clay Aiken, Alan Jackson, Ludacris, Beck, Evanescence, Jet, My Chemical Romance, Keith Urban and the Killers.

(...)

"There's a big Grammy effect that reminds people about albums they want to buy," said Beer, who guessed the Dixie Chicks and new singer Corinne Bailey Rae will benefit from nominations. Beer also forecast that Justin Timberlake and Evanescence will score big this holiday season.

But does she think they can save the music retail season?

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Referred to as "the most cunning talk show around" by Entertainment Weekly, "Late Night with Conan O’Brien" began its twelfth season on September 13, 2004. In addition to dominating the ratings in its time period, every aspect of "Late Night" has been praised in the media, from Conan himself ("modest, wry, self-effacing and demonstrably the most intelligent of the late-night comics," The Washington Post) and the show’s comedy ("original and often breathtakingly silly," said the New York Daily News), to the Max Weinberg Seven ("the best band in late-night TV," said The Washington Post).

About: Late Night with Conan O'Brien: 2006/10/02
Musical guest Evanescence.

Link

BillBoard

CMWYS on Billboard this week...
# 11 on the BILLBOARD HOT 100
- Fell one spot from last weeks #10
# 9 on the BILLBOAR HOT ROCK TRACKS
- Last week: #9

TOD lyrics

'The Open Door' Lyrics - click here

Lacrymosa Lyrics from TOD

Lacrymosa from The Open Door
Out on your own
cold and alone again
can this be what you really wanted, baby?
Blame it on me
set your guilt free
nothing can hold you back now

Now that you're gone
I feel like myself againg
rieving the things I can't repair
and willing ...to let you blame it on me
and set your guilt free
I don't want to hold you back now love

I can't change who I am
not this time,
I wont lie to keep you near me

and in this short life, there's no time to waste
giving upmy love wasn't enough

and you can blame it on me
just set your guilt free, honey
I don't want to hold you back now love

TOD lyrics - 'Lose Control'

You don't remember my name
I don't really care
Can we play the game your way?
Can I really lose control?
Just once in my life
I think it'd be nice
just to lose control- just once
with all the pretty flowers in the dust

Mary had a lamb
his eyes black as coals
if we play very quiet, my lamb
Mary never has to know

Just once in my life
I think it'd be nice
just to lose control- just once
if I cut you down to a thing I can use
I fear there will be nothing good left of you

Brazilian article

She is Amy Lee, singer of Evanescence. Blue.green eyes, happy mood, about 1,5 m high. Twenty four years old and many complicated histories to tell us. She says: "I had already faced many problems. Life is hard. That's way I believe on a paradise. There should be something better that this".

Amy is joking, but not too much. On the last years, she saw her band leaving the state of Arkansas, and become a super rock band. 14 millons of CDs sold. That was the good part, but it wasnt over...On the way to the success, on 2003, in the middle of a tour on Europe, Ben Moody, left the band. He tries to get closer again, but Amy doesnt want it."He will never come back to the band. We dont speak anymore. Before he left the band, things werent good. Ben wasnt happy. He had personal problems. Ben and I live better away from each other".

Without Ben, Amy found an other guitarrist, Terry Balsamo. Was that over? On a normal band... yes. But not in Evanescence. At the end of the year 2005, with 33 years old, Terry had an accident: a brain haemorrhage. He says: "On one saturday, I finished to record the guitarrs for the new CD. On monday, I woke up with my left side paralised. Thanks God I had already done everything".

Now, see the strange explanation of his accident: “It was because I move a lot my head on the stage. A neck artery broke and a coagulum formed on my head". No Brazil, the doctors found this history a little bit strange. "Its unbelievable that something like that could be caused by "moving so much" your head. This happends frecuently on very dangerous accidents", says the doctor Luiz Alcides Manreza.Terry, who likes Sepultura, has some problems but he is recovering well.. Amy believes on his quick recovery.

"We are going to release the new album on october and we will start with the tour. terry is gonna be fine until then". Terry might be OK, but the band's problems continues. The bass player, Will Boyd, left the band last month. Now, the new album is gonna be heavier than the first one... If you were expecting some "happy lyrics", forget about it!

"I am who I am", explains Amy Lee. For many fans, this is a good thing.

(Translation of the interview with Amy and Terry on a Brazilian programme. Thanx to evboard.com)

MTV Wishlist

On MTV Wishlist this month:

4-8 Sept: Jack Black, Jay Z, Marilyn Manson, Evanescence (7 Sept '06), Pink
11-15 Sept: Basement Jaxx, Nelly Furtado, Tupac, Indie, Justin Timberlake
18-22 Sept: Shakira, Pharrell, Anastacia, Backstreet Boys, Mariah Carey
25-29 Sept: Simpson Sisters, Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson, Usher, Britney

3 Oct '06

yippeee..... The Open Door hits the stores in precisly one month !

E!E!U!pdate

Go vote for Evanescence (and CMWYS) on ...

MTV TRL GERMANY - Click here
FUSE CHAINSAW AWARDS - Click here
MTV TRL USA - Click here
VH1 TOP 20 COUNTDOWN - Click here

It's official! Revelation Theory will join Evanescence on their upcoming U.S. tour. (Source)

(...) as Miss Beyonce Knowles rang the alarm on the main stage, Evanescence's Amy Lee showed some of her own moves to co-presenter Jared Leto, who watched in awe (...) - Backstage at the MTV VMA's

To read the full article - click here

VMA's red carpet

Amy and John at the VMA's!



Scroll down to see Amy onstage!

2006 VMA'S

Amy presenting at the 2006 MTV VMA's

Amy Lee presenting at the MTV VMA's 2006 with Jared Leto

Ev, ev, ev!

Call Me When You're Sober is #10 on Billboard Hot 100 (Sales Gainer), #9 on the BillBoard Hot Modern Rock Charts and #1, again, on MTV TRL! And remember, Amy Lee will be a presenter at the MTV Video Music Awards which airs this Thursday, Aug. 31 at 8pm ET on MTV.


PLUS... An interview with Amy Lee on VH-1, click here to download...

Amy vs Madonna

Amy vs Madonna...

Amy pics and article from 'Kerrang' below thanx to evanescencewebsite.com

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 3 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?
“Not really. It’s hard to say. I love the new stuff so much, really, more than the last album. ‘Fallen’ was so successful, I can’t imagine it happening twice – I think having that mindset’s helped me. If it doesn’t work out and 500,000 people buy it instead of 14 million, I’m going to be totally satisfied, because right now I am so happy because it sounds so good. I definitely wrote it thinking about what I wanted, not about what the fans would want, but all the same, at the end, I’m like, ‘The fans are going to love this’. I just hope they do.”
Terry Balsamo joined the band soon after Ben Moody left mid-tour in October 2003. Did you know he’d end up as your writing partner?
“No, we really lucked out. When Terry first joined the band we didn’t even think he would be a permanent member; he was still in Cold and they just weren’t touring at the time, and he came out, played with us for a few months, and then we talked about him and asked him to stay.“I wrote some things and he came over and we clicked, really fast. One of the songs that made it onto the album was the first thing we ever wrote together, ‘Snow White Queen’. I felt insecure and guarded around Ben and it was hard for me to open up and just experiment because I felt kind of not safe. Terry sits there going ‘Yeah, its awesome’, just encouraging me and pushing me to the next level instead of… holding me back.”
The new album sounds more complex and lavish than ‘Fallen’.
“It’s what I wanted. I had so much backed-up creative energy that was just dying to pour out: I’d been dying to write for the whole time that we’d been on tour. And this time I was free to do whatever without having to confine it into what people can swallow, or what’s going to be okay, or what I’m going to get in trouble about or whatever.”
In trouble with whom?
[Adopts a mock stern voice] “Im not going to say” he said this before, so I don’t feel bad saying this now: Ben always wanted to push us in a more commercial direction and I always wanted to pull us in a more creative direction and that’s where we started butting heads more and more towards the end, so I felt I was free to make artistic choices, even more than last time.”
You’ve referred to ‘The Open Door’ as a ‘sexy’ album…
“The song ‘Lose Control’ is what I was thinking of when I said that before, but then again I hate to say that because I don’t want people to think the album is some R&B-like sexed-up pop thing: it’s so hard to describe. I think that just comes from the fact that I’ve grown up and I’m not so insecure. And I’m not afraid to express every emotion – including feeling worthy and feeling like a woman and feeling good about myself; not that the album’s all happy and poppy. There are elements of everything.”
Do you see Evanescence as music people might have sex to?
“No. Hehehe. I hope not, that’s kind of sick. That’s like, er, I dunno. I don’t…really. Maybe ‘Lose Control’. I don’t actually see it that way. I mean I couldn’t because I’d sit there thinking about the bass is too loud or the drum isn’t loud enough or I wish I hadn’t sung that way, hehehe.”
How long have you been seeing your new chap?
“Ah, this guy. I haven’t even been talking about ‘my new relationship’, I’ve been kinda like, ‘Ah, screw it; I don’t want to talk about relationships anymore’. We’ve been together since last November-ish. We’ve known each other for years and years but we’ve been out of touch, so, it’s cool.”
Is he in the rock world?
“No, not at all. Hehee. I’m very happy about it. He’s actually a therapist. So he’s nice, a very good listener very stable a nice change.
You are currently embroiled in a court case with your former manager, including a charge of sexual assault.
“Its really rough, it’s not anything you ever want to have happen because your under contract, so it’s a huge, huge mess and it’s really scary. I’m really not supposed to talk about it because it’s still pending and could work against me whatever I say. against me, whatever I say.”
Might you have to go to court and testify? I hope not. I’ve never been in court. I really don’t want to. I hope it all works out, I really do. But everything’s running much smoother now.”
How do you think you’ve grown? You seem much more in control of everything.
“Yeah, I started seeing a long time ago that decisions that weren’t been made by me, but made around me, for me, weren’t always good decisions. I had to step up and take control or everything was going to blow up in my face. I do everything. The music writing I am a total control freak over, and the mixing and everything we do . ive grown up in alot of ways. ifeel like whe i listen to fallen and i hear me saying "save me from the dark" : now i feel like saying "stop wjining". i dont want to be stuck unhappy; i want to be happy. i want to save the problem and now its about solving the problem not "oh poor me "