"I'm still Evanescence's Amy Lee, and that's my passion"
The Evanescence singer talks to Magazine about the fear that keeps us silent.
source: news247.gr - released 08 May 2022 | text by Christina TSATSARAGOU, photos by Eric Ryan Anderson
via Evanescence Greece | translation by google, corrections by rionka
I first heard Evanescence in the summer of 2004 in Crete. At that time, a group in Paleochora, Chania, lived with three attachments: computers, Matrix and Amy Lee of Evanescence. The album
Fallen had already been released and
My Immortal,
Bring Me to Life and
Going Under were playing everywhere. The protagonist is the "dark" voice of a mezzo - soprano girl just 23 years old.
It was then that Evanescence was a great success for the Greek public. Amy Lee's renaissance gothic figure became a poster in many youth rooms and her crystal clear voice brought the band two Grammy Awards. This was followed by
The Open Door (2006) with
Call Me When You're Sober which she wrote - as they say - about an ex-partner and his very bad habits.
And somewhere there we lost the pace of Evanescence. Yes, there were the albums
Evanescence (2011) and
Synthesis (2017), but in a dull background and with infinitely less anticipation.
For the first time in 2021, after 10 whole years, the band writes new music and returns to Greece. Evanescence is coming to Athens with concert on
June 5, 2022 at the Petra Theater (Theatro Petras) in Petroupoli, as part of
EJECT Festival 2022.
[This is not St Petersburg in Russia but Petroupoli, Athens in Greece - translator's note.]A month before presenting "Bitter Truth" to the Greek public, Amy Lee of Evanescence spoke to Magazine about her new album, the empowerment of women and an "immortal" night with a summer breeze years ago at the Lycabettus Theater.
[link] [costume] [dates]The Zoom connection reminds us of the benefits of technology. Fifteen minutes may not be enough to cover about ten years of absence, but Amy is like an unstoppable stream. Almost with no make-up and constantly smiling, she is in a living room-studio full of vintage guitars. It's her home in Nashville.
I RELIVE LIFE THROUGH MY SON'S EYES
Where has Amy been these ten years?
"It's hard to sum up ten whole years that it took to write new music. There are a lot of life experiences during that time that went into the Bitter Truth album. One of the most important is that I became a mother. My son, Jack is seven years old. He is fantastic. He is an amazing human being. It's a "school" for me to be inspired by the prism how a child sees life. To see life through a child's eyes, and to go back to yours too. It is awesome. You are given the opportunity to live again through the children.
A cycle of it has been completed and we are starting something new. And the pandemic has given us a lot to talk about. The album "Bitter Truth" is not so internal, but it refers to the things around us."
In 2014 she became a mother and her priorities changed. And some years later she said, "But I'm still Evanescence's Amy Lee, and that's my passion."
And she started writing the new album.
THE MUSIC THAT HEALS
Was lockdown a good opportunity to write a lot of music?
"It was a difficult period. And I wrote a lot in closing. It was difficult for all of us, in different ways. I am very grateful because during this difficult period I had my music and my band. We took advantage of the time and focused on creating. We said "ok, we are nailed in, we will not go on tour, let's make music".
And we had a lot to write about because a lot has happened to us in recent years. In our hearts and all over the world suddenly there were many events to inspire us. Being able to make music for them is something healing.
We have already started playing live since November and I felt amazing. We had our time to set it up as we wanted. New productions, new songs, and a lot of music that we "die" to play live. It's amazing to be back on stage and I'm very happy to meet the fans again in Greece."
I DO NOT GIVE UP EASILY
Any old collaboration you recall with a spontaneous smile?
"Nice question… I do not know if I have one that I really single out, but I will mention one that I really like, because it comes to life again. I did a song with Lindsey Stirling in 2019 just before the pandemic. It is called
Love Goes On And On and it was something we created remotely.
We only played it live once, but there was no video due to lockdown. She is a woman who does not give up easily, like me, and we said that now we can make a video for the song. She was here in Nashville and we did make a nice video. This is a rare experience. It's important to me."
"An open heart is the only ingredient in writing songs.
There is no recipe, no map.
You need to know about music, but the heart is what counts."
What music have you been stuck with lately?
"Now I'm listening to a Japanese-American artist called
Mitski (Miyawaki) and it's rare for me to find an album and want to listen to it all, from beginning to end. The album is called
Laurel Hell.
[Amy's post]Also, lately I've come across different artists, in a secret camp - I can not talk about it in more detail - where we gathered to write music for another artist. And through this experience I made amazing friends from
Great Big World. After we wrote music and spent time together, I started listening to their own music in a way that was deeper than before."
WHAT'S THE NEW EVANESCENCE SOUND?
"My favorite songs from the new album are constantly changing. But one thing is important to me and the band:
Broken Pieces Shine is one of the first songs on the album. I felt like this is the answer to the question: What is our new sound after so many years?
And as the band starts with this riff and before the vocals come in, I feel like this is it! This is our new sound. But the lyrics also talk about falling and getting up again. After the worst that can happen to you, you survive. And that's a message, a theme, that permeates all the tracks on the album. A return from a disaster. There's a hope in all this."
"We all want to feel love.
There used to be a spot inside me that wanted to shout...
And now there is a spot that wants to love and talk about sincere feelings."
TRUTH IS STRONGER THAN A THOUSAND BULLETS
In the new album there is a song
Use My Voice that has behind it a true story about the importance of "voice".
"The inspiration for the song is a girl who was raped in college, and it was an event that got big in the media in America about five or six years ago
*. When she testified in court, her words were so loud that they shocked me. Everyone and everything turned against her. They had the money, they had the power, and they were the men of the affair.
* Amy refers to the testimony of Chanel Miller, who was sexually abused - while unconscious - in 2015 on the Stanford campus by young athlete Brock Allen Turner. The rapist got a few months in prison. At the end of the trial in 2016, the 24-year-old Miller stood up and made a shocking statement to her rapist. The sad 7,000-word testimony turned the case into a national debate about white men 's privileges and the American justice system. The book "Know My Name: A Memoir" tells her story. And the interesting thing is that as the years went by I saw other news and other cases, injustices, and I felt this testimony of the girl more and more true. In the end the perpetrator received a minimal sentence and she just stood in court and spoke with her heart.
She told the truth and for me that was stronger than a thousand bullets. And at that time I thought that reason is more powerful than any weapon. Being strong and using your voice to tell your truth. Because when we really tell the truth, it permeates every lie.
Because that's how they keep people low, down and weak. By making them afraid to speak. People feel that if they speak they will do some harm to themselves. They feel that they will not be able to move on afterwards, in any way. It is very simple to tell the truth with your heart, but also so complex at the same time. I believe that we should all have the right and the freedom to speak.
I feel proud that I was able to use my own voice for something so serious and talk about the strongest amazing women in my life. And let this be a message through the band for the whole world."
The war in Ukraine is reviving nightmares of the past.
"We are going through terrible times in humanity. What is happening in Ukraine is just wrong. It is wrong and it is difficult for too many people in the world to look at it and feel powerless to stop it. We feel we are not able to stop it. A terrible thing is happening. It's awful to see Ukraine resist and be for us almost a message... of empowerment. We love Ukraine as a band, we had nice experiences there. We have friends and a lot of fans there.
Hope must be in the darkest places. We have seen terrible nightmares in the past and survival is a much deeper issue than a problem with the body. It reaches the soul and the spirit."
You just have to believe that even when there is complete darkness there is another day. Life is worth living, I believe that!
Any dreams that shape your next steps?
"I dream constantly. Both literally and figuratively. I'm at a point where I'm looking with my heart for collaborations with artists and musicians. I write a lot of music… in secret. I also retire from social media to use the creative parts of my brain. I prefer to see fans in my concerts and not on social media.
I use this time to let my heart open. Be free, confident. I talk to several friends to make music together. I believe that something very special happens when you get in touch and work with someone who has talent. It brings something to the table that you alone could never create. I have many secret collaborations for music production. Well, one day of course you will find out!"
Do you have any characteristic expression?
"I'll tell you two. One serious and one less serious (which is just as serious!). The first one:
You can not control what happens in life, you can only control what you do with it and how do you react.The second one:
New day, new mug (laughs). I use one mug every day from morning to night. But when the next day comes… new day, another mug!"
THE SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE OF GREECEWhat does Greece bring to your mind?
"It brings amazing food and culture of antiquity, which is something that I am very interested in. I am passionate about it and I had very nice experiences in Athens. And just walking around the city. In America we do not have this kind of ancient history. Everything here is very... new.
And just walking down a street and touching a building that is so many years old or a monument that is thousands of years old is really amazing to me. As an artist, I am inspired by something like this. That is, a monument may have been preserved and has so many years of life.
I have wonderful memories from my stay in Athens and from the fans. I remember on our first tour we had an amazing show in a theater about the same size as what we are playing now (in the Lycabettus Theater).
Everyone sang rhythmically and they were the lights of the city. We were very new then and it was very new for us to be on tour. I remember that I was so shocked by this spirit of the people of Greece. I'm very excited to be back. It's been a long time. I am waiting for you!"
Evanescence will play in Petra Theater, 21:30, From 43 €, VIP 1: 326 €, VIP 2: 186 €.
