In an interview, Amy Lee gives details of the band's next studio album, scheduled for release next year [2010], and expressed her love for Brazilian fans. "The fans in Brazil are very sweet and passionate. It's that kind of affection and admiration that makes the band what it is".
This is the second time that Evanescence plays in Brazil. What can fans expect from the show? How will the setlist be? I hope the show is really good. It will be a little different from our previous shows, because I will play several more songs from The Open Dor and Fallen, song that we haven't played before in São Paulo. I'm extremely excited, but at the same time quite confident about our repertoire. I'm aware that you can't please everyone, but I'm confident.
Can the public expect any previews of new material? Not yet. We don't want to play new material that may not have the expected effect. We love the new songs, I have a lot of affection for them, but it's still too soon.
You are already working on the band's new album, and you said in a recent interview that this new album has many influences from bands like Massive Attack and Portishead. Can you tell us more about it? I actually feel like we've always been influenced by these bands, it's just that that influence is now showing up in the songs in a more definite way. The sound of the new tracks is a bit more electronic, with lots of beats and programming and less guitars. I'm in love with the result. But the album isn't finished yet, I've already written all the songs, but I only have the demos that I recorded at home, we haven't entered the studio yet.
2006's The Open Door brought some influences from classical music, as in the track Lacrymosa. Is that a trend that continues on this new album? No, no classical elements have emerged in the new songs yet. Even because I feel that the influence of classical music occupies a different place in my life. It's something that is part of my training, it is the way in which I started to fall in love with music, but it is not a type of sound that appears punctually in my compositions.
What bands do you listen to the most nowadays? I'm in love with CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy), I've always loved the beats and electronic elements of the tracks. I really want to rock a party together with them! Another band I love is MGMT. I love Depeche Mode's latest album, Sounds Of The Universe. Oh, and I also have a passion for Kraftwerk. It's a kind of nerdy love, by the way (laughs).
Shortly after The Open Door was released, you finished touring with Evanescence and got married. It's been two years since the band last toured. Why this extended break? We took a break for a very simple reason: we go on tour for a year and a half without no break, a lot of time on the road, away from people, it's quite tiring. So I followed my heart, and figured it was time to take a break so we could take a moment to think about everything. I also felt that it was time for me to rediscover who I was, to understand myself a little and enjoy my marriage. I also wanted to revisit the persona that fame had turned me into, to understand my role in all of this. It was important for me to live alone for a while, away from the rush and crowds that are on the road during the tour. And we knew that no matter how long it took us to come back, our fans would be there. But I wrote all the time, I was always writing, I continued with my life.
Now that Evanescence is back on the road and in the studios with a new lineup, do you feel like everything is finally in the right place? What has changed? Wow… it's really hard for me to try to describe precisely what changed, because it was a whole long process of self-discovery. But there is something we achieved for sure: maturity. I feel that today Evanescence is not just a group of people, but a separate entity, which practically walks alone. The biggest change was in our mindset. I still like the old songs, but I really love it when we make new material, when we feel that inspiration is a present thing, and that permeates each of our songs.
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