Evanescence's Amy Lee Is Making Music Again ... (MTV.com)

[FallenEvArmy]

...Just Not For Her Band 
Frontwoman talks to MTV News about her 'ominous' score for the indie film 'War Story.' by James Montgomery

First things first: Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee isn't talking about the band's lawsuit against their label, Wind-Up Records.

"I can't say a word, I'm sorry," she sighed. "It's really for the best right now."

What she is willing to speak about is the score — her first — she's just recorded with friend and composer Dave Eggar for the indie film "War Story," which will premiere later this month at Sundance. And what she has to say might not be music to the ears of Evanescence fans awaiting the follow-up to their 2011 self-titled album.

"It's going to surprise my fans. It's not what you'd expect; the film is very dark, very introspective. There's not even a lot of dialogue, which is great, because to me it makes this beautiful, sad platform for music," Lee said. "There's a lot of blending of sounds, a lot of ominous tones. I play a lot of keyboard, and a lot of Taurus pedal. There's a lot of low drones.

"There are moments of playing, and it's musical, but there are a lot of moments where Dave and I just built walls of sounds, out of blaring cellos and trombones and synthesizers and harp, all on top of each other," she continued. "Sort of creating new sounds. It's not, like, a soundtrack. it's an atmosphere."

Of course, it's not all atmosphere. Lee did write one new song for director Mark Jackson, but, again, that track is a definite departure from her past material. Which isn't all that surprising, given just how far removed she was from the usual recording-studio dramas when she made it.

"That song is called 'Push the Button.' For a long time, the director, Mark, just couldn't find the right song placement for this one scene that he wanted something really different sounding. So I was like 'You know what? I can do this myself,'" she explained. "It's very different for me, it's electronic; I did it all myself, which was crazy, because I'm used to engineering and writing and mixing demos in my house, but being responsible for that being the end product was a new challenge for me. It was like 'This is it, I'm mixing this.'

"This whole process has been really different, and freeing. Doing my band, it's always been a big deal, a lot of pressure, a lot of hoops to jump through and things to live up to," she continued. "And that pressure can be good when you're making that big project, but this was [different] ... it's not all about the music, it's not all about one thing, it's a big group of people all doing different things to create a bigger piece of art. It wasn't about production and singles and worldwide success, it's about the integrity of the art piece we're creating. And it's definitely not about money, it's indie, low-budget, and I love that."

And while Lee still hasn't seen the final product ("I'll get to see it at Sundance ... there's no way I'm cool enough to be there," she laughed,) the experience of scoring a film — and working in a free-form method with Eggar and other musicians — was one that stuck with her. And one she hopes to replicate again very soon.

"I've been talking about wanting to score forever, and this was my first opportunity to explore that. Dave and I were already talking about taking a meeting for another film, and I definitely want to work with him again," she said. "I'm open-minded. I really like to be in a free place where I'm not boxing myself in; I say that all the time, but that's the goal right now."

MTV.com

[X]

I'm even more excited to hear this now. I hope it comes out the same time as the movie.

Thanks for posting

[M. Lee]

I can't wait!!!

[AGwilliams]

Can't wait for the movie to come out

So 'Push the Button' is a new electronic song which will be on the score / released alongside the film?

[slipknaughtybynature]

So Amy confirmed that there is beef between her and her label. Awesome. And she told us about the music she made for War Story. Double cool. What I still wanna know is WHEN DO WE GET NEW EV MUSIC!?!

Am I being greedy?

[ann]

beautiful interview can't wait for this music

[jonkazerouni]

This sounds amazing, and i am sure it will be a big hit. i get the whole concept of a lack in a speaking script. it leaves room for emotion that words cannot capture. and with the list of these actors and actresses and of course amy and dave, its gonna be a beautiful work of art. cant wait to see it.

[X]

Nov 24, 2013 18:57:14 GMT -5 Open The Door said:

I guess she was talking about the score when she tweeted that.

[Thomas]

OMG! I want Push the Button more than anything now! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!

Ok, sorry. Just fanboying here... lol!

Do you think we would ever get the chance to get the full score? I mean, are they going to release online? Like a free download... or iTunes... or something. Maybe we could ask her on Twitter.

[marycourage]

AAAAAAAAAAAH electronic stuff- Not freaking out at all.
I am so excited now, this is gonna be awesome I'm sure of it!!

[X]

Jan 8, 2014 17:54:20 GMT -5 Thomas said:

OMG! I want Push the Button more than anything now! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!

Ok, sorry. Just fanboying here... lol!

Do you think we would ever get the chance to get the full score? I mean, are they going to release online? Like a free download... or iTunes... or something. Maybe we could ask her on Twitter.

From the sound of it, it sounds like they have intention to release it to the public, other wise she wouldn't say the "fans' would be surprised."

Anyway, someone should definitely ask Amy just in case.

[Titanic]

I'd love a release date for this though. I imagine sometime this month but a concrete date and platform (iTunes?) Wouk be nice. Something directly from Amy ideally.

[The_Sacrificed]

Jan 8, 2014 17:05:58 GMT -5 slipknaughtybynature said:

So Amy confirmed that there is beef between her and her label. Awesome. And she told us about the music she made for War Story. Double cool. What I still wanna know is WHEN DO WE GET NEW EV MUSIC!?!

Am I being greedy?

I honestly believe that she might start writing Ev music after this stuff with Wind-up is over. It only seems logical but who knows.

Definitely excited for "Push the button" and the rest of the soundtrack.

[RapturedLight]

I'm really excited that Amy got to do this. I've always wanted an Amy film score! And it sounds like she had quite a bit of creative freedom... I think this will be amazing. I can't wait!

[ladylollydragon (Kazlan)]

I'm guessing that Find a Way won't be in the score at all, then. I am quite okay with that, though. Something new is always more exciting. I wonder how long after Sundance the movie will come out. I mean, I know that some indie films don't come out to larger audiences for a long while after they're screened at Sundance.