Evanescence Interviews -- Amy Lee tells AOL Music about band drama, her secret Boyz II Men obsession and more.

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AOLMusicTye: it's crazy how much drama there's been in the band over the last few years. It must have felt like a daytime soap for a while
AmyOpenDoor: haha. my life is that way. There's always something! Otherwise what would i write about?
AOLMusicTye: hehe. excellent point
AmyOpenDoor: Nah, I'm starting to feel a bit more in control of things.
AOLMusicTye: and i'm sure working on the album was very therapeutic in that sense
AmyOpenDoor: sweet! boys2men is on.
AOLMusicTye: haha. what song?
AmyOpenDoor: down on bended knee. haha!
AOLMusicTye: hehehe. the classic
AOLMusicTye: wait a minute...
AOLMusicTye: don't tell me you're a B2M fan?
AmyOpenDoor: i just miss the nineties.
AOLMusicTye: flower print and '90s R&B?
AOLMusicTye: who are you and what have you done with Amy Lee?!??!
AOLMusicTye: :)
AmyOpenDoor: I'm just keeping it real, ok?
AmyOpenDoor: actually i have no excuse for the floral. It's just my disguise.
AOLMusicTye: but this begs the question -- how different are you from the image your fans have of you?
AOLMusicTye: it's obviously not all black candles and Dead Can Dance
AmyOpenDoor: i think my serious fans get me pretty well.
AmyOpenDoor: evanescence is my outlet for a lot of heavy feelings
AmyOpenDoor: I'm a silly Adult Swim fan with big stupid furry boots on the side. i love to make people laugh.
AOLMusicTye: what's your fave Adult Swim show?
AmyOpenDoor: oh... there are so many. I love sealab, the brak show, aqua teens ... what am i forgetting?
AmyOpenDoor: harvey birdman...
AOLMusicTye: harvey bridman is hilarious
AOLMusicTye: boondocks
AmyOpenDoor: eh, boondocks isn't my favorite.
AOLMusicTye: you know, they just started showing Pee Wee's Playhouse!
AmyOpenDoor: oh i know!!!!! so happy about that!
AmyOpenDoor: it made me pull out Pee Wee's Big Adventure the other day! such a great movie.
AOLMusicTye: it's so twisted. everything went over my head when i was younger
AmyOpenDoor: haha. i always liked the weird creepy stuff mixed into kids movies. remember The Dark Crystal?
AOLMusicTye: of course!!
AmyOpenDoor: i still have a dark crystal lunchbox.
AOLMusicTye: heheh. that's so rad
AOLMusicTye: creepy little muppets, weren't they?
AmyOpenDoor: yes. sucking out the sweet little good characters 'essence??' scary!
AmyOpenDoor: it scarred me for life.
AOLMusicTye: hehe. so NOW we're getting to the source
AOLMusicTye: scary muppets and pee wee herman :)
AOLMusicTye: so, you said you're on vacation now... outside of working on the album, what have you done with the time off?
AmyOpenDoor: well, I've really been working hard. Interviews, photo shoots, the video shoot -- all that stuff really started cramming my schedule about a month ago.
AmyOpenDoor: I'm here for 3 days with the fam and then off to miami tomorrow for more interviews.
AmyOpenDoor: It feels good to be back though -- especially since the new album is so much more of my writing, and just more "me" in general. I'm really excited to see how people react.
AOLMusicTye: are there any big changes in your songs now that fans will pick up on?
AmyOpenDoor: i hope so.
AmyOpenDoor: There's a lot more soul to this album... i don't know how to describe it, other than when i listen to it, i can hear that i love my band even more than i did when i was recording Fallen.
AmyOpenDoor: I think that even in the scary sad songs i sound like I'm having fun with it. The music is harder to perform, and a bigger challenge is always more fun.
AOLMusicTye: so inquiring minds want to know... when's the last time you talked to Ben Moody?
AmyOpenDoor: i saw him when we won the grammys.
AmyOpenDoor: we said a quick congratulations and went our separate ways
AOLMusicTye: when was the moment you knew that the band was gonna be alright without him?
AmyOpenDoor: I knew as soon as i was told he was flying home in the middle of the night in Europe.
AmyOpenDoor: I just knew there was a lot of work to be done, and i wanted it bad enough to power through. we all did.
AmyOpenDoor: Honestly, it was a relief. I'd come to the realization weeks before that the band couldn't survive without some serious change.
AOLMusicTye: if anything, the band sounds even stronger on the new stuff.
AOLMusicTye: especially your vocals. you sound AMAZING
AmyOpenDoor: thank you :)
AOLMusicTye: is it true you've had no vocal training at all??
AmyOpenDoor: well, i started being in (and obsessed with) the school choir when i was about 13, so i know that helped. I even did the all-region and all-state tryouts every year, and that's a lot of extra training...
AmyOpenDoor: i don't know, I've just always sung and played piano a lot because i wanted to. and practice makes you better.
AOLMusicTye: heh. and it shows.
AmyOpenDoor: well thank you. i love my job.

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