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Derek Oswald [AltWire]: Let’s start off by talking about Voice From The Stone. How is it that you first became involved with this project?

Amy Lee [Evanescence / Solo Artist]: Man, it’s so cool when it happens like this. The director felt inspired about me and thought of me and had this idea to have me try to do a song for his movie. So he got hold of me, and showed me the film while they were still working on it to see if I liked it or if I had an idea, and I was immediately just sucked into the story. It’s so beautiful, so unique and you don’t know what’s happening next, and it’s just a really good film.

Being a new mom I had an extra level of inspiration about it, because basically this film is about a boy who lost his mother, and in his grieving he hasn’t spoken since her death. So I’m from the perspective of the mom, on the other side, singing to him.  It’s sort of like their bond is so great, and their love is so big, that it’s bigger than death.

That to me was such a great inspiration that instantly I had ideas. I knew what I wanted it to feel like, and I spoke to Eric the director and also Michael the score composer on the phone right after watching it. We talked about what they were imagining and what I was imagining and it was just really lining up. I was super excited, and I got off the phone, ran over to the piano and had the initial idea that night, mocked up. Just the basics of it.

Usually the hard part is showing off that thing that you’re quietly in love with, and hearing them go, ‘Yeah, it’s nothing like what I wanted.’ But that didn’t happen. They loved it and we were really on the same page from the beginning. That’s just the beginning of the story. I could go on and on about the whole thing, but that’s really how I got into it.

AW: This is certainly not your first foray into contributing to a soundtrack, as you previously provided music to the films War Story and Indigo Grey. But this time seems a lot more personal to you. Was there a stronger personal connection this time around? How would you say the creative experience for this song differed from your work on those other films?

AL: I’ll always get into it and try and find ways to be able to get myself where I need to be, but yes, this one I was literally connecting with in some ways, and it really just felt like it was meant to be. And you know what? Not only was it about a mother (and I’m a new mom) but also the mother in this film was a famous classical musician. She was a singer and a piano player. So I was like ‘COME ON!’ [laughs] ‘This is totally and in every way me!’ Like, I could just see myself in this part.

So that was really cool, because as much as you could do with the song, I felt like I really was invited in to be a character in the film. You never hear her sing, but it’s all in the backstory about her life. So when the song comes in and it begins with nothing but the vocals, no piano or anything, it’s like you’re hearing her voice for the first time. I feel it’s so powerful and cool to be able to play that part a little bit.

AW: Your soundtrack and film score portfolio has grown consistently since 2013. Career-wise, do you see your future self musically heading more towards film scoring, or is there a part of you still hungry to record more solo records and Evanescence records?

AL: I’m hungry for both!  I make these big projects – like an Evanescence album – and it’s easy to get stuck in the process of it where it really does take a year and a half from the beginning to the very end of it. And that’s awesome, but somewhere in the middle of that year and a half, there are all these moments where you feel like, ‘Man, I wish I could do something completely different right now. I wish I had another outlet.’ And that for a lot of my life has been the part where I paint, or do designs for clothing I’m going to wear on stage or in a video… stuff like that.

I have a lot of paintings in my house where you’d never think it was ‘the girl from Evanescence’ doing them, because they’re very colorful. It’s the opposite, almost like kids’ stuff! The kids’ album Dream Too Much incorporated a lot of my art design. They were renditions of my paintings, all those characters like the sheep, those are all paintings in my house. And the reason all those paintings really started is because I’d be off making this huge, very dramatic, very soul-wrenching Evanescence album, and somewhere in the middle of it at some point, I just badly needed to be able to express the opposite emotion!

So it’s really nice for me to be able to be in this place where I feel like I can do anything at any time. Like, if I have this crazy idea to do a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Going To California, or do a solo song because I heard it on the radio in Italian and I love it but I really want to do it in English and in a different way, I can do that and not feel like I’m trapped inside a giant monster and I’m only allowed to do that one thing. Or that the people around me only know how to market that one thing.

I feel a lot of freedom right now! I feel like anything is possible and it makes me enjoy the Evanescence part a lot more because I feel like the only reason I’m doing it is because I want to be doing it, not because I have to in any way. So we’ve been having a lot of fun doing the Evanescence stuff. We’ve gotten together to play shows the last couple of years off and on, and it’s just been more and more inspiring. So that’s why we’re getting creative again!

AW: With the recent re-emergence of Evanescence, naturally the question on everyone’s minds is: What’s coming next?  You’ve been hinting a little bit lately about a ‘unique’ project with the band that’s different from the normal Evanescence fare. While I understand your desire to remain tight-lipped, are there ANY details you can spare on this project?

AL: I am going to spill all of the details on this project in about a month – I just need to give it some time. I know that’s annoying for a journalist, but the core of it is getting to hear Evanescence in a new way. It really is. It’s not just ‘the next Evanescence album’ – it’s something else, and it’s definitely challenging. It’s from a place where it still connects absolutely to the core of what the band is, but it’s forcing everyone to try new things and work outside of our comfort zone completely, and work in new elements. So I’m very excited about it, and that’s what I’ve been spending the majority of my time doing during all of this stress for all of the other things in the background. I’m just working over a bubbling cauldron of stuff over here! I’m very excited about it, and I really hope the fans are too when they hear what it is, but I can’t give any other information than that right now.

Apr 20: Brasilia Net Live, Brazil Apr 22: Rio De Janeiro Vivo Rio, Brazil Apr 23: Sao Paulo Espaco Das Americas, Brazil Apr 27: Quito Agora Casa De La Cultura, Ecuador Apr 29: Lima Festival Vivo El Rock, Peru May 02: Buenos Aires Tecnopolis, Argentina May 04: Santiago Movistar Arena, Chile Jun 07:Crans Pres Celigny Caribana Festival, France Jun 10: Vantaa Rockfest, Finland Jun 13: London Eventim Apollo, UK Jun 14: London Eventim Apollo, UK Jun 17: Tilburg o13, Netherlands Jun 18: Dessel Graspop, Belgium Jun 20: Warsaw Torwar, Poland Jun 21: Trakai Island Castle Summer Festival, Lithuania Jun 23: St Petersburg Club A2, Russia Jun 24: Moscow Stadium Live, Russia Jun 26: Kiev Stereo Plaza, Ukraine Jun 29: Bucharest Arenele Romane, Romania Jun 30: Plovdiv Music Festival, Bulgaria Jul 02: Athens Rockwave Festival, Greece Jul 04: Milan Summer Festival, Italy Jul 06: Hradec Kralove Rock For People, Czech Republic Jul 08: Pratteln Z7 Summer Nights Open Air, Switzerland Jul 09: Cologne Palladium, Germany

Amy Lee says Evanescence are working on “something complex” and says it should be out later this year

Evanescence vocalist Amy Lee says she and the band are working on a “unique” new project.

She revealed in December that they were in “creative mindset” – and while Lee won’t be drawn on exactly what her, bassist Tim McCord, drummer Will Hunt and guitarists Troy McLawhorn and Jen Majura are currently up to, she confirms Evanescence have ventured into “new territory.”

Lee exclusively tells TeamRock: “We’re working on something new – and the info about it is on lockdown just for a little bit longer. In a short amount of time I’ll explain exactly what it is.

“But we are in the studio, we are working on a new project, and it’s something different – it’s not just a straightforward next Evanescence album.

“It’s something unique, something complex, something a little bit beyond that – and it’s definitely new territory for all of us.”

She adds: “It’s very exciting, and we’re working very hard. I can’t wait to tell you what it is, but we will be releasing it this year.”

Evanescence have also lined up a run of 2017 tour dates – and they’ll return to Europe later this year.

Amy talks new single, 'Speak To Me,' and new Evanescence project.