With the instant success of the band’s debut album, Fallen, Evanescence has become one of this generations biggest rock sensations. The band later went on to release the multi-platinum The Open Door. After extensive touring on the album, front woman Amy Lee arranged and recorded the Danny Elfman song “Sally’s Song” for the “Nightmare Revisited” soundtrack. The Gauntlet recently caught up with Amy Lee to discuss the album, music, and her thoughts.
The Gauntlet: What’s new with you?
Amy Lee: Everything is good. I have been in New York for four days now since all the ‘Nightmare’ stuff in LA.
The Gauntlet: When you say ‘nightmare’ are you referring to the week in LA was a nightmare or you were here just promoting the Nightmare Revisited album?
Amy: [laughs] No, it was for the soundtrack.
The Gauntlet: So it all went well?
Amy: It was awesome. I think last week might have been the best week of my life if not one of the best of my life. There was a lot of stuff surrounding it. Leno went well but there were a lot of other things. I got to meet Danny Elfman and he is my hero. He was super gracious and awesome to me and invited me over to his house which was incredible. I also did the performance at the El Capitan which was a night in honor of Danny [Elfman]. As part of that, I got to play the song he had written many years ago. It was so awesome to see those worlds collide a little bit because of the movie and Danny Elfman having such an impact on my life. To do that homage and to not do it horribly was really, really great. Oh, and I went to Disneyland. … read more »
By Nicole Bartley
The Rocket (Issue date: 10/24/08)
“The Nightmare Before Christmas” had its 15th anniversary this year. To celebrate, Disney released “Nightmare Revisited,” a cover album on Sept. 30 by various artists. The bands range from Korn to Danny Elfman, the original composer of the soundtrack.
The album aims to be different. Hardcore Elfman fans may not appreciate the new tracks simply because of how far they deviate from the versions we know so well. Those who thrive on remixes and covers, however, should like it.
To start, “Overture” by DeVotchKa, has quick, frantic strings, deceitfully making us think the song will stay true to the original. But after a mere 18 seconds, it becomes pure polka. It’s really very strange, indeed, especially when ghostly voices “yaw” with the melody. When Elfman cameos as Santa Claus on the next track, entitled “Opening,” it sets the stage for the rest of the album. Its slow brass is yet again reminiscent of the initial version, showing us that despite the first song being a far cry from the original, others will hold our loyal attention.
Marilyn Manson’s version of “This is Halloween” tests that loyalty. He was on “The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D” cover album, which was released two years ago. Manson worked closely with Elfman to create this perfect frightening version, a project that renewed Manson’s faith in the music industry and returned him to the recording studio. Manson’s version is twisted. His voice changes personalities and octaves to fit the characters and the band follows the score faithfully where the only difference is the instruments used. … read more »
Amy Lee told The Pulse of Radio a while back that her own music is heavily influenced by movies and that she’d like to try composing a film score at some point. “The biggest thing that’s inspired our music, honestly, is film, and that’s kind of what gives it that epic feel and that’s just, it’s very much movie-inspired,” she said. “You’re inspired by the drama. You know, it’s like life isn’t dramatic enough to completely fulfill the sound of my lyrics, I guess. I love scoring, so I’d love to do that. That would be fun.” Evanescence spent most of 2007 on the road behind the band’s double platinum 2006 album, “The Open Door”. Lee is the only remaining original member of the lineup, with the group going through a number of personnel changes over the past few years.
The singer chats with SPIN.com about her band’s infighting, a new solo album, scoring films, and more. With Nightmare Revisited, Evanescence’s Amy Lee has released her first new material since her band’s 2006 multi-platinum hit, The Open Door. Add that to the departure of two Evanescence members and Lee’s ever-growing musical independence, and the songstress has some explaining to do. Lee, who is busy writing new material, talks with SPIN.com about the messy split of Evanescence’s guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray, writing a solo album, scoring films, and “Sally’s Song,” her contribution to Nightmare Revisited, the new collection of covers from Tim Burton’s 1993 film, The Nightmare Before Christmas.
On the state of Evanescence: “It’s a difficult situation, as is every dramatic situation our band has gone through. John [LeCompt, guitar], Rocky [Gray, drums] — we outgrew each other. When they joined the band, Fallen was just completed and they were excited to be a part of something really big. From the beginning, their musical styles were very different from Evanescence. I think to a degree they got bored or frustrated. They weren’t part of the creative process and were like, ‘Why are we doing this?’ Their writing just didn’t work for Evanescence, and I have to do what’s best for the band. I’ve had a little bit of contact with John since and it was positive. Very few bands have been able to maintain their original members forever.”
On new songs and a solo album: “I need to show that I’m more than a one trick pony. I’m writing here at the house by myself and it’s been really good. But I’d really like to do something different next. [The new songs] are definitely different. I feel like I’m going back to my really old roots. They have more of my folky and Celtic influence than ever before. And it’s not all sad — it’s nothing I would categorize as Evanescence.” … read more »
As promised, here are captures of Amy performing “Sally’s Song” on the Tonight Show. For those who missed her great performance, just click here. Happy Watching!
Thanks to EvanescenceVille for providing the clip!
