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- Nobody could have ever foreseen

where we would be in 2020.

- God, there was just so much

that was supposed to happen this year, you know?

We had a lot going on.

We had a really cool tour planned for Europe.

- I think, in a way, the pandemic happening

really makes us appreciate what we have more.

Being able to get together and make music together

is a release.

- It's bizarre how weird this time has become.

- Any solid plans we had at the end of last year,

you know, everything was just kinda up in the air.

Like, what are we supposed to do?

- You know, I think what we all learned this year

is how to adapt, how to adjust ourselves

to what's going on in the world.

- There was a lot of good groundwork

that set us up to be in this place

to make this album, finally.

♪ Three two one zero

♪ There is no way back this time ♪

♪ What is real and what is not

♪ Oh

♪ Survival hurts

- So much has changed

since we made a full new album as a band.

I remember, at one point, we had a little tour in Canada,

and, at the end, nobody really had anything going on,

so I was like, "Hey, let's stay a week,

find an Airbnb in the woods,"

and, oh man, did we.

So good.

And we were just really way up.

I had to drive way out into the middle of nowhere

and just camped out in the woods, set up a rig,

and like, wrote music together.

I am so grateful.

It wasn't foresight, 'cause nobody could have ever foreseen

where we would be in 2020,

but I'm really grateful that we made time

when we didn't have to,

that we could be together and just jam in a room

and be creative and get into that zone

intermittently throughout 2019

so that we had this big pile, already,

of material to work off of when we got here,

and we have had to spend so much of this year apart.

The last concert that we went to go play

was in Mexico City for Knotfest,

and it was one of those things, it was a one-off.

It was like, the day after Thanksgiving

was the day we all had to fly.

- It was a bad ending to a great year.

It was a heavy festival.

There was a lot of heavy bands playing,

and the barricades started failing.

- It was just this really,

like, almost out of a bad movie kinda situation,

and somewhat comical and somewhat comical,

and the seriousness of it and the gravity of it.

- The band that played before us, Behemoth,

I went up on their side stage and was just watching

because I thought that their get up was fun.

Like, their Halloween looking costumes and their masks,

just standing there watching it.

I bolted back to the dressing room

and our security guard, Richie,

he's just like, "Oh, they got problems up there."

Like, what are you talking about?

And it turns out that the crowd got all rowdy

during Behemoth's set.

- The barricades weren't secure,

and it was this crazy thing

where we were sitting back there,

hoping that they would fix it,

hoping it will be able to be fixed.

It just wasn't something that could happen.

And a safety call had to be made about, okay, you know,

the last two bands can't go on.

Hey guys, Mexico City, we are so, so disappointed

that we didn't get our chance to play for you tonight

at Knotfest.

The last couple bands didn't get to play

because of a safety issue.

I've never really been in that situation before

where we really were feeling like,

Oh no, this is all going wrong,

and it's kind of out of our control.

It was the saddest thing, driving away,

seeing our beautiful set, all ready to go.

The piano's in the middle of the stage, like,

I've never even seen that before

with just, thousands of people lined up,

waiting to see us play, and having to leave it.

The only thing that could have been worse is if,

later in the night, they burned our set to the ground,

which they did.

- A lot of people got on stage,

and the first thing they went for was the drum kit,

and they just annihilated Will's drum kit.

- Like, we're getting out of there,

and I get back to the hotel,

and, you know, my drum tech's still down there,

and he says, "You gotta turn on the news."

I turn on the news, and there's my drum kit on fire.

You know, being completely burned to the ground,

you know, like a bonfire.

And I was like, "Wow, man," you know?

It was really weird, man,

and it wasn't that many of them, you know?

It was less people than you would think

that had really kinda caused that destruction.

I mean, people had broken the barricade

and there were thousands of people running around,

but the people that really did that,

it was a small group and it's unfortunate

'cause it, you know, made 'em all look bad.

Looking back on it was kinda,

"Man, that really just sort of,

kinda summed up 2020 right there,

watching my drum kit burn up, you know?"

And basically just watched everything

that was supposed to happen in 2020 go up in smoke.

- I think, when something like that happens,

you're in such a hectic struggle,

just trying to go through that now,

whatever life throws at you in that moment,

that it takes a little bit of time,

and I think, for me, personally,

it was at the airport

when we've been waiting for our gate to open

when everybody was kinda like, in that mood

halfway through being in shock, but also giggling.

I mean, that was not our fans.

Our fans would never do that to us,

so it was just a situation that created this energy,

and it was just, unfortunately, us.

- So, we came back, and it was time to do the video

for the chain.

♪ And if you don't love me now

♪ You will never love me again

♪ I can still hear you

I just went, "Hey, that's it," you know?

We're just gonna pour this into that,

make this, put it into the video somehow.

We had totally lit the drum kit on fire for fun,

and, you know, took that back.

I think there's always a way

to take the situation you're given

and make something out of it, go with it, use it.

We've had to do that more, and more, and more this year.

That mentality had to carry over into this year

where then, we went into the studio.

We hadn't locked down yet. It wasn't COVID in the US yet.

And we were able to record these first four songs,

and that went really great.

We had such a wonderful creative connection with Nick

that we decided we really did want to continue with him

for the rest of the record.

The fact that I've been able to be here, with Nick here,

and we've had the ability to work

amidst the craziness of having to wait weeks

before being together, sometimes,

because somebody's, you know,

come in contact with somebody and needs to quarantine.

Even to be together in a way

where we can be across the room and mask up,

but I never have had to be in a situation

where I either had to get on a plane

to continue this process.

It didn't even need to be that way for me.

It was more to get the guys in here after lockdown.

- We recorded a few songs, January and February,

and then I was mixing them in March,

and then things started to get really weird all of a sudden,

so we stopped.

I think it was right around the time we stopped

it was kinda like, "Whoa, this is getting serious."

And then, you know, over the course of the next few months,

we just kinda kept in touch and watch things develop

and got to a point where we felt like

it would be safe if we kept the studio really tight

and cleaned it all the time and stuff like that,

that we would be able to continue working.

- We had our first four songs.

We had "Wasted on You", "The Game is Over",

"Use My Voice", and "Yeah Right"

recorded from our first batch,

and even finishing it, we weren't quite done

when we really needed to separate,

and then I got a sore throat.

It wasn't COVID.

We needed to still record some background vocals and stuff,

but Nick and I couldn't get together, just in case.

And I remember coming up here,

and he brought the mic and the preamp and the compressor

into the parking lot,

and laid it out, like, on the ground for me,

and was explaining like, across the parking lot.

He's like, "I set this knob already.

You do this and this and this.

Plug this in here," and like, whatever.

And then, you know, recorded the end of that remotely,

and mixing remotely is no big deal,

so it was just like this

we're not gonna let anything stop us feeling,

even from then.

- The cool thing about this band

is that there's a certain resiliency

to what we were doing,

and I think that came from a few places.

It came from that we really believed

in the music that we were creating,

and it came from really good management

that just was determined to not let this thing put us down.

- We were just about to release,

It was gonna be "Use My Voice" for the first song,

and we were about to release that,

and we were working on the video idea for that,

and we were about to go on our tour,

and then it was like, none of that's happening.

And suddenly, the feeling of "Use My Voice"

doesn't fit right now.

What do we do?

And it was really that there was this choice

whether we were gonna either just wait it out

and just hold on and do it our way

and not go with the flow of things,

or use it and go, "Hey, let's look at what we have here."

We picked another song

that fit really, really well for the moment

with lines in it that picked up a new meaning

all of a sudden, where we were all locked down,

frozen in time and waiting for a miracle.

♪ Wasted on you

♪ Waiting for a miracle

♪ I can't move on

♪ Feels like we're frozen in time ♪

♪ I'm wasted on you

♪ Just pass me the bitter truth ♪

I have been really fueled, in a way,

by needing to think about ideas in a new way

and having to find a new way out of the problem.

My fans know that

I'm a big fan of Legend of Zelda.

Well, a big part of why

is because it's about the problem solving.

It's like, find your way out of the room.

A lot of this year has been like that.

Like, you have to solve the puzzle,

and when you do, the satisfaction is so great

because you really had to work for it.

On a different level where emotions are high,

you know, and anxiety is real, and just all of it,

it's been such a ray of light

to have our music for ourselves and for our fans.

It's felt good to be able to put it out there

and just not be a piece of bad news

amongst so much bad news,

but I think that, on a real serious note,

there's a lot of hope,

and music, hopefully, you know, shines that hope

and that idea that when we can be honest, truly honest,

be broken, and not be afraid to be that, connect in that,

then we can start to climb out together,

and there is a way through this,

and there is a light at the end of the tunnel

because we really aren't alone,

even though, physically, we have been so much in this year.

- I talked to Amy about it,

Well, we all we all did, on a Zoom call,

and she was like, "Hey guys,

we have to get this record done,

and we have to get together to do it."

Okay, well, how are we gonna do that

and make sure it's safe?

- And it was kinda like, how do we, you know,

Okay, how do we get everybody from their own states,

and Jen, who lives in Germany,

how do we get everybody back to Nashville?

And, you know, there were lots of ideas.

One of those ideas was to, you know,

let's rent a tour bus and park it in the parking lot,

and we can just have the band stay on the bus,

and, that way, they can just walk from the bus

into the studio, and nobody has to be here.

- Amy's top priority was making sure

that everybody was safe and taken care of.

And so, she sent tour buses to everybody, individually,

to take us from our homes to Nashville.

- We all got tested.

We tried to be as careful as possible.

It was a real bummer that we couldn't get Jen here.

She's stuck in Europe,

and, you know, at the time, there were no flights

coming from over there,

so she couldn't have got here if she wanted to.

- I love Amy and I love the guys,

and just being apart from them for so long,

especially because we left Nashville in February,

and everybody went like,

"Okay, padi padi pa, see you next time,"

so nobody knew that this was coming,

and that this was happening in 2020.

And what was really the toughest part of this year

while working on this album

was for me to know that they are able to hang out together

and I couldn't even make it into the country.

That was hard.

♪ Stand in the front but shut up ♪

♪ 'Til I tell you to go

♪ And don't get caught up in pretend ♪

♪ 'Cause you're not in control

- Hey!

- Hi. We're back!

- So, where are we right now?

- We are at Rock Falcon.

The epic, legendary Rock Falcon,

coming out of our holes for the first time

in a very long time

to get together and finish this thing.

- This is such a positive

and blessed thing to happen for us,

to be able to come and do this.

To be able to come in now and do this and finish this record

has given it an urgency

that I don't think that we would have had any other way.

- We had to be apart for a few months

after the first four songs were recorded,

and then, it was like, super, super locked down.

Got the buses for the guys, we got to get back together,

and we were hungry for it.

I'd just gotten to a point

where I couldn't do it alone anymore, you know?

I'd gotten as far as I could get to on my own.

We just needed to be together.

We got here, and there was a new spark.

There was a new passion and energy

and appreciation for the ability

to be here in the first place.

The guys were here, just camped out for like,

I think it was six weeks.

And, you know, knowing that we would have to go back apart

and potentially not get back together again for the album,

we had to cram it all in,

so it was like, we didn't have all the songs written,

so it started with a writing session happening

during the pre-production phase,

which, especially with Nick, always yields something,

always yields something cool.

I think the coolest one

that came out of that pre-pro moment

was "Better Without You".

We all love that song,

and it's cool when you can really see something

take shape together, 'cause that's often not the case.

Like, I'll come up with something

or if something comes from somewhere,

and then, there you go.

But having that time to be in the creative zone,

and jam in here, and just play in the room,

kinda like a show, but focused in a creative way,

and then to take it in there and start going for it

and laying tracks down, oh, felt so good.

Just a little piece of something normal

in a time where nothing feels like

it will ever be normal again felt great.

And, you know, it's weird,

but it felt good to be reminded

that we're good at something,

'cause it's hard not to just feel

like everything's too hard this year,

and coming in here and making music

is somewhere where I am running,

I am feet on the ground, running,

and it's like, "Oh yeah! We're good at this!"

Like, this is something I know how to do,

and I'm not failing at.

♪ As empires fall to pieces

♪ Our ashes twisting in the air ♪

♪ It makes me smile to know that ♪

♪ I'm better without you

- The whole atmosphere

of what's going on in the world right now

has really lent itself to what this record sounds like.

And this, in my mind,

you know, and I don't wanna speak out of turn,

but in my mind, this is a very aggressive

and heavy record for Evanescence,

and when I say heavy,

I mean musically, it's probably the heaviest thing

that we've ever done through and through,

but also, lyrically,

it's the most pointed and timely lyrics

that I think Amy's ever written, in my opinion.

- I had a moment,

when we were mixing "Use My Voice", actually,

I just felt this weight in my heart.

Like, this conviction.

We had to do more than just write a protest song.

We needed to do something that could actually, you know,

potentially inspire people and move people

and help to shine light on truth,

because lies have just flooded our world

and our country lately.

♪ Go and take everything and throw it away ♪

♪ But I will use my voice

♪ Oh

We got to get together for the video.

That in itself was something to be so excited for,

and it was different.

We had a medic onsite taking temperatures

and making sure everybody was apart.

Everybody was wearing masks all the time.

Also, just feeling like this really awesome support

came out of people that I did and didn't know.

Eric and his crew? Incredible.

I mean, anytime you're gonna get together like that,

especially in that moment when we were doing it,

you know, there's a little bit of risk involved.

I mean, you could just choose to not do it,

but there was a lot of passion from the creative team,

and even all the extras that we found

who were willing to be a part of the video

wanted to be a part of it.

Really wanted to. Wanted to help make it happen.

We were all in it like this big group of people

wanting to make this together,

wanting to make this statement,

that we stand for each other and for truth,

and against the lies,

and against the suppression and oppression.

♪ But don't you speak for me

♪ Oh

♪ No don't you speak for me

We shot here in Nashville for the majority of it

with Tim, and Troy, and Will, and I,

and a lot of the extras,

and then Jen's shots were done in Germany

with another director who was with her,

matching the shots,

you know, sending each other pictures of things.

- It kind of looks as if we're all together,

but we were not.

I mean, I was in Cologne, in Germany,

but it's fascinating

what technology can do these days.

So, I'm like, "Whoa!"

When I watched the video I'm like,

"I'm with Amy and the guys! This is amazing!

I'm so happy!"

And it was interesting.

We shot it on a day,

I remember the weather was really weird.

Maybe the weather gods were just on my side

and they were like, "Yeah, let's make it look exactly like

Amy and the guys who recorded it, and natural".

I don't know.

- It was just kind of like this project

where Eric really poured himself into it big time.

Eric knew the song before it was finished,

and has been along for this journey.

It's been really valuable to me, more, and more, and more,

to have other creatives, friends, and artists in my life

to just support.

We support each other.

We listen to each other's work,

we read each other's stories,

we talked to each other and have conversations,

and it only can inspire you

and open your mind to different perspectives, which is good.

♪ We're gonna break right through ♪

♪ Like it or not

♪ Whoa

♪ If we can't talk about it

♪ We'll just keep drowning in it ♪

♪ Give me credit or not

♪ I give a lot give a lot

♪ But don't you speak for me

It's hard to know sometimes, the best way to use your voice.

It's not true that the online world is the whole world.

It's just not.

We had to make, we have to continue, you know,

to say what's up, to say where we stand

on these hugely important social issues,

and we're already in such a weak place as a world.

Everybody's hurting, people are sick,

people have lost family members.

That is all real,

and to have a force that we're supposed to be able to trust

telling everybody that it's fake, it just hurts.

It really hurts.

More people voted than ever in history.

I'm proud of that fact alone,

and I do feel like we were a teeny tiny part of it.

So many people were a part of it.

I am proud of that.

I'm proud that we had that moment

and chose to stand up, and I know it's not over.

- Music's that bridge for people.

We can create, we can write, we can record this stuff,

we can put it out.

I mean, the goal is to get the message out there

and bring folks together.

Definitely not to divide.

- Are you guys sure it does that climb in this song

and it's not the other song?

- It's this song.

- It does that exact climb into the bridge of,

- I thought that's what it was.

- Yeah, that's that other song.

- What song is that?

- That was * Whoa

That's "The Little Mermaid" part.

- Oh, yeah!

- Oh, yeah.

Well, son of a bitch.

♪ Do you remember

♪ What made the scar

♪ How deep will you cut

♪ Seeking my heart

♪ Seeking my heart

♪ Well you know that you can't hide ♪

♪ And you know that you can't lie ♪

♪ 'Cause I know all your secrets ♪

♪ And I won't let you forget

- I think it's fresh as fuck sounding.

I think it's definitely the heaviest record

that they've ever made.

I mean, Amy really, I was surprised at times

at how heavy she wanted to go

on some of these songs and some of the parts,

some of the elements within the songs,

but actually not that surprised

because she's a total rocker and she loves heavy shit,

and it's awesome.

She loves that energy and that power,

and that's one of the fun things about working with her.

She's not afraid to try anything.

Now, us together, we'll direct a song

through, you know all over the course.

It's like a map, you know?

It starts out over here,

and then it's like driving across the country.

Hey, let's go down to here, and let's go up to here,

and let's go over to here,

and we finally end up on the east coast, you know?

- Nick is incredible.

He is a partner.

It's like he's absolutely one of the band

when we're working together,

and we had that experience last time in 2011,

where we made our self-titled album.

It's self titled because he put us in a place

where it was like, oh, okay.

We're a real band for the first time.

With all the experience and perspective

and everything that we've gained, and he has, too,

You know, he's the mixer now, as well.

Just letting it be a place where we can go in there

and do it together.

Like, I feel like we really,

oftentimes, but not always,

have a vision for the same end goal,

not all the little pieces along the way,

and that's what makes a good collaboration.

But for like, that basic end goal,

I feel like we really get each other

in a way that's super, super productive and beautiful.

♪ After it all

♪ Your ego your greed

♪ You dug your grave

♪ So come on inside

♪ Rest in peace

♪ Take cover

- He carries that incredible positive drive

and that energy that I have hardly seen in producers so far.

Like, he is the utmost coolest guy.

I step back a little bit, observed how he's working,

and he's got this amazing talent

of understanding and feeling music,

and he's such a great energy

and you feel so comfortable around him,

recording and contributing

because he makes you feel so welcomed,

like all your ideas are so welcomed,

and he's such an amazing person.

- Nick is absolutely my favorite rock producer.

Like, hands down, the dude is a mind reader.

He gets it. He understands the vibe.

You show him something, you show him an idea,

he's already five steps ahead,

he's already heard the rest of the song

that you're trying to write before you've heard it.

And he sits there and he listens to what you're doing,

and he computes it, and he feels it,

and he says, "Try this, try that, try this."

Most of the time, you try that, and you try that,

and you try this, and you're like,

"Holy shit, that's way better

than what I thought I was already doing."

- Some producers,

you bring something up and they just blow you off

because they have a specific way

that they wanna do everything.

Sometimes they want you to play it through all their stuff.

It's a bummer, you know?

It's like, I've been working on this tone my whole life,

and you want me to play through some amp

I've never played through.

Nick's always open to ideas, ways of recording.

It's more like having another band member in the band.

- Obviously, other friends that work with him,

and I'm real familiar with what he had done

with Alice In Chains in "Black Gives Way to Blue",

"Diamond eyes", and, you know, obviously, The Foo Fighters,

and then, you know, Rush,

but I'd never met him, so we came in and met the guy,

and it was just like this thing of like,

you know, we're similar in age,

and we really like a lot of the same stuff, man.

And just felt like I was hanging out

with one of my best buddies

from high school and beyond, you know?

In my music scene, you know, whatever.

You know, mixed kind of guy. You know, he likes to hang out.

But he's also got a job to do,

and he's really good at doing that

without it seeming like that's what he's doing.

- The band that she's got backing her right now

is truly a force to be reckoned with.

Those guys, and Jen included. They're awesome.

Will Hunt who is from a different galaxy,

made of a different composition of DNA,

was formed in the millennia, many eons ago,

and sits behind the drums

and plays with that nuclear energy.

And Tim on the bass is, I mean, he's great.

They're all great! They're all great.

Troy's great, Jen's great.

Her band is just completely on point all the time,

and they're great people, they're great players,

and they come together

and they create this giant sound of Evanescence.

There's a lot of power behind it.

- A really important element to a functional band

is everyone respecting each other.

Like, personally and professionally,

really believing in each other.

One of the reasons for that

is you need to let somebody go down a road for a minute

before shooting it down.

Also, be comfortable with each other

as brothers and sisters, you know,

to where we can go down a road and go,

"Okay, cool. Let's not do that.

Let's do something else," you know?

And not feel threatened by that.

We have been a unit, this core, the five of us,

for about five years since we've had Jen,

but with the exception of Jen,

the rest of the guys that I have been together

for over a decade,

and really developed some major bond

from the experiences that we've had,

and from just, like, having a deep understanding

with each other, and I really create the best

the only way that I really, truly can.

Like, open myself up all the way as to trust somebody,

and I trust them,

and I know what it's like for it to not be that way,

and I just wouldn't wanna be doing this

if it wasn't that way.

Each of them brings something different to the table,

and each of us has a slightly different style.

We don't all have the same exact vision.

We don't all want all the same things for music,

but that's why it can be so multilayered.

I think that brings something good, the push and pull.

Same thing with working with Nick.

Like, a little bit of that push and pull

is what makes it great.

So, I don't know.

It's sort of like, just this particular recipe

that makes up this time for us as a band,

and I'm really grateful for it.

- A few of the elements that I really love

about recording with Evanescence, and Amy in particular is,

you know, all of the recording involved in the process,

which is, she's down to get a string section,

and get a choir,

and we'll have two or three different programmers,

and everybody's just throwing information, and tracks,

and ideas and creativity,

and it's just this thing, it's hard to describe,

and when we're in the thick of that,

it's really, really fun, and really exciting.

When you work with a band or an artist, whoever,

you partner up with all of 'em

at, kinda, different times during the process,

and, you know, it's a lot of fun

when me and her really get to dig into all this stuff,

'cause she's super creative, and a great piano player.

And she's just really flowing with creativity and ideas,

and she understands the process, you know?

She knows things take a while.

You can do things a lot easier these days, obviously,

with programming and synthesized keyboards

and all that stuff, and, you know,

there's instances where I'm like, "Hey," you know?

"Let's do a little string thing in here!

Let's just grab the keyboard real quick!"

And she looks at me like, are you crazy?

She's like, "No.

We're gonna record strings in a studio,"

and I'm just like, "Okay. Let's go!"

- * We can't be trusted

♪ Oh

♪ The future starts with us

♪ Blind belief

♪ Are you afraid to see

♪ That our fathers were wrong

♪ We hold the key to redemption ♪

♪ Let icons fall

At first, I really had held out on strings this time,

because part of the vision for this album

was to make it really raw, and it's not.

It's Evanescence, come on!

There's a million layers,

but coming off of "Synthesis" in particular,

combined with the themes of the music,

which are very exposed, just opening up,

just felt like the right thing,

to have it not have that beautiful element.

But, you know, as the album has been such a journey,

it took us to that place

where if it needs something, we could do it,

and we could do it, and it was possible.

David Campbell,

I mean, he's just a part of this.

He's been a part of this since our very first album,

and that's why "Synthesis" was so gratifying,

because we were able to re-experience it

and re-dig into it together,

and have our thing together that we always collaborate on

be the forefront.

♪ Open your eyes to the light

♪ I denied it for so long

♪ Oh so long

♪ Say goodbye

♪ Goodbye

In this, to come back again and have it be with him,

it made it all feel real.

It's like, okay, now we've done an Evanescence album.

We've got some strings going on,

and they sound beautiful.

David doesn't just put strings on something.

He takes in the song and interprets it in his mind,

and like, puts it back out in a new way,

and having that layer of just, like, vision and light

is so precious.

I love it so much.

I really am inspired by David Campbell, always,

and I just look up to him in such a major way.

He was able to do it through Zoom,

and actually, Nick was quarantining at the time,

so he was doing it through Zoom, too,

and it was just me and the engineers in the studio,

which was cool, too.

It was beautiful to watch it happen

and to feel like, "Hey, you know, we are still all here.

We're doing this together,

even though we can't really be together."

That makes me feel really good to know.

♪ Had enough

♪ I've really had enough

♪ Had enough of denial

♪ I'm not alright

♪ But I'm not gonna lie

♪ I don't know that I ever was

♪ All alone I've waited

♪ All alone

- Fingers crossed.

We can't control anything as far as like,

when we can really go back out

and it's safe, for the audience in particular, you know,

to have concerts again.

I feel like we're gonna be able

to still find ways to give and receive.

Like, we're still going to find a way

to keep going in a new way.

Doing the live stream was really cool,

because it was sort of a hybrid

of a show, like, a performance,

and the studio experience,

'cause we're here in the place where we've made the music,

and were isolated in ways

that we can make it sound really good, you know?

Like, where everybody's in separate places and everything.

♪ Change me

♪ Into something I believe in

♪ Change me

♪ So I don't have to pretend

♪ Take a breath and try

- You know, when I went to that studio

where I recorded my solo album

to record the live stream audio and video,

it was just like,

You know, I had my eyes closed a lot.

When I closed my eyes and I played and sang these songs,

I was just like,

putting myself emotionally back to that moment of like,

being together with the band and playing,

and it was just, it felt so good.

- * From your mouth flow a thousand truths ♪

♪ But you know

♪ There's only one

The feeling, in real time,

you know, to play those songs together,

felt so good.

The new songs in particular,

because that is the thing

that we would have been doing right now

that we haven't been able to do.

So, to get to just jam them and enjoy them

without thinking about writing or correcting,

just playing them, just mastering the performance of a song

feels really good.

I was really grateful for that moment

and the fact that we were able to make that happen.

- It feels a little like, all encompassing.

We all come from different places, you know?

This band has come together from all parts of the world,

all parts of the country.

We all had different upbringings,

our ages are pretty, you know, there's a wide gap

between the oldest arson, the youngest person,

so I feel like this is like a soup

like we've never done before.

- This experience, when I first joined this band,

how I saw how the fan base was,

how I was embraced by the fan base, too.

Like, I remember saying to Amy

shortly after we first started playing shows together,

I remember saying to her, like,

"Holy shit, these people are passionate!"

And she's just like, "Oh yeah, dude.

Oh yeah. You have no idea."

As the years go by, I can't imagine it any other way.

- They are loyal.

Admittedly, we take a little longer

to put out our records, you know?

We take a lot of time to write songs,

and I don't think that we could ever release enough music

fast enough for 'em, which is great, you know?

We're lucky to have people that are hungry

to hear more from us all the time.

They're all over the place.

We're lucky that we get to tour

almost everywhere in the world.

- A band like Evanescence,

you can think about it as such an anomaly

because this is a band that released a record

and then put out their second record,

maybe two and a half, three years later,

so that's kind of a long stretch,

and then did not put out another record for six years

almost five, almost six years,

and that record debuted at number one

on the Billboard charts.

Billboard Top 200 Album Chart.

Not the rock chart, but the Top 200 Album Chart.

I don't know if there's another band out there,

I mean, and I'm sure there is, but I can't think of it,

that's done that.

That's gone away and taking these breaks,

and it's a testament to who these fans are.

And again, we took a long break

before we came back and played any shows

with no new material, and the fans were still there.

We threw a massive curve ball

and did a completely orchestral record,

and when I say orchestral electronic record,

I mean we didn't just play the way that we play

and add an orchestra to it,

we flipped the whole thing upside down.

They were there and they're there now.

And it's just incredible.

They're incredibly dedicated.

I've been able to meet a lot of them,

and they come from so many different walks of life

and so many different stories,

and, you know, we're all weird our own way,

and I think that's maybe what we share, you know?

We're pretty open about it.

- Ever since I started playing in bands,

I thought there's always gotta be this one person, you know?

That one person you try to not hang out with,

and I thought that was normal

because I didn't know better,

and I learned, when I joined Evanescence,

I learned that it is possible to have a band, a team,

a crew where everybody gets along,

and it's not the norm, and I know that.

I wish things were different for this first album

in such a long time,

but it is what it is,

and it turned out to be so strong,

and I believe the whole situation,

what happened with this year,

not only in the US, but also with the world,

with the pandemic, with a lot of things that happened,

I believe you can totally feel that vibe

in every single song on this album

because it's honest.

It's so powerful and strong.

It's encouraging, but it's also the beauty of,

okay, this is a tough situation.

This is a vulnerable situation.

It's not the utmost positive situation

that we're in right now, but let's make it better.

Let's fight for the good,

and the whole vibe of that album

is encouragement, for me, personally.

When I read through the lyrics,

when I listen to the sounds and to the songs in general,

it's encouraging.

It's like, it's okay to be not okay.

- We really put these records together as a band.

You know, we write together and we really dig in together.

You know, each one of us brings our own thing,

and, I mean, it's cool that Amy has come to a point

where she trusts us to be a part of that with her.

I think that's a really ballsy,

but also, you know, I'm honored,

we're all honored that she feels that way.

At the same time, she has a mutual respect to us

that this is really important to me.

Nobody's just phoning it in.

- We have this band

and we've had this album, this year, to focus on,

to pour ourselves into all the fear and frustration

and rage and love and longing,

and, more than anything,

I feel a want for a human connection across distances

with people we do and don't know

just to feel unity as humankind,

and music is a place where that is somehow possible.

So, I have, you know,

through the difficulty and challenge of this year,

We had just decided, early on,

that we were going to dive head first

into the creative part of things,

and, however we could, push forward

and make the best album ever,

and put our whole selves into it.

It's taken all year.

It really has been a long process.

What it's kinda done is given me something

to always be able to focus on

beyond, like, we can't deny reality.

We all need to be aware right now,

but you need an escape from that, too.

I need an outlet to pour my feelings into.

I need a way to feel like, I don't know,

that something good can still come out of this time,

because just pushing the snooze button

and waiting for things to get better isn't real.

That isn't gonna happen, and it's a huge waste of life.

We don't know if we have tomorrow.

- I don't like to slow down.

When we catch a train, I guess, of thought,

when we're in the zone,

in the pocket, and creating great stuff,

I wanna keep going.

Usually, at the end of the tour,

there's quite a bit of burnout

at the end of the album cycle, and you wanna take some time,

and then so much time passes,

and it becomes almost maddening

that you're not doing it again.

I do what I can to keep creativity flowing,

and if we weren't under pandemic,

I would be pushing to keep on rocking, I think.

When the pandemic is over

and we can finally get back to doing work,

the world is gonna be so hungry for all this stuff

that I don't know that it's gonna be possible to slow down,

even if you want it to.

- If anything, I honestly just feel like this album,

having this, has been so, so good and healing for all of us,

has just been a coping mechanism that's been so good for me

and really made me remember, yet again,

how much I love this band and making music.

♪ Only scars on my heart

♪ Even in dreams I hear you calling ♪

♪ Breaking the surface I won't let go ♪

♪ You're part of me now

♪ And always