Evanescence
Evanescence from Little Rock, Arkansas has come onto the music scene with a bang! Their first single “Bring Me to Life” from their debut album “Fallen” has just entered the top 5 with in a matter of weeks. Vocalist Amy Lee with her soft almost classical style, meets the rock edge of the rest of the group and fuses it together sounding like Linkin Park meets Celine Dion… “Bring Me To Life” , according to writer and guitarist Ben Moody is about discovering something or someone that awakens a feeling inside them that they’ve never had before,”
“You discover there is a world that is bigger than just your safe bubble.” . Co-founders Lee and guitarist/songwriter Ben Moody met while in their early teens. “We were at a youth camp,” Moody recalls. “During some sort of recreational period held in a gymnasium, I heard Amy playing Meat Loaf’s ‘I’d Do Anything for Love’ at the piano. So I went over to meet her, and she started singing for me. I was pretty much blown away, so I suckered her into joining a band with me.”
Since that day, the musical relationship has remained dependably loyal. “We have the same exact vision regarding what we love about music,” Moody says. “When it comes to songwriting, we finish each other’s thoughts.” Evanescence first took shape in Little Rock at the end of the ‘90s. Predictably, the band didn’t quite fit the mold of most others lingering around the Midwestern state. “It’s typically death metal or really soft, older-people music there,” says Lee. “I don’t even know of any local bands that have female singers.”
Influenced by a wide-ranging collection of artists such as Björk, Danny Elfman and Tori Amos, the band started releasing EPs of its material. Even without the benefit of live performances, Evanescence began to establish a reputation. Fallen was tracked in Los Angeles with producer Dave Fortman (BOYSETSFIRE, Superjoint Ritual). The album successfully finds that intangible balance between lush beauty and primal heaviness. Typical of the record is the first single, “Bring Me To Life,” a piano ballad-turned-riff-driven barnburner. Highlighted by a guest vocal from Paul McCoy of 12 Stones, the song is featured prominently in the Daredevil film and soundtrack. ”’Bring Me To Life’ Also significant is the vibrant anthem “Tourniquet” and the eerie “Haunted,” Live, Evanescence functions as a quartet with John LeCompt (guitar) and Rocky Gray (drums) rounding out the line-up. “As a four-piece, we are able to carry out the intricate harmonies and orchestrations of the memorable material on Fallen,” Moody emphasizes. “We’re very sincere about what we do. There’s so much pre-packaged teen angst these days in music. That’s not us. We’re not trying to sell an angle, we’re just here writing from our heart.”
