Frontman, guitarist and principal songwriter Shaun Morgan admits “Fake It” almost didn’t make the record. “We wanted to create songs that are a little different,” he explains.

Rounded out by drummer John Humphrey and bassist Dale Stewart, what the South African-bred, Los Angeles-based trio has created is a CD full of chart contenders, thanks in part to production whiz Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Daughtry).

Headbangers like “FMLYHM,” “Breakdown” and “6 Gun Quota” feel right at home alongside more pop-sounding numbers like “Rise Above This,” an ironically upbeat song inspired by the suicide of Morgan’s brother.

Formed in 1999 as Saron Gas and signed to Johannesburg-based Musketeer Records, they changed their name in 2002 with the release of their U.S. debut, Disclaimer. Radio smashes “Fine Again” and “Gasoline” earned the album gold certification and placed the band on the alternative metal map.

Then came “Broken,” a decidedly un-Seether-like ballad reworked as a duet with labelmate (and now ex-girlfriend) Amy Lee of Evanescence. Included on Disclaimer II — released as an alternate version of Disclaimer — the song was featured in the 2004 film The Punisher and became an instant Top 20 hit.

Their success continued with 2005’s Karma and Effect, a considerably darker effort that steered the band away from “Broken” and produced the singles “Truth,” “The Gift” and the eight-consecutive-week Billboard chart-topper “Remedy.”

Now, with Finding Beauty, Seether hopes fans will embrace the more experimental sound of the new disc.

“We wanted to write and explore the more melodic and musical side of everything,” Morgan says. “We can be heavy and rock out, but we can also write songs that can compete with any other song out there. That was a really big motivation.”

When the moment of truth finally arrived and Evanescence released their sophomore disc in the fall of 2006, fans crowed their approval. In a tremendous vote of confidence for Lee and new co-writer-guitarist Terry Balsamo, The Open Door debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart. The hard-hitting CD remained ensconced in the Top 5 weeks after its release. As evidenced by the album’s impressive chart showing, fans clearly believe Evanescence has lost none of their songwriting magic or performing fire.

In fact, the quartet has been heralded as forerunners of the wildly popular goth-metal sound (“without Evanescence, could there be a My Chemical Romance or Panic! At the Disco?,” Rolling Stone pondered recently). The New York Times praised The Open Door as a mélange of “growling guitar riffs, big buildups, beseeching refrains (and) emo-goth lyrics.”

But it’s fans who most passionately identify with The Open Door, perhaps because Evanescence’s enigmatic lyrics and turbulent melodies reflect the dramas and challenges in their own lives. Like a truth-seeking patient on an analyst’s couch, Lee explores the stages of soured romance on tracks like “Sweet Sacrifice” and “Call Me When You’re Sober.” On “Weight of the World,” she contemplates the life-altering toll of fame: “Feels like the weight of the world,” Lee sings, “like all my screaming has gone unheard.”

Formed in Little Rock, Ark., Evanescence has always cast a wide musical net. The band’s haunting fusion of rock, goth and classical music stems largely from Lee’s love of contemporary rock and classical music (she studied classical piano for nine years). “When I was in high school I listened to a lot of death metal bands,” Lee explains. “Both [death metal and classical] are intricate, complex types of music that are very dramatic, and I’m naturally drawn to that.”

The band’s independently produced early recordings, including the now-collectable CD Origin, resulted in a deal with Wind-Up Records. Released in 2003, the quartet’s big-label debut Fallen yielded the Top 10 singles “Bring Me to Life” and “My Immortal.” The album spent over 100 weeks on Billboard’s Top 200 chart, was certified gold or platinum in over 35 countries and earned the band two Grammys in 2003 for Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance (for “Bring Me to Life”).

Now, Lee, Balsamo, guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray are returning to the road. Having demonstrated commendable grace under pressure, Evanescence can now celebrate their place as goth-metal heroes. Minus the drama.

WE BELONG TOGETHER
Darnell Bristol
Mariah Carey
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds
Sid "Uncle Jamz" Johnson
Patrick L. Moten
Sandra Sully
Bobby Womack
ABKCO Music, Inc.
Ballads By Design Publishing
Hip Chic Music
Mister Johnson's Jams Music
Rye Songs
Songs of Universal, Inc.
Sony/ATV Songs LLC
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Mariah Carey
Island Records

YOU AND ME
Jude Cole
Jason Wade
Dimensional Songs of the Knoll
G-Chills Music
Jude Cole Music
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
Lifehouse
Geffen Records

With the hard-driving single “Bring Me to Life” — whose music video has become nearly ubiquitous on channels throughout North America — many have classified the group as one of the crunching nu-metal breed; on the accompanying album, Fallen (Wind-Up), Evanescence reveals its roots in the Goth-rock genre blazed by the likes of The Cure. Add in 20-year-old Amy Lee’s vocals, and the sometimes epically dramatic arrangements, and the skewed pop visions of both Tori Amos and Meat Loaf become readily apparent.

Then, too, there’s the whole “Christian rock” tag, which the band has viewed with some bewilderment. In fact, after some puzzled remarks on the subject by lead guitarist/co-founder Ben Moody in Entertainment Weekly — complete with a certain four-letter word — the album was yanked from Christian retailers and charts.

“We’re definitely a rock band,” says Lee, “but the twist is that the band’s music is epic, dramatic, dark rock.”

Lee and Moody met as teenagers at a youth camp and clicked immediately, with Mr. Loaf again providing a kind of glue. “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,” Moody recalls. “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.

“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.”

That loyalty to each other stood Moody and Lee in good stead as they began making their way through the Little Rock, Arkansas music scene in the late 1990s. “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.”

The pair eschewed live shows in favor of releasing their own EPs — an odd strategy that slowly built them a following. “A lot of it developed by being elusive,” Moody remembers. “The second song we ever wrote was this seven-minute, ridiculous Goth anthem called ‘Understanding.’ And for some reason, the local rock station decided to play it a lot. We gained this popularity around town, even though no one knew who we were or where to find us. It was because we could never afford to play a show. It was just Amy and I —- and we couldn’t pay any musicians.”

Once the buzz was sufficient to garner label attention, guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray were added to flesh out the group’s sound. The band recently added touring bassist William Boyd as an official member. Recording of Fallen took place in Los Angeles, where they were “able to carry out the intricate harmonies and orchestrations of the memorable material on Fallen ,” Moody enthuses.

The vividly emotive “Bring Me to Life,” powered by its appearance in the blockbuster film Daredevil , that highly theatrical video, and the addition of fellow Wind-Up act 12 Stones’ singer Paul McCoy helped Fallen move almost effortlessly into the Top 10. Moody says the song “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.”

Evanescence has spent most of the year on the road, currently touring in Europe after wrapping up a long U.S. trek in September. With follow-up singles “Going Under” and “My Immortal” the group remains committed to making sure its vision and aims remain intact.

“We’re very sincere about what we do,” Moody says. “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.”]]> 2004-12-01T17:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/podcasts/container/133398 Amy Lee discusses Advice for beginning songwriters Lee, Amy, Pop, In Their Own Words, Video, 2004, BMI Pop Awards 2004-05-11T18:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/233750 Artists, Evanescence, Lee, Amy, Musical Styles, Pop, Rock, Musicworld, Hitmaker The name “Evanescence” is defined as “a dissipation or disappearance like vapor.” It’s an apt moniker, given that describing Evanescence’s music can be tricky indeed.

The hard-driving single “Bring Me to Life” has led many to classify the group as one of the nu-metal breed; on the accompanying album, Fallen, Evanescence reveals its roots in the goth-rock genre blazed by the likes of The Cure. Add in 20-year-old Amy Lee’s vocals, and the skewed pop vision of Tori Amos becomes readily apparent.

Then, too, there’s the whole “Christian rock” tag, which the band has viewed with some bewilderment; in fact, after some puzzled remarks on the subject by lead guitarist/co-founder Ben Moody in Entertainment Weekly — complete with a certain four-letter word — the album was yanked from Christian retailers and charts.

“We’re definitely a rock band,” says Lee, “but the twist is that the band’s music is epic, dramatic, dark rock.”

Lee and Moody met as teenagers at a youth camp, and clicked immediately. “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.”

The vividly emotive “Bring Me to Life,” powered by its appearance in the blockbuster film Daredevil and its own highly theatrical video, has helped Fallen move into the Top 10. Moody says the song “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.”

Augmented by guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray, Evanescence is now embarking on a busy tour of the U.S. and European festivals, during which any confusion about its aims or commitment to music should be safely set aside.

“We’re very sincere about what we do,” Moody says. “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.”]]> 2003-06-17T18:00:00-05:00