AOLMusicTye: hi!
AOLMusicTye: thanks so much for chatting with us today
AmyOpenDoor: awesome.
AOLMusicTye: where are you right now?
AmyOpenDoor: in the middle of nowhere!
AmyOpenDoor: I\'m in gulf shores alabama with my family.
AmyOpenDoor: right now I\'m with my dad at an internet cafe having an iced coffee.
AOLMusicTye: haha. nice.
AOLMusicTye: has anyone recognized you yet?
AmyOpenDoor: nah. i look ridiculous.
AmyOpenDoor: I\'m actually wearing something floral.... and I\'m feeling nauseous about it. haha...
AOLMusicTye: floral! say it ain\'t so!
AOLMusicTye: this is going to TOTALLY ruin your rep
AmyOpenDoor: i know.
AmyOpenDoor: well wadiya expect. i\'m on vacation!
AmyOpenDoor: it\'s hard to be me ALL the time.
AOLMusicTye: hehe. I\'m sure.
AOLMusicTye: so first off, congrats on finally finishing the new CD
AOLMusicTye: it sounds awesome.
AmyOpenDoor: thanks!
AOLMusicTye: tell us a little bit about it. starting with the title...
AmyOpenDoor: well, i came up with the title for the album when terry and i had only been writing it for about 2 months.
AmyOpenDoor: I guess we were both a little blown away by the power we had as a team, and this new sound that started coming out. I thought it made a lot of sense, because i felt like we had the freedom to do whatever we wanted as writers
AmyOpenDoor: I\'m older now and I\'m not afraid to say as much
AmyOpenDoor: and also the music itself - i didn\'t feel bound by a structure or formula. and no one was saying no to my ideas.
AmyOpenDoor: the door was open for us to experiment and GET CRAZY!
AOLMusicTye: hence, \'The Open Door....\'
AOLMusicTye: so you feel like the door had been more closed previously then?
AmyOpenDoor: i was trapped in a lot of ways...
AmyOpenDoor: I\'m realizing more and more that a lot of my doors were closed because i was too afraid or insecure to open them.
AmyOpenDoor: ...but its beautiful outside.
AOLMusicTye: hehe. that\'s great.
AOLMusicTye: you really took your time putting the new cd together
AmyOpenDoor: yeah. I\'m a perfectionist. especially now that I\'m really the leader of the whole thing, i couldn\'t put out something that i didn\'t think was awesome!
AOLMusicTye: how long was the writing and recording process overall?
AmyOpenDoor: i think with writing and recording, this was about a 2 year thing.
AOLMusicTye: so much has happened between now and when \'Fallen\' first came out
AOLMusicTye: what was the biggest hurdle you felt like you had to jump over to get here?
AmyOpenDoor: hmmm.... well, a lot has changed in the band. I guess I\'ve realized how hard it is to keep a band together. It\'s like a 5-way marriage.
AmyOpenDoor: I think the scariest, most stressful thing was Terry\'s stroke.
AOLMusicTye: yeah, i can\'t imagine how scary that must have been
AmyOpenDoor: It was a real eye-opener. I think we both appreciate our lives and the time we have here a lot more.
AOLMusicTye: he\'s ok now, right?
AmyOpenDoor: yeah, he\'s had to work really REALLY hard with physical therapy to get back to rock star shape, but he\'s doing great.
AmyOpenDoor: He\'s going with me to Miami this weekend for some Latin American press.
should be interesting.
AOLMusicTye: it\'s crazy how much drama there\'s been in the band over the last few years. It must have felt like a daytime soap for a while
AmyOpenDoor: haha. my life is that way. There\'s always something! Otherwise what would i write about?
AOLMusicTye: hehe. excellent point
AmyOpenDoor: Nah, I\'m starting to feel a bit more in control of things.
AOLMusicTye: and i\'m sure working on the album was very therapeutic in that sense
AmyOpenDoor: sweet! boys2men is on.
AOLMusicTye: haha. what song?
AmyOpenDoor: down on bended knee. haha!
AOLMusicTye: hehehe. the classic
AOLMusicTye: wait a minute...
AOLMusicTye: don\'t tell me you\'re a B2M fan?
AmyOpenDoor: i just miss the nineties.
AOLMusicTye: flower print and \'90s R&B?
AOLMusicTye: who are you and what have you done with Amy Lee?!??!
AOLMusicTye:
AmyOpenDoor: I\'m just keeping it real, ok?
AmyOpenDoor: actually i have no excuse for the floral. It\'s just my disguise.
AOLMusicTye: but this begs the question -- how different are you from the image your fans have of you?
AOLMusicTye: it\'s obviously not all black candles and Dead Can Dance
AmyOpenDoor: i think my serious fans get me pretty well.
AmyOpenDoor: evanescence is my outlet for a lot of heavy feelings
AmyOpenDoor: I\'m a silly Adult Swim fan with big stupid furry boots on the side. i love to make people laugh.
AOLMusicTye: what\'s your fave Adult Swim show?
AmyOpenDoor: oh... there are so many. I love sealab, the brak show, aqua teens ... what am i forgetting?
AmyOpenDoor: harvey birdman...
AOLMusicTye: harvey bridman is hilarious
AOLMusicTye: boondocks
AmyOpenDoor: eh, boondocks isn\'t my favorite.
AOLMusicTye: you know, they just started showing Pee Wee\'s Playhouse!
AmyOpenDoor: oh i know!!!!! so happy about that!
AmyOpenDoor: it made me pull out Pee Wee\'s Big Adventure the other day! such a great movie.
AOLMusicTye: it\'s so twisted. everything went over my head when i was younger
AmyOpenDoor: haha. i always liked the weird creepy stuff mixed into kids movies. remember The Dark Crystal?
AOLMusicTye: of course!!
AmyOpenDoor: i still have a dark crystal lunchbox.
AOLMusicTye: heheh. that\'s so rad
AOLMusicTye: creepy little muppets, weren\'t they?
AmyOpenDoor: yes. sucking out the sweet little good characters \'essence??\' scary!
AmyOpenDoor: it scarred me for life.
AOLMusicTye: hehe. so NOW we\'re getting to the source
AOLMusicTye: scary muppets and pee wee herman
AOLMusicTye: so, you said you\'re on vacation now... outside of working on the album, what have you done with the time off?
AmyOpenDoor: well, I\'ve really been working hard. Interviews, photo shoots, the video shoot -- all that stuff really started cramming my schedule about a month ago.
AmyOpenDoor: I\'m here for 3 days with the fam and then off to miami tomorrow for more interviews.
AmyOpenDoor: It feels good to be back though -- especially since the new album is so much more of my writing, and just more "me" in general. I\'m really excited to see how people react.
AOLMusicTye: are there any big changes in your songs now that fans will pick up on?
AmyOpenDoor: i hope so.
AmyOpenDoor: There\'s a lot more soul to this album... i don\'t know how to describe it, other than when i listen to it, i can hear that i love my band even more than i did when i was recording Fallen.
AmyOpenDoor: I think that even in the scary sad songs i sound like I\'m having fun with it. The music is harder to perform, and a bigger challenge is always more fun.
AOLMusicTye: so inquiring minds want to know... when\'s the last time you talked to Ben Moody?
AmyOpenDoor: i saw him when we won the grammys.
AmyOpenDoor: we said a quick congratulations and went our separate ways
AOLMusicTye: when was the moment you knew that the band was gonna be alright without him?
AmyOpenDoor: I knew as soon as i was told he was flying home in the middle of the night in Europe.
AmyOpenDoor: I just knew there was a lot of work to be done, and i wanted it bad enough to power through. we all did.
AmyOpenDoor: Honestly, it was a relief. I\'d come to the realization weeks before that the band couldn\'t survive without some serious change.
AOLMusicTye: if anything, the band sounds even stronger on the new stuff.
AOLMusicTye: especially your vocals. you sound AMAZING
AmyOpenDoor: thank you
AOLMusicTye: is it true you\'ve had no vocal training at all??
AmyOpenDoor: well, i started being in (and obsessed with) the school choir when i was about 13, so i know that helped. I even did the all-region and all-state tryouts every year, and that\'s a lot of extra training...
AmyOpenDoor: i don\'t know, I\'ve just always sung and played piano a lot because i wanted to. and practice makes you better.
AOLMusicTye: heh. and it shows.
AmyOpenDoor: well thank you. i love my job.
AOLMusicTye: do you have any pre-show or recoding rituals that keep your chords in shape?
AmyOpenDoor: i warm up for about 20 minutes before we go on -- just silly choir warm ups work great.
AmyOpenDoor: then I listen to loud music and jump around for a minute to get excited.
i guess you saw some of that on the dvd...
AmyOpenDoor: too bad you couldn’t hear the music we were actually listening to. pantera.
AOLMusicTye: NICE!
AOLMusicTye: if F**king Hostile doesn\'t get the blood pumping, nothing will...
AmyOpenDoor: its hilarious. I\'m doing cartwheels and sweating to the oldies but we\'re listening to metal. righteous!
AOLMusicTye: so, just a few more things before we finish up....
AOLMusicTye: it\'s known you design a lot of your own clothes.
AOLMusicTye: any thoughts about putting out your own line someday?
AmyOpenDoor: i don\'t know. music is a much bigger passion for me. I love weird, fun fashion though.
AmyOpenDoor:The band has become such a full time thing, i don\'t know how i would have time, unless it was a lot later down the line. I think it would be fun, but i don\'t know.
AOLMusicTye: fair enough...
AOLMusicTye: what\'s the most extravagant thing you\'ve bought recently?
AmyOpenDoor: Well, i guess the most expensive thing would be my new apartment in NY. manhattan living is WICKED pricey.
AOLMusicTye: hehe. seriously.
AOLMusicTye: how tricked out is your place?
AOLMusicTye: is it Cribs worthy?
AmyOpenDoor: its SO cool. the decorating is just starting though. It used to be a church, so it\'s all gothic inside.
AmyOpenDoor: when you walk down the hall to my door there\'s stained glass on the ceilings and stuff. its rad.
AmyOpenDoor: and yeah -- Cribs wants to do it as soon as i get finished with it.
AmyOpenDoor: won\'t be till the next season.
AOLMusicTye: awesome. we\'ll stay tuned.
AOLMusicTye: ok, what\'s the best thing about being a goth sex symbol?
AmyOpenDoor: what??
AOLMusicTye: hehehe. you tell me!
AOLMusicTye: you must get a million love letters a day.
AmyOpenDoor: well, for a year i got free baja fresh after going to some awards show so, i think that\'s been the best perk.
AOLMusicTye: what\'s the best thing a fan has ever given you
AmyOpenDoor: i went to italy and the fanclub pooled their money and bought me a corset and terry a GUITAR!
AmyOpenDoor: i wore the corset on stage that night. john played the guitar for a song or two. it was awesome!
AOLMusicTye: wow. that\'s amazing.
AOLMusicTye: where do you keep your Grammys?
AmyOpenDoor: in my studio, one on top of each speaker. for luck!
AOLMusicTye: hehe. perfect.
AOLMusicTye: so, the record comes out oct. 3.
AmyOpenDoor: yes...
AOLMusicTye: what\'s do you have lined up after that?
AOLMusicTye: hitting the road right away?
AmyOpenDoor: Well, we start touring right on top of the release. I think our first show is on October third, actually. so we gotta start hitting the whole world!
AmyOpenDoor: I\'m ready to get back out there. i miss playing live. and we\'ve got so much more to play now!
AOLMusicTye: great. can\'t wait to see you onstage again
AOLMusicTye: ok, i\'ll let you get back to mom and dad now
AmyOpenDoor: thanks. my 50 spf awaits...
AOLMusicTye: but it was great talking to you!
AmyOpenDoor: thank you for the interview. it was so nice.
AOLMusicTye: take care
AmyOpenDoor: you too!!!
