- 8 months ago
Amy Lee of Evanescence stopped by the KROQ studios to talk with Kevin Ryder and Megan Holiday about "Fight Like A Girl" with K.Flay from the 'Ballerina' soundtrack, how she became a singer, what's next for Evanescence, and more!
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00:00On those 6.7 KROQ is KROQ. It is Kevin Reiter and Megan Holliday and Amy Lee from Evanesa.
00:06Hi, thanks for having me, you guys.
00:07You are here. Thanks for coming in. We appreciate it.
00:09We were just talking off the air about your dad being in radio and you running around as a kid.
00:15Pretty much. I'm used to the radio stations.
00:18Did he throw you on all the time?
00:19I mean, not all the time, but he let me do stuff.
00:23Actually, this is going to make me sound old.
00:25I used to dump the old reel-to-reels because I thought that was fun.
00:28You put a pencil in one of the holes and you spin it really hard.
00:32Make a big bird's nest out of the old tape.
00:35That's so awesome.
00:37And you said that a highlight was getting the free music.
00:41Yeah, all the new singles.
00:43You get a single CD that people want you to play on the radio and you get all this free stuff.
00:47Dad would bring home the singles to me.
00:49I remember getting the Aerosmith Get a Grip album.
00:54It was all stuff from the station.
00:55I was like, hell yes, this is the best. I don't have to pay for it.
00:58Oh, yeah, big time.
01:00And did you want to sing from an early age?
01:03Yeah, I did. I just loved music.
01:05My dad also is a multi-institutionalist.
01:07A lot of people love music that can't sing.
01:09Well, I guess that's true.
01:10I didn't think of it, though, as like, I want to be a singer.
01:14That kind of came along with just wanting to make music and be a musician.
01:18I really loved music and, you know, from being around radio and just my family was musical, like, loved the Beatles, loved Neil Young, loved the Temptations and the Four Tops and just all kinds of music when I was a little, little kid.
01:30Right.
01:30And then I started to get older and got really into, like, the drama of, like, Mozart.
01:37Like, I saw the movie Amadeus and I was like, that's me.
01:40I want to be, like, a genius composer, which apparently you can't learn.
01:46You have to be born with that.
01:47So I didn't quite make it that far.
01:50And then it was, like, grunge and, like, alternative and Soundgarden and all that stuff hitting at the same time.
01:55So, I don't know.
01:57Then that became, like, oh, I don't want to just play piano and write instrumental songs.
02:01Like, I want to write words, you know, and my voice was just a part of that.
02:05And what age did you start writing?
02:08What was your first song?
02:09I wrote a song for the sixth grade English class.
02:14Sixth grade English class.
02:15Did you perform it?
02:17I did perform it with my friend.
02:19And we recorded it because I was nervous to, like, sit there and play guitar and sing in front of the class.
02:24So there was, like, a breezeway with, like, a really good echo at the school.
02:28So I was like, okay, after school, you and me, we're going to go in the breezeway.
02:30I brought the tape player.
02:31You just, you know, hit record on the tape player.
02:34And we sang my little song called A Single Tear.
02:36It's very dramatic.
02:38I would have hated you if I was in your class because you would have made whatever I was doing look terrible.
02:43You know, I don't know.
02:45It's really not a very good song.
02:47But, you know, you've got to start somewhere.
02:49And it was one of those things where the project was, like, we had to write a poem or something.
02:54It was some kind of a creative project.
02:55And one of the, on the list of all the allowed things, one thing was, like, you could write a song.
02:59And I was like, ooh, I'll do that.
03:01So I did that.
03:03And I definitely wasn't, I was kind of the new kid.
03:05My dad, like, in radio, we moved all the time.
03:07So I'd only been at that school for, like, half a year.
03:11I'm trying to think.
03:12Was it sixth grade, seventh grade?
03:13Right in there.
03:14But I hadn't been there very long.
03:16And people didn't really know me.
03:17I didn't have a lot of friends.
03:19So I remember doing that.
03:20And the class kind of flipped out about it.
03:23Like, it was so cool.
03:25Right.
03:25And it was just, like, this kind of weird, like, moment to get attention when I wasn't expecting to.
03:31And all of a sudden, it was like, that was my identity to some degree at school.
03:33That was a bold, yeah, bold move.
03:35Guys, I'm a liar.
03:36You know?
03:36I feel like it was eighth grade.
03:38It's all right.
03:38Whatever.
03:39I was young.
03:39I was very young.
03:40Middle school.
03:41Yeah, I was in middle school.
03:42Let's say it that way.
03:43Let's just say it that way.
03:44How did you just think I could write a song?
03:47Because I've thought about that before.
03:50And I've tried.
03:51Yeah, same.
03:52And I can't write a song.
03:53No.
03:53Just keep it simple.
03:54You know, the best song is just four chords over and over again.
03:57I don't know.
03:58I don't know what to say.
03:59I love doing it.
04:00I'm doing it still.
04:01And you did it.
04:03You've done it since middle school.
04:05You just have.
04:06You did it in high school.
04:07You did it when you got out.
04:08Did you go to college?
04:09I did it for one whole semester.
04:11Nice.
04:11Nailed it.
04:12And then we got signed.
04:13And so I was like, peace out.
04:15No more school for me.
04:16Oh, that's amazing.
04:17Was Dad happy with that?
04:18Actually, yeah.
04:20Like, he was really excited for me.
04:21But, you know, he was happy that I went to school.
04:24Like, he was like, you know, great job.
04:26Wanted to be a rock star.
04:27That's cool.
04:28You guys are.
04:29Sounds great.
04:30You know, I'll support you forever.
04:31But don't expect to, like, make money from being in, like, a band.
04:36And I was like, all right, that's fair.
04:38And I was going to go to school to learn how to be a composer.
04:41Still had the Mozart dream.
04:42Wow.
04:42I was, like, theory composition major with a voice, like, as my instrument.
04:47So I actually did get to learn some really cool things that short period of time in Middle Tennessee.
04:52But then, yeah, we were out of there.
04:53And I was like, I mean, congratulations.
04:55I'm shocked that this is working out.
04:57Good luck.
04:57When you need to come home.
04:59Thanks, Dad.
04:59If it doesn't work out, we'll be here for you.
05:01I mean, it does seem like, as a parent, probably a super long shot.
05:06You know, most people that try that aren't successful at doing it.
05:10My parents were really cool at always making me feel like anything was possible.
05:14But that, you know, if it ever didn't work out, that they would be there.
05:18And I could always come crash at home.
05:19Is your love of classic music what got you into soundtracks and movies?
05:23I guess.
05:24Movies?
05:24I just, like, the emotions of, honestly, like, middle school.
05:28Like, that and high school.
05:29Like, for me, like, the things that inspired me, it wasn't just about bands.
05:35And it wasn't that I was sitting around, like, a dork, like, listening to classical music.
05:38It was more about film scores.
05:41Like, that was what I listened to.
05:42Like, I would buy soundtracks.
05:44Yeah.
05:44And on some soundtracks, it was, like, one side would be the songs from the film.
05:47And the other side would be the best of the score.
05:50Right.
05:50That's, honestly, like, the number one section I would go to back when it was going,
05:54went into the mall and going to the CD store was, like, going to the soundtrack section.
05:58And there were so many great soundtracks in the 90s.
06:01Yeah.
06:01I mean, The Crow, City of Angels with that Alanis Morissette song, that was a huge influence
06:06for me.
06:06Yeah.
06:06There was so much great, like, the heart, you know, the feeling.
06:10It's, like, it's contemporary.
06:11It's cool.
06:11There's lyrics.
06:12It's all that stuff and some cool, famous band or singer.
06:15But then beneath it, this epic world, you know, that could only be that big if it was for
06:23a film in my head.
06:23I never got into classical music, but I did get into soundtracks quite a bit.
06:28Right, exactly.
06:29And it's kind of the same thing.
06:30Yeah.
06:31Totally.
06:31How did you get into ballerina?
06:33Well, Tyler Bates is the composer for, like, John Wick and many, many other things.
06:38Ballerina is a movie that just came out from the John Wick world.
06:42Yes.
06:42And was great.
06:44And I saw it.
06:45I thought so, too.
06:46And as soon as the credits started rolling, I went, that's Amy Lee.
06:49Yes.
06:50I knew.
06:50Mission accomplished.
06:51Yeah, so Tyler and I know each other.
06:54We met before.
06:55We had mutual friends and always said that it would be cool to make a song together.
07:00We're fans of each other.
07:01And we just hadn't found the right thing over the last few years.
07:04And he just hit me up, like, right before Christmas.
07:06And he was like, hey, I think I finally found our thing.
07:08Like, if you're into it, they're making this kick-ass movie, like, John Wick spinoff.
07:12And it's a female lead, and I think that you would be perfect.
07:15Like, let's make a song.
07:16And it was just that easy.
07:17So you had a theme.
07:18He gave you a theme and said, let's write about this.
07:22That's not how you normally write music, I would assume.
07:24Well, when you're writing for a film, it's not.
07:26It's actually amazing, because it's not all about you.
07:30Like, I love, I have that.
07:32We have our world where there really aren't any rules.
07:35I mean, like, it comes from the heart, and it has to be real.
07:38And obviously, like, we have a sound.
07:41But also, I can go run off and do a solo thing with somebody if I want to.
07:45When it comes to, like, you have a project, whether it's writing for, like, a film or a show, or it's specific.
07:52So it's like, okay, how do we serve this moment and the emotions of this character or whatever's happening in the scene?
07:59And it's actually really cool to have a little bit of a map.
08:03So there are some rules.
08:04There are some guidelines.
08:04We need it to be this and that.
08:06And it's like, wow, cool.
08:07I already know the direction of where we're going to go.
08:09And this one was really cool, because it doesn't, songs come in all orders.
08:14And sometimes you just have, like, an idea of a melody.
08:16Sometimes you just start out with a chord progression and see what happens.
08:19And then once in a while, it's like a lyric.
08:22Yeah, there's a line in the movie.
08:23You need to fight like a girl.
08:25Yeah, and that was it.
08:26Like, I watched the movie a couple times.
08:29And whenever I've written a song specifically for a film, I usually do that.
08:34Like, watch the movie and just feel it out and go, what sticks out?
08:38Like, what scene or what moment is, like, the grab?
08:41If it's not about, okay, this is the scene.
08:43And that was it for me.
08:44Like, that part where she was describing, like, what it means.
08:48Like, you've got to stop playing by their rules.
08:49You've got to improvise.
08:51You've got to cheat.
08:51You've got to do whatever it takes.
08:52You've got to fight like a girl.
08:53And I was like, yes, that's the song.
08:55So good.
08:57And you have K-Flay featured.
08:59And I've known her since she started in the Bay Area when I was living up there.
09:03She's so awesome.
09:04So tell us about working with K-Flay.
09:06You've known her forever?
09:07Yes.
09:07Since the beginning of her career.
09:09I'm jealous.
09:09I'm a huge fan of hers.
09:11And I didn't know her before.
09:13I totally just called her, got her number and was like, okay.
09:15Just reached out and said, do you want to do this?
09:17She must have been mind-blown.
09:19She is.
09:20Well, I mean, like, it was just, I think for both of us, just like, fuck, yeah.
09:23Yeah.
09:23I'm sorry.
09:24Honestly, like, if I'm thinking about artists that I really genuinely just, like, listen
09:29to on my playlist, whatever, she's one of the top three or four.
09:35And we were working on the song.
09:37And I really loved the idea of it being a collab.
09:39Because women, if we're talking about how to fight like a girl, we fight together.
09:43Um, and I think that the spirit of that is awesome.
09:47And we had this bridge part, really cool thing that Tyler had going on.
09:51And I was like, oh man, I just heard it in my head.
09:54Like, I just heard her voice rapping over that bridge.
09:57And I was like, there's nothing that I could do that would be anywhere near as cool as that.
10:01Um, so I just called her and she was super cool right away.
10:05Um, I just described it to her, told her about the movie.
10:07I just made my pitch on the phone.
10:09And immediately I was like, we're a lot alike, like, our energy is kind of the same.
10:13And then, um, she's like, cool, I'll check it out.
10:15You know, I'll listen to the demo and I'll hit you back like tonight or tomorrow.
10:18And I was like, cool.
10:19And 15 minutes later, she's like, I love it.
10:21And I know exactly what to do.
10:22Really?
10:23I'm in.
10:23Oh my God.
10:24It was nothing but fun with her.
10:25I love that.
10:26And the music video, it just dropped, which is, it's really badass.
10:30And I love it very much.
10:31It's epic.
10:32Yeah.
10:33We got, uh, Chaz Tahelski, uh, who is the director of all the John Wick movies and the producer
10:38on Ballerina to do it.
10:39And I totally stalked him.
10:42I made that happen.
10:43Talk him into it.
10:44Well done.
10:45Well, the song is called Fight Like a Girl and it is in the Ballerina movie and it's fantastic.
10:51And we're going to play it as our 420 Catch of the Day coming up next.
10:55This song is called Fight Like a Girl.
10:56Amy Lee from Evanescence is in the studio.
10:59What's up?
11:00What would you like us to know about this song before we play it?
11:03Oh man, this was really fun to make.
11:05I'm a huge fan of K-Flay as we were just talking about and, um, man, it was just a
11:10blast working on music for this song.
11:13So Ballerina, it's called Fight Like a Girl featuring K-Flay and Evanescence.
11:19Evanescence, Fight Like a Girl featuring K-Flay.
11:21We have Amy Lee in the studio from Evanescence.
11:24A couple more questions.
11:26What can we expect from the band?
11:28More of the goodness.
11:30More of the goodness.
11:30We were just, like, full speed ahead, making stuff, putting stuff out, doing stuff on the
11:35side.
11:35Like, we're in a super, just, energized, creatively mode this year.
11:40So do you, but, so do you not have a date set that you have to...
11:43I don't have a date.
11:43I don't like to set a date until, like, it's really done.
11:46So, um, we're recording now.
11:47We're writing now.
11:48Um, we're doing this album kind of in a way that is very freeform.
11:52Like, we have a few songs with one producer.
11:54We have a few songs with another one.
11:56Oh, that's kind of cool.
11:57Just, like, doing whatever feels good.
11:59Um, no, no, like, rules.
12:01Except, like, what the song wants.
12:02Right.
12:03And later this year, you're going to be touring with, we were just talking off the air, Metallica.
12:07Yeah, no big deal.
12:08Um, so epic.
12:10Yeah, but we've played, like, places that big before, but we've never been on a stadium tour.
12:16Right.
12:16Um, so that's definitely something that all of us feel like is a big bucket list moment, obviously.
12:22Is there a lot of pressure, like, this is the band we want to get off the stage so that we can see Metallica?
12:28I feel, I feel that possibility, and I am, I feel ready to bring it.
12:33I feel like we have what it takes.
12:35Excellent.
12:36Oh, yeah, you do.
12:36You know, if people are going to be there, you know, that want to rock and hear great music, and people that are good at that, I'm ready to say, that is me.
12:44Please enjoy the show.
12:46Um, we've done it long enough that it's not scary like it maybe would have been 20 years ago.
12:50That's good.
12:50Maybe just a bigger adrenaline rush in a good way.
12:53It's always that when it's not your fans.
12:55Yeah.
12:55Like, you're playing your show, that's easy.
12:57Totally.
12:57This is more like, all right, we got a mission.
12:59Let's go out there and make some people fans.
13:01Hell yeah.
13:02I love it.
13:03Well, thank you for stopping by today.
13:04We really appreciate it.
13:05Yeah.
13:06Amy Lee.
13:07Thank you guys.
13:07Amy Lee from Evanescence.
13:09Amy Lee from Evanescence.
13:10Amy Lee from Evanescence.
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13:14Amy Lee from Evanescence.
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