Evanescence

Amy: "Call Me When You're Sober" says something that's impossible to hide from. I'm stuck with everyone knowing exactly what I'm talking about. And if there's consequences for that, which there are, then I have to face them. But it's true, and it really happened, and it meant so much to me and felt so good to just blurt it out that it was worth it. And I think it's a really great song and I'm really proud of it.

Amy [on the song "Sweet Sacrifice"]: It's the one song on The Open Door that's about the same abusive relationship which was the source of all the songs on Fallen. It was appropriate to put this song at the beginning, but it comes from a much stronger standpoint than Fallen. It's not saying, "I'm trapped in fear and somebody save me." It's saying, "Fear is only in our minds ... I'm not afraid anymore."

Amy [on the making of the video "Sweet Sacrifice"]: It's mostly live performance. It's not so much fluff and flying and tricks and wolves and stuff. It's more really just about the song, and that is unique for us. We usually do crazy stuff. It's gonna be sort of like a video within the video. Since the song is our heaviest single, we really wanted to focus on mostly performance but still have something about it that's really unique. And I think [Paul] really hit the nail on the head.

Amy (on the song "Good Enough"): I had gone through a lot of difficult things during the writing of the whole album, and by the end of it, I had stepped away from those bad situations. That's really hard. You have to be really brave and strong about it. After doing that, I felt so amazing. For the first time I felt like I could write a song based on how good I felt. I have never done that before ever.

Amy: (on Evanescence's new album, "The Open Door") In the first week, it sold four times as many as "Fallen" did. So I think it really pays to write for yourself and not worry about what people are going to think of you.

Amy: (on Evanescence's new album, "The Open Door") With "Fallen", we had to break into the industry and have the biggest hit single ever. There was so much pressure from the label and the diff things that Ben and I wanted. This time there wasn't any. It was completely hands off. We just made an album and had a great time doing it. I remember the whole time thinking 'I don't care if no one buys this album. I just want to make the best album in the world for me.'

Amy: (when asked if she still keeps it contact with former Evanescence guitarist, Ben Moody) No, screw that guy! We're not friends, it ended pretty badly. I feel like our lives, at least mine, are way better without it. Is that really cruel?

Amy: (on "Fallen"'s success) It makes me feel like I did a good job. It makes me feel like I'm glad that a lot of people like our music. It was never about worldwide success or domination for me. People wonder why I'm not jumping up and down excited like "I'm a millionaire!" It's not like that. I just wanted to make music, so I'm happy.

Amy: We're definitely a rock band, but the twist is that the band's music is epic, dramatic, dark rock.

Ben Moody: We have the same exact vision regarding what we love about music. When it comes to songwriting, we finish each other's thoughts.

Ben Moody: A lot of it developed by being elusive. 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.

Amy: I'm glad that people are accepting our music and are connected to our art. Whether we're popular or not, I don't care.

Amy: The fact that [Ben Moody] left the band, it wasn't like it killed me and hurt my feelings and made me feel like I lost a friend, it was actually more of a relief because he'd been so unhappy on tour recently that it was making everyone else unhappy. We all hope he's happier now.

Amy: If there's anything I've learned, I don't really know and anything can happen.

Amy: I think that our lyrics are defintely dark, but I know for a fact that we pull our inspiration from a million different influences. We listened to everything growing up. Our music isn't just 'opera metal' or 'gothic pop' it's just Evanescence.

Amy: There are people hell-bent on the idea that we're a Christian band in disguise, that we have some secret message. We have no spiritual affiliation with this music. It's simply about life experience.

Amy: People were finding the band pretty much on their own. Who would we be without the fans? Nobody.

Amy: It's really bizarre when you think about it. Obviously I've always thought we were good enough - I love our music and I love our band - but I never thought it would happen on this scale. I look at my face on the album cover sometimes and I wonder if it's really me.

Amy: We love what we do, and I think that comes through, we definitely try to put that in our music. It's real, honest and genuine. We're not just trying to sell records, it comes from the heart. Of all of us.