In a separate life, I was watching American Idol without thinking about it too much.  (Compare that with the past year, and everything I've done for this website.  But I digress.)  I remember being awed by some of the contestants, but I distinctly remember my mother being a fan of season 7's Carly Smithson, partly because she reminds her of Amy Lee, the vocalist of Evanescence, which happened to be one of her favorite bands.  She always compared the two, and was dismayed when she was eliminated.

Who would've thought that she'd be with those guys soon?  In what is perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of Idol, Smithson has joined forced with former Evanescence lead guitarist and songwriter Ben Moody to form the band The Fallen.  Also on board are two other band members, Rocky Gray and John LeCompt, as well as outsider Marty O'Brian.


What happened to Evanescence, you might ask?  Apparently the band went on hiatus in 2007, marred by personal disagreements between the band members.  Moody was the first to leave, citing creative differences in 2003, and has since collaborated with many artists, including Idol graduates such as Kelly Clarkson and Chris Daughtry.  Gray and LeCompt left the band in 2007, a year after the release of their sophomore album, The Open Door.

It's essentially Evanescence version 2.0, with Moody contacting his former bandmates and wondering what happened to the music they did before.  "I said, how do you feel about doing this, about looking for someone to complete our family and to finish this thing?" he said, adding that the formation of the band began as early as after his departure from the band.  "It feels like everything with our old fans is at a standstill. There's not new music, there's no tour."

After keeping touch, he struggled looking for a vocalist that would sound right.  "[My colleague] said, you've got to get your head out of your ass and just listen to [Carly] sing," he added.  "Her voice was ... incredible.  So I called [my roommate] Monique and I said, look, I've got to talk to Carly now.  And she said, well, she happens to be with me, we'll be home in 20 minutes."

"I knew I wasn't making the wrong decision when I turned down the other offers," Smithson said.  "I'd rather make a huge mistake then be miserable in something I'd regret for the rest of my days. I wanted to stay true to what I love and believe in and this is everything that we've all wanted for a long time which is awesome."

And by that, she meant record deals that revolves around pop music.  "They just felt my voice was more suited for pop music," she said.  "But Ann Wilson had a pretty angelic voice; she didn't have a raspy voice.  Chester [Bennington] from Linkin Park, he didn't have a raspy voice.  But all these people make these big massive theatrical music which is basically what rock music is; it's just massive."

"This band is one hundred percent democracy," Moody added.  "Everyone is equal ... And what also is different is that I believe it's better.  The music is more exciting.  It's got more intensity behind it.  This is bringing more energy than Evanescence could ever muster.   And I mean Evanescence in its best day."

Moody also plans to give full treatment to their gigs.  "We want to put on an amazing theater show," he said.  "And when and if it grows to other places, other avenues, we want to add as much as we can from what we see in our head.  Trust me, it will be something you have to see two or three times to take it all in.  Did I say two or three?  I meant eight or nine."

The band will officially make its debut on Monday, with a gig attended by industry people in Los Angeles.  On the same day, they'll release a song on their website, www.wearethefallen.com, for free download.  The band doesn't intend to do an album--"We're going to release a couple of songs roughly every eight weeks for the next year and a half," Moody said--and will instead focus on their gigs in theaters, rather than in clubs.

For Smithson, she couldn't be more excited.  "I'm just excited now," she said.  "The Idol thing, you know, was very PG, it was for a family audience.  This isn't a family audience ... I don't have to strip myself down ... For me personally it wasn't creatively and musically the best time for me.  Ever since I came off the show, I've been so happy and I've never been more happy than being in this band."




- Henrik Batallones, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Los Angeles Times
(Image courtesy of Los Angeles Times)