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“I think I can be kind of a di cult

artist in some sense of the business side

of it,” Lee admits with a laugh, talking

to

Ravinia

Magazine about the lavish

concept in advance of Evanescence’s

venue debut on Tuesday, July . “I can

only do what I really want to do. I have

a hard time forcing myself to do what I

think is the smart thing business-wise

or from a marketing standpoint. I hear

words like that and they generally make

me turn in the other direction and want

to do something else. is [album and

tour] didn’t come from anybody saying

this would be a good idea, this might

be something that people will love and

maybe we could make some money.

It’s the opposite. e idea itself was

extremely lo y and expensive and crazy

and di erent. And there’s risk involved

for sure, because you’re taking music

that already worked, people already

liked it and it’s been there for a long

time, and you’re gonna go in and mess

with it, change it, and show it to them in

a di erent way that they might not like,

but it’s something I just felt passionate

about.”

“I feel like we spend a lot of time

focusing on the rock aspect of the band,

which is awesome and it’s a big part of

it,” Lee continues. “[But I remember]

in junior high having the idea of what

this band could be. It was about this

combination and contrast between

being heavy but also like a beautiful lm

score and programming in the electron-

ic world. I grew up inspired by bands

like Massive Attack, Portishead, Björk,

Tori Amos, and so many other things

that aren’t rock, and I thought it would

be really cool to show the di erent color

palette of something that’s really always

been there for me that people maybe

didn’t see before. I thought it was just

going to be a fun experience, but it

really snowballed into something bigger

because you’re really starting from

scratch on the songs.”

In fact, it’s that very sense of de-

construction and synthesis in being

accompanied by a live orchestra that will

take center spotlight at Ravinia for the

co-headlining concert with the virtually

unclassi able but regularly riveting vi-

olinist Lindsey Stirling. e pair of mu-

tually admiring artists rst linked up on

Synthesis

for the fresh cut “Hi-Lo,” and

though they’re each turning in separate

sets, chances are their paths will cross

onstage at some point. “It’s a perfect

match even if she wasn’t on this album,”

Lee observes. “She has this beautiful

classical side and is an amazing violin

player, but she comes in and mixes that

with so many di erent types of music,

especially in that dubstep/electronic

world that she ts so well.”

Lee also notes that the tag team will

increase the scope and production of

their engagements, but at the same time

the present orchestral tour is bringing

it all in closer to the chest. “I’m looking

forward to and curious about what the

di erence will be, playing in bigger

outdoor places with this show—it’s

very di erent from the shows we’ve

been working on for my whole career.

It has always been such a big part of my

role onstage to keep the energy high,

keep everything going, keep the crowd

from sitting down, and keep everybody

screaming. is is such a contrast, as we

intended it to be. We’re actually choos-

ing places that have seats and encour-

aging people to sort of enjoy it like you

would an opera or a theater show.

“It makes you focus on a completely

RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JULY 9 – JULY 22, 2018

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