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Seether frontman Shaun Morgan is not particularly happy about the new song by Evanescence, “Call Me When You’re Sober.” That band’s singer, Amy Lee, has said in interviews that the track was inspired by the end last year of her relationship with Morgan, who entered a 28-day rehab program for drug and alcohol abuse in July. Morgan exclusively told us that he wasn’t pleased to hear about the song: “It saddens me that our whole relationship was reduced to that. That, you know, almost three years we spent together comes down to ‘Oh, woe is me, you don’t care about me.’ I’m disappointed that that’s all that really mattered. I’m kind of irritated that our dirty laundry had to be aired, you know, all over the world. I wouldn’t do that to somebody.”

Seether will play some scattered live dates this fall but Morgan told us that the band is concentrating on writing its third album, which he hopes to begin recording by November. Their latest release, an live acoustic CD/DVD package called One Cold Night, came out this summer.

The singer and guitarist is also engaged and will become a father for the second time in November. He has a young daughter from a previous marriage.

The new Evanescence disc, titled The Open Door, arrives on October 3rd.

Bitchy enough without actually calling anyone out. That’s how Amy Lee coyly describes her new song, Call Me When You’re Sober.

But to many fans it’s obvious that the lyrics refer to the singer’s relationship with Seether’s Shaun Morgan.

But Amy dodges an outright naming of names. She says: “I’ve never been an alcoholic but I’ve been in a relationship with one and relationships that I sing about aren’t always about romantic relationships - it’s just people who’ve affected me and have been close to me and have been in my life.

“I haven’t been saying specifically a name because I don’t want to be hurtful to anyone. I think the song’s pretty self-explanatory and obvious. I guess I wrote it that way so I wouldn’t have to say.”

She adds, laughing: “I think the song is bitchy enough without me actually calling him out on it.”

The Goth Rock queen is back with a vastly changed band but still with the epic rock that saw the Evanescence’s major label debut Fallen sell 1.2 million copies in the UK and 14 million copies worldwide.

They also scored a UK number one with Bring Me To Life which featured on the Ben Affleck film Daredevil and stayed at the top of the British charts for a month in 2003.

Guitarist Ben, who founded Evanescence with Amy when they met at a youth camp in Arkansas in 1994, is replaced by Terry Balsamo.

The band’s bassist William Boyd has also left to be replaced last month by Tim McCord, former guitarist with Revolution Smile who switches to play bass.

That means that the line-up is Amy, Terry, Tim, Rocky Gray on drums and John LeCompt on guitar.

Amy admits: “I’ve gained a lot of control. Ben isn’t in the band and that’s part of it. That’s most of it.”

So is she still in touch with him?

“No. That’s definitely over. I think that’s part of my growing up thing, that I realised you can’t stay friends sometimes.

“With some people you actually have to have them not in your life in order to be healthy, in order to function the way you need to. You can’t always keep going in relationships. That’s important and true and real and I’m sure it’s real for him too.”

But Amy claims it wasn’t Ben and William leaving that took up so much time from Fallen to the new album The Open Door, which is out on October 2.

The band toured for a year and a half, finishing up in October 2004 with Terry and Amy starting to write.

She said: “I moved to New York in March but back then I was in my house in LA with Terry, writing all the time. Sometimes I wouldn’t leave for three days.

“That’s kind of weird and unhealthy.

“And the reason the writing took so long is because I wasn’t going to release something until it was worthy, until it was awesome.

“But this time I felt more free to do whatever writing-wise, so I took my time and made it pretty good.

“But now that the record is finished I can finally take a deep breath and let it go. I feel so proud of it and happy with it that the hard part of it feels like it’s over.”

Amy is also in a relationship with an old friend that she’s known since she was a teenager and who is now a therapist.

She says: “We were just friends who met a long time ago. There was always chemistry there but it needed to be the right time.”

Call Me When You’re Sober can be downloaded this week and is out on CD on September 25. Their album, The Open Door, is out on October 2.

The Daily Record

A couple of years have passed since Evanescence toured the globe in support of its multiplatinum 2003 debut, ‘Fallen,’ and the band is eagerly awaiting round two.

‘They`re very excited to get the [new] music out there and have a chance to play it,’ says manager Andy Lurie of 110 Management.

The rockers haven`t long to wait; another worldwide trek is in the works. This time around Evanescence will take a slightly different, more relaxed approach to global domination. “They intend to tour smart this time,” Lurie says. “I think they suffered from a little burnout last time because they didn`t build in any reasonable breaks. They pretty much toured nonstop for up to 18 months.”

Seventy concerts reported to Billboard Boxscore between Feb. 25, 2003, and Aug. 14, 2004, show that Evanescence pulled in $8.6 million. Twenty-three of those gigs were sellouts.

Two days after ‘The Open Door’ hits stores Oct. 3 via Wind-up Records, Evanescence will embark on the first leg of its jaunt, playing 17 dates in 1,200- to 3,300-capacity venues across the United States and Canada. Tickets range from $25 to $35, and New York-based band Revelation Theory supports on all dates. The idea was to start off light and give Evanescence`s “core crowd” a chance to see the band up close and personal. “This is sort of their way of thanking fans for being so patient,” Lurie says.

Creative Artists Agency`s Jenna Adler, who represents the band in North America, says New York`s Hammerstein Ballroom and Los Angeles` Wiltern LG sold out immediately following the Aug. 19 general on-sale. “It definitely created the buzz we wanted,” Adler says. “They had such a huge first record that people were wondering if, on the second record, they could continue this growth pattern. It`s quite obvious they have.”

Along with the upcoming trek linked to the release of ‘The Open Door,’ Adler says she strategically coordinated with Wind-up to give the album`s first single, “Call Me When You`re Sober,” radio play to build interest in ticket sales. “What you see happening more and more is labels and agencies collaborating more in terms of setting up an artist and making sure all the t`s are crossed and the i`s are dotted,” she says.

After the North American run ends Oct. 29, Evanescence will head to Europe to play 2,000- to 4,000-capacity venues. From there the band will return stateside for radio concerts (including top 40 radio station WHTZ [Z100] New York`s annual Jingle Ball ) and TV appearances. Then it`s off to Japan, Australia and New Zealand to ring in the new year, according to Lurie, who says dates are still tentative. Geoff Meall of the Agency Group books the band worldwide (except South America) out of TAG`s London office.

Once spring rolls around, Evanescence plans to revisit North America to play 5,000- to 7,000-seat buildings. The intent is to hit secondary markets for a six-week run, says Adler, who explains that it`s better to take gradual steps before jumping to amphitheaters and arenas. ‘We don`t want to go zero to 60 in a second,’ she explains. “I think it pays to take the appropriate steps at the appropriate time, and leave people wanting more every time.” Ticket prices will most likely stay in the range of $25-$35, she adds.

Another key place of interest is South America. Lurie notes that Evanescence has a strong following in the region, and didn`t have a chance to tour there the last time around. The band is also scheduled for a two-song appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards Latin America, which takes place Oct. 19 in Mexico City.

Evanescence star Amy Lee’s mother was so worried about the dark lyrics her daughter penned when she first started songwriting, she suggested the teen try counseling.

The goth-rock queen admits her early attempts at poetry and lyrics were sinister and must have terrified her poor mother.
She explains, “She heard me writing music in my room when I was a teenager.
She was like, ‘What are you singing?’ and I read her some lyrics.
“She said, ‘I wonder if you need to talk to somebody.” Lee reveals her moody temperament and that chat with her mother left her feeling she should self-medicate herself.

The ‘Fallen’ singer says, “I thought about taking antidepressants, but I think that takes your soul away.” But Lee now realises her early angst was a reaction to the death of her three-year-old sister when she was six.
She adds, “I was getting a perspective that most people don’t get until they’re adults. I started writing dramatic poetry when I was 10 - it’s all about eternity and loneliness.”

Goth-rocker Amy Lee accepts her lyrics can be dark and depressing at times - but she has learned they actually help save lives too. The Evanescence singer hopes her songs about loneliness and desperation help troubled fans realise they’re not the only ones going through difficult times - she’s been there too.

But now Lee has a more upbeat view of life, she’s thrilled to hear suicidal fans have chosen life over death after listening to her songs. She explains, “I’m all about making people feel like they’re not alone. One fan told me they were seriously contemplating suicide, but that night they were playing our album, something pulled them back from the edge. “I know how it feels to be completely alone and helpless, and the last thing you want to hear in that situation is, ‘It’s going to be OK.’ “The only thing that seems to really help is that someone else who has felt that low expressing those feelings to you.”

Evanescence singer Amy Lee is still mad at herself for staying in an abusive romance with ex Ben Moody for three years - because her own lyrics were telling her it was time to move on. The couple, who formed the goth-rock group together, split shortly before Moody quit the band in 2003, and Lee has never been happier. But she accepts she could have been happier a lot earlier in her life if she’d taken heed of the songs she wrote with Moody.

She tells America’s Spin magazine, “After I recorded those songs, I was listening to my own words on ‘Going Under’. When it goes to the chorus, what I would have loved to hear myself sing is, ‘I’m leaving and I’m not going to put up with this anymore.’ But instead the line is, ‘I’m going under, drowning in you.’ “I was thinking to myself, ‘You know what you need to do, and you’re not doing it.’” Lee admits the night she heard her ex was planning to quit the group in the middle of a tour, she refused to beg him to stay. She adds, “Ben is all about the drama. He’s done a lot of irrational things, so you learn not to be surprised by anything.

“Ben was a really unhappy person. When you’re miserable, you don’t want anyone around you to be happy. So, with him gone, we felt like a weight had been lifted. I have pictures from that day. We all look giddy.” Lee admits she hasn’t spoken to Moody since meeting him briefly at the Grammy Awards in 2004. Moody, now an in-demand songwriter, declined to comment for the Spin article. Lee signs off on her relationship with Moody on new track ‘The Last Song I’m Wasting On You’.