In 2003, after Evanescence has released the first album and hit the big time with the hard rock single "Bring Me To Life," founding guitarist and co-songwriter Ben Moody abruptly left the band, citing artistic differences with his former best friend, frontwoman Amy Lee.
Although Lee talked about how Ben’s focus was being on commercially successful and hers was on being creative, Moody never went on record about his departure. Seven years later, he’s ready to talk.
In a post on an Evanescence fan site, Moody (who is now a member of We Are the Fallen) explained his point of view on the situation:
"A cruel fact of life is that the person you are at 15, doesn't resemble the person you are at 18 and 21… and today I in no way resemble the person I was when I was in Evanescence. Sometimes you grow together and sometimes you grow apart. We both contributed to the resentment of the deterioration of our friendship that quickly turned into a downward spiral of animosity, conflicting opinions, and a very volatile environment. By the time we went on tour to support Fallen, it sadly was over. Ironically, it was Amy and my absolute equal devotion to Evanescence that drove us to such extreme opposition. We had such opposing desires and personalities that mixed with the pride of youth and inexperience (and an extreme amount of insecurity and loss of direction on my part) led to an all out war."
According to Moody’s post, he was trying to force Lee – his friend since 1994, who had gotten most of the media attention as singer – out of the group.
"I had tried before, out of ignorance, pride, and resentment, to convince Amy that she should leave. That we’d be better off and Evanescence didn’t need her," he wrote. "I was hurt, and wanted her to hurt like me. Amy, if for some reason you happen to see this, I hope you know I never truly believed that. There was no way I would ever let someone walk on that stage and sing your lyrics."
Moody went on to write about his frustration with Evanescence fans who complain about We Are The Fallen ripping off the band’s sound.
"If [We Are the Fallen] appear to be reminiscent in style, it’s because it’s written and performed by the very same damn people," Moody wrote, referencing himself, but also former Evanescence members John LeCompt (guitar) and Rocky Gray (drums). "Accusing me of ripping off myself is just silly."
Thanks for the report to Bryan Wawzenek, Gibson.com
