Catching Up with Carly!
As contestants go, few females in “American Idol” history were as bombastic as Carly Smithson. The Season 7 rocker, one of three in that year’s Top 12 if you include David Cook and Michael Johns, brought all the grit she could muster into the competition, only to be eliminated in sixth place after a downright inspiring version of “Jesus Christ Superstar” during Andrew Lloyd Webber week.
But though she always seemed perfectly at ease on the “Idol” stage, Carly, surprisingly, confesses she “was uncomfortable the whole time.” “I wasn’t ready to win,” she tells Idol Tracker. “I had to come off of the show and define myself as an artist, to show people who I really am.”
And did she ever. A year after her elimination, and through a series of coincidental connections, Carly met Ben Moody, the co-founder of Evanescence who had parted ways with singer Amy Lee back in 2003. (It was not lost on either that Carly sang Evanescence’s breakout hit, “Bring Me to Life,” which Ben co-wrote, on the “Idol” summer tour.) Ben, along with fellow original members John LeCompt and Rocky Gray, were looking to do their own thing, and Carly turned out to be the perfect fit for a new band called We Are the Fallen. Their debut, “Tear the World Down,” which includes the single “Bury Me Alive,” co-written by Carly, is out on Tuesday. Their headlining tour starts Thursday.
Read on for our Q&A with the Irish-born Smithson (nee Carly Hennessy) in which she tries to explain why Season 7 is so tight and tells of a recent wedding she attended featuring a very familiar wedding singer - Season 9’s Michael Lynche!
Read Carly's very informative Q&A with Los Angeles Times writer Shirley Halperin
Have you been watching “Idol” at all this year?
Not really. Our satellite is a little temperamental on the bus, and I’m usually on stage when “Idol” is on. And with the boys, it’s a horror movie fest every night. I swear I've never seen so many horror movies in my life. It’s insane.
What have you been hearing about the season?
The only person I've heard about is Crystal [Bowersox]. I know everybody likes her a lot, so I wish her the best of luck. Mike Lynche I have met, though. One of my greatest friends had a wedding in New York this past December, I sang in the church and then Mike Lynche was the wedding singer that was booked, which is crazy! I literally caught a glance at the TV one night and I was, like, that’s that guy from the wedding! I went on Facebook and looked at all my friends’ pictures from the wedding and it’s totally him. I was so wasted at the end of the night and stole the mic from him, but he was amazing!
Your season seems to be really good at keeping in touch, maybe even more so than other seasons. What is it about that year?
I don’t know. I think that’s an experience that you will hold for the rest of your life that nobody else will ever understand: to be under the microscope of not only America, but the world. And I think as someone from another country, it was a little bit more real to me as to how many people were looking at us in that one moment when the light goes on the camera. I don’t think you'll ever experience something like that with other people around you, so it’s definitely a bonding experience and I will never lose touch with them. Oddly enough, Brooke White and I became best friends. We couldn’t be more different, but we found something in common, we've stuck together as friends and meet for lunch all the time. I just went to see Dave [Cook] in concert in Palm Springs, I got up and sang “Barracuda” with him, it was great. David Archuleta came to our show in Utah and met the whole band -- cute as a button! Jason Castro seems to be following our tour. Every night, I go to a venue and the next night will be Jason Castro. Orlando I missed him by a day; Atlanta a day, San Diego… Like, stop following me!
Did the right person win Season 7?
A lot of people ask me about winning or not winning, and I think the best person won. Musically, I wasn't ready. I had to come off of the show and define myself as an artist, to show people who I really am. I struggled with the situation -- just singing cover songs, I was uncomfortable the whole time, but Dave was not. To me, singing a Beatles song or Dolly Parton sounds weird. They were all things that I would never sing in my life.... So the whole quick “Idol” thing didn’t work for me, I'll be the first to admit it. But it really worked for Dave.
As one of “Idol’s” louder rock voices, do you feel vindicated having lost the competition but ending up in a rock band that’s poised for success?
I do. I feel like I did everything in my power to make this happen, and I’m just thanking my lucky stars. This is where my passion is, it’s where my heart is and I turned a lot of things down purely because I had this thing inside me, where I knew it was gonna happen. So I’m just really happy.
Are you referring to after “Idol”? What kind of things were you turning down?
After “Idol,” a lot of people misunderstood where I was trying to go as an artist. I remember having a conversation with my husband where I said, “No compromise.” I had to start writing the music myself, because nobody is there to understand exactly what your goal is, but I knew and when I met these guys, I saw it was their goal too. So we all came together and just blended perfectly. We complement each other. For me, I was either gonna have this or nothing at all. I had to have the realization that I could be completely screwing myself forever, by being so adamant that this was going to be the only type of music I was going to make, but it all worked out and I’m stoked.
Coming in as a songwriter when Ben is already so successful in that field, how was that for you?
I was obviously a little intimidated when I first met them, but I’ve been writing for years. I showed them “Bury Me Alive,” which was a song I had written in Atlanta, but I needed a producer to take it to that next level, and they did. They completed the song as I originally dreamed it. When we had our first meeting, I was very adamant that they wouldn’t take over. I said, “I wanna write a huge portion of this record,” so we all collaborated. It was like this little little factory of people bouncing ideas off each other. Everybody has their place and their part -- I mainly take care of melody and lyrics, I leave the music to the boys -- and it all works perfectly together. After having them so excited over that first song, it gave me that confidence to continue working with them.
Having been through the music business ringer, and now that the band is signed to Universal/Republic, the same parent company that infamously signed you back in 1999, do you feel like you got a better deal this time around?
Of course. Back then, I was a teenager and what does a teenager know? Nobody listens to them. I feel like now I’m an adult and in this band, we call our own shots. We're very involved with everything in our career, from our songs down to our album cover. We've all learned so much over the years and have had these dreams of wanting to do this or that, but it was never the right moment. And now, it’s the right moment. Our record company has been completely supportive and they've allowed us to spread our wings and fly away. It’s amazing. I’m so happy with this label.
What is the biggest change you've noticed in the music industry between your first time around and now?
Obviously record sales. The whole digital world was just happening when I started. Everything evolves and everything changes. The way people make music nowadays is very different. But with this band, we actually went old school: We had a full orchestra, a choir, the whole record is live musicians. It’s very real and organic. Our idea for this record was Tim Burton meets the “Braveheart” soundtrack.
How would you define success for this album?
To get to make another one. That’s what’s great about this band; we've all been there and done the whole fame thing, and that’s not what we're here for. We’re here to be creative and make music. Like Lady Gaga, she puts all her money back into everything she does, she just wants to create everyday, and I think we're the same.
Did you and Ben discuss your version of “Bring Me to Life?”
He kind of chuckled at the whole R&B vibe it. On “Idol” tour, the contestants don't get to produce the music that’s played behind them, and that was as rock as it gets. Actually, that was one song I didn’t want to sing, not because I don’t love the song, but because I’m pitchy as hell! And I almost didn’t sing it on the tour, but it was too late, the instrumentation was already being done. I wanted to do “Stairway to Heaven” but the [tour producer] said “Bring Me to Life” fits with the rest of the program. It was ironic.
You’re playing Iron Maiden’s “Flight of Icarus” during your set? Why that song?
The best band ever! I actually wanted to do it on “American Idol” as a ballad, but it didn't work out -- clearances and stuff. It’s such a great song and has a soaring chorus. Plus, I learned about that story in school. But I just love Iron Maiden. My dream duet would be singing “Run to the Hills” with Jack Black.
You spent some time as a child touring with "Les Miserables" (playing young Cosette). I’m curious what you thought of Susan Boyle’s “I Dreamed a Dream.”
I don’t really know her version, but good for her! That’s like a fairy tale: cat lady from Blackburn goes on stage, sells more records that year than anybody. Love that! Even with “Idol,” it’s how you’ll meet some contestants that have never seen a stoplight before. Simon Fuller hit the nail on the head when he came up with this concept; you can’t find better background stories anywhere.
Source: Idol Tracker
But though she always seemed perfectly at ease on the “Idol” stage, Carly, surprisingly, confesses she “was uncomfortable the whole time.” “I wasn’t ready to win,” she tells Idol Tracker. “I had to come off of the show and define myself as an artist, to show people who I really am.”
And did she ever. A year after her elimination, and through a series of coincidental connections, Carly met Ben Moody, the co-founder of Evanescence who had parted ways with singer Amy Lee back in 2003. (It was not lost on either that Carly sang Evanescence’s breakout hit, “Bring Me to Life,” which Ben co-wrote, on the “Idol” summer tour.) Ben, along with fellow original members John LeCompt and Rocky Gray, were looking to do their own thing, and Carly turned out to be the perfect fit for a new band called We Are the Fallen. Their debut, “Tear the World Down,” which includes the single “Bury Me Alive,” co-written by Carly, is out on Tuesday. Their headlining tour starts Thursday.
Read on for our Q&A with the Irish-born Smithson (nee Carly Hennessy) in which she tries to explain why Season 7 is so tight and tells of a recent wedding she attended featuring a very familiar wedding singer - Season 9’s Michael Lynche!
Read Carly's very informative Q&A with Los Angeles Times writer Shirley Halperin
Have you been watching “Idol” at all this year?
Not really. Our satellite is a little temperamental on the bus, and I’m usually on stage when “Idol” is on. And with the boys, it’s a horror movie fest every night. I swear I've never seen so many horror movies in my life. It’s insane.
What have you been hearing about the season?
The only person I've heard about is Crystal [Bowersox]. I know everybody likes her a lot, so I wish her the best of luck. Mike Lynche I have met, though. One of my greatest friends had a wedding in New York this past December, I sang in the church and then Mike Lynche was the wedding singer that was booked, which is crazy! I literally caught a glance at the TV one night and I was, like, that’s that guy from the wedding! I went on Facebook and looked at all my friends’ pictures from the wedding and it’s totally him. I was so wasted at the end of the night and stole the mic from him, but he was amazing!
Your season seems to be really good at keeping in touch, maybe even more so than other seasons. What is it about that year?
I don’t know. I think that’s an experience that you will hold for the rest of your life that nobody else will ever understand: to be under the microscope of not only America, but the world. And I think as someone from another country, it was a little bit more real to me as to how many people were looking at us in that one moment when the light goes on the camera. I don’t think you'll ever experience something like that with other people around you, so it’s definitely a bonding experience and I will never lose touch with them. Oddly enough, Brooke White and I became best friends. We couldn’t be more different, but we found something in common, we've stuck together as friends and meet for lunch all the time. I just went to see Dave [Cook] in concert in Palm Springs, I got up and sang “Barracuda” with him, it was great. David Archuleta came to our show in Utah and met the whole band -- cute as a button! Jason Castro seems to be following our tour. Every night, I go to a venue and the next night will be Jason Castro. Orlando I missed him by a day; Atlanta a day, San Diego… Like, stop following me!
Did the right person win Season 7?
A lot of people ask me about winning or not winning, and I think the best person won. Musically, I wasn't ready. I had to come off of the show and define myself as an artist, to show people who I really am. I struggled with the situation -- just singing cover songs, I was uncomfortable the whole time, but Dave was not. To me, singing a Beatles song or Dolly Parton sounds weird. They were all things that I would never sing in my life.... So the whole quick “Idol” thing didn’t work for me, I'll be the first to admit it. But it really worked for Dave.
As one of “Idol’s” louder rock voices, do you feel vindicated having lost the competition but ending up in a rock band that’s poised for success?
I do. I feel like I did everything in my power to make this happen, and I’m just thanking my lucky stars. This is where my passion is, it’s where my heart is and I turned a lot of things down purely because I had this thing inside me, where I knew it was gonna happen. So I’m just really happy.
Are you referring to after “Idol”? What kind of things were you turning down?
After “Idol,” a lot of people misunderstood where I was trying to go as an artist. I remember having a conversation with my husband where I said, “No compromise.” I had to start writing the music myself, because nobody is there to understand exactly what your goal is, but I knew and when I met these guys, I saw it was their goal too. So we all came together and just blended perfectly. We complement each other. For me, I was either gonna have this or nothing at all. I had to have the realization that I could be completely screwing myself forever, by being so adamant that this was going to be the only type of music I was going to make, but it all worked out and I’m stoked.
Coming in as a songwriter when Ben is already so successful in that field, how was that for you?
I was obviously a little intimidated when I first met them, but I’ve been writing for years. I showed them “Bury Me Alive,” which was a song I had written in Atlanta, but I needed a producer to take it to that next level, and they did. They completed the song as I originally dreamed it. When we had our first meeting, I was very adamant that they wouldn’t take over. I said, “I wanna write a huge portion of this record,” so we all collaborated. It was like this little little factory of people bouncing ideas off each other. Everybody has their place and their part -- I mainly take care of melody and lyrics, I leave the music to the boys -- and it all works perfectly together. After having them so excited over that first song, it gave me that confidence to continue working with them.
Having been through the music business ringer, and now that the band is signed to Universal/Republic, the same parent company that infamously signed you back in 1999, do you feel like you got a better deal this time around?
Of course. Back then, I was a teenager and what does a teenager know? Nobody listens to them. I feel like now I’m an adult and in this band, we call our own shots. We're very involved with everything in our career, from our songs down to our album cover. We've all learned so much over the years and have had these dreams of wanting to do this or that, but it was never the right moment. And now, it’s the right moment. Our record company has been completely supportive and they've allowed us to spread our wings and fly away. It’s amazing. I’m so happy with this label.
What is the biggest change you've noticed in the music industry between your first time around and now?
Obviously record sales. The whole digital world was just happening when I started. Everything evolves and everything changes. The way people make music nowadays is very different. But with this band, we actually went old school: We had a full orchestra, a choir, the whole record is live musicians. It’s very real and organic. Our idea for this record was Tim Burton meets the “Braveheart” soundtrack.
How would you define success for this album?
To get to make another one. That’s what’s great about this band; we've all been there and done the whole fame thing, and that’s not what we're here for. We’re here to be creative and make music. Like Lady Gaga, she puts all her money back into everything she does, she just wants to create everyday, and I think we're the same.
Did you and Ben discuss your version of “Bring Me to Life?”
He kind of chuckled at the whole R&B vibe it. On “Idol” tour, the contestants don't get to produce the music that’s played behind them, and that was as rock as it gets. Actually, that was one song I didn’t want to sing, not because I don’t love the song, but because I’m pitchy as hell! And I almost didn’t sing it on the tour, but it was too late, the instrumentation was already being done. I wanted to do “Stairway to Heaven” but the [tour producer] said “Bring Me to Life” fits with the rest of the program. It was ironic.
You’re playing Iron Maiden’s “Flight of Icarus” during your set? Why that song?
The best band ever! I actually wanted to do it on “American Idol” as a ballad, but it didn't work out -- clearances and stuff. It’s such a great song and has a soaring chorus. Plus, I learned about that story in school. But I just love Iron Maiden. My dream duet would be singing “Run to the Hills” with Jack Black.
You spent some time as a child touring with "Les Miserables" (playing young Cosette). I’m curious what you thought of Susan Boyle’s “I Dreamed a Dream.”
I don’t really know her version, but good for her! That’s like a fairy tale: cat lady from Blackburn goes on stage, sells more records that year than anybody. Love that! Even with “Idol,” it’s how you’ll meet some contestants that have never seen a stoplight before. Simon Fuller hit the nail on the head when he came up with this concept; you can’t find better background stories anywhere.
Source: Idol Tracker