Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / Victim Or Villain: A Sonic Journey With AMANDA LYBERG From EVA UNDER FIRE

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Victim Or Villain: A Sonic Journey With AMANDA LYBERG From EVA UNDER FIRE · HEAVY Music Interviews

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  Speaker 1: Hey, I'm Amanda from Eva Underfire and we're so excited
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: to release our brand new album.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Villainous Fantasy. Thanks for joining us today.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Thank you for having me. I appreciate you my pleasures.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: So, Eva under Fire release your second album, villain This
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  Speaker 2: on July the tenth, which isn't far away now. So
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  Speaker 2: how are you feeling?
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  Speaker 1: It's an exciting time. It feels like a long time coming.
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  Speaker 1: You know, we spent two years writing this album, which
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  Speaker 1: feels like, you know, forever when you're so focused on
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  Speaker 1: playing live shows. So it feels really great to finally
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  Speaker 1: be at a point where we are releasing it and
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  Speaker 1: getting back into the swing of things and seeing all
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  Speaker 1: our hard work come to fruition.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah right, Can you tell us me more about the
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  Speaker 2: album from a musical point of view and what you're
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: gone for this? John Red?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, album one felt great, but it felt
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  Speaker 1: like there was a lot of people telling us what
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  Speaker 1: we were supposed to be doing, and so this time around,
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  Speaker 1: it was way more important for us to just say no,
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  Speaker 1: you know what, We're going to throw out the rule book.
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  Speaker 1: We want to do what we want to do, we
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  Speaker 1: want to say what we want to say. We want
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  Speaker 1: to say how we want to say it, and I was.
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  Speaker 1: I was very excited that my guys were all like, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: there's got to be more like Amanda kind of lyrics
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  Speaker 1: on this album. So I feel like it was more
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  Speaker 1: like poetic. I feel like it was darker and grittier
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  Speaker 1: and had a lot of like really honest themes. So
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  Speaker 1: it felt more like a self discovery journey and a
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  Speaker 1: lot more authentic, I think than the first record. We
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  Speaker 1: really felt like we were stepping into our own writing
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  Speaker 1: this album.
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  Speaker 2: You released the single was villain as Awakening, Murdercine and
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  Speaker 2: the words you say so today to start a representation
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  Speaker 2: of the whole album, would you say?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think even just with that small sub section,
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  Speaker 1: there's a couple of different studios that we wrote all
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  Speaker 1: that in, so yeah, pretty cool.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, what's up some meaning behind writ in different studios?
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  Speaker 1: You know? It was interesting to me that we went
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  Speaker 1: and we did this with different producers and in different studios,
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  Speaker 1: And what I love though about what we got was
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  Speaker 1: we kind of took what was working from each of
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  Speaker 1: those but I felt like we as a band stayed
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  Speaker 1: in the driver's seat, which is why the album still
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  Speaker 1: feels very cohesive because and I'm just very proud of
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  Speaker 1: that because I feel like it speaks to us as
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  Speaker 1: as a band and as writers that we were able
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  Speaker 1: to do that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so how would you say that it differs musically
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  Speaker 2: to your debut Love Drugs than Misery.
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  Speaker 1: We definitely got a lot grittier and a lot heavier.
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  Speaker 1: So we're very you know, we grew up in the
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  Speaker 1: era of new metal, and so when myself and my
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  Speaker 1: guitar players Chris and Rob were in the studio and
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  Speaker 1: we were first out in La writing some of the
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  Speaker 1: early earliest stuff on the album, and Chris brought this cool,
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  Speaker 1: like bouncy, gritty riff to the table that he had
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  Speaker 1: which would later become my own name, and you know,
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  Speaker 1: he was like, I really like this riff. I think
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  Speaker 1: we could start with this and kind of get a vibe.
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  Speaker 1: And the producer said, yeah, I really like that riff,
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  Speaker 1: but here, play it on this guitar instead, and he
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  Speaker 1: ended us some kind of low drop tunes spirit box
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  Speaker 1: type of sound, and we were like, whoa, that's a
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  Speaker 1: super drops here and guitar Like, I don't know, you know,
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  Speaker 1: but we followed it and saw it through and it
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  Speaker 1: really felt like, Wow, this is a cool sound, this
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  Speaker 1: is what we need to follow for the new album.
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  Speaker 1: And out of that session came songs the Words You
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  Speaker 1: Say and my own name Nice. Nice.
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  Speaker 2: Compared to that album, like Villainous, feels much more personal
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  Speaker 2: to your narrative, as you were saying before, rather than
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  Speaker 2: just from the presider ava. So was it intimidating in
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  Speaker 2: a way to peel back the lie as well that
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  Speaker 2: and have more of you come through on this one?
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  Speaker 1: I think it was freeing more than anything. Truly. It
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  Speaker 1: was more like cathartic, you know. I felt like it
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  Speaker 1: was me journaling and just handing it over to people
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  Speaker 1: felt way more, you know. Like I said, it felt good.
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  Speaker 1: It felt good to kind of, you know, be just
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  Speaker 1: who I am, but all of me and not shy
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  Speaker 1: away from not feeling like I had to curate so much, you.
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  Speaker 2: Know, Nice. So, what lessons do you think you've learned
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  Speaker 2: from Love, Drugs and Misery you carried through what the
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  Speaker 2: villain is?
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  Speaker 1: You know, I've not been asked that one yet. That's
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  Speaker 1: a really great question, because I do think some of
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  Speaker 1: the early songs on the Love, Drugs and Misery album
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  Speaker 1: that really paved the way for Villainous was songs like
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  Speaker 1: Comotos and Heroin. Those ones felt like they came from
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  Speaker 1: a different place, like a more authentic story, you know.
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  Speaker 1: And I think because of that, and because of playing
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  Speaker 1: those songs live and seeing how people responded to them,
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  Speaker 1: Like one of the you know songs that it wasn't
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  Speaker 1: necessarily ever pushed to to radio as a single, but
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  Speaker 1: one of the first ones that the audience started singing
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  Speaker 1: back to us was Heroin and that that kind of
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  Speaker 1: stuff is like just really cool to see that and
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  Speaker 1: and experience that live. So I think it really informed
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  Speaker 1: the direction for villain Us.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and on this album, you also lend into your
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  Speaker 2: training as a licensed therapist to open up the lines
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  Speaker 2: of communication and creativity with your bandmates. So what would
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  Speaker 2: that process like. Did they embrace that or they've been
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  Speaker 2: resistant of us?
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  Speaker 1: I think they really embraced it. I mean I did
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  Speaker 1: so in a way that was kind of more a conversation,
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  Speaker 1: you know, And I wanted to open it up for
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  Speaker 1: anybody who wanted to kind of explore a little deeper,
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  Speaker 1: because I felt like if we were going to be
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  Speaker 1: honest with this album, that it needed to be all
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  Speaker 1: of us. We've been in a band for ten years,
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  Speaker 1: playing in the same garage for ten years. We grew
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  Speaker 1: up playing music together half our lives, and so I
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  Speaker 1: think a lot of these themes are collectively felt. And
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  Speaker 1: even though I write from the perspective that is my
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  Speaker 1: own personal story, you know, my band's not been without hardship.
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  Speaker 1: You know, Rob has felt it different ways. Chris has
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  Speaker 1: gone through some things ed too, you know. So I
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  Speaker 1: really wanted to, like I guess, make it more of
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  Speaker 1: a collective experience, and so some of the things that
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  Speaker 1: they they said were more like validating that we were
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  Speaker 1: going in the right direction, and so I think that
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  Speaker 1: felt good too.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And how about right for yourself? Like when you
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  Speaker 2: were writing it, was it therapeutic for you? What did
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  Speaker 2: you find yourself up to me being like a little
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  Speaker 2: eye analytical at times?
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  Speaker 1: No, I think it was mostly cathartic. I think when
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  Speaker 1: we were, you know, writing, I kind of one of
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  Speaker 1: the things maybe that we did learn on the first
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  Speaker 1: album was just sort of letting the song breathe, letting
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  Speaker 1: the song kind of show itself to you as you're
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  Speaker 1: in the studio and sort of being with just that
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  Speaker 1: piece of music, you know, and it kind of does
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  Speaker 1: focus the energy a bit, you know, so it's not
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  Speaker 1: this huge concept at first. I feel like the concept
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  Speaker 1: album and the way that I understood it kind of
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  Speaker 1: came later, you know. But in the moment, I'm working
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  Speaker 1: on those individual songs as though they're puzzle pieces, and
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  Speaker 1: then it's like, as soon as all of that was done,
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  Speaker 1: we put all the puzzle pieces together, and then it
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  Speaker 1: just jumped out at me. I was like, this is
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  Speaker 1: a self discovery journey. This is villainous, you're not.
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  Speaker 2: And in reference to the album'shuttle, you've mentioned that just
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  Speaker 2: because someone cools you villainous, it doesn't mean that you're
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  Speaker 2: actually the villain. Like, that's a very interesting concept.
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  Speaker 1: Can you all right on that?
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  Speaker 2: Froze?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah? I think that, you know, as we mature and
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  Speaker 1: go through things in life, not everybody's going to agree
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  Speaker 1: with how you do things what you said at that
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  Speaker 1: one moment, you know, and that's that's okay. They're going
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  Speaker 1: to tell you that you're the problem, but that doesn't
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  Speaker 1: necessarily mean that you're the problem. It just means that
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  Speaker 1: they didn't like how you handled it, and that's for them.
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  Speaker 1: They can have their opinion, but that doesn't mean that
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  Speaker 1: you have to change what you did or apologize for
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  Speaker 1: what you did. I mean, it might mean that, but
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  Speaker 1: I think so many people walk around this planet with
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  Speaker 1: anxiety about like people pleasing and trying to make sure
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  Speaker 1: everybody agrees with what they're doing. And some times, when
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  Speaker 1: the situation is dire, you can't afford to think about
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  Speaker 1: it how everybody else wants you to do things.
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  Speaker 2: Very Well said, very Well said. When you released a single,
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  Speaker 2: Villain As He included a button on the music video
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  Speaker 2: where people could donate to write Love on her Arms
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  Speaker 2: charity tell us peak more about that.
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  Speaker 1: It was a cool partnership, truly, because so as you
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  Speaker 1: alluded to, I have two career paths. I am a
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  Speaker 1: singer of a Barack band called Eva under Fire, and
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  Speaker 1: I am also a Michigan based psychotherapist. So you know,
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  Speaker 1: it's really cool when I see an organization doing some
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  Speaker 1: really heavy lifting in the mental health world, and to
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  Speaker 1: write Love on our Arms serves a population that could
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  Speaker 1: not otherwise afford care. So when we talk about a
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  Speaker 1: lot of mental health themes on our albums, I kind
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  Speaker 1: of wanted us to put some money where our mouth
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  Speaker 1: was and see if we could help, you know, somebody
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  Speaker 1: out to get a few more sessions in or get
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  Speaker 1: some help that they needed dealing with their own demons.
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  Speaker 1: I think that's one of the themes in the music
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  Speaker 1: video of Villainous that we wanted to kind of come
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  Speaker 1: through with. You know, it's more than just me fighting
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  Speaker 1: a bunch of like black plaid samurai sword. You know,
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  Speaker 1: those are like internal demons, you know what I mean,
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  Speaker 1: You're battling your own demons, and so to write love
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  Speaker 1: on our Arms helps people battling their own demons, and
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  Speaker 1: so it just made sense.
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  Speaker 2: And so how did your fans respond to that? Did
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  Speaker 2: they did they get minded?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah? There was there were several people that were like, oh,
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  Speaker 1: this is a really cool thing. And I know there's
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  Speaker 1: a lot of other bands who have supported to write
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Love on our Arms, and so they're like, oh, I've
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  Speaker 1: seen these T shirts and stuff like that, Like nothing more.
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  Speaker 1: I think Mark really like goes up there and wears
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: their T shirts and stuff. They're like, oh, I've seen that,
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  Speaker 1: you know before. So I also think it was like
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  Speaker 1: a brand name that was pretty familiar for people, and
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  Speaker 1: so I think that it was a pretty trusted source
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: and I think that was helpful, very well done.
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  Speaker 2: Now I've been to the last couple of years. The
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  Speaker 2: band has been playing together is more or less the
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: garage band for a long time, and now you're playing
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: ampitheaters with bands like Wiping Death Punch. So how has
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: that transition impacted the band and how your approached plany live?
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  Speaker 1: It's created a little bit more anxiety together, you know,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: make sure we're ready. But but I think that you know,
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  Speaker 1: we knew when we wrote this album that we wanted
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  Speaker 1: to elevate everything, and I think that includes the live
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  Speaker 1: show because our goal as a band has always been
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: to step onto the biggest stages that we can get onto.
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  Speaker 1: We love playing, you know, so to be able to
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  Speaker 1: not only release this brand new album and have you know,
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  Speaker 1: major songs with major features, doing big things, you know,
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  Speaker 1: to step on big stages that are amphitheaters with you know,
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  Speaker 1: one of the most successful bands on our label, it's incredible.
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  Speaker 1: It's incredible. The opportunity is massive. We're going to play
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  Speaker 1: almost sixty shows. We're going out from July through October.
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  Speaker 1: So I We're we're pretty We're pretty thrilled. We're pretty thrilled.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, we've we got new gear, we got new songs.
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  Speaker 1: We got new costume stage stuff, you know, to wear
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: up there. So I think I think we're ready.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, kill. I did not have a look through the tour
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: schedule before and analy is sixty o dights. He's not
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: on this part of the world you're playing on common
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: to Australia.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Not yet, it's not yet over there. Well I will,
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  Speaker 1: I will implore you, as I have my other Australian
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  Speaker 1: friends who I've talked to, if you will help me
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  Speaker 1: blow this album out of the water, we will certainly
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: come to Australia because we go with the damandas. So
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: you tell us that you love Villainous, we tell our
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: booking agent please put us on a plane so or
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: however we get to where you're at multiple.
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  Speaker 2: Do you remember the first time I heard one of
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  Speaker 2: your songs on radio? And what song was it? And
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  Speaker 2: where were you at the time?
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  Speaker 1: We do, Well, it's such a it's such a perfect
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  Speaker 1: like almost like you wrote it in a movie type
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  Speaker 1: of moment. So we were it was. It was on
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: a Love, Drugs and Misery album and it was when
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: Blow first went to radio and we we were in
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: New York. We were in Manhattan doing a showcase, I think,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: and a photo shoot as well. Maybe it was just
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: a photo shoot, but we were in a taxi, all
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: of us in Manhattan, and the cab driver just so
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: happened to have serious XM octane on and it had
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: come on to test drive and they were playing blow
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: on test Drive for the first time. So we were
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: all huddled up around the radio. Turn it up, turn
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: it up? Did you gust my god? You know?
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: Did he turn it off? Yeah?
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, oh he did. He was like, this is you guys,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: let's go, you know. He was very cool. So yeah,
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: it was. It was a wonderful moment. It was. It
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: was like, couldn't have couldn't have pictured it better if
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: you tried.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's beautiful. I will thanks very much for your
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: timing to be an absolute pleasure speaking with you, Villainess
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: is the outsoli, the chance that I'll be fortunate, I'll
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: be listening and it is the damn fine album. So
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: hopefully everyone does get behind it, I'd hear, and we
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: see you spinner rather than later.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: Thank you, I certainly hope. So take good care of
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: my friend.