The end of September is the special time for Russian Evanescence fans, as the band will play three long-anticipated shows (in Voronezh, Moscow and Saint-Petersburg). It’s not just the powerful Amy Lee’s voice singing greatest hits that people are waiting to hear and sing along, it’s the empowering energy of the whole show that keeps the audience counting the days till the gig! This atmosphere is a result of passionate work of all Evanescence members. One of them is Jen Majura, amazing German guitarist who entered the band four years ago and now plays the important role in creating that special vibe.

We first met Jen at Frankfurt Musikmesse, where she gave workshops and played in All Star jam. But recently we reconnected to learn what’s going on in her intense life besides touring with Evanescence! Check it out, Jen has a lot of interesting things going on and lots of wisdom to share!

What do you like about this tour the most, so far?
On this tour we were lucky enough to play in the Italian coliseum in Verona, which is the world’s third biggest coliseum and we almost sold out that place with 15,000 people! It was another milestone and an unforgettable night! Also I had my parents with me that day and it’s been super fun. Then on the other hand we get to see new places like we’ve never seen or played before like Slovakia, which was adventurous!
For the first time ever I use my new amps of the brand Synergy. My guitar tech built the rack and I first got to see it during the rehearsals in Switzerland where we kicked off this European tour. I was extremely excited about the new gear. I have been checking out all the different Synergy Amp preamp modules for weeks at home, and it was the greatest thing to finally play it with the band. I’m extremely happy to have found this new brand as I think it is the best compromise between the old school and modern way. I still use my Helix (4 cable method) and for the Synergy Amp section I mainly use the Friedman HBE module for the heavy sounds. It works amazing!

Awesome! How have you met Synergy?
When I decided to leave my old amp company that I was with for 17 years (!), it was a tough decision for me as I never looked to the left or right. I knew other brands, but had no clue about their products, so I started checking out different amps at music stores to get the greater picture. In the end it was Synergy that really convinced me! At first I was suspicious if these exchangeable preamp modules would sound «real» – but, man, they do! I tried all the different modules and realized how diverse my sound will be like. I can have a certain picture of sound in my mind for Evanescence and then switch to completely different sound for my solo stuff. It gives me so many options and freedom in exploring sounds and I love that.

It’s a strong move to change the amp company, but so great that you keep looking for the best for your true sound! What makes Evanescence shows special for you? Do you have the freedom in solo parts or should everything be played like it is on the album?
We definitely created some live adjustments in some songs and I think it’s cool. I have one solo spot each night during our song «Disappear» and I love it. Most of the times I get so hyper excited that I mess up the solo because I always want to put too much into it, ha-ha-ha.
On the other hand, some songs are played exactly like recorded on the album which also is very enjoyable. The whole Evanescence live vibe is really fun and dynamic, I enjoy every single show.

How have you joined Evanescence?
The story with Evanescence started like this. I played bass in another band (Equilibrium, – K.M.). I wasn’t really happy to play the bass, because I am a guitar player, but I was willing to try. We happened to end up on two festivals on weekend, playing Friday in Germany and Saturday in Czech Republic. And Testament had been on the same bill both days.
I’ve always liked Alex [Skolnick] playing. So we got in contact, spend a lot of time talking about life, musicians, music business, everything…

He’s an amazing person to talk to, not to mention the guitarist…
Oh, yes! About a week later he sent me the very mysterious email saying: “Jen, I have friends, and those friends of mine are going to contact you. I can’t go into details yet, but it is something I recommend you to say “Yes””. Surely, I didn’t understand what he is talking about. But a couple of days later, I received another email saying: “Hello. I am the manager of the band Evanescence. We would kindly ask you if you’re interested in…” I didn’t even finish reading. I saw this, printed “Yes”, pushed “Enter”. Sent! That was the only reaction that I have, and then I finished reading. Then 3 days later, they booked me a flight, so I can spend time with Amy [Lee] to get to know her in New York. I asked her: “Do you want me to bring a guitar with me?” – and she said: “Nah, I know you can play, I saw plenty of videos”. So I said: “Okay, this is interesting!” Imagine, a band that mega-big wants me to be their guitarist and I don’t even have to bring my guitar. Wow! But later, I really understood that it was a very wise thing to do. Rob Zombie said it in his documentary movie “Hired Gun”, and I think it’s so true: If you’re looking for a replacement for one of your band members, first of all, you want a good musician, which is the easiest. The world is full of great talented musicians. Then you are limited down to a person who’s actually cool to do that and is capable to live on tour and stand on stage in front of 20-30 thousands people and do a show! That eliminates the list to a smaller amount of people. But the most difficult and third part is: you have to actually find somebody you can stand to be around 24/7. Because the show only lasts about 90 minutes on stage, but what about the other 22,5 hours of the day? On tour you’re living together, like a family. You will have to spend time with that person. So you need to find somebody who you actually like to hang out with. That’s exactly what Amy did. We spent 3 days in New York walking around, talking girly stuff, talking music, going out for dinner, drinking and laughing. Once we’ve ended up in a vintage guitar store playing guitar together. We sat down and start singing together, I noticed how nice our voices sounded together. Then she looked at me like: “Hey, didn’t I tell you? I was like: “Didn’t you tell me what? Do I have a pimple on my face or what?”. She said: “No, you got the gig!” I slowly said: “Okay”…That’s the story, and it’s Alex Skolnick, who brought me to Evanescence. So I had to ask him to join my album “InZENity” with a solo. I wanted him to create his music and combine it with mine. Thank you, Alex, that’s so wonderful!

What a story! Besides, it’s been almost two years since the release of your second solo album «InZENity»…
Yeah, I expected the world to be more shocked! What I did wrong with my first solo album was that I tried to find the midway between how do I want to sound and how do I think the mainstream needs me to sound to get an airplay and so on. Of course, it was a big failure and it didn’t work out at all. So for the second solo album I decided to just give a f#ck and just do what I want to do, which turned out into a very crazy album. Then I heard the joke zillion gazillions of times «Why didn’t you call it InJENity»…

Not from me!
Thank you! I called it how I wanted it to be. The reason is that I believe in the theory of Zen. I believe you can find your inner calmness and your peaceful inner self as soon as you acknowledge all the opposites, the black along with the white. That’s why my album artwork is black and white, by the way. This album is all about opposites. You can hear fast music and then slow one, even the song writing itself is very dynamic. I really enjoyed doing this album, because it’s 100% me without any compromises. I thought people would go like: “This is too crazy, I don’t understand this album, how could you do this?” But surprisingly, I heard this two times out of a 100, and people actually really seem to like it! That’s so cool, because it means that I can reach people and make them happy with my music!

Do you find yourself unconsciously searching to recreate in your music the 80s vibe and sound of the bands you love, but using modern gear?
Hmm, interesting question. I mean, I personally like the music of «old» Bon Jovi or Europe, the same as I dig Korn, 5FDP or other modern heavy bands, so it’s hard to say. First of all, I needed to find a sound that I like and that fits the musical style of Evanescence, but in addition to that, I wanted to be able to add more sound variety. So using different preamp modules is like the top notch solution for me!

Yeah, and your music is quite diverse, right?
It is full of different styles. It goes from crazy prog stuff, hard rock and metal riffs to an acoustic ballad and something like Paul Simon’s «50 Ways To Leave Your Lover» kind of song. I even have one instrumental track on that album. So it’s super diverse and that’s what I like! When I listen to music and I want to enjoy it, I don’t want to limit myself, for example, with just power metal or just thrash. I listen to all kinds of stuff. I would listen to «Korn» as well as «Arch Enemy», then I would go to Gloria Gaynor or Lady Gaga, or some classical stuff! So if I listen and like all styles of music, why would I limit myself when it comes to writing it? So I’ve just enjoyed every piece of different style that I could put into my album and it became a whole one very diverse and beautiful world!

…And it became you!
Yeah, it became me.

Your music portrait, so to say. Do you have most favourite songs on it?
Imagine, you have a lot of kids, let’s say, 11-12. Which one is your favorite? You can’t tell that, right? I can’t pick a favorite song as I love each song like my child, especially because I’m blessed with great guest musicians on this record. People were asking me like; “Hey, do you do that many guests for the name dropping?” There are some people who would ask legendary players to join their album so they would reach more attention. That’s how the business nowadays works. But my priority was to create music and do that album together with friends, because all my guests are my dear-heart friends. So Jeff Waters, Alex Skolnick, Mattias IA Eklundh – all these guys are legendary, incredible, innovative players. I’m just blessed that I have friends who also happened to be incredible musicians, who also said “yes”, when I asked them to join the album. I see friendship in there. I see my life. I see stories of my life. I see stories of other people. I remember writing those songs, it’s like creating a whole world, that is now in that little CD and it’s really beautiful.

Yeah. And how were you working together?
Back in the days people would fly across the borders and meet up in studios. Nowadays we are all united in the world of the Internet. So it’s mainly just sending files. Nobody travels anymore because, first of all, it takes time. Nobody has time anymore, being constantly busy, busy, busy. Then you have to pay money and it’s not cheap to travel sometimes. So for example, Jeff [Waters] was the last one to send his solo, because he was constantly busy on tour. When we had the listening session his solo was not on the record yet. On the last deadline day he was talking to me like «Do I have to do it today!?» I said: «Yes, you have 4 hours left, and then I need the solo”. So he went downstairs in his house, did the shredding and recording and sent it in time! It was already a deadline, but luckily, it was super easy, because he’s got a studio in his house as well. So he sent it right away and I said: “I love it”.
Alex was busy on tour in South America, so he was pretty late with sending too, but he managed to do it on time either! When they asked me what kind of solo do I want, do I have any specs or something, I replied: “Guys, it’s my song, but it’s your solo! Feel free to do whatever you want in the bars of a solo part”. And they sent me great stuff! Wow, I’m really-really blessed with very-very talented friends. I mean Alex is a legend, Jeff is a legend, Mattias is a legend and I feel like I’m just a little girl that plays guitar in their company.

While being humble, you’re also playing it in a band called “Evanescence”!
Oh, yeah! Just imagine, on our previous tour we’ve been literally on the road around the whole world for almost a year. During our “Synthesis” tour we even played two times at Sydney Opera House, and it was sold out. I never imagined that I would even attend Sydney Opera House, not to mention performing two sold out shows there! This is a one in a lifetime moment! Then we went to tour Europe, and in March 2018 we’ve played in Russia, Moscow and St. Petersburg, and then ended up in Rome. We did a lot of UK shows as well. Right after the last show in London, I flew together with our drummer Will Hunt from London to Frankfurt MusikMesse and drove there directly from the airport to have a soundcheck until midnight. Then we checked into the hotel, went to bed like zombies and the next morning we have
To try really hard to find our inner switch on button and get to work again! That’s life on the road, yeah! And if you’re like constantly tired, it may drain you. You can take power naps and train your body to fall asleep in short periods of time, that helps, but you don’t have time to sleep as much as you want, yeah….

But that’s a wonderful life you’re having. Those moments of sold out Sydney Opera House and many, many others are so rewarding, right? Could you imagine that being a little girl?
Yeah, I always wanted to be a musician first. I never wanted to be a rock star. People like to call me a rock star. I don’t like the term. In my opinion, rockstar comes with a lot of attitudes and a lot of problems for people who need to work with you. I don’t consider myself to be a problem. So I’ve always wanted to be a musician, play music, write music and sing!
I was four years old when I made up my mind to be a musician and started playing the piano. I understood pretty fast that piano is not my instrument of choice, it’s not rocking! I can’t just sit and play, it’s not for me. My Dad wanted me to play piano. He always imagined that, when he becomes old, I would play “Moonlight Sonata” for him while he is sitting on the couch. But then at the age of 6-7, I realized that I want to play electric guitar, like Kiss and Bon Jovi. But my Dad was: “Please, no, don’t do that, I want to hear “Moonlight Sonata». But I played and played the guitar. I’ve learnt very fast and by the age of 10-12 I discovered guitar players like Steve Vai, Nuno Bettencourt, Joe Satriani and all those incredible legendary musicians. That’s when I actually started practicing. So I spent most of my youth in my little children’s bedroom practicing when everybody else would be outside by the swimming pool or meeting up in the city for drinking coffee and being fancy. I was like: “No, I can’t, I have to play guitar”. Those were the days when everybody else was listening to girl bands and boy bands and I hated it! So when everybody was mad about Backstreet Boys, I was like: “Hey, listen to Steve Vai!”, and they looked at me like I’m a freak”. But I liked that music, I enjoyed it.

Do you think being a female guitarist in the male dominated rock world adds some sort of special energy to your playing?
For some reason I’m asked very often about that. First of all, I don’t know how it feels to be a male, because I was born as a girl. In my personal opinion, I don’t think gender should matter at all. We are all human, we’re all musicians. We try to give 110% to the audience and we’re all doing it for the passion of music! But due to the fact that, not only guitar players, but female musicians in general are the minority in the rock world. Although a growing field, but still a minority. So people feel the need to point that out! I never heard somebody say: “Oh, there’s a male guitar player in that band!”. It’s so stupid. Why do you have to say it about female guitar players?! They’re great colleagues among men and women. I love Nita [Strauss] and Gretchen Man, Nili Brosch and Courtney Coxx. There are so many girls now and we support each other, because it’s a tiny little pond of female electric guitar players. But I really hope that one day we reach the moment when we use the word “emancipation” as it should be, meaning the equal male and female treatment and behavior. What we have right now, for my taste, is not emancipation! There would be, as soon as we are all called guitar players, without any female tone there. I would like people to pay attention to my music, because of what I play and how my music sounds and not because I’m a female musician.

Yeah, I agree. But it is important to support the girls who are starting to play music and who want to be in rock!
Yeah, because the music world is really small. But Amy and me, we both preach one thing: convince the audience with your talent, not with your outfit, style and makeup. I do not like when girls do those sexy-underwear with a guitar-pictures and get super likes on Instagram, that is ridiculous to me. Amy and I, we have a strong women side and we want to show our talent! I know, it’s stupid of me to say that I have talent about myself, but we want to show the music and not makeup and underwear. I think it’s just very wrong to do that. But then on the other hand, do you blame the girls for doing this or do you blame the testosterone world for reacting and liking it? It’s both sides! The testosterone world wouldn’t like it if there wouldn’t be those “I’m so sexy” kind of girls. And that category wouldn’t exist if there wouldn’t be guys who like it. It’s just not my thing. You will never find pictures like that of me, because I’m a musician. I’m not a pin-up girl and I think it’s cheap when girls try to gain followers doing that. You don’t have to be half naked, to be a good musician!

True! Tell us more about teaching guitar, please!
Yes, I’m a guitar teacher and I have my own music school. Sometimes I do workshops on songwriting, music business, how to get an endorsement deal and other important things to teach those ambitious young musicians who want to learn. I feel the need to tell them how reality is! A lot of them are left in the stupid belief that to become rich and famous, they would need to go to a casting show on TV. But this is just bullshit! So I tell them what the truth is. You have to work your ass off nonstop really hard and never stop working. You really have to believe in what you do and push hard! Don’t even start if your only reason is to become rich and famous, because those times are definitely over. Besides, that’s all wrong! Do it because you want to do music! That is the only reason why you should do it. I’m a workaholic myself and I always tell my students if you want to reach the top, you have to push through: “It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll”. Do it because you enjoy playing your instrument and having the freedom to work with it as you want. Do it because you can’t stay silent!

Totally agree! The important thing is not just to teach the technique, but to give the message, the philosophy…
Exactly! We do student concerts when I’m available. If I’m home and I can teach, we would do open air festivals where all the kids play together as a big rock band. I don’t want them to feel fear on stage and think “Oh, no, I have to play alone now!” No, that’s not it. I always try to have a different philosophy with my kids, because the music is about fun. I don’t want them to feel bad. I want them to feel awesome. So our kids would play songs from Motley Crue, Kiss or “Ace of Spades” from Motorhead. My students really enjoy to play those songs and it’s beautiful to see my kids having fun on stage.

Yeah. And what do you learn from them?
Oh, good question. A lot! Kids are honest, and sometimes even brutally honest and very pure. They’re fearless. They are not spoiled by life and by whatever you have to deal with as a grownup and that has not yet touched a kid’s life. Besides, I learned from them that sometimes it’s good just to sit down and take a break for 10 minutes or to do something very simple. They teach me a lot, and I miss them. I haven’t seen them since over a month. I’m always just hopping in home and teach for one week and then I will be on the next tour and I’m gone for two months again and then I’m back for one week teaching. That’s tough!

Do you think teaching guitar via Skype makes sense?
It’s more about talking on Skype because you can’t really show. Of course, a lot of people would do that. I’ve been doing Skype lessons as a reward for my crowdfunding campaign. I think it’s possible nowadays, though it depends on so many things on both sides: the level, the connection and I don’t mean the Internet. So I’m more “one to one” person. I like to show things and see reactions in real life, not on the TV screen.

Cool! What’s happening in Something on 11, your band with Alen Brentini? How has it all started and when should we expect an album?
I started this when plans for 2019 were different. I thought I need to keep myself busy. But look at us right now – touring Europe. So it’s kind of a double duty for me. We recorded eight beautiful songs in December 2018. I am really proud of what we came up with! But to be really honest, with my Evanescence schedule so far, I don’t see the chance to tour with Something on 11 in the near future, which is a bummer! I really wish to put out the album somewhere in fall this year with a super exclusive crowd funder. I’ll set up the options to pre-order the album and if you miss it – you won’t ever have it! but I still love the songs we created. The music of Something on 11 is very un-mainstream. There are songs that might have vocal verses, but they have a guitar melody line as a hook line. Then there’s a song that has a drum solo (by Felix Lehrmann) in the middle of the track. t’s just so arty and inconvenient, I love it. I believe this is a kind of music that independent artists put out, when no label tells them which direction they have to go. We are still in the mixing and mastering phase. I really can’t wait to listen to the final result.

Cool! It sounds special from what I’ve heard from your Vlog! Wish you all the luck with the record and hope for the tour! Do you play piano or guitar on the record or – mostly vocals?
For Something on 11 songs I mainly stuck to just vocals, with Alen taking good care of the guitar part. But we wrote all the songs together and I think they turned out amazing.

Do you think your solo work enriches your Evanescence experience or vice versa?
Oh, I see them both as separate things, for sure. My personal style of songwriting is very prog and weird and I don’t see that in Evanescence’s music. My solo stuff is more or less the outlet for what’s not suitable for Evanescence. I mean, my plan is not to change anything that doesn’t need to be changed, because it is great the way it is. I love the depth of Evanescence songs! Amy and the guys wrote fabulous tunes in the past. I consider myself lucky to be a part of the process of writing new music, who knows where this will go…

Yeah! Though, please, treasure your prog weirdness, as you put it! It’s so precious! By the way, how was it at the Freak Guitar camp this year!?
Oh, it was FABULOUS! I’m so happy that from time to time I get the chance to go there. I love Mattias and consider him not only a good friend, but also one of the most influential musicians in my life! He has this beautiful way of handling business, music and life which I admire and I learned so much from him. Besides, it’s always fun for me to learn his weird music with 40 other guitar players from all over the world. It’s like a mind vacation from the world and I really love spending time there. Last year I flew directly from tour in the US to Sweden to attend it. I remember I saved time while flying back to The States (flying west) and when I arrived, I hopped right into a cab and drove to soundcheck. I admit, that was a bit stressful (laughing)… but nevertheless I had a great time in Sweden, while everybody else was home with their families. Mattias is one of a kind and one of the most unique guitar players this planet has these days!

Completely agree!!! I think every musician needs his/her non-musical meditation time, doing something simple in harmony with yourself, while the creative energy growing on the back of your mind. What is it for you?
Oh, wow… interesting question. I gotta say my life is fully surrounded with music. When I’m not touring, I try to be creative at home. What I enjoy the most is recording these short «Jen Majura plays…» videos that I put on my YouTube account. Also the vlogs turned out to be a lot of fun to edit. I enjoy sharing positive content with my followers and editing videos is another great creative outlet for me!

What songs do you plan to record for your «Jen Majura plays…» series?
Oh, I get inspired as I walk. I totally want to do a cover on one of the «Sons of Apollo» songs and of The Winery Dogs too and, of course, more of Freak Kitchen songs. Also so many more Steve Vai tracks… lots of great music out there, so sometimes it’s hard to pick!

I love all the mentioned!!!
Ha-ha, I knew you would!

But Steve Vai is an endless inspiration, so I’m curiously waiting for the next one you pick.
Steve is an amazing artist and person. I recently watched another interview with him and it inspired me so much. He just seems to have the right words. I love that guy. Steve Vai is really a big deal for me as an artist! He makes music and instruments speak in a way no one else can!

Truly so! He has inner light that strong, it feels you open up your mouth listening to him and inhale that light inside, through his music and what he says!
Oh, yeah!

Do you think having music heroes is important for a musician to define his own style though that?
Absolutely!!! I mean I grew up looking to to these phenomenal players imagining to be like them one day. It’s so important to have passion and follow your dreams! You need to have goals and people you admire. For sure they influence your style a bit. The important thing is to grow your own mustache as our friend Mattias IA Eklundh says.

Exactly! Speaking about collaborations… Do you think it’s a way to create something artistically more interesting, when people who admire each other’s work play together?
Collaboration is always a great way to expand your borders! No matter what style you are in!

To sum it up… What drives you now?
LIFE! It’s all about what you make out of it! My glass is always half full instead of half empty. I try to see the good and always hope for it. What drives me is to inspire people to see things in a more positive way, like I do. I am nothing special recharging my energy on tour: I spend time alone in my room practicing guitar, I work out, I play shows… and I will always be grateful for this and appreciate the life that I have! I am very much a person of living in the now. So as long as I am lucky to do what I’m doing and to experience all I’m having in my life right now: which is touring a lot, playing exhibitions, traveling a lot, meeting lots of people and awesome musicians, enjoying quality talks and all that, as long as this is happening in my life, I’m totally living in the here and now. I don’t know where I am in 10 years. I don’t even want to think about the future. All I know is that now I’m blessed to live a life that fulfills me as an artist and as a human being, which makes me a very lucky cute little bastard!

Awesome! Thank you so much, Jen! Hope to see you on stage soon!

P.S. Evanescence will play 3 dates in Russia: 22.09 – Voronezh (Event Hall), 24.09 – Moscow (Crocus City Hall), 26.09 – Saint-Petersburg (A2 Green Concert)! Hurry up to get your tickets!

Katerina Mezhekova
(text and photo).