BW&BK; scribe Carl Begai recently caught up with vocalist Amanda Somerville to discuss her involvement in the upcoming HDK debut, System Overload, with AFTER FOREVER guitarist/vocalist Sander Gommans. In addition, Somerville talked about the long awaited release of her solo album Windows, her upcoming European tour with AVANTASIA, and an unexpected North American jaunt fronting EPICA while vocalist Simone Simons continues to recover from an MRSA infection.

“I came in half way through," Somerville says with regards to HDK. "Sander had talked to me about this a couple years ago, and back then it was a commercial project (laughs). That was the idea, anyway. I think this was when we were doing Remagine, and he asked me if I’d be willing to sing some stuff or write some lyrics. He had some ideas, and when we would talk off and on there were always new developments in the project. He was recording some stuff and asked if I could write a couple of songs, and he told me it was quite aggressive and figured I hadn’t done anything quite like it before. I like a challenge so I suggested a test run; ‘Send me a couple songs and we’ll go from there.’ But Sander can never do anything a little bit. He’s the kid that says ‘I’m just going to have one candy…’ and end up eating the whole bag (laughs). That’s how HDK started, with him asking if I could write one or two songs maybe and then saying ‘You know what, this is so cool, why don’t we do the whole thing together?’

HDK is due to be unleashed on an unsuspecting public later this year. It is easily the heaviest thing Somerville or Gommans have ever done, and decidedly new territory for Somerville in particular, who has came up in the metal world through her Aina metal opera and working as a vocal coach and collaborator with After Forever, Epica and Kamelot.

“It’s like theater for me," says Somerville. "I’m playing a role but it is a part of me. You adapt to certain things and you adopt the other elements. This is another of my babies just like Aina. You hear some mothers talk about having an instant connection with their child and it’s like, well, come on, you have this thing that’s been growing inside you like Alien shoot out of you and you’ve got to get to know it. That’s what it was like with Aina and a lot of the things I’ve done, and HDK was definitely like that. It was like ‘Oh my God, this is all gooey and sticky and gross, I’m not sure that I’m going to like it…’ and I totally fell in love with it. It’s a beautiful thing (laughs).”

While label details are being sorted out, Somerville is focusing on the release of her new non-metal solo album, Windows, and two high profile metal tours.

“Basically, I’ve waited long enough and it’s probably better if I bring it out myself," she says of Windows, which has been finished for well over a year. "I’m going to try and bring it out promptly for the Avantasia tour. That’s what I’m hoping for. It’s mainly going to be available digitally, but I will have some physical CDs because there are people that either don’t trust the internet or still want to hold something in their hands, and that's totally cool. I hope to have it out by June.”
"I’m looking forward to the Avatasia tour," Somerville adds. "I can’t wait, I’m stoked, and it’s going to be like a family vacation. Sascha (Paeth), Miro, Robert (Hunecke-Rizzo), Oliver Hartmann, and Tobias (Sammet) of course are all going to be there, so it’s the whole Gate Studios family. I’m so spoiled and I’m not taking it for granted."

With regards to Epica, Somerville is still reeling from the invite to front the band even though they've had a close working and personal relationship for years.

"It's all still kind of sinking in, so ask me again right before the first show if I'm nervous," laughs Somerville. "I do feel really awful for Simone because she's been battling this MRSA crap for so long now and she was so hopeful to be able to do this tour. But I'm glad that I can help out and have a good feeling about it all. I was a bit nervous about how people might initially react to having someone else replace Simone on tour. I have no desire to have tomatoes thrown at me, but people's reactions so far have been amazing. I'm really glad that people are so positive about it and it gives me warm fuzzies! I know; that doesn't sound very metal, but I'm allowed to have my relapses into fluffy pop talk (laughs)."

Watch for the complete HDK interview with Somerville and Gommans, coming soon. Go to this location to check out Somerville's solo music.

Somerville's tour schedule is as follows:

April (with Epica)

4 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East
5 - New York, NY - Nokia Theater Times Square
6 - Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero
8 - Quebec City, QC - Imperial de Quebec
9 - Montreal, QC - Medley
10 - London, ON - Embassy
11 - Toronto, ON - The Opera House
12 - Cleveland, OH - Peabody's
13 - Mokena, IL - The Pearl Room
16 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
17 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
18 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's
19 - West Hollywood, CA - House Of Blues
20 - San Diego, CA - House Of Blues
22 - Santa Ana, CA - Galaxy Theatre
23 - Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse
25 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit
26 - Houston, TX - Meridian
27 - Ft. Worth, TX - Ridglea Theater
29 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room
30 - St. Petersburg, FL - The State Theatre

May

1 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
2 - Charlotte, NC - Tremont Music Hall
3 - West Springfield, VA - Jaxx

June (with Avantasia)

6 - Rocksound Festival - Huttwil, Switzerland
7 - Sweden Rock - Sölvesborg, Sweden
18 - Obras - Buenos Aires, Argentina
20 - Caupolican - Santiago, Chile
22 - Credicard Hall - Sao Paulo, Brazil

July

4 - Castle Festival - Smederevo Fortress, Serbia
10 - Masters of Rock - Vizovice, Czech Republic
26 - Rockin Field Festival - Italy
31 - Wacken Open Air - Wacken, Germany