Singer / songwriter Amanda Somerville (Trillium, Avantasia, Exit Eden, Kiske / Somerville) is featured in an interview with HeadBangers Lifestyle. Following is an excerpt from the chat.

Q: How do you come up with your stage outfits and who is Amanda on stage?

Amanda: "My stage outfits vary greatly. I only relatively recently began using custom-made outfits from boutique designers, like Dutch designer Ingeborg Steenhorst, because I’ve always put my own outfits together and tweaked them myself to make them what I want them to be. I’ve never been one to spend a ton of money on clothes, so the whole custom-made stage outfit thing freaked me out a little (laughs). Who am I on stage? I feel I’m very much me, being one with the music and the moment, the audience, the emotions. I very rarely am thinking about anything other than those things I just mentioned when I’m performing and that’s a wonderful place in which to be!"

Q: Did you always wanted to be an artist since you were a kid?

Amanda: "Yep! My Mom said I could sing before I could talk. :-) I have recordings of me singing from the time I was almost 2 years old and then all the years beyond."

Q: What did you learn as a performer, songwriter, and producer over the years?

Amanda: "That you can never stop learning and growing; patience is truly a virtue; just because you’re fair or kind doesn’t always mean you’ll be treated that way; you do not need to be a selfish asshole to succeed!"

Read the complete interview here.

Amanda Somerville returns with a new Trillium album, entitled Tectonic, out now. A lyric video for the album track "Full Speed Ahead" can be found below. Order the album here.

Best known for her collaborations with various high profile European metal bands like Avantasia, Epica, Kamelot, After Forever, and her amazing musical partnership with Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske under the Kiske/Somerville banner, Amanda Somerville is easily one of the most sought after and gifted female vocalists of the current hard rock and metal scene. With a vocal range from tenor to soprano and a stylistically diverse singing ability, Amanda’s voice is well suited for multiple styles, but this new Trillium album is firmly rooted in the metal genre, thanks also to the creative contribution from Amanda’s husband, former After Forever and HDK guitarist Sander Gommans.

"Where [Trillium debut album] Alloy was rather dark and moody and restless, Tectonic is on the whole more uplifting and full of strength and character, though it’s just as full of emotion,” explains Amanda. "My life was shaken up by figurative earthquakes through several elements shifting in recent years and that’s what this album represents. It’s a challenge to make an album that’s musically heavy without being dragged down by melancholy, but that’s what Sander and I set out to do from the beginning and it worked out beautifully!”

Amanda continues, “The core and essence of Tectonic is very personal and comes, basically, from the hearts and minds of a singer and a guitar player and I think that’s very apparent when you listen to the songs. Sander and I didn’t want to overthink things and over-complicate the songs. There’s definitely some bombast in there because we both have a love of keyboard arrangements, but they don’t rule the roost here. Also, the only guest performances are by good friends from my hometown in Flint, Michigan who also played live with me solo and with Trillium, and also some great mates and colleagues of Sander’s, so it’s really a “family” kind of album. We tried to keep things simple, and yet I think it’s anything but low-key!”

Tracklisting:

"Time To Shine"
"Stand Up"
"Full Speed Ahead"
"Hit Me"
"Fighting Fate"
"Nocturna"
"Fatal Mistake"
"Shards"
"Cliché Freak Show"
"Eternal Spring"

"Full Speed Ahead" lyric video:

"Shards" lyric video:

"Time To Shine" video: