Brad Parmerter from LiveJournal spoke with Trans-Siberian Orchestra singer Georgia Napolitano about her new EP, Worth the Wait, which is produced by TSO east musical director Derek Wieland and heavily influenced by late TSO creator Paul O'Neill (Savatage) and late TSO/Adrenaline Mob bassist David “Z” Zabildowsky. Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

The first single and it's connection to Paul O'Neill:

Georgia Napolitano: “The songs that I've been putting out are deep rooted songs in my heart that I have a lot of beautiful memories with – like, ‘Now I Am’. The reason why I wanted it to be the first song I shared with you all, was because I actually played it for Paul. It was a couple of years before he passed away and he lit up so much and to me that was everything. To me I love nothing more than making him proud. So, for him to hear that song and fall in love with it, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to complete this song. I have to focus on this song.’ So I would say this music has been everything that's kept me somewhat sane through all of this. It was about March or April and I set up a mini-studio in my spare room – set it up just enough to where I could do a good, nice clean vocal take and teach myself the ways of Logic [audio recording software] which is quite the language to learn, but I've had some good people help me understand how I can do recordings at home and started demoing a lot of stuff. I think that was really my rock. The music helped me. It's given me a focus. And I think that's been so important during this time, having something happy and powerful and bright to focus on instead of getting caught up in everything else that sometimes feels very heavy. It brought back a lot of memories and a lot of emotions. This EP is a collection of moments in my life and feelings in my life that, at first, it was hard to sort of really dig deep to tap back into them. But I'm so grateful that I did because I think music is such a healing thing and it's been such a blessing to share it with everyone. Especially during these times where a lot of us are stuck at home with not so much going on and not our usual busy schedules. It's been a beautiful focus for me to have.”

About "Till the End" - heavily influenced by Paul and Dave:

Georgia Napolitano: “I added bits here and there and I'm not sure what I would even call the song and I'm not really sure what it's supposed to mean yet. So, for now it's going to be the 'No Name Song' until such time where I figure out what the song is supposed to mean. And sometimes that happens. Sometimes I'll write a song and words are flowing, but I'm not 100% sure where it's coming from, so I have to figure out what the song is trying to tell me. It was about – I can't really remember the specific time – but Paul O'Neill had passed and Dave had passed and that was just such – unimaginable. You can't even imagine, you know what I mean, I still can't even understand it. It just, it really just changed so much and it will never be the same. I think the depth of emotion and pain I was feeling in my own heart, but for family, for the band, for all the people who loved and supported him, his friends, it goes on and on. He was such a loved individual. I started playing that song, which at the time was the ‘No Name Song’, and I just started bawling my eyes out because I realized in that moment that this song isn't about losing home, this song isn't about something simple, this song is coming from a place of, that moment, when something you truly thought would be in your life or be forever is now gone. And it's just not the same and it never will be the same. That's when I was able to write the end, which transitions into "Oh my, I miss you my friend, I know you're out there, I can feel you everywhere, oh my, can you help me mend." Because I feel like there are still parts of my heart that are still broken. Especially the way that everything happened. It's very, very hard to understand and it's very, very hard to fathom that at that moment in time, in that one place on the planet that happened and that special person happened to be right there at that moment. I really still have a hard time accepting that, I guess. But it wasn't until after Paul and Dave weren't here that I was able to sort of figure out in my heart, this song is about missing something you thought would be with you forever and I don't say "till the end," until the very end of the song, which I guess is a play off of words. But I wanted it to speak to people that have lost something or someone that is really everything to them and also perform it in a way that wasn't – I didn't want it to be dark and depressing. I wanted it to almost have a sense of uplifting type of energy to it in a way that was like those people, those souls, are still with you and always will be with you, even if they're not physically here. [crying] And they show you in little ways, you know?

Her vocals on TSO's "Time You Should be Sleeping":

Georgia Napolitano: “Wow, something spiritual happened with ‘Time You Should be Sleeping’. I'm not sure if it was originally going to be on that EP. I was out there and Paul handed me the lyric for ‘Time You Should be Sleeping’. I read it once and I heard the demo of it once and I got into the voice box and I recorded it and 95% percent of what you hear is the very first take. It was unbelievable. The song ended, [sings] ‘my whole life is, you.’ And then the biggest and closest lightning I've ever felt in my life hit the studio, I swear, and all the power went out. And we were all like, ‘What? If that was zapped we're all going to just go home right now. That has to have saved.’ We opened it back up, the generators kicked in or whatever, and the computers came back on and it had saved that take. That was a message from something up in the sky, very powerful, that something happened in that moment. I had heard this song once and I knew the song as if I had known that song my whole life. I started bawling – of course I started crying. [laughs] You can tag that in after basically every comment I make, ‘And then she started crying.’ Paul looked at me and he said, ‘Spitfire, I think that is the one. Do you want to do it again?’ I said, ‘Whatever you'd like me to do, I'll do.’ And he said, ‘I think that it was seriously perfect, but let's do a few more takes just because we'll have more and maybe you can get it even stronger than that, but I think that's the one.’ He told me after it was mixed and mastered that they used about 95% of the first take. I couldn't believe it.”

On the TSO Livestream this Friday (more here):

“I was so grateful to be a part of something that not everyone was able to be a part of. It's a true blessing to be involved in a great group of people. It's going to be fantastic! I'm so looking forward to it on the 18th. I can't wait to see what people think. Judging by the amount of people that say they're going to this thing, a lot of people are going to be watching this. They definitely put a lot of love and a lot of thought and time into this and I know that it's going to mean a lot to all of us and I'm just grateful to be part of something and keeping this alive despite the circumstances and everything going on. It's going to be super cool and so special.”

Read more at LiveJournal.

Photo courtesy of the Georgia Napolitano Facebook page.