Ben Moody

Evanescence co-founder Ben Moody, whose duet, "Everything Burns," with Anastacia is the first single/video from the "Fantastic Four" soundtrack, is part-way through the making of his full-length solo debut, due this fall.

"It's a rock record, but there's a lot of acoustic vibey stuff, but it's a lot more organic than stuff I've done in the past. When it's heavy, it's straight-ahead heavy," says Moody, a native of Arkansas now based in Los Angeles.

The cornerstone of the album is a song called "10/22," named after the fateful night in 2003 when he upped and left the band he co-formed with Amy Lee, just as sales of its album, "Fallen," climbed past 10 million.

"The funny thing is when I wrote it, I thought I was talking to Amy," says Moody. "The chorus is: 'Tell me again your f****d up excuses,' and I realized about three weeks ago as I was listening to it, that it's not about her at all. It's talking to myself, calling out my own bull***t."

He has not spoken to Lee since he left Evanescence, but says his door is open. "I love her. I think she's great," says Moody, who was involved with Lee back in high school, long before Evanescence took off.

"It was a childhood dream. We both needed somebody to blame when it didn't turn out like we thought, but it's time for us both to grow up. We had a great ride. Let's celebrate it. Let just learn from the bad times, celebrate the good, drink to everything in between."

Much of the 15 solo songs Moody has demoed for the album are about the turmoil he has gone through the past few years, "dealing with having to come to grips with my own anger and self-hatred and things that I tried to pin on Evanescence," he explains. "(It goes) much deeper than anything that came from being in a band."

Although he suspected it, Moody has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He had resisted seeking help before because he was afraid of the stigma or being told he was simply messed up, as opposed to having a disease. "So instead of being medicating by a doctor, I medicated myself with anything I could drink or swallow or put up my nose," Moody admits.

After leaving Evanescence suddenly that October day, he got "way worse," partying for pure "fun youthful debauchery," he says. "There was a brief moment of freedom when left Evanescence because the weight had been lifted of knowing that I was no longer destroying something I cared so much for."

Eventually, he went to rehab and began looking inward at his other deep-rooted problems.

One of the first solo assignments he received was a call from producer Don Gilmore, asking him to play guitar on Avril Lavigne's sophomore album, "Under My Skin." He and Lavigne hit it off immediately and ended up writing the song "Nobody's Home" together. Moody lifts up his sleeve to reveal her star logo tattooed on his arm. Lavigne has a matching one.

He was then asked to write for Kelly Clarkson, which yielded "Because Of You" and "Addicted." He says both young women encouraged him to make a solo album, even though he had never sung before. "They're the ones that just told me to buck up and get it done so that's what I did.

On the solo album, Godhead's Jason Miller also sings and plays guitar and is part of the band. "He's a f*****g amazing vocalist. He runs circles around me, but I'm doing 70 per cent of it." The full line-up consists of drummer Lance Garvin (Living Sacrifice), bassist Marty O'Brien (who has played with Tommy Lee and Methods Of Mayhem, and filled in with Disturbed and P.O.D.) and guitarist Michael "Fish" Herring (Prince, Christina Aguilera).

Moody is producing the entire thing, and Jay Baumgartner (Drowning Pool, Papa Roach) has co-produced some tracks. "I'm also trying to seduce Dave Fortman who produced Evanescence 'cause we made magic happen once before so we'll see if we can do it again," he says.

Michael Tate, formerly of DC Talk, also makes a guest appearance on a song called "Never Turn Back." Moody confides he also trying to get Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach to sing on the album. He adds that he will likely do a new version of "Everything Burns," the song with Anastacia "just to make it interesting."

Half of the 15 songs are studio tracks, Moody says. There will be 12 on the final album, with the leftovers used as b-sides.

As well, Moody is producing the solo debut for Mitch Allen, formerly of SR-71. "He doesn't have a label right now; just a bunch of hit songs," he says.

On another tip, Moody has started a production company with actor Zack Ward, after ending up on the Toronto set of "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" to film a cameo not 24 hours after leaving Evanescence. Their Makeshift Films is producing a comedy, "Crew Call" and low-budget horror, "Dead And Gone." Moody will appear in both. "I've been a ham my whole life. I've always loved the camera," says Moody, whose mom is an acting coach.

They have also cut the pilot for a variety show called "Zack's Barbecue," featuring bands, comedians, celebrity chefs, celebrity poker, and three-minute political rant. Zack is the main host and Moody a co-host. Items will also be auctioned by a different charity each week.