Jen Majura “still in shock” after Evanescence firing, has already had offers from other bands

Jen Majura says she’s “still in shock” after being removed from Evanescence last month.

“It’s three weeks now since I got the news, I’m still in this blurry, oblivious momentum,” the guitarist told Solar Guitars head honcho Ola Englund in a recent episode of his Coffee With Ola YouTube series. “I guess I’m still in shock, because [it’s like] after being married six years, all of a sudden you’re divorced.”

“You know me, I always try to find the positive in a situation,” she continued, “so every day, step by step – I’m not doing great yet – but every day I find little tiny things that I’m like, ‘Oh, actually this is good.’”

Majura was suddenly kicked out of Evanescence last month, with the band announcing a new touring lineup that sees long-serving bassist Tim McCord handling guitar and Emma Anzai of Sick Puppies on bass guitar.

“It has been a very special chapter in the band with our dear friend Jen Majura, but we have decided it’s time to go our separate ways,” the band wrote in a statement upon her departure. “We will always love her and support her, and can’t wait to see what she does next! We are so grateful for the good times and great music we made all around the world together.”

Majura subsequently issued a statement on social media clarifying that her exit was not her decision. “I have no hard feelings against anybody and I wish Evanescence all the best,” she wrote. “I am allowed to carry beautiful memories of these past years. I am grateful.”

But in the new interview with Ola Englund, she dives deeper into how the firing affected her.

“Honestly, I was cleaning my apartment, and I got the phone call,” she recalls. “And first of all, I was like, ‘Is this a bad joke?’ And I remember, after I got the news, I hung up... I just [laid] there on the floor, staring at the ceiling, wondering what that was [going on], and looking over to my suitcase that I had already started packing, because I was two weeks from going out on the road until pretty much the end of the year.”

But, of course, when you can play like Majura and have been in such a globally recognized band, word travels fast when you become available. Majura says she’s had offers to play in other bands since leaving Evanescence, but adds that she’s not at the stage of accepting any of them.

“I would like to consider [the offers], but not now, not yet,” she says. “Because I feel like it would not be a nice move... I’m still processing. I’m not ready to jump into the next marriage right now.

“To be honest, what I wanna do right now is, first of all, focus on me and my music again… What I want right now is reconnect with myself and feel and hear and play my music again. And who knows? The plan is, so far – you heard it here first – I’m gonna write my third solo album.”

And while any original material is yet to materialize, Majura says she’s written a song inspired by Devin Townsend, titled Testicles, of all things.

“I was teaching at my music school and driving back home. I swear, it was late at night, and you could see the trees on the side of the street, and they were like rainbow colors,” she explained. “I'm listening to Devin's voice and I see rainbow trees and I am like, 'Okay, this is it. That's it, you're losing your mind.' And then I went back home and I thought about how cool it would be to write about testicles.”

Majura described the quasi sci-fi reincarnation theme behind the song, about being born anew to discover she had in fact not lost her mind. 

It’s unclear at this stage if Majura has recorded Testicles in any capacity, but who knows, perhaps it'll feature on Majura’s teased third solo album.