Diamante

and the American Dream

Interview by Ken Morton - Photo by Jack Lue

Diamante is an artist you’ll be hearing a whole lot more from in these post pandemic days. With expressive vocals and movie star charisma, Diamamte is ready to explode above and beyond the legendary Los Angeles music scene she calls home. American Dream is the name of her brand new album - an independently released project brimming with an epic amount of passion and conviction.

Diamante recently participated in a photo shoot with legendary photographer Jack Lue, and is featured as the center poster in this very issue! After the photo shoot, Highwire Daze sat down to chat with Diamante about the making of American Dream, the deeply personal songs found within the album, touring with Breaking Benjamin, her upcoming Larger Than Life Festival appearance, and more!

Is there any overall story or concept behind the album title American Dream?

Yes, there’s actually a double concept behind the title. So, American Dream was the last song I wrote for the album – and up until that point I had no album title and no idea what it was going to be called. And when I wrote that song American Dream, it clicked for two reasons. The first one is this album is my first independent release – so independence, freedom, American Dream. And the second reason is my mom is Mexican, my dad’s Italian – they came here to America 20 years ago – and if they had never done that, I wouldn’t be here making music, touring, being an artist. So that in itself is the American Dream. So that’s two reasons why.

Ghost Myself – tell me a little about that song and the inspiration behind it.

Ghost Myself is definitely a personal song for me because it’s about how I don’t always feel 100 percent – I don’t always

love the person that I am – some days I wake up and I wish I could be anybody but me. I always held on to this feeling like it was something that I alone was experiencing – that I was ashamed to tell people this was how I felt sometimes – and putting it into a song was so cathartic and freeing for me to do. And then when I realized so many people resonate with this song, because so many people feel this way in some point in time. It’s really an emotional, powerful song for me.

Why don’t you select any other song you’d like to talk about from American Dream and what inspired the lyrics? I selected Obvious, but you pick one…

Obvious is a brutal one because it’s about me realizing that someone I’m in love with is not in love with me – maybe never was, but definitely no longer is – and they’re slipping out of my grasp for somebody else. And no matter how hard you try – how good you try to look – how charming you try to be – there’s nothing you can do to stop it. It’s a really painful, slow process and you’re seeing it happen before your eyes. So Obvious is a very sad song.

Another one I want to highlight is Unlovable, because it’s also one of the very personal songs on the album. I wrote it during the quarantine, and I think I could only write a song like this during the quarantine, because I was forced to sit alone with my thoughts and all my past experiences and all these memories that I had sort of blocked out of my mind. Because when I’m out on tour, I’m out on this high – this adrenaline – and I’m playing shows and I’m living the best life and I’m not thinking about past demons or past things – I’m suppressing those things. So, in quarantine, all those feelings and emotions started bubbling to the surface. And the last couple of years, I’ve had this insecurity in the back of my head – like what if I’m too difficult to love? What if I’m too hard for someone to accept. What if I’m just not lovable? I had to face that fear and I put that into the song Unlovable – and I think it’s probably the most personal song on the album.

What’s it like working with famed producer Howard Benson? His credits are astounding!

Oh, I know! It’s insane! He’s produced some of my favorite artists – he’s done Kelly Clarkson, he’s done My Chemical Romance, he’s done Halestorm. The first time I met him, I was just 18-19 years old – and I walked into his studio by myself for the first time and I was so intimidated because he’s such a legend. But we’ve worked now together for almost five years, so we’ve definitely gotten closer. And with this last album – because there was no label – there was no A&R – it was just me, Howard and Neil Sanderson deciding what this album was going to sound like – so it was very collaborative. And I always praise Howard for teaching me how to write those really vulnerable, painful, uncomfortable songs, because he was always the one who pushed me to go there. And then vocally, he was always the one to push me to sing with conviction. And if I sang a line he didn’t believe, he’d call me out on it right away and would have me do it again. I love that kind of push from someone because I like being challenged.

One of the big bands you toured with right before the pandemic was Breaking Benjamin. What was that experience like touring with a big band like Breaking Benjamin?

Life changing. So life changing, because I remember being 11-12 years old and I knew who Breaking Benjamin was – I’d hear Diary Of Jane. Three Days Grace was on the tour too, and I remember I listened to Riot when I was 12 years. It was so insane to be able to say that I was on the same tour as these artists. And it was my first time getting to play arenas and amphitheater stages as my own artist. The year before I did do all that, but it was just to go sing the one song with Bad Wolves, so I didn’t get to do my whole set. So that time around, it was life changing.

What are you looking forward to the most about your upcoming appearance at the Louder Than Life Festival?

Getting to play a show! Getting to play, getting to be onstage and interact with the crowd. That is the number one for me. Because I did do two live stream concerts in 2020 – and they were fun and at least I got to put on a show and do a show with my band guys and sing. But it’s no comparison when the crowd isn’t there with you. So, I can’t wait to feel that energy, and I can’t wait – this is my favorite thing to do – to go into the concession stands or somewhere rando and make myself completely accessible – and hang out with everyone and take photos – that was my favorite part.

What do you hope the rest of 2021 brings for you and for the music scene in general?

I really hope that live touring comes back, especially because there are so many people who are on the live touring industry for work – all my crew guys and all the crew people in the industry. I hope that I’m able to play this album live, because it’s so much fun when you work so hard on a body of work and then you’re able to see it come to life in a live show setting. And you’re seeing the people in the crowd singing the words back to you. So that’s what I hope for 2021.