Saturday, March 21, 2009

Kathy Diamond Gets Candid With DDR

We caught up with the ever elusive Miss Diamond to discuss in what turned out to be her most candid interview to date. From early career developments, her take on the state of music today to her true inspirations, which involve good sex & seasides, sounds good to us...

Hi Kathy always a pleasure, so your a pretty elusive...is it shyness, managerial advice or both?

There's no real decision there, I just like to get on with my music. I suppose I'm very critical of photos but i guess that's all girls! I'm manager free at the moment too so I have been keeping a low profile and just getting my writing in order.

"Fire" is somewhat of a departure from your previous singles, what drew you to it's direction?

Oh well, it was just so fresh when i heard it! I love the Codebreaker sound, I guess it's about keeping yourself interested as much as anything else and pushing the boundaries. Keeps me on the ball, I love what I do and I love what's happened with social networking etc bringing global communities together. I feel so lucky to be working with such talent from all over the world.

So what's brought you from Sheffield to Brighton?

My man! Seriously though, I moved from Sheffield to London about four years ago after the break up of a relationship and i thought, I am really ready for this? I had a ball in London and it was great for the music and networking. I made some wicked friends and partied constantly! Then just as I thought I was settled in my flat I met my now boyfriend Chris (Soft Rocks dj) and life was turned on its head! I ended up moving to Brighton and living by the sea. Life's great here, more chilled but I definitely make sure I have my little blow out trips to London!

Your writing style is so refreshingly tasteful & genuine, to what would you attribute that?

Thank you. I love writing and i really love great songs. I just try my best really to be honest because what's the point otherwise? I'm expressing myself and if I'm telling you I've been a bitch to my boyfriend or I've had good sex I mean it! I try not to borrow other peoples stories to write about although sometimes you're inspired by someone else's issues, it can be hard to avoid. At the end of the day I try to be fearless and just write what i see.

How would you describe your personal style?

My personal style I think is vintage bag lady in high heels!

Do you have any plans on ever touring the US?

I would love to come to America to play, I have so many friends out there, I just have to arrange it. Nicky Siano has remixed my next project called the kdms with Maximillian Skiba so maybe there will be a few parties to play with that. Also my mums childhood was spent in new york and I'm desperate to take her there to investigate so hopefully one day....

What sort of non-musical things inspire your sound?

Everything. People mainly and the sea is a great head clearer, it blows away the cobwebs and gets you thinking straight again.

Your bio states that, in 2002, you wrote a song with house producers SWAG called "Miracles Just Might" You released, distro'd it on white label vinyl all on your own. Whoa, what was that like, was it hard to get people to listen to you back then?

Yes it was hilarious and scary at the same time!
This track was meant to go on swags album but it didn't make the final sweep and because i loved it i decided to put it out myself and got my friends to remix it. I think Maurice gave me some tips on who to press the record and i put my order in.
What i didn't realize was the enormity of all those records being delivered on a pallet on my doorstep one day, I nearly fainted! Oh my god, what do i do next?! So previously I had wrapped up CD's as little presents for the industry magazines and other music people and luckily got a great response, so i put a little dj mag quote on the sleeve and numbered them as a limited release, it worked. People really liked it and within a month sunshine was out too with Maurice Fulton on the Idjut Boys cottage label....all good!

If there was one thing you could change about the state of popular music today, what would it be?

I think its better now as artists are more in control of their own sound and destiny. The world is much smaller in the networking field but its still hard to break on the bigger scale as there's not as much money around for music as there was. We can't have it both ways so there you go.
One thing that does my head in is the piracy of music. It's such a nightmare when you work forever on a track and then someone goes and puts it for free download. We all want the publicity for our music and are eternally thankful to the people who spread the word. The whole thing just saddens me.

What's one of your favorite movies & why?

I have bad taste in movies! I will like anything you don't! My boyfriend will vouch for that!

What's planned for '09?

The kdms out on Gomma Records and a few other bits and pieces. The Kathy Diamond album is taking longer than anticipated, I'm not going to rush it though. I want it to be perfect.

Do you believe in life after love?

Absolutely...have you heard about music and gin?!! It's the future.

Codebreaker Feat. Kathy Diamond - Fire (limited edition 12" vinyl)
Codebreaker Feat. Kathy Diamond - Fire (mp3/digital)
Kathy Diamond
Codebreaker

1 comment:

Sades said...

Hi Kathy, Enjoyed reading your interview, Rock on Babes, Sadis xxx