Sporting bright blue hair and a leather jacket, someone not hip to the rock scene would imagine that Diamante is not someone to be trifled with, a badass who doesn’t want to talk to you because why should she care what you think? However, upon saying hello and being greeted with a hug instead of a handshake, it was clear that Diamante is, quite literally, one of the nicest folks one could have the pleasure of meeting. *Make no mistake, she is still very much a badass…*
I caught up with the pint-sized powerhouse at the Cleveland date of what is easily one of this summer’s hottest tours, where she finds herself taking the stage right before of her own musical influences (more on that in a second), Dorothy, and then kicking off the guys in Three Days Grace, Chevelle, and Breaking Benjamin. It’s hard to believe such a heavy lineup can exist on one stage, and to be in on the action, Diamante says, has been incredible.
“We have tailgate parties in the parking lots before shows. We make hot dogs, it’s all very wholesome,” she laughs as she eases back onto the couch in her dressing room. With this tour stacking the deck night after night, and kicking off with two female-fronted acts, it’s easy to see how it would be an incredible experience. She says she’s been a fan of Dorothy since she was 18, and that they hang out and do one-off club shows together off-tour as well. “It’s an insane honor being able to play alongside her,” she laughs. “Ben even said that the ladies are out here killing it way more than the guys on this tour.” It’s true – he did say that. And, those women are clearly kickin’ ass and taking names in each city they grace with their presence.
For anyone who hasn’t seen Diamante live, first of all, get that fixed ASAP. Second of all, be prepared to be blown away. Her stage presence is massive, and her sound fills the air all the way to the parking lot. “Though she be but little, she is fierce,” wrote William Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And it seems Diamante is the embodiment of that famous quote on every midsummer night (and winter, and spring, and you get the jist). When it comes to touring, Diamante says her favorite venues are either arenas or small club shows, as in both, she can see the fans’ faces and everyone is packed in.
“Outdoor shows make you all feel too far away from me. I prefer to be able to see everyone sing every word, sweaty and having a good time.”
Diamante has known since she was ten that the stage would be her home. She’s always loved music and singing, but she was always super shy and “nerdy” (her words, and I don’t believe her). She discovered her passion for the stage during musical theatre. “I went on the stage with no mic, just my voice projecting in front of 200 people. And I realized, WHOA! I just discovered a whole new part of myself.” She’s known ever since she wanted to be on the stage, in front of as many people as possible, every chance she gets.
“I love being on the stage because of the audience. I feed off of the energy. It is just one of the best experiences you can ever have. It gives you a different kind of high than you will ever have anywhere else in life.”
In fact, her dream tour (aside from this incredible lineup she gets to be a part of every night) would include Papa Roach, Shinedown, Halestorm, Marilyn Manson, and Guns ‘N Roses. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?!
Lyrically, Diamante’s songs are incredibly relatable. From breakups to make ups, false friends and empty promises, Diamante sings the songs straight out of the hearts of her fans. She says it is important to give fans that because that’s the whole point of music. She sees music as a vessel for those emotions that some feel are hard to express. The music she listened to and fell in love with, she says, most of the time were songs that taught her to understand how she was feeling at the time.
“I was eleven, twelve at the time, and I knew what love was (laughs). I was feeling things for the first time and didn’t know how to put them into words. And then, I’d hear a song and it described it perfectly. And then, that song was my anthem. I want to put that into my albums – especially for the young people who want to listen to rock. I want to be that voice for them.”
With that voice comes a responsibility of sorts to bring her fans the songs that they can feel in their guts, their hearts, their minds. Her ner song, “When I’m Not Around” is a beautiful example of that kind of song. Written by legendary songwriter Diane Warren (she also wrote Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing,” and Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me”…) and brought to life by Diamante’s haunting, gravelly voice, “When I’m Not Around” spells out, in great detail, a woman scorned’s promise to her former paramore: she will, quite literally, be everywhere they exist…
“It’s gonna rip your heart apart when you don’t have me
You’re gonna wish for a different ending to the story
You’re gonna see my face in every dream that you dream
I’m gonna haunt your every thought, you won’t escape me
You’ll wish you still had me”
Taking the work of such a prolific writer and making it her own was a challenge for Diamante, but one she was more than able to conquer. “She wrote the whole song, but I still felt like it was my story. I had gone through a pretty brutal emotional breakup a few months back, and just struggled to understand how I was feeling about it. So, I heard this song, and I remember thinking, ‘Wow! This is it.’” Having never recorded someone else’s song that wasn’t a cover, Diamante found lots of pressure to do the song justice, while also adapting it and making it fit her own emotions. “I pride myself on writing my own music. I just think it’s really important.”
When it came time to shoot a video at the famed Viper Room for the song, Diamante and her team came up with their own concept based on the lyrics. Taking each lyric damn near line by line, the video shows the basic premise of the song in Diamante’s own words, “You messed up, bro.” Showing up in every scene, Diamante says, “I am everywhere. I’m everywhere. There is no escaping me. We wanted to take the lyrics literally, and we did.”
Once this tour wraps in the fall, Diamante will be back in the studio writing, beginning the demo phase of her new album – that is, provided she isn’t picked up on another tour! She says she new record will be an evolution of her debut, Coming In Hot, based on the songs she has written for it already. “I wrote most of my first album was I was nineteen. I feel like I have lived three lifetimes since then.” Being only twenty-two years old, she hasn’t quite lived three physical lifetimes, but it can be easy to see in anyone’s personal evolution how time passing and experiences mature us. She says, “I feel like my songwriting has gotten so much better.” She is going for the more personal, more vulnerable side with her new songs. “Being vulnerable is the scariest thing for me. But, if I want to be personal with my songs, I have to do it.” And there is a definite power in vulnerability that only Diamante can put her own touch on – I cannot wait to see what the future holds!
Interview by Devon Anderson, RockRevolt Managing Editor
