Dianna Lopez on Spirituality and Medicine Music

July 15, 2020

Dianna Lopez pauses to consider each question before she responds, thoughtfully, and with remarkable intention. The genre-bending singer-songwriter might be young, but she’s wise beyond her years. Speaking with Dianna is a calming experience—she’s expressive and charismatic—even as she calls office from quarantine in upstate New York. Dianna, who studied acting in college, began to shift to music after she realized her gift while helping a friend record a project for his music degree. It sparked a fire in Dianna that hasn’t gone out—and doesn’t seem to be dwindling.

Dianna’s sound can’t be described with traditional genre. At times her music resembles more traditional R&B with swirling, soulful vocals atop sparse instrumentation. Sometimes she’s a Rockstar. On her song “She Wolf” she reverts to a poetic, spoken word delivery.

Shapeshifting, Dianna’s latest, is an eclectic compilation of her various sounds. Over the course of the 22-minute album, Dianna keeps the listener constantly on their toes.

Interview by David Aaron Brake

But despite having diverse sounds, the project is incredibly cohesive and has that rare power of good music to not only supplement emotions, but actively change them. Spirituality is a core tenant of Dianna’s craft and that’s clear not only in her music, but how she describes her daily life. “I like to call it my daily ritual,” Dianna states as she explains her quarantine routine. “I usually like to get outside as soon as I wake up and just connect with the elements and get all of those downloads from nature.”

office caught up with the New York creative to discuss Shapeshifting, spirituality, and how the world needs more Medicine Music.

How are you feeling? How has quarantine been for you so far?

Oh god [laughs]. It's been a rollercoaster of different emotions. When it first started, I felt like my world was crashing down for so many factors. People are dying and sick around the world. All of my shows being cancelled and not being able to link with my band members anymore—it's just a lot. I've accepted it, and I feel like I'm in a better flow state now.

Where have you been located?

I live upstate, but I'm always in New York City—well I used to be—because that's where my manager is, my band is, so I would just commute and take the bus.

Do you have a daily routine set up yet?

Yeah, I like to keep it open and leave space to flow. I like to call it my 'daily ritual.’ I usually like to get outside as soon as I wake up and just connect with the elements and get all of those downloads from nature. Then I'll just read. I used to be able to make music, but my laptop broke which has been super hard for me because I literally can't create what I want to right now. But it's just a challenge to find other ways [to create]. So, I've been practicing guitar and just writing more.

How were you first introduced to music?

It started a long time ago. My dad was a DJ in the Bronx. You used to call it the Boogie Down—when all of that first started. My mom always loved to sing. She'd play Donna Summer or good old school songs around the house. At church I became a part of the choir.

When did you realize it was something you wanted to pursue full-time?

I actually didn't want to. I wanted to be an actor for a really long time. I went to an art school, SUNY Purchase. We had a lot of different creative type people there. I was there for acting, [but] I did still sing in the talent shows. I ended up meeting a producer, he was like 'hey, can you sing on one of my tracks?' I was like, okay, yeah that could be fun. My manager, who at the time was [just] my friend, was an arts management major, and she had to come out with an end of the year project kind of like a showcase. What we did is create an EP, but I wasn't taking it seriously, I was just doing it for fun. And we had a whole EP release party, and the whole school showed up and it was just wild. I was like, 'damn, I guess this is something I should try to do.' From there it kind of took off.

Does acting still interest you?

Yeah, I definitely, definitely want to do that later on the road. There are so many cool shows coming out. I love the indie films and the Netflix and HBO series that are out these days. I'd love to be a part of that one day.

What's the difference between acting and music for you?

They're pretty [closely] related. [They] both embody all the different parts of yourself, or your different personalities, or your different ways of being. I feel like they're closely tied. With music it's more of a creation. With acting, you're putting on a show.

What's your creative process for creating music? How do you start a project or a song?

It depends. If I'm jamming to something that someone sent me, I'll just set up my laptop and I have a microphone that I put on top of books in my room and I'll just jam on it and sing a couple times. Something that I really like to do is add harmony and add ambient noises because I don't know how to fully play an instrument, so I use my vocals to replace that. Add little weird noises.

Let's talk a bit about Shapeshifting. How did that come together?

I have these weird dreams where if something is chasing me, I'm able to turn into another animal or being. I've had those dreams since I was a young girl. Recently I've been looking at what the word 'shapeshifting' really means. And it doesn't only mean the physicality of it, but I feel like I shapeshift when I make music because I don't stick to one genre or identify to one thing. That's where the name comes from. The project is just all over the place. The first song that I came out with was "Date With The Moon" as a single. I actually didn't know at the time that it would be a full EP or project, I was just creating with my band just to create. "Euphoria" was the hit of the EP. I've held on to that song for so long. I made it a year ago I think, but it didn't feel like the right time to put it out and I feel like "Euphoria" really holds the EP strongly together because it's such a beat song in contrast to my other slow, ambient, vibey songs on there.

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How were you feeling when you made "Internal Lullaby" and how were you feeling when you made "Euphoria"? What was the difference in your psyche at those points?

Oof, okay. So different. "Euphoria" is like, I'm living out my psychedelic Rockstar dreams. Me and Aren, who's the guitarist, we pieced that song together when we were planning a trip—literally a trip—to go upstate and trip, and we were watching The Doors, and old videos of The Beatles, and just creating that imagery and that lifestyle. That's where my head was at with "Euphoria." With "Internal Lullaby," it was all about how I feel when I'm at home. I face a lot of seclusion from the people that I love and my friends because I live upstate.

When you make music, is it for yourself or for other people?

Okay: always for myself. I feel like music is my personal Dharma. It's my purpose in life. It's something that I can do and hours will pass by and I didn't realize that it's ten o'clock at night and I started at four. When you love something that deeply, that's what you need to be doing.

Does spirituality play a role in your music?

Yeah, completely. That's another part of my Dharma. Part of having a purpose in life is giving it back to other people. That's why I have such a wide range of music, because I like to put messages in my music that can help uplift other people, or help people connect more to themselves especially in times like this. I feel like we need more Medicine Music.

Music

Jesse Jo Stark Is in a Genre of Her Own

April 19, 2024

In the midst of a total solar eclipse, I got the chance to talk about music and style with Jesse Jo Stark.

As I’m on the phone with her from New York, Stark is on a tour bus with The Veronicas, driving through the Colorado mountains to enjoy some time off in between shows. The Veronicas have just started their Gothic Summer North American Tour, and Stark is opening the show. What’s special about this tour for the lifelong music obsessive is the sense of powerful feminine energy encapsulating the tour. “We just started [tour], but it’s been really lovely. I’m obsessed with the fact that we’re all women — it feels like a very powerful crew. The Veronicas are lovely, the crowds have been so fun, and the venues are beautiful. It’s gonna be a good month.”

Photography Sophia-Liv Maguire
Styling Marc Eram
Interview Angelina Hazzouri
Talent Jesse Jo Stark
Hair Antoine Martinez with PARADIS using Roz Hair
Makeup Sydney Szramowski
Photo Assistants Mia O’Neal, Rashaun Richardson
BTS Ms Josephine
Creative Producer Olivia Roper-Caldbeck

This is Stark’s second time touring since the release of her full-length debut album DOOMED in late 2022, which was very well received and led to Stark’s first sold-out international headlining tour on behalf of the album. Previous to her solo tour, she’s opened for various notable acts, such as Guns N’ Roses and Jane’s Addiction. I asked Stark, who’s been writing and playing music since age 11, what it was like to prepare for her first sold-out headlining tour. Unsurprisingly, before any tour, Stark goes into what she describes as “bootcamp mode” — dancing every day, vocal training, rehearsing with her band, and of course, working on her outfits. “That’s the sort of homework I love,” she says, smiling. (Even though we’re on the phone, I can tell she’s smiling when she talks about the outfit part. I’d smile too if I had her tour closet.)

What’s unique about Stark as a musician is that she has ultimately created her own universe by embracing every aspect of her creative upbringing, her raw talent, her fascinating influences, and her unwavering beliefs in not needing to fit into a certain box when it comes to her art. She creative-directs and styles all her own looks, referencing an ever-evolving list of influences that range from Vegas showgirls to Halloween to old films to her parents in the 90s. “I think when I was younger, I had this rebellion against what I was made from,” she tells me, “but now it’s just my blood. I constantly reflect on my childhood and everything I was taught and everything I saw. My brother and sister and I are constantly pulling influences from our parents from the past. I think, more than ever, I’m heavily influenced by them.”

Stark, the daughter of founders and owners of the self-made American fashion brand Chrome Hearts, and now its creative director and designer, is someone who always knew what she liked, but as she describes it, had to ‘go through the motions’ that come with growing up and knowing one’s identity. Today, her self-efficacy is palpable — and it’s inspiring.

...when I was younger, I had this rebellion against what I was made from, but now it’s just my blood.

When she’s on tour, Stark is growing with herself and with her art — she’s not afraid to take life as it comes and learn through the process. With every show, regardless of whether it was on her DOOMED tour or this tour with The Veronicas, Stark understands the importance of human connection through music. Seeing faces of music lovers like herself, meeting those who have traveled to see her, and visiting familiar and unfamiliar cities has reminded her that she loves being on the road. “The growth that happens on tour is so important to me as an artist.” Sometimes we have to leave behind what’s familiar in order to rediscover what’s important, and Stark is a proponent of this growth mindset.

Growth doesn’t just happen on tour with Stark — this evolution of herself happens within genre as well, and for Stark there’s no such thing. Since her first release Driftwood in 2017, the artist’s sound has shifted year after year, but in a harmonious way that still feels central to her gothic Americana roots. When asked if she’ll experiment with genre in the future, Stark confidently answers, “I think I’ve only experimented with genre. I don’t think anyone knows what genre I am.” (She calls herself a “horrific hillbilly” — a perfect descriptor.) Steadfast in her belief that we as humans can constantly evolve in our work, Stark thinks it’s antiquated to fit yourself into a certain box and focus on one specific trade in order to succeed. “If you look at us as people, we’re seasoned. We change all the time. I want to experience different things.”

Since Driftwood, a two-song EP rooted in rock and country, Stark has experimented with more robust beats and 808s on DOOMED, and her most recent single “skeleton” features a softer, grungier punk sound. Without fitting into a specific genre, Stark’s music is undoubtedly and wholeheartedly her own, transcending the boundaries of what many artists struggle with when finding their sound. “I don’t think we should have to label ourselves in any way, shape, or form; so I’m not going to. I will continue to make all types of different music.” Fuck yeah.

If you look at us as people, we’re seasoned. We change all the time.

This goes beyond just music — in terms of her personal style, the same mentality applies. We discuss the idea that clothing and dressing is a sort of playground, and personal style comes from within. Stark isn’t about following trends, but rather, she thinks it’s important to tap into different stylistic elements that amplify who we are at our cores. On her DOOMED tour, Stark wore a lot of leather and stuck to a fairly dark color palette. Right now, she’s into more bourgeois satin and lace, experimenting with different textures and wearing things that feel slightly daintier and more delicate. On this current tour with the Veronicas, Stark is making it more of a point to take everything in — absorbing inspiration from every city, writing songs on the road, recording video on a friend’s super 8 camera, styling and wearing new outfits, learning and performing new covers — ultimately growing through the whole experience.

It’s endearing and inspiring how well Stark knows herself. A Los Angeles native, she proudly tells me that the tour finishes on May 5 in her hometown, a show that she’s especially excited for. While we can’t predict what thoughtfully-curated outfit she’ll wear or what songs will be performed, with new music already underway, one thing is clear: Jesse Jo Stark is just getting started.

Music

9lives' Latest Single Continues to Push Sigilkore

April 19, 2024

The versatile artist, producer, and pioneer of the sigilkore genre, 9lives, has recently unveiled his latest single "CANADA" featuring jnhygs. In less than two years since his emergence onto the music scene, 9lives has carved out an impressive niche for himself as a prominent figure within the digitally-driven sigilkore movement. "CANADA" sees him teaming up once again with experimental dance artist jnhygs, following their successful collaboration on "XTAYALIVE".

With aspirations to establish himself within the mainstream arena of experimental music production and artistry, 9lives is blending his distinct dark production style with collaborations with a diverse array of influential artists who trust him to create innovative sonic landscapes. "CANADA" marks his second release of 2024, as 9lives continues to champion the burgeoning sigilkore movement, pushing the boundaries of genre, evolving into a multifaceted artist, and solidifying his status as a rising star with an expanding audience.

Image by Connor Pritchard

Reflecting on their latest project, 9lives shares, “In early 2023 jnhygs found my music and we started chatting through TikTok, releasing our first song together called "XTAYALIVE"." He adds, We’ve been friends since this song had a viral moment, and fans have been heavily requesting for us to work together again all over our videos.” Describing their creative process, he explains, “I sent a bunch of new ideas to jnhygs via Discord and she sent back vocals to “CANADA”, which I then used to create melodic layers and extra percussion to complete the song.

Music

Eclipsed at Vampire Weekend

April 16, 2024

It had been about a week since the goosebump-inducing communal howls at the moon, as it covered the sun through a cloudy Austin, Texas sky, left me needing to take a seat—suspended in awe of the totality of the event and the synergistic break from routine. I overheard someone say, “I mean, it feels like we’re all going to die, but in a way that’s okay, you know?" under the shadow of the eclipse's peak, ceremoniously brought in as the band performed “Jonathan Low,” (in Vampire Weekend's familiar ironic hue) a track they wrote for the third movie in the Twilight series, Eclipse.

It had been five years since the band had released an album. In celebration of their latest album, "Only God Was Above Us," ticket holders wrapped the streets in blocks outside the venue for the band’s first Stateside show in about two years. Event managers searched to replenish the venue’s stock of eclipse glasses, while the band prepped a show reminiscent of 'getting the boys back together again'.

Words and photography by Rianne Akindele

In between newly released songs like “Classical” and “Capricorn”, the boys filled the almost two-hour-long show with old favorites like “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, “Diane Young” and a genre evolved rendition of “Sunflower” as the crowd danced barefoot feeling the Earth’s energy intertwined with their own and the vibrations from the amps on stage. People stole glances at the imminently darkening sky, artists doodled, friends grabbed onto each other to scream the lyrics in each other’s faces, and onlookers from the highest level of the parking garage across the street cheered on in a symphony of nostalgia and anticipation.

Adding to the layers of the celestial afternoon, the band invited to the stage the likes of Thomas Mars from Phoenix, Dave 1 from Chromeo, and guitarist Brian Robert Jones, inducing further levels of indie revival euphoria.

As the show drew to its close, and the zydeco/country-rock “Cocaine Cowboys” medley fiddled through the air, a conversation could be picked up between two sisters in search of their Lyft driver through closed-off streets,

“I wish this happened more often.”
“Eclipses or shows like this?”
“Both.”

It’s moments like these that remind us of our shared humanity and the power of collective experiences; a gathering of souls under the same sky, sharing the joy of music and a wonder of the stars above. Perhaps it’s the rarity that allowed such transcendence, reverence, and gratitude to be felt. Either way, what a beautiful moment in time it was.

Here are a few shots from the Monday afternoon: