Interview with Gemma Syme from Wellinton trio Diana Rozz
How did you guys form?
We were forged in the fires of Holiday with Friends. One firey ring to rule them all! Well actually I need to get to the doctors to have that checked out.
Tell us about previous musical incarnations?
Haha. I wish I could say that I had been in several million side projects and bands, but I was in the leo-tard clad "outfit" Trimasterbate, had a steady (...) run in Holiday with Friends which was heaps of fun but became really rocky, and also I am currently in 47 Diamantes.
What do you think Diana Rozz brings to the table musically?
Diana Rozz is a crazy beast at the moment. It's really exciting! When we first started we felt a giant leap away from what Holiday with Friends was doing. Not to discredit it but it was a really exciting change. At the moment I think we're finding our sound a bit more - we're only a year old now but it's still rad playing around with sounds, distorting things and working outside of a 2.40 min pop song. We've got a really nice... vibe (sorry) when we play live, and we jam out songs more. I've been finding recently that I like going in and out of time and key when making songs because it extenuates the parts when it works together, but it's also fun to make people feel uncomfortable and take them on a ride. Things get a little boring if they are perfect.
What are your plans for 2010?
Record some things... Luke Rowell (Disasteradio) said he wanted to do some recordings with us. WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THAT LUKE? Ummm, can someone give us some money so we can go to SXSW next year? Nah I should stop being lazy haha. We've got a lot of ideas we are still working through so maybe not gig TOO much. Play around with songs and have fun mainly!
Who are you inspired by musically?
Ooo shiver me timbers! Mostly Hannah and Emily actually! When writing songs that is. Not trying to be a wanker or anything, but we get a lot out of each other. It's like good sex.
What do you think of the current Wellington and NZ musical New Zealand landscape?
UMMMM, shit has picked up a lot it seems. I still think more people need to be in bands. I've got a lot of hope for this year in Wellington, a lot of exciting people have moved into the city so I'm just quietly waiting (ok I don't really do things quietly LOL), but I still think things could be a little more exciting! I've always battled with this idea that maybe there should be more competition in this city, cause that is when people start to push themselves... We kind of take a lot for granted. Like how we can't be arsed going two blocks down the road to get veges haha, Wellingtonian's need to suck it up sometimes.
Then again there is a lot of interesting stuff happening. It seems to be the year of the house party! Ye-yah. <3 Orchestra of Spheres too, and Freds. I don't go there as often as I should.
If you had to pick a collective musical hero dead or alive, who would it be and why - please, no fighting!!
Shame, it's only me doing this! Ummmm, my music hero. Too many! Let's go with Stephen Merrit from the Magnetic Fields. Why? He's a song writing genius! His lyrics and songs together, MMM, so freakin delicious. He's one of those people who you want to steal ideas from. And 69 love songs is... GENIUS.
Sum up DR in one sentence…
We love you but if you cross us we'll eat your nuts/meat curtains.
I've heard you talk about the space and creativity you have in a live show now compared to other projects, tell us about this and what do you hope people take away from the DR live experience...
I think we have plans to experiment more with live performances, but we need to get our songs down pat. I wanted to get this thing done for Campus A Low Hum (WE PLAYED IN A BARN OMG!) where we would be 'Diana Rozz and the Ronnie van Houts', and we were going to make Ronnie van Hout masks and get people to dance around in them but we didn't have time. If someone knows Ronnie can you ask him if he wants to do that?
Tell us about your songwriting process - what inspires you to write, how to does it go down, how do you decide what comes out the other end...
I've been wondering why the hell I am in bands recently. It just kinda happened... You know how some people just draw all the time.. yeah it's just this compulsion that we all have. We're not organised enough or have the drive to be "famous", LOL, but we love making music together. Aww that is such a lovely ending.
