C.C. Diemond & Daniel Dekay, Guitarists for Canadian Hard Rock band Diemonds. Interview November 20, 2012
Diemonds Interview
1. How was it recording the latest Diemonds album The Bad Pack?
It was like Nightmare On Elm Street 3: we would abuse substances all day in order to avoid falling asleep while being locked up in a mental institution and forced to repeat things over and over until we got them right. If we didn’t play something absolutely perfectly we would be killed by the burnt man with the claw hand. One, two, Freddy’s coming for you…
2. Where did the ideas and concepts for this album come from?
The ideas and concepts behind “The Bad Pack” came from our travels around the world together playing shows and meeting all sorts of interesting characters. The things we saw, the things we did together, the trouble we got in…we will never forget any of our experiences and all of this came into play when it came time to sit down and write a new record.
3.How is touring Canada these days?
Touring Canada is a long and tedious but incredibly rewarding trip. Unlike touring overseas or in certain parts of the USA, major Canadian markets/cities can be up to 12 hours apart from each other resulting in our least favorite way of touring: arrive, unpack, play, pack up, hit the road overnight. There’s nothing worse than only getting to experience a city for 6 hours and needing to leave immediately after you play just to make it to the next gig on time. Aside from that though, Canada is a beautiful place to tour and the people truly are the most friendly in the world. People seem to dig what we’re doing and the shows do very we’ll keep playing coast to coast! Oh yeah, the weed is REALLY good too.
4. What do you think of promo videos nowadays with everything going on YouTube?
We are big believers in the viral abilities of a well put together promo or music video. We currently have 3 music videos out for our most recent album “The Bad Pack” alone and have a fourth in the works. As long as you have a captivating and interesting concept to use for your video it’s viral value is priceless and worth more than anything else on the internet.
5. What do you think of the music industry today and where it is going?
I think the industry is headed in a really good direction for rock music – people are getting more and more into the old school analog formats again (vinyl/cassette) which really excites us since that’s how we like to present our music. We also just got signed so the industry MUST be headed in an AMAZING direction haha. Sure there is tons of crappy techno/laptop artists selling tons of records right now but we’re certain it’s just a phase and soon the masses will recognize the almighty power of guitar shredding once again.
6. Would you say the health of the Hard Rock scene is becoming stronger?
Absolutely. There’s tons of bands in the same vein of Diemonds that we have had the pleasure to play with all over the world. There is a resurgence in this type of music and it’s coming…it’s coming fast….and it’s coming strong. Be ready.
7. What were your earliest influences?
Black Sabbath, Van Halen, The Ramones, Metallica, & Joan Jett – get the idea? Haha
8. What could we find interesting in your music collection at home?
The Nuclear Assault discography on cassette
9. Could you describe what goes on in a day in your life as a musician on tour?
9AM: Wake up with your clothes and boots still on, 9AM-11AM: stumble around trying to find a lighter and piece together what happened the night before, Noon: gas up and go!, Noon-6PM: Drive…really fast., 6PM-12PM: get drunk, kill time, hit on hoes, 12AM-1AM: get more drunk while running a marathon in leather pants and trying not to kill one another, 1AM-2AM: hit on hoes, lift heavy things, 2AM-9AM: thrash, bash, & crash. 9AM: repeat.
10. Without Social Media could bands today manage to survive?
Yes, the good ones could survive.
Extra questions with Diemonds
Life without music would be: like a date without blowjobs
Favorite movie: The Road Warrior
Favorite sport: Shotgunning Beers
Favorite food: Pizza topped with Pizza
Favorite drink: Ice cold Pabst Blue Ribbon, shaken not stirred
Favorite saying: “Would you look at that!”
Favorite car: 2012 Hyundai Elantra, 16″ rims, free XM Radio for one month, Maroon paint
Favorite book: Face
Favorite band: Diemonds, duh.
Star Wars or Star Trek: Spaceballs
PC or Mac: Atari
Check out Diemonds Online http://diemonds.net/