Category Archives: Interviews

Interview: + Diva +

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011


I was searching for girl bands for my May show. Frosty of Dublab and Michael of Part Time Punks both suggested Pocahaunted among other groups through which I found out about former member Diva Dompe and her solo project. All the tracks on her soundcloud won me over. She stands out from all the other LA bands on the scene.




Buddy Society: Saw the recent feature in Vogue Italy. Congrats. You find the Europeans more outgoing in terms of discovering new music?

Diva: Im not sure, It seems really hard to make a statement like that. I haven’t done a solo tour on my own in the US (i did one last november but I was opening for Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti and Os Mutantes, so obviously it was a totally different situation!), so I don’t know really what the turnout would be like here. Each show we played in Europe was a totally different situation. I will say some of the shows were very well attended which was very surprising to me, and it’s just because some of the people did a really good job promoting, like getting that article in vogue Italy (which is really funny because when you google translate it, it says i am spreading fumes of sulfur across europe, haha).

Buddy Society: In this age of internet self-promotion in music, you seem to have done the opposite. For example, your stage name is simply “Diva”, making it hard to find you online (as I learned by googling you). I also couldn’t find a Diva facebook music page. I couldn’t even find any interviews with you online and thought you might decline my request for one. Is it fair to say you’re doing it mostly for the sake of art and are not too concerned with fame? What’s your goal with this all?

Diva: Yes, its funny to be living in a time when one aspect of choosing a band name is its ability to be googled. I didn’t choose Diva to stay obscure or anything, its just my name, and picked it for this project in the tradition of Madonna and Beyonce. I actually love pop music and what it can inspire in a huge group of people when done right (I am talking about the kind of pop music that actually moves the emotions of millions of people, not the kind of forgettable stuff people use as a sort of numbing medicine). I want to explore this in my new project, so that was part of picking the name, but it was also about fully embracing my self. I think there was a large part of my life when i tried to hide a little from my name and all that it entails. Trying to fit in with people a little better when i was a kid (even though there was really no chance of that in the first place, haha). Shy away from attention. Even when I got into punk music when i was 14 and i was dressing pretty wild, it was still a uniform and there were still so many facets of myself that I wasn’t embracing. So using my name as the name for my creative expression, it was sort of a tool of freedom for me, coming into my own, accepting myself wholly and fully and also not holding back. I also like to explore how the name relates to gender, or a certain aspect of strong femininity, and spirituality as with the spelling deva. The searchability aspect of the name, i just didnt really think about it.

as far as facebook goes, listen I have tried to make a facebook page for my music. i even have one i think, but im not sure if its like published or not? the truth is i just cant figure facebook out, its too confusing. (anyone out there want to help me with this?). although i am a fan of magic and mystery, I also believe in accessibility. I think the two can coexist actually. Like Lady Gaga, she makes her self into a legend, but this legend is extremely accessible at the same time. I have plenty of sites, divaprojections.blogspot.com, diva.bandcamp.com, soundcloud.com/divaonearth… but anyway its sort of hard to keep up with what people are using the most at the time, it seems to change so fast. i try, but i cant obsess or be on the computer for too long.

I also probably wont say no to an interview at this point. although interviews can be super awkward and regrettable, I think i will always do them on the off chance i get some introspection out of it and that i end up expressing something that i really believe in. my goal? music has just always been the way i relate to the world, and i want to use that in the most positive and healing way possible. i dont understand politics or money or even people very much, so im just trying to contribute to the world in the best way i know. I want to provide a realm of fun and magic and happiness and healing for people.

Buddy Society: Related to this, you just released an incredible album, yet it’s currently only available on bandcamp to my knowledge and I’ve yet to see a review on it. At the same time. you just toured Europe as a solo artist. Have you toured there before? How did the European tour go? Any US tour or spot dates planned?

Diva: The album, called The Glitter End, started out with just me copying tapes, painting them, and selling that. then i made a bandcamp, and now its just been released on vinyl (glitter vinyl actually!) on Alt Vinyl and cd and digitally through Fire records. both of those are UK labels, but hopefully it should be more available in the states soon. For now, I have about 30 copies of the vinyl that I will be bringing to my shows.

I toured in Europe before with Pocahaunted, but this was the first time with this project. It went really well. Usually on tour one sort of gets into this zombified burn out state at some point, but I really made an effort to not let that happen this time. I took a friend of mine and we were there for a month, but only played 15 shows, so we had time to meet some great people and see some beautiful places (my faves were teufelsberg and liquidrome in Berlin, Parc Guell in Barcelona, and the coast of Genova). The shows also were really fun and I felt like I was finally accomplishing closer to what I want in performances. I did costume changes, a lot of dancing, and a lot of drama. I might be doing an east coast tour this summer, but that is still in the works.



Buddy Society: You host a monthly event called “Bloody Mess”. What are you trying to create with that? Any LA bands we should watch for?

Diva: I grew up in Los Angeles and I love this city so much. There is so much magic here, and a lot of it comes from the hills and the desert and the ocean, but also a lot of it comes from all the strange characters that have inhabited this place. We get a bad rep as of late for being shallow, passive, and not having much culture. But I really believe in this city and one of the goals with these parties is to see this city reach its full creative/social potential. We are going to expand soon and do another night called sweaty mess thats going to be more of a psychedelic cosmic disco. We want to create a nucleus of creativity for artists in los angeles to come together. High aspirations for a night club? We can at least try. We seek to make the night wholly experiential by transforming the space, getting really interesting people involved and letting them have free reign in their performance for the night, encouraging special one-time performances different from what they might normally do, and also encouraging the crowd to dress up, dance, express themselves. This city can be so dispersed and alienated at times and we just want to bring it closer together in a fun creative way.

Buddy Society: Most people reject their “parents music”, but you seem to embrace it. Your dad is a founding member of the band that basically started the whole goth movement that you’re currently at the forefront of in LA. Did you always like goth music growing up or did you resist it at first or at any time? Has your dad been to Bloody Mess?

Diva: My parents and I are really close. They were really young when i was born and rather than stop their lives, they just took me along with them and so I grew up around music, went to shows and festivals a lot, hung out with all their friends. I always loved it and i think thats why i have always wanted to play music. My parents aren’t necessarily goth, i know its kind of funny to say because of Bauhaus, but really they were just sort of weird. My mom grew up in the la punk scene of the late 70′s early 80′s, but she always did her own thing and just dressed wild and didnt pin herself into one scene. I think my dad is the same, i mean his favorite artists are The Beatles, David Bowie, The Clash, pretty classic stuff. When I was growing up they were actually really into rave culture and listened to stuff like orbital, chemical brothers, bjork, radiohead. I don’t think I ever resisted the music they like except for maybe when i was 13 and 14 and only listened to punk music (until i realized that that really isnt what true punk ethos is about). I also wouldnt say im really at the forefront of goth in la, im not really anything one way or the other, but i do wear a lot of tie dye and listen to the beach boys a lot. i think maybe thats part of the reason of doing the night as well, to get more in touch with that part of me that is very dark and dramatic. My dad goes to bloody mess almost everytime! he has been the guest dj twice. I love djing with him. He says the night reminds him of going to clubs when he was a teenager and the passion and excitement that was felt there, which is the best compliment bloody mess has ever gotten.

Buddy Society: Besides recording, playing instruments, singing, DJing, and creating a goth party from scratch, you also started a raw catering company to sell food at shows. Inspired in different areas or just bored?

Diva: Just loving life!



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Interview: James Pants

Friday, March 18th, 2011

I first met James Pants and his offbeat sense of humor in the summer of 06. Since then he’s quietly made several good albums and shows no signs of slowing down. Anxious for the release of his new project, I decided to pick his brain.



Buddy Society: I think the new album is your best one to date. A lot of the themes are the same, but for some reason they seem to work better now. Is it safe to say you finally found your sound or do you feel that you always had it and people are just now warming up to it?

James: Excellent news! Thanks. Yeah, I think I’m more comfortable in my sound now, and it’s more fleshed out. Also, because we were moving to Germany, I got rid of a ton of my keyboards and stuff and just used MIDI instruments on the record – something I said I would never do. Although, in the end I had much more fun doing that than just using analog gear. I could play fake guitar, fax sax, fake drum-set. Amazing. I also tried to simplify everything. I’ve been listening to a lot of 50s/early 60s pop, and tried to write things as concise as that.

Buddy Society: A lot has changed since I first meet you in 2006 and you were just starting your career. You got married, released three albums, had a baby, and recently moved to Germany. Homesick? Are your days any different than they were in the US?

James: Yeah, it’s been a whirlwind. Strangely, not homesick yet. Although there is no Mexican food over here, which makes life quite difficult. I’m really enjoying Europe. I think in a previous life I lived in either the Black Forest or Transylvania.

Buddy Society: Who’s more creative? You or King Liger Berry?

James: I win on this one. Liger is only creative when he doesn’t smoke weed. Haha! But Liger is definitely the most creative email author I’ve ever met. I’ve been saving all his emails and one day would like to publish a coffee-table book.

Buddy Society: Ever broke a bone or had stitches?

James: I got stitches once when I was a social worker. I was attack by a 13 year old girl named Jessica. She was big, mean, and utterly terrifying to me. She broke off the metal clamp of a clipboard and slashed my finger with it. No broken bones. I was also bit by a poisonous spider in my basement, around the time I was recording Welcome. The bite festered for about 5 days, even though I put creams on it, and stuff. I eventually had to do to the doctor, and he said it was one of the worst cases he had seen. My arm was all yellow and blistered. He gave me some medicine, and it cleared up pretty quick. The spider was a hobo spider, an ugly brown creature.

Buddy Society: What’s your favorite?

James: Definitely Russia.



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Interview: Anika

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

Anika is the latest signee to Stones Throw and is produced by Geoff Barrow (part of the best band that happened to the 90′s, Portishead).


Buddy Society: Can you describe the experience of creating an album in only 12 days in a single room all at the same time without overdubs? How did that affect the music?

Anika: The short time we had kept it raw and ensured it wasn’t over-produced. We made mistakes and you can hear this in the final cd but sometimes mistakes have been the most creative things people have ever done.
Why restrict creativity by enclosing it in a case of perceived perfection? We wanted to go back to the old way of recording music where you’d walk into a studio in the morning, lay down a track and walk out with it under your arm at the end of the day. None of this incessant sound booth single track re-taking.

Buddy Society: I heard you’re a DJ too. Is the music you spin anything like the music you make?

Anika: I dj quite an eclectic mix that spans across the decades and genres and i think this range of influences is apparent in the music.

Buddy Society: This album is your debut. How long have you been making music before this one? Was the music you made before meeting Beak similar to what you’re making with them?

Anika: I’ve been writing lyrics since i was about 14. I’m more of a writer really. The small poem-like anecdotes were a way of me unwinding my mind. I think far too much about things and it can get a bit crowded up there.
I started to teach myself guitar a few years ago to help tease the words out and put some kind of structure to it.
The main thing is i don’t think about what i am writing at all. Normally it’s just a process of furiously trying to write down the thoughts trying to escape my mind before they run away. The minute i ‘try’ to write a song, is the minute i have a mind blank and the tumbleweed starts. All the songs i wrote up until beak>, i wrote for myself and not for an audience. It’s funny really. I think if you’re too self aware when you write, it jeopardises creativity.

The main thing is, get down the raw emotion and then look back at it when you’re feeling a little more sane, to put the technical touches to it.

My music taste is heavily influenced by my brother. He was a drum and bass DJ and heavily into Stones Throw Hip Hop and so taught me to mix funk and hiphop at the age of 12. He also used to put together stuff on cubase and i used to think of lyrics to go with them. Unconsciously i have always worked to that kind of timing.

For this reason, i had many failed attempts trying to fit my lyrics to a traditional rock set up. There wasn’t enough space for my lyrics. They would be drowned out by some South Wales rock guitar drone. It was a nice surprise when things just worked with Beak>. We understood what the other person was trying to do. The nice thing with the band is that every part is given it’s own space. Nothing imposes on the other.

Buddy Society: Your first live shows with the band have been really big ones (like ATP in France). Is it a lot of pressure to do such big shows right off the bat? Describe the experience.

Anika: This is the reason i changed my name by taking out one letter. It may seem insignificant but it means that the project is distanced from me. If people hate it, i don’t have to take it personally and this takes a lot of pressure off. It’s an artistic experiment that is meant to provoke. I go on as the arrogant aloof (possibly german) part of myself that is often overshadowed by the shy Brit. I actually find soundcheck harder because it is me in my normal clothes going up. It’s a healthy form of split personality i’d say….

I also tend to completely zone out when i’m on stage and go off somewhere else.

Buddy Society: Most of the artists you’ve done covers of are considered legends these days. Did you give it much thought as you were making the songs or was it a more casual thing?

Anika: I looked at the words more than the person behind them. The way they sounded and the way they could be re-worked. The Dylan one is brilliantly written in that it could be applied to any conflict. It is also very intelligent in that it digs a little deeper into politics than your average U2 war song. It talks about those who lurk in the background of war and those who sit in the cosy confines of their mansions pushing the pieces on the chess board. It does not do the lazy thing of blaming the soldiers themselves. I admire anyone brave enough to go out and fight in such a conflict. Jimi Hendrix used to always make this differentiation too. I think it is important to.

With the lesser known ones, they were chosen perhaps more due to the original performer. Many of these were fronted by a sweet 60s blond girl and it was nice to create this juxtaposition of the sweet original next to the our dark, stalker interpretation.

Buddy Society: The youtube comments on “Yang Yang” are all over the place, from people saying it’s weird to others saying it’s the best new thing they’ve heard in their life. Was the response to the song and the video what you expected?

Anika: This project was never meant to please everyone. It’s controversial in nature and with the smooth you get the rough. I think the fact that it provoked people is always positive. If people just said “yeah that’s nice” i think i’d be a little disappointed. It’s better that some people love it and some people hate it to everyone being indifferent.

Having worked as a promoter for the last 2 years, i got sick of no one taking risks. Many times i’d put on some great bands who were a little different and no-one would come. Then the next week i’d put on a boring folk person, who’d been in the press all week and the place would sell out. The agents had stopped taking risks, the labels had stopped taking risks, the gig-going public had stopped taking risks and therefore i, as the promoter, could not afford to either. For this reason i wanted to make something that people wouldn’t be able to classify or understand right away. It might baffle them a little and hopefully shake them into remembering that you don’t always have to colour inside the lines. Otherwise i wouldn’t have bothered taking a year out of politics.

People find it hard to accept something if they can’t understand it. That’s why it’s so nice to be accepted by ST because it shows they want to consistently push their boundaries and keep things fresh, and in doing so challenge their fanbase.

Buddy Society: Favorite singers/bands? Anyone you’d like to collaborate with?

Anika: I think it would be very interesting to do something with Yoko Ono. If she will have me that is….




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