Marina and the Diamonds

If we here at 4or The Record are to be believed Marina and The Diamonds is the secret tip for “artist most likely to have phenomenal success in 2009”; not that she is actually a secret but for someone destined for such huge things Marina and her Diamonds have so far come relatively under the radar.

The reality is that this 23-year-old singer/songwriter is really just Marina and you are her Diamonds.  She has been sporadically toying with the London circuit since dropping out of uni (actually 4 uni’s) a couple of years back and, in the absence of full time management, has just signed an album deal with 679 Recordings (part of Warner) in the midst of a bidding war from 14 labels. 

Lazy journalism has since ensued and the obvious comparisons to other young female singer/songwriters has stirred up the fierceness within the petite songstress whose love of vintage and all things sparkly make her stage presence all the more vibrant.  More Kate Bush than the likes of the Nash’s or the Allen’s who have been punching above their weight over the last couple of years; her vivid lyrical imagery and interesting harmonies cement her firmly into the category that houses all the brilliant female soloists of this world. 

A bonified chanteuse, Marina has traditionally written, recorded and produced all her songs in her room, with basic GarageBand drum beats and her keyboard.  And now she has her very own band backing up her hauntingly beautiful vocals on the soon to be released ‘Obsessions’ and the kooky yet brilliant ‘Mowgli’s Road’, out on hip New York label Neon Gold before she starts working with 679.

A genuine, non-manufactured talent, with big aspirations and the attitude to make her dreams become a reality…may I introduce Marina and The Diamonds…

4TR – Tell us how you came to be a singer/songwriter.
Marina – Well I was never actually that musical, when I was younger I used to play the flute and violin and then drop it after 3 weeks, but I used to live in Greece and went to school there and when I was 18 I left and came here to London because I just always knew I wanted to make music.  Actually no one really knew I could sing or songwrite until I was about 20 so my family were like you are crazy to do this, because they expected me to go to uni, but I was like no fuck off I’m doing it. 

4TR - So it was always something you wanted to do
Marina - Yeah, it sounds really stupid and hippyish but it was just like a totally innate thing and I just had to do it, I was just really intent on being a singer even though I couldn’t really sing to start haha.  I used to just sing around the house and then went to music college for a year when I first came to London.  That was an awful experience because they used to make me sing covers like ‘Disco Inferno’ and stuff like that and I’m so not that kind of person, so I didn’t find my own voice until I started writing more.

4TR - So you dropped out of music school?
Marina – [laughing] yeah, actually I have been to like 4 uni's in 4 years, I’m really bad!
4TR – What none of them were quite right?
Marina - Haha no, well first I went to a dance college and dropped out because I hated it and then I went to a music college but didn’t get the certificate at the end because I dropped out with like a month to go because I was depressed and so I went to LA.  Then I came back and went to the University of East London to do music then dropped out and transferred to the 2nd year of Middlesex to do classical and was like fuck this I don’t want to do this anymore [laughing], I want to make music.

4TR – Did you always want to go down the solo artist route or did you consider being in a band or anything along those lines?
Marina - Yeah I just don’t think I could be in a band, I have to do things my own way otherwise I get really antsy so it was always more natural to be a soloist from the start.

4TR – You’re releasing a single this month on New York independent Neon Gold, how did that happen?
Marina – Well actually I am signed to Warner under 679 which happened a couple of months ago but I met Derek who runs Neon Gold ages ago after he did a blog about me and kind of started everything off.  I don’t really want to be dealing with a major yet until I am completely ready and have got all my songs so I just wanted to do it on an indie basis and 679 were fine with that. So just for the first single it’s being put out on Neon Gold.

4TR – Have you signed to 679 on an album deal?
Marina – Yeah and basically by the end of January I should have at least 6 tracks recorded so I am really excited.  You know I just want to get on with it now, but I have found over the last few months everything just takes so long, like the processes and signing contracts and approving budgets and blah blah blah it goes on.

4TR – How did Warner/679 find out about you and subsequently sign you?
Marina - Well the music industry is such a small world, everyone kind of knows everyone and there were already so many connections for me with 679, I guess they knew me from right at the very beginning.  When Warner were kind of negotiating a deal with me, no-one knew a thing about it, then suddenly other people in the industry found out, and in the end I met with 14 labels. 

4TR – What 14 labels all put the feelers out to see whether you would sign to them? That is pretty big by anyone’s standards!
Marina - Yeah it was weird, but they are actually so fickle.  Sometimes I think people just want to meet you for the sake of it, literally just so they can be like ‘oh I was onto it’ in case you become massive [laughs]

4TR – In that case why 679 out of all the labels you met?
Marina - I had know Nick Worthington who runs 679 for a long time because he came to one of my gigs like this time last year when I was really lo-fi and shit and just doing like crappy bedroom demos.  They were like massively committed from then and are a lovely team to work with.  But at the same time I think you have to meet everyone to kind of know what you want out of whatever label you go with, but in the end there were genuinely I think only 2 labels out of 14 that I thought I would work with and 679 was the best.  Nick has a really unique approach to the industry and the artists he has worked with in the past he has built up from scratch.  Like people including Mike Skinner from The Streets, Basement Jaxx and Badly Drawn Boy, whose careers he built basically from a demo that he saw potential with.

4TR - It must be important when you are potentially looking to work with someone, to see the caliber of people they have worked with in the past and the music they have put out!
Marina – Definitely, plus I think you need to like them as a person as well, personality matters doesn’t it!  For me it’s so good because I think it’s so rare for an artist to be talking to the head of the label every day personally, with them taking such an interest, plus if I ask to do something and he says no at least we can have an honest conversation about why he wont let me do it.

4TR – So being a female solo singer/songwriter who from time to time plays the keyboard, you are inevitably going to get the lazy comparisons to other recent female solo artists...Kate Nash, Lily Allen etc.  But ultimately what do you think sets you apart?
Marina – [laughing] yeah I know that’s going to happen.  But I have never been involved in any kind of scene, but artists like Lily Allen, did kind of spring out of the like mockney scene and its really hard to shake that kind of thing off. I don’t know, I would love people to think my music is timeless or classic in some sense, I mean I wouldn’t say my music is more serious, well maybe a little bit haha, but will you be listening to Kate Nash in like 10 years?  I don’t know, I mean you don’t know what she will come out with on the second album do you! 
4TR – It will be quite interesting to see what she comes up with, but I understand what you are getting at because there is a lot of comedy to their lyrics.
Marina - Yeah and cuteness as well, but I mean it’s not a bad thing, ‘Foundations’ was brilliant, a really good pop song!

4TR – One of the reasons I asked you that questions was because in the past you have been a prolific blogger and people/press have picked up on some of your blogs and your comments and used them to try and analyse you, for want of a better word!
Marina - [laughing] Well I have taken all the blogs down now because I cant be bothered with that, it’s bad, they pick up on anything.
4TR – The Guardian said “You get the impression that, in Marina's twisted imagination, women are weight-obsessed WAGs and men are all creepy sleazebags” which I thought was a little harsh in light of what they were referring to that you had written (about her fellow female musical counterparts)
Marina - Oh my god with the Guardian thing I was so mortified it was horrible, not that Lily Allen will ever read that but if I ever got the chance to meet her I wouldn’t be able to look her in the face.  It was just a blog you don’t think people are going to read it or take it seriously and then print it in the Guardian [laughing]

4TR – On the positive side of the press, you have had quite a lot of support though!
Marina - Yeah and I have done nothing to try and get it so its really nice to get that kind of interest.
4TR – Have the radio stations started picking it up?
Marina – Some have already, John Kennedy played a few songs for example.  I tried to force it upon Huw Stevens about a year ago but he wasn’t in to it haha, but to be fair I didn’t have any good songs at the time that you could even play on the radio anyway.

4TR – Your songs have quite a girl focus on them, so do you think you will get a lot of support from girls who will relate to your lyrics?
Marina - Well I don’t know, it will be really interesting to see what girls think of me, because I reckon they’re either going to love me or hate me, you either take the songs the wrong way or not.  I mean the song ‘Girls Girls Girls’ was kind of farcical, but I think it says a lot about our modern culture and what women aspire to be now.  I just think if I were like 15 or 16 and there was an artist out there that would say you don’t have to be a certain way, then I would love that, but we will see.

4TR – Do you play keyboard onstage still?
Marina – No I used to be stuck behind the keyboard and so everyone was like Kate Nash [laughs], so I was like right I’m binning that and got a proper keyboard player ‘cos I cant really play anyway, and we did our first show with a full band recently.  I am quite high energy on stage you know, I’m definitely not a wallflower and love performing so it’s good to be out from behind the keyboard, except for on ‘Obsessions’, when I play for just the token song.

4TR – You also played a support show for fellow 679 label mate Little Boots, that must have been a big deal for you?
Marina - Yeah it was amazing, and I think she is going to be remixing ‘Obsessions’ as well, which is very cool.  Her live shows are brilliant, she has a little tenorion which lights up and I think what she does has a really big market because it’s like dance pop…
4TR - Which will be huge this year, because so many artists are pushing that sound now.
Marina - Yeah I think so, she is just brilliant and I love how she is classically trained as well, very talented lady!

4TR – Do you write on an autobiographical basis or do you take your inspiration from other peoples lives?
Marina - It’s like half and half, for example ‘Seventeen’ was kind of about 3 different people.  But people get offended, like the person who they thought ‘Seventeen’ was about was really offended and I was like it’s not just about you, I felt a bit bad, but there are always going to be autobiographical elements to my songs.

4TR – The single you are releasing with Neon Gold is a double A-Side of ‘Obsessions’ and ‘Mowglis Road’, why did you want to do a double A side to start off your career?
Marina - I think because I didn’t want to be pigeonholed with ‘Obsessions’ because it is quite stark and just my voice with a piano, so I just wanted to show 2 contrasting songs.  Plus Mowgli is the best live as well.

4TR – You have gone from recording and producing demos in your bedroom to going into a studio and working with a producer (Liam Howe), has it lived up to your expectations?
Marina - Yeah kind of, well with the producer I am working with now, Liam, it definitely has, I mean you learn so much more than when you do it on your own.

4TR - Do you still keep a little bit of a DIY ethic?
Marina - I try to, it’s weird because at first you are scared to put your opinions in but after a while I just thought no I’m going to say what I think, like just because I am 23 doesn’t mean I don’t know anything.  For example with ‘Mowgli’ I had alot of input in the production, which was great, and I am so happy with it!

4TR - So now that you are working towards an album this year how do you feel your sound is changing with the input of a producer?  I know Neon Gold reported that the reworking on ‘Obsessions’ would result in bigger production values.
Marina – I think it just sounds completely better.  I mean you know when bands sound really good on their demos and then they go and record it but the magic has gone after that, well I am so aware of that so was really careful on ‘Obsessions’.  All that has changed is that it’s bigger than the demo which was quite 2 dimensional, just a GarageBand drum beat and the piano, but now it has alot more going on and not in a distasteful way, it hasn’t overcrowded it or anything.  A lot of the demo qualities will remain there will just be more live instruments and that kind of thing.

4TR – You mentioned Little Boots might be remixing ‘Obsessions’, but are there any other plans to collaborate with other artists or producers?
Marina - I don’t know about other producers because I have only ever worked with Liam really, and that works really well for us.  But in terms of collaborations I was actually meant to be writing a song with Dev Hynes, [laughing] but he has moved to New York so that fucks things up a bit.  With remixes so far Micachu is going to do ‘Girls’, Little Boots ‘Obsessions’, Passion Pit are going to do ‘Obsessions’ as well and then a guy called Kwes, who is really really good.

4TR - A lot of your songs are quite originally titled, and dripping with imagery, is that intentional?
Marina – Yeah, basically I hate titles that are shit, like ‘I still love you’ and stuff like that; I mean where is the imagination in that? I want people to remember the names of my songs. I love really strong imagery and for example have just written a song today called ‘Family Jewels’, which at the moment I am convinced will also be the name of the album, [laughing] which could change, but that title has a funny meaning as well as being a song about family.

4TR - So are your family really behind you now?
Marina - Yeah definitely like they have always been really supportive and behind me, but you can imagine why people have doubts about musical careers and are like ‘oh you are never going to make it’ or ‘there are so many people trying’, blah blah blah. I just thought I don’t care, like you never think about other people if you want to do something you should just go for it!

www.myspace.com/marinaandthediamonds

Words: Francesca Strange

Emma Sykes
Posts: 2

bob the builder
Reply #2 on : Tue April 27, 2010, 09:43:54

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hehe =] i think that marina and the diamonds are horrible i dont think she can sing either its like strangling a cat ouucchh!!!!!

Ariane
Posts: 2

She is awesome
Reply #1 on : Sat April 24, 2010, 12:47:13

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What a fantastic talent and a genuinely nice and interesting person.

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