This week's artist blog post is going to be a bit different. This week Ross of Songplistic sat down with Borja Cabañas of Spanish rock group Dark Diamond to discuss the band and their upcoming release Showtime!
Ross: So what is your new song Showtime all about?
Borja: The song is basically about us getting back onto the stage and gigging after such a long wait, due to what has been happening this past year. Its got a lot of energy and swag in the verse, but when the chorus hits you can feel something else in the song, its got that deep feeling that I struggle to put into words, but it's got an energy to it that I hope resonates with people who are anxious to get back to playing live music after this past year!
Ross: Great! as a musician I can definitely empathise with the song's message! who produced the song for you guys?
Borja: I did, this is the second song I have ever mixed and mastered after our first single On And On, which has been quite a challenge, as I'm really trying my best to reflect our mood through the song, as well as produce the way we like to sound, it's a tough balance! Its all been recorded at home, this new plugin world can be a dark place where you are gonna have to spend too many hours if you wanna really get to know how to make things sound the way you actually want. Plus right now we couldn't have afforded the many hours of work that I put into it, so it had to be that way... Hopefully I will get better at it, but its been a blast, as I've discovered that I almost enjoy mixing and recording as much as playing guitar! It's become a passion I guess, or maybe that's my way of staying positive when I spend too many hours in front of the screen!!!
Ross: That's really impressive that you produced this yourself, at Songplistic we really believe in that homegrown style that you guys have emulated. What more do you have coming up?
Borja: We have a lot of work ahead of us! I'm happy because we have plenty of material, although it drives me a little mad sometimes to see so much stuff that is undone or unfinished right now! I like working very hard and I hardly ever take time off! We want all of our songs to release as soon as possible.. By next month we will be dropping another song, which is called Eat you!
Ross: That's really exciting! Can't wait to hear your new stuff! I have really enjoyed your first 2 tracks and before I let you go I have one last question for you. What are your influences? I hear a lot of Slash inspired guitar work and the singer has a Myles Kennedy/Axl Rose vibe to him so I am curious as to where you guys take inspiration from.
Borja: We all like almost the same stuff, but the good thing is that we really love music in general, all kinds of good music. It doesn't matter what genre we are talking about. Me, personally I've always been a Massive Slash fan and I'm glad that's come through in my guitar playing. I'm all about the catchy, sexy and nasty riffs but I don't make songs so they sound just like him or any other band that I like. We really are developing our very own thing, and we just really care about how good and enjoyable our songs are. This is for the music, the thing we love the most in life, and that's the only thing we think about when we are making songs, making something we wanna listen to a million times!
Ross: That's great, thanks a lot for taking the time to chat with me about the band and your music. I'm really digging what you guys have put out so far and I'm pretty excited to hear what comes next for you and the guys at Dark Diamond!
Borja: Thank you for taking the time too! I'm really excited to see the interview on the Songplistic blog! Thanks for having me!
Borja and Ross's musical relationship goes back to 2014 where they both played in a band called Wicked Stone in Glasgow, since then Borja has moved back to his homeland of Spain and Been in a Guns N' Roses Tribute band called Tokyo '92 and now his new band Dark Diamond. Check out Dark Diamond on Facebook and Instagram and don't forget to check them out on Spotify where you can listen to On and ON and their newest single Showtime.
Instagram: Dark Diamond (@darkdiamondband)
Facebook: Dark Diamond | Facebook
Spotify: Spotify – Dark Diamond
Thanks again to Borja for taking the time to talk to us!
Check out their new single Showtime!