Diandra Reviews It All

Here is why I love interviews. I like meeting people. I might be the only one at a party standing next to the “chatty guy” who genuinely feels compelled to recite his life history because he knows I am genuinely intrigued by it. People are amazing because each individual has a story to share, and the details of their “storybook” might shock and teach you in how they compare to yours. I say this because The New Up might be one of my favorite interviews as they, seemingly, share that mindset. Every head you see walking down the street is their own world, and their new album, Tiny Mirrors, gravitates to that notion, and attempts to sonically unite every single, individual world unto the ultimate one that matter: Earth. Enjoy Part 1 Of My New Up Interview!

Diandra: Tiny Mirrors seems to be written in love, reflection, and disappointment to the socio-political atmosphere of our current world. What makes the album, for you, a new, distinctive voice upon certaintopics that, unfortunately, seem stuck in tired conversations like, immigration and Climate Change?

The New Up: This is a great question. What really feels different for us is that we aren’t pedaling any particular ideologies. We’re not saying you have to feel this way or that way, or believe in this or that. What the music asks the listener to do is look at the world around them as it really exists and not how they want it to be or how other people have told them to look at it, explore as many other perspectives as they possibly can, truly think and feel for themselves based on what they find, and then act on what they learn from that process. No matter where that path leads them, if they are truly thinking and feeling for themselves and acting on those feelings then this world is destined to be a much better place.

Watch this video on YouTube

Diandra: Compassion seems to be a major desire/ sonic achievement of Tiny Mirrors. Cite one moment where you felt either the most compassion from yourself or someone else.
The New Up: We’ll never forget when we were on our way from San Francisco to Santa Barbara for a show at Soho, which is a great spot. We were so excited for the show as it was our first time playing there. Unfortunately, when we were about 2 hours south of San Francisco our van at the time began to smoke. In a desperate effort to keep going and make it to the gig, we stopped at an auto parts store and asked them what we could do. The person there told us to get this stuff that gums up the radiator and can stop leaks. We put some of that in the engine and got back on the road, andnext thing you know the engine began smoking again. We made it to the next exit, which was south of Gilroy, California (the garlic capitol of the
world). We took the van to the local service station and asked that they check it out and let us know the deal. Of course, being musicians we naturally decided to go to the bar for a drink while we waited.

The bar was surprisingly rockin’ for 1p on a Friday, and next to the guitarist sat a Mexican gentleman and an American gentleman who were trying to communicate with each other, but didn’t speak each other’s language. Guitarist Noah Reid – who happens to speak spanish – decided to jump in and help the two men communicate with each other, which was a huge
relief to both of them. The American guy explained that they’d been trying to communicate for months, and that Noah had just helped them get past a major impasse. Upon further conversation, it turned out the American guy owned his own garage – mainly for big trucks – and owned a fleet of tow trucks meant to tow big vehicles (our van had a trailer attached). Completely out of the kindness of his heart, he not only agreed to take on the van repair right away, he agreed to give us a ride back to SF that day in one of his tow trucks and tow our trailer back with us, and he did the repair for free. It turns out it needed a new engine, so this was no small expense. The only thing he would let us do in return is get him drunk back in SF that night. For a bunch of broke musicians, this felt like an angel literally coming down from heaven to help an impossible situation. We
never did make it to the show that night, but we got drunk with one of the best and most compassionate people we’ve ever had the chance to meet! ( Diandra’s Emotional Side Note: I LOVE THIS STORY!)

Diandra: Tiny Mirrors is an album of metamorphosis; for better or worse. What are the most important changes you feel you have made, musically,mpersonally, and and spiritually, during and since the album?
The New Up: The ability to communicate effectively through our music is the biggest leap we’ve made. Not just through the lyrics, but the music now conveys the feelings and emotions that we want to communicate to the listener as well. There’s also a new attention to quality and detail that wasn’t there before. Everything we say literally and musically means something now,
there’s no fluff. We’ve finally connected with what we’re trying to say, and we finally have the ability to say it the way we want to.

GAHHHH!!! They are so articulate and thoughtful in their responses that I want you, the reader, to relish The New Up’s responses and story for three minutes, and then click HERE for the rest of the interview. YOU ONLY HAVE THREE MINUTES lol!