Diandra Interviews Part 2: The New Up Call Out Media And Calm Uncertainty

Remember in college or  high school, when you used to have those “quad forums”, where every teen an twenty-something genuinely thought they had the answer to humanity’s historical crises. People always make fun of those “common- room conversations”, but I love them. They show a hope and fire that many lose as they grow, while others fight with spiritual sparkle to keep. I firmly believe that the answer to bettering humanity is within humanity, and the many peoples who provide themselves as doors or opportunities for light and love. The New Up are definitely ones of those peoples, and you can see why in Part 2 of my interview. 

Diandra: What I love most about Tiny Mirrors is that it is an album that, in essence, is about finding stability in yourself because life is too uncertain. What songs in the album do you feel most help in dealing with uncertainty and why?
The New Up: This is an interesting question, because each song does this in a totally different way. In Black Swan, it’s about knowing that sometimes you have to just say “fuck it” and that that’s a part of the deal, but knowing that saying “fuck it” doesn’t mean that you’re not working through something important. In Future Is Now, it’s about thinking about what you want and what you’re doing and being aware of how it will affect other people. In Almost Human, it’s about looking for the answer inside of yourself and not blaming others or looking outside yourself for reasons why things are or aren’t working out the way you wanted them to.

Then there are songs like Corners of Our Mind and Space Invader, which discuss interpersonal relationships and being responsible for the choices you make in the people you admire and surround yourself with. Songs like, No Fly Zone and Spill It Out, deal with the macro of society and the ills that people in power commit towards their subjects, and implores people to
not accept these ills but to demand that their governments serve them instead of them being demanded to serve their government. So it’s hard to say which ones are more effective in most helping listeners deal with uncertainty, because in some ways every song on the album is a crucial part of the blueprint of how to navigate this crazy and chaotic world in a meaningful and empowered way.

(Diandra’s Emotional Sidenote: Please re-read these last paragraphs, and then buy Tiny Mirrors. There is sincere wisdom and understanding in these answers. NOT KIDDING!)

Diandra: For you guys, music seems to be a wise guide through life. Name one song you find to be the wisest or most inspiring in its wisdom about life?
The New Up: That’s a really tough one. Almost Human notes that we should “Forget about the things that we can’t change or we’ll forget about the things that we could”, which is all about how crucial having an internal locus of controlis for all of us to live and work together constructively and productively.

Diandra:  You have said that you wrote the album for those that are just “another human being” without extraordinary wealth or power. Do you feel that the music industry/ entertainment can focus too much on material power rather than spiritual empowerment? If so, do you feel it is what has caused/ motivated negativity in the current state of the world?

The New Up: Without question. Everything that is directed towards the masses and has a need to make money falls prey to this ill. In some ways, music is just another part of the media, who needs to A) dumb things down to the lowest common denominator, B) focus on only the most sensational news, and C) sensationalize things that aren’t necessarily sensational in order to make money. Music is no different, and a large majority of the music industry is directed towards sticking to superficial topics and not getting too deep, because for some reason when deep topics are brought up in public they are treated as if they are threatening. This even translates to industries like the grocery stores and the items they carry, fashion and
the designs they carry, books that are published and offered and highlighted online, etc.

All of these industries have been consolidated so that the power to decide what products are featured and carried throughout stores around the country and the world is in the hands of a few people. The irony, though, is that those people are mostly followers and not trendsetters, and the result is that you have a few people who are followers trying to pedal products that are chasing what they think is popular, instead of people taking chances on innovation and being willing to fail in an effort to
move all aspects of society into the future. It’s like followers leading followers, so we get stuck in a feedback loop where everything becomes vanilla, soulless, sterile, and shallow. What’s funny, though, is that most of the time the stuff that really knocks it out of the park in terms of popularity is the stuff that is completely innovative and doesn’t conform to the normal rules. From our perspective they are the real trendsetters, and all of the people at the top that are recycling what they think will sell are really just inauthentic and often lack creativity.

(Diandra’s Emotional Sidenote: PREACH!) 

Diandra:  Your album was about so many personal and global issues. What is one topic you feel you did not write about or write enough about, and wish to continue to explore in future music? Moreover, what are other genres you would like to explore, as well?
The New Up: Social and environmental racism is something that we feel super strongly about but didn’t necessarily touch on specifically in the album. We’ll definitely be talking about that on the next album, as well as the disparities in wealth and the unspoken class system. Musically, we’re going to be exploring a lot more of the electronic elements, as well as ethereal soundscapes and innovative song structures. We don’t plan on abandoning our rock roots or getting rid of the types of vocal melodies we did on Tiny Mirrors, but we plan to build on the direction we went in on this album. Expect even more creativity and emotional and metaphorical connection on this next album. The world is filled with people who are incredible and who, with just a little bit of inspiration, can be voices of positive change, and we are going to be there until the end to keep pushing those people to rise up and face important topics that should be forever kept on the top of our collective brains.

There is nothing left to be said after that perfection, but to learn more about the The New Up and the music experience that is Tiny Mirrors Click Here.  
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