Diandra Interviews Irene Diaz: Love Is Love And It Is Real

There is SO MUCH TALENT IN THIS WORLD! I can’t stand it. I really can’t! When you are in a competitive field, like sports or entertainment, you are told you have to think you are the best in order to become number one. Yet, there is no such thing, at least, in the world of music. Instead, you get a lot of great people like, Irene Diaz, who put their heart into their songs as a way to deal with past traumas, newfound truths, and the desire to be a voice for the voiceless, which, at  one time, included her. If music is self-expression than LIVE EPs shows Irene Diaz has a lot of wonderful things to say, and, in our interview, we discuss how she gained her voice. 

Diandra: How are you doing during this pandemic? 

Irene: I’m feeling anxious, but then I am feeling happy to be home. I work at a grocery store, and it can feel overwhelming, at times. I just don’t know what it coming next. It is so strange because I feel like I am watching history. So I am just allowing myself to feel what I feel and say it is okay to feel it. Let myself breathe. 

Diandra: This is a terrifying time for artists because they have the tendency to live in the future? 

Irene: YEAH! This put everything to a halt. I was planning to release new music and do live shows. Yet, this time has shown me how essential is music. I am happy to share my gift because it gives me something to relax with. Irene Diaz – Another Observer (Visual/ Lyric Video)

Diandra: How do you feel you live EP embodies you compared to your recording? 

Irene: There is no fixing. It is just me and my wife Caroline; she plays piano. It is raw. It is just me. It is funny because I didn’t know I was being recorded, which is good because I would have gotten nervous. It was recorded back in 2019, and we had only our own equipment. It is, literally, me and the two fiends that showed to see me. 

Diandra: What do you feel, of your personality, comes out in your music? 

Irene: Vulnerability and persistence. I have really been able to find my voice, and letting it have its strengths and imperfections. It has been such a long journey, and I didn’t consider myself a singer. In the beginning, I was writing songs, and I said, “I need someone to sing it.” So I did. Yet, now I feel like I am embracing myself and what it took to get here. It is so soothing. Singing is like a vibration through your body and it brings you healing. 

Diandra: So what brought you back after trying to give up? 

Irene: So many times, I wanted to give up. Making a career, out of music, is so unpredictable, and especially after this pandemic. Yet, I have also seen how essential music. No matter how many people are listening, my message needs to be shared. Each time I want to give up, I try to remember the fact music has on me and others. It saves us. Another Observer (Live)

Diandra: My hope is that artists realize their power during this pandemic and demand more/ 

Irene: Yeah! I think about streaming services and how little money we get per stream. Artists cannot survive that way. Touring is where we make our money, and I think a lot of artists are realizing that. Streaming is not helping us pay our bills, and we are resorting to band camp because people can give us money. Yet, we have to re-think how we share music and maintain ourselves, literally, fed. 

I was very shy when I fist came out in the industry. I was so unsure as an artist. I didn’t know my sound. Now, I embrace Irene Diaz because that is who I am. I write from a subconscious place. So I discover myself and my vulnerabilities through my songs. “My Sweetest Sin” was written when I went to a religious school and I was discovering my sexuality. I hear it, and it is so telling of my journey. 

Diandra: Religion is so beautiful and terrifying. 

Irene: It is so true. (she laughs) It is so sad. For me, the religious experiences I have had have been fear-based. When I was 21, I started questioning everything like the idea of hell. I didn’t want to believe in that. Over the course of my twenties, when I was leaving the church, it made me question myself like, “I am dating women! Am I going to hell?” Yet, I realized that those judgements are not “ideas of love;” they are not coming from a loving place. Though, it is challenging and it not easy to get those ideas out of your head. Now, I know that love is real. It is strong and true and vulnerable. 

Diandra: It is always bothered me that “Heaven” was something that came after, at least, that is how I was taught religiously. Yet, hell could be on earth.

Irene: Yeah! And that is what I wanted show through my music. I want someone to see their self through my experience and know love is real. Like I can’t wait for Lovers And Friends comes out because it is about my journey as a person and lesbian through the church, and it is about me seeing love is love. 
Irene Diaz – ‘I LOVE YOU MADLY’ (Lyric Video)

Diandra: So where are you religiously? 

Irene: I think I am spiritual. I don’t know where I am, specifically, with religion, but I know I am okay with being me. We are always evolving, and now I just want to experience the ways of love and finding myself. 

Diandra: What is the difference, to you, between a lover and friend. 

Irene: A lover is physical and a friend is platonic. Sometimes, friends jump to the lover zone. Friendships can be complicated. When someone is interested in you, but you don’t reciprocate it, then it can go wrong. 

Diandra: You know, I was just thinking.. there are not really a lot of songs about friends and family, at least, compared to lovers.

Irene: I think because we are horny people. 

I BURST OUT IN LAUGHTER! 

Diandra: You are right. I can’t do those things with family and friends.

Irene: Well, you are wooing people with a song. There is something, naturally, seductive about a song because you are trying to bring people in. So there it feels like the most natural to sing about; trying to woo someone. 

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