Nina Diaz, lead singer for the San Antonio band Girl in a Coma, has been hailed by NPR as “one of the two or three most exciting, scary-good vocalists in rock today.” At age 13 Nina’s began singing, playing guitar and writing songs for the band Girl in a Coma. At age 17, Nina and the band performed at New York’s Knitting Factory as part of a taping for a television show. Joan Jett was in attendance and was so impressed, that she signed GIAC to her label, Blackheart Records, on the spot.
The band’s 2007 debut album, Both Before I’m Gone, was a critical hit with raves from Alternative Press Magazine, the LA Weekly, Bust magazine, among many others, with the album reaching No. 23 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart and No. 21 on iTunes. “Clumsy Sky,” the band’s first single, won a 2007 Independent Music Award.
Girl in a Coma went on to release three more albums and toured the world opening for bands such as Sia, Smashing Pumpkins, Morrissey, Tegan and Sara, Amanda Palmer and many more.
The band’s most recent album Exits & All the Rest was named to NPR’s 50 Favorite Albums of the Year. The band was featured in as a First Listen on NPR Music and invited to do a Tiny Desk Concert. The video for the featured track “Smart” (produced by Nick Launay) was featured on RollingStone.
The band built a loyal following with heavy touring and packed clubs at their headlining shows from The Troubadour and the Echoplex in LA to The Bowery Ballroom and Brooklyn’s The Knitting Factory in New York and Emo’s and The Mohawk in Austin. Their songs were featured in critically acclaimed independent movies as well as a major Disney release and a commercial for JCPenney.
Nina’s distinctive voice and powerful live performances attracted the attention of fans, producers and fellow artists. Nina collaborated with Tiësto to co-write the dance track, “In Your Mind.” Director Robert Rodriguez is such a fan of the band that he not only filmed an impromptu music video when he first saw them perform at SXSW, but also asked Nina Diaz and the band to compose a song for the climactic fight scene in his movie, Machete.
Being a public performer at such an early age took a toll and in early 2013 Nina began finding an outlet as she began writing new material that was all her own. She continued touring with the band, but took time to perform some of these new songs at a sold out show at Los Angeles’ Hotel Cafe.
In 2014, Nina Diaz, decided to take a break from Girl in a Coma to to work on her solo material. After spending time arranging over a dozen new songs, she headed to Sonic Ranch Studios in West Texas to work with producer Manuel Calderon and was joined by musicians, David Garza and Patricio Davila (drummer for Ximena Sariñana).
Nina launched her new solo project with a series of live concerts at The Belmont in Austin, Texas. On the first night of the residency, Nina fronted a five-piece band and performed this new material to a sold out crowd. Since then she has performed to sold out crowds throughout Texas as well as at Maverick Music Festival, Fiesta de la Flor, The Austin Music Awards and opening weekend at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. Her backing band, hand-picked by Nina to highlight her new sound, includes Jorge Gonzalez (drums), Jaime Ramirez (keys), Austin Valentine (bass), and Travis Vela (guitar).
