I first became aware of Irene Diaz through Facebook postings by some of my friends, but I had not actually heard the music.
A few weeks ago I was invited to the Natalia Clavier show at the Lyric Theater and Irene Diaz was one of the opening acts, and I decided I should find out more about her and listen to her music so I would know what to expect and what a pleasant surprise it was.
Irene Diaz is a classically trained pianist and learned how to play guitar from her father and some of her musical influences are Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Fiona Apple and Sia Furler.
When I began to listen to her EP “I Love You Madly” I was blown away by her soulful voice which has a natural perfect pitch and her music, which is very haunting and dramatic blends in perfectly with her voice.
After hearing her music, I was very excited to hear her sing live, and when I arrived at the Lyric Theater, I happened to run into her during sound check and we began to chat about her music and her influences and here are some highlights of our conversation:
When asked about her music, Irene stated: “I like my music to be very dramatic, like a movie and that’s what I try to convey when I write, so for the EP “I love You Madly”, I wanted to make it a listening experience.”
I asked Irene about her singing style and she stated: “I never took singing lessons, I tried but it just didn’t work out. I listen to a lot of different artists and by listening to them it’s how I developed my voice. Besides listening to female singers like Ella Fitzgerald or Sia Furler, I also listen to male artist like Damien Rice who has, like a cry, in his voice.”
I mentioned to Irene that her music is very “visual” and it could easily fit into a movie scene and she replied: “When I was a kid, I wanted to write [movie] scores, then I became a song writer and when I write the lyrics, they come from the mood of the music”
When Irene began her performance, she sang the first song a cappella and the reaction in the theater was one of awe. Irene’s voice filled the room and everyone was completely captivated by her voice. Keep in mind that most people there did not who she was, but by the end of her set, everyone was talking about her and even Carla Morrison who was in attendance at the show, wrote about Irene in great detail in her blog and paraphrasing what she said, Carla stated “Irene has a captivating voice that hits you right in the heart.”
Last week, I saw Irene perform in Old Town Pasadena, on an outdoor stage and the reaction from the audience was similar, not everyone was familiar with her music, but as people were walking by, they stopped and could not walk away after hearing her singing.
You can follow Irene on Facebook and her album, “Love You Madly”, is available on iTunes, Amazon and her website.
