Episode 8: Madi Diaz

The indie/pop songwriter stops by with Kyle Ryan to talk hard working Nashville musicians, selling out and toilet paper

On the cusp of her third album release, Madi Diaz and her David Rawlings, if you will, Kyle Ryan came into our Attic Lounge to talk about her new album, Nashville and songwriting in general. They take their songwriting seriously, and write enormous amounts of songs, trying to find those gems. I began by asking Madi about her songs, her genre, what, if anything, was she shooting for. She has been labeled under singer/songwriter before, plastered over indie blogs, but you can also find her on the homepage of Rolling Stone magazine. Her first song “Gimme a Kiss” is the type of pop song that should be on the radio nowadays. The catchy love song is one that stays in your head because you want it there, not out of annoyance. “We were tired of the sad bastard music,” says Ryan. Nowadays there is a rare genre of good pop songs that are not something out of a Lady GaGa music video, and Diaz nails it on her new release Plastic Moon. With Diaz’s inspiration from current popular music, especially her love for Paula Abdul, Ryan focuses on listening to the more obscure and “old shit.”

                Diaz is from Pennsylvania, but is based here in Nashville, splitting her time in Los Angeles and New York City, like many musicians. Diaz and Ryan began writing in New York City, before moving back here to finish the record. “Everybody is always working here,” Diaz said. “Whether it’s on them, or someone else’s music, they are working hard.” Diaz has always been a hard-working musician, touring furiously with acts such as Landon Pigg and recent Grammy winners The Civil Wars. While making great indie pop music, Diaz made it clear about the idea of making “crappy music to make more money.” This is a road many artists take nowadays and Diaz and Ryan agreed on the fact that their income from their music career is what keeps it going, and as long as that suffices, then everything is fine. Head over here to purchase Plastic Moon and check out her latest music video for “Gimme a Kiss.”