Alela Diane interview - a family affair
- Mar 23, 2011
"I'm not kicking my dad out of the band! That's ridiculous." Alela Diane is not your average singer.
The last few years have seen nu-folk take indie's place as the chart-bothering, credible genre of choice (not to mention the silliest name since nu-rave took nu-metals silly genre name crown).
Before Mumford & Sons were conquering America and Laura Marling was winning Brits, Alela Diane was on the road with two beautiful folksy records under her belt. But now folk's got bigger Alela's got rockier, and she doesn't care if that upsets any purists peeking out from under their beards.
"I didn't want to be held back," explains Alela. "It became obvious to me that I didn't just want to do what I'd been doing. Some changes happened that felt like the right thing.
"I'm sure there will be people that hold on to me playing acoustic by myself and singing more intimate folk songs. But there are plenty of other artists that do that they can go see."
That said, upcoming album 'Alela Diane & Wild Divine' is no knee-jerk transformation. "It's not like I made a techno-country record," laughs Alela.
There are rockier songs, there are more complex songs, there are electric guitars. But there are still the spine-tingling vocals, age old Americana story-telling and expert playing you would expect from Alela Diane.
"In general, the sound is inspired by rock groups of the past," admits Alela. "I love Neil Young, people that do more intimate songs but at the same time they get into it, get gritty.
"My mom told me I should listen to Jefferson Airplane. Grace Slick is pretty bad ass. She's just a really magnetic female vocalist. Sandy Denny is another one I really respect. Fairport Convention did traditional English music that had a lot of energy and was really rocking. That was really inspirational for me – you can have acoustic instruments and still kick ass."
Both Alela's parents play music too – her dad is not only a part of her band, he's in a Grateful Dead tribute group. You read that right.
"My parents would both play old folky songs, then when I was about 12 he started this Grateful Dead band. Dad really likes to shred, he likes to noodle around."
Isn't it more than a little weird being in a band with your father? "It's just the way it is. He's been by my side all the time, he's an awesome player - he's just in the band! I'm not kicking my dad out of the band! That's ridiculous. It's kind of annoying sometimes, because I hang out with my dad all the time, but he's an easy hang."
The family band connections don't end there: Alela's husband is the band's main guitar player, having previously filled in on bass duties.
"He hated playing bass. He would tell jokes, be ridiculous, say really offensive things onstage by accident. He's really good at offending people … He gets on with my dad really well. It's funny but it just works."
Something else that just works for Alela is being on Rough Trade, a label happy to sit Alela Diane & Wild Divine snugly on a release schedule alongside the likes of The Strokes. She calls the relationship "pretty awesome" and points to fellow Rough Trade artist Dylan Le Blanc as "really great".
Have any of her other contemporaries caught her eye? "Haha, when I'm writing I put my head in the clouds and hide from listening to other music. Since the record is done I'm like "oh wow, I can listen to music again, this is awesome!
"But I haven't listened to any of what's going on right now. I just heard the last Beach House record, which is pretty rad. No new music beyond that, pretty ridiculous I know. I come to things that everyone else has known about forever, in my own time."
With the new album, not too mention a tour promising some guitar shredding from old man Diane, could 2011 be the year everyone comes round to Alela Diane? "I'm ready for it, I just hope everyone else is."
Alela Diane & Wild Divine is released on April 4th.
Greg Rose
