Diamond Rings: You Oughta Know

Posted on Jan 6th 2010 5:00PM by Shelley White
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One of the hottest music videos to hit your inbox last summer featured a lycra-clad singer shaking it in front of a green screen like he just stepped out of a Vanilla Ice video. The ditty in question, 'All Yr Songs,' by Toronto pop act Diamond Rings, was bouncy, bright and catchy as hell, and music blogs rightfully heaped on the praise. But the video, with its tights-and-acid wash wardrobe, glam day-glo makeup and charmingly awkward dance moves -- that was strictly tongue-in-cheek, right?

"Definitely it started out like, 'I'm going to wear this and it's going to be weird!'" John O'Regan, the man behind Diamond Rings, tells Spinner. "But then I got up on stage a few times all done up, and I started to really embrace it and enjoy it."O'Regan is also frontman for Toronto indie rockers The D'Urbervilles, but Diamond Rings is a way for him to explore more personal themes than he has with the band. The image started out as a cheeky nod to early '90s hip hop videos, but became something a bit more complicated. When asked if Diamond Rings is an alter-ego or the real him, O'Regan says he's still figuring that out.

"I have to say I don't totally know, and I'm cool with that and it's about exploring." he says. He cites artists like David Bowie, Devo and Grace Jones as influences on his gender-bending look. "I don't want something that gets too close to drag, because as powerful a symbol as that can be, it's more two-dimensional, like, 'Here's a man, he's dressed up like a woman.' I'm trying to get to a place where people are like, 'Is that a man? Or a woman? Is this for real or is this not for real?' I think that's when things get really exciting."

The video drew some unwanted attention last month, when Sony ordered YouTube to remove it after mistaking it for a copyrighted song called 'Diamond Rings' by rapper Chipmunk. Sony apologized and YouTube reposted the clip, but O'Regan says he still hasn't gotten the Beyonce and Modest Mouse discs the company promised as a peace offering.

When it comes to writing, O'Regan has a surprising touchstone: Gordon Lightfoot's 'If You Could Read My Mind' ("It's phenomenal, heart-wrenching and beautifully written," he says). He's a fan of both the original 1970 folk version and the disco-fied 1998 cover by house collective Stars On 54.

"That song is like what I've been trying to get at," he says. "What if that could be all the same person, Gordon Lightfoot and Stars On 54 all at the same time? I want songs that could be done stripped down, acoustic, but also could be dressed up. I can play at a club with the fog machine and the light show or just do an acoustic show in a basement. There's something liberating and challenging about that."

2010 is shaping up to be a big year for Diamond Rings. After opening for Owen Pallett (who recently dropped his Final Fantasy moniker) in Toronto on January 12th, O'Regan will head to Austin, Texas to play SXSW in March. He's just finished mixing his full-length debut, due out in spring, and his highly-anticipated next video will premiere in February. That single -- which features Toronto troubadour Gentleman Reg -- is called 'Wait & See' and will be pressed on limited edition 7" vinyl.

"It's for that small percentage of people like me who love vinyl," O'Regan says. "Those are the people that actually stand behind art that they like -- they're usually the first there and the last to leave. Unlike having a house party, where you don't always want that to happen, in the music business those are the kind of people you want on your side, [the ones] who supported you form the beginning and are still supporting you."