Madi Diaz Interview: SXSW 2010

You can say Nashville-based singer Madi Diaz has music in her blood. Her dad is a keyboardist who runs a music school in Delaware and tours with a Frank Zappa-tribute band. Playing music since her teens while attending Philadelphia's Paul Green School of Rock Music, Madi ended up following his footsteps by going to Berkeley College of Music before running into her now-manager in New York, launching her professional career as a musician. We caught up with the singer about her return to SXSW.

Describe your sound in your own words.

We've gone down so many different roads in the past. We began exploring Americana music but then came back to Nashville and just started writing more pop music. People compare our sound to that of Sheryl Crow and sometimes we get Spoon references.

How did you band form?

My dad was a musician and got me listening to everything early on, from Metallica to Frank Zappa to Janet Jackson. I went on to Berkeley College of Music and wasn't sure what I wanted to do that would jump start my brain. I was working full time and doing school full time and really needed a break so I quit school. My co-writer Kyle and I were playing biweekly shows in New York just to keep things moving and still feel like a goal was happening, and that's when I met my manager by pure accident in 2006. She was there for somebody else's show and stayed for our whole set. She's the reason so many doors opened for us and how we got a publishing deal. So now I get to write music all the time and not feel guilty about it. We decided to move to Nashville soon after to avoid paying a million dollars for rent in Boston or New York.

What's it like being a musician in Nashville?

It's such a music city. The indie rock and pop music scene is really separate from the country one, and they rarely cross over. I've been here for almost two years now and I've met the most incredible writers, artists and musicians here. We've done 10 times more [musically] than we could have done had we not moved out here. And the weather is just insanely beautiful all the time.

What are your musical influences?

The Beatles for definite sure. Phil Collins is totally the master. I just love Genesis, post-Peter Gabriel. Patti Griffin is also one of my all-time favorites.

How did you come up with your name?

It's short for my real name, Madeline. It's funny because my grandparents used to spell it Matty or Mattie. Everyone spelled it differently. I just decided to keep it Madi to use the least amount of letters.

What's your biggest vice?

Impatience. I also have a real hard time finding my center when I know I have a million things to do and I tend to move in 10 different directions and just reel myself forward.

What's in your festival survival kit?

A fannie pack is pretty much all I'll need.

Who was your first celeb crush?

Totally Macaulay Culkin from "Home Alone." Which is so weird because he's really strange now. It's one of those things like, "What happened to him?"

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Taylor Swift, Ke$ha, and that the new Justin Bieber song.

Beatles or Stones?

Beatles. I always felt so much more emotionally invested in them. I love the Stones, but their music is more like "Let's get drunk, and sit by a fire, and make out with people!" The Beatles would sing about simple things like holding hands.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

We were in middle of nowhere somewhere between St. Lois and Dallas and ended up at this Asian restaurant with a big karaoke screen. It was at the end of the night, and they were shutting down. I don't think they had their alcohol-permit but they sold us beer anyway and we ended up doing karaoke for the next five hours. We had a night of singing all the pop hits from Justin to Kelly, Mariah to Boyz II Men.

Shyema Azam is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.