Diamond Rings Relishes 'Freedom of Expression' While Grinding Out Tours

The last place you might expect to find John O'Regan, aka Diamond Rings, is the laundromat. Onstage, the Canadian indie-rocker-turned-synth-popper has been known to rock giant Bowie-esque triangular shoulder pads and peacock feathers, and even his more subdued outfits consist of gold leggings, oversized tank tops and stonewashed jean jackets.

And yet, when O'Regan checks in with Spinner on a break between tour dates, he's on his way to do wash, confident the machines won't ruin his costumes.

"Right now, most of my stuff is pretty rugged," O'Regan says. "Being on the road and traveling makes it hard to bring my more elaborate gear with me, so it's pretty basic. I try to keep the tights out of the dryer, and the basketball jerseys. The rubberized lettering peals off. Other than that, it's pretty standard."

O'Regan, who got his start leading Ontario post-punk group the D'Urbervilles, created Diamond Rings a few years ago while he was recovering from a bout with Crohn's disease. As he pieced together the minimalist electro-pop tunes that would make up his debut album, 'Special Affections,' released in 2010, he cultivated a stage persona based on a part of his personality he says had been there all along. The clothes -- which change from night to night -- are a big part of it.

"Diamond Rings is not something where I'm in the Kiss Army or something, where I've got this uniform or template I'm replicating every night," O'Regan says. "There's a lot of room and freedom of expression A lot of what I wear is done really intuitively, based on the weather or the town I'm going to or how I feel. There's something liberating about that. Some nights it'll be a Metallica shirt and goth makeup, and others it's rainbows and candy canes and fuchsias and whatever else, depending on the room and the space."

The transformation applies more to the stage than real life, as being Diamond Rings 24-7 would be a tall order.

"I'm not getting up at 9 in the morning and putting on eyeliner, especially because these tours right now, I'm with my tour manager, driving around myself a lot of the time," he says. "It's very much like any rock band starting out, trying to make a name, grinding out big long drives. I play it pretty low key through the day. A lot of what I do is about conserving energy and resting up and saving myself for that hour where I've got to be onstage."

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