NASTY DIAMOND: Clean voice on dirty samples
I first met Miss Kreiz & Mael, the two protagonists of Nasty Diamond in Le Mans, in a first floor flat that is used as a studio. The coffee maker was smoking and had turned brown from being over used just like the Mk2 keys that were constantly being sanded down…
How did you come up with the group name Nasty Diamond?
Miss Kreiz: We took quite a while to find it. When you’re looking for a name for your group, you want it to sound good and for it to mean something.
Mael’s: We came up with this name because it has something to do with the musical tone of our group. I love the fact that Nasty diamond means “diamant sale” in French. I like to dirty the samples. I like to dirty the vinyl records before sampling them. This choice was based on the duality of the untreated music and the soulful voice which will be more relaxed, or at least that was the plan in the beginning. Noemi then turned towards rap, a genre of music that she frequently uses in different pieces.
You both come from families of musicians but what made you want to carry on this path?
Miss Kreiz: It really comes from my father even though he didn’t have a carrier in the music industry. He preferred sports. When I was a kid, he used to play the Piano. He was self-taught so he could do things without necessarily reading the score. The musical culture that I have today is comes from my Father and my brother. My brother is a music lover. He doesn’t make music but he used to collect vinyl records and introduced me to many things such as, Soul music, Funk, Jazz and Hip Hop.
Mael’s: Dad on bass with a Rockabilly vinyl record and behind him the big classic records. My father is more into rock. For me it’s Hip Hop all the way! Very young Hip Hop, Hip Hop starting in 1995 with the release of “Paris sous les bombes” given to me by the big brother. And the song “Si Dieu veut” from FF’s first album that I bought that had the track “L’amour du risqué”. Following this, I discovered Jazz music because French rap at the time was made up of a lot of jazz samples. Soul music appeared a little later … Big appearance by Trip Hop with albums like “Portishead” among others. I used to rap, that’s what lead me to discover MAO through Rap. At the time there was no Beat maker. And I had a real desire to understand how to produce something. I had my first meeting with DJ Vince when I was 13 years old, I also had lessons from MAO in workshops at the town hall in Le Mans. DJ Vince is 44, and is the Hip Hop daddy in Le Mans. I got hold of the first sampler, and so there was suddenly a deconstruction of hip hop beat. After a while I decided to turn to producing rather than focusing on rap. When you come back to rap you get confronted with small problems that can be quite frustrating. I’ve never really lost interest in French hip hop however I’m now very interested in New York music. And when you’re lulled by these sounds and you switch back to French you say to yourself: “Wow I’m really lacking in flow.” So I decided to use the Beat maker, a device that I’m comfortable using.
You first met up on Facebook to put together a musical project called “Beat Tape” can you tell me how this first encounter went?
Miss Kreiz: Mael had a friend who made music and so we would make music together. Basically we would go to the park he would take his guitar and I would sing. He spoke about me to Mael because I went to the School of Fine Arts. At the time my drawing wasn’t too bad and Mael was looking for someone to design something for the Beat Tape project. The first time we met, I showed him my drawing.
Mael’s: At the time I just wanted to do one project with a singer. I wanted a female voice to go with what I was working on. So that’s how it started. After a few studio sessions Nasty Diamond was created. We decided to continue after recording the 8 pieces of the project that are available on the old soundclound.
Who is behind the making of your first EP sleeve?
Miss Kreiz: It was Guillaume Bure and his nickname is Sink. He was with me at the School of Fine Arts. We got in contact with him because he had made an engraving of a man’s torso with a TV instead of the head. I have always admired this carving that’s why I wanted to do a retake of this concept for our EP sleeve.
You recently celebrated your 2 year anniversary with your last title Latino Roots x Smiling, are you heading towards a second EP?
Mael’s: We would like to kick off with an LP format album. This is the project. For the moment we are making pieces of music! We’re also trying to make pieces to go on stage. Because today, live music is what gets you! It’s not the album sales that will help you to survive. It’s worrying when you see golden disk sales reduced to 40,000 and yet not so long ago sales were up to 150 000. Everything is reassessed especially when you’re selling records. Today it is a commodity like any other.
Are you considering an audio-visual project with possibly a first video clip?
Miss Kreiz: We’re thinking about it. The video format we do here at Mael’s house works pretty well, and plus it’s live.
Do you have a special attraction to Black and White because your home made clips are always in Black and White?
Miss Kreiz: You can’t explain this stuff. It’s a known fact that Black and White smoothes the image. Also because at Mael’s there are too many colors everywhere. I like color but when there are too many you can’t see anything! It is also true that when I was at the School of Fine Arts my work was in Black and White.
What’s the sample of Far West Coast?
Mael’s: It’s a vinyl I used to have but I’ve kept the disk format! This is what it is: “Fire and Brimestone” by Link Wray.
Noemie do you have anything else you’d like to ask Mael?
Miss Kreiz: What’s the next thing we’re going to be working on? Because Jean-Mi and Mister Aspirin who are waiting in the starting blocks….
-> EP sleeve made by Guillaume Bure
-> Boxing glove and motorcycle by “Perinane” french designer www.perinane.com
-> Black and White photo of a stone Mexican skull by Adeline Grouas
