Meet Diana de Cabarrus | Music composer, performer, educator.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Diana de Cabarrus and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Diana, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Honestly, I really dislike being bored, and I really struggle to make myself do things that I find meaningless. I was and am still endlessly intrigued by music, and I love that there’s always more to learn. You are never going to be ‘done’ with the layers and the depth of experience you can bring to it. In a sense it’s true of any field that there’s always more to know, but I find it easy to be fascinated by how music works and how it wokrs on people.

So when I was in my twenties the adventures of booking gigs and driving to festivals and encountering musicians from around the world and making albums was very thrilling and something I absolutely wanted to experience and explore. Maybe if I’d done other things I’d have found aspects of those interesting too, but I was most drawn to the adventures of music life.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I really am proud of my back catalogue, which I’d describe as psychedelic chansons with grit. There are rockier moments and folkier moments, there are strings, there are gothic stories and magical realist realms of imagination.

The biggest challenge for me in marketing my work was that in the early days, I didn’t really understand how critical it is for bookers and agents and promoters and industry in general to be able to understand where your music fits in. That’s always been something I valued creatively – that it was its own thing – but you have to be able to give people context that makes sense to them. Even if you don’t think you sound ‘like’ anything else, you need to find a way to communicate parameters, and you need to put as much thought into that as you do into the other aspects of your work. I also didn’t really understand that there are a limited number of ways female artists are typically described and understood, and if you don’t correspond with those archetypes, you need to find another way to communicate your energy.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
London has many great spots! Hampstead Heath has views across London and is not to be missed. Borough market for food. Walking along the Thames in any direction gives a flavour of what’s happening. Riding the DLR lets you see East London. Hyde park, the Serpentine gallery, the Tate.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout goes to the friends and the people who encouraged and collaborated along the way: there really ARE too many to mention, but let’s shoutout Brigid Kaelin, Louisville songwriter and musician who put you in touch with me and with whom I’ve toured and laughed and traded notes on our experiences.

Friends and collaborators and those who inspired me on my albums and lent a hand at various times:
Jason Dickinson, Jem Doulton, Anne Aulmann, Andy Phillips, Barry Hughes, Kirsten Adamson, Jonh Wills, Pinkie Maclure, Fence records who released my first EP, Jannica Honey, Victoria Mallon, Ash Gardner, Olaf Furniss, Roy Dodds, Lawrence Gill, Julian Marshall.

Website: https://candythief.bandcamp.com/album/imaginary-medals-2

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/candythief/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-de-cabarrus-a5107220/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candythiefmusic