Best of What's Next: Marina & The Diamonds

Photos by Rankin

2010 is already shaping up to be an exceptional year for Marina Diamandis. Snapped up by Chop Shop/Atlantic Records after releasing a handful of acclaimed singles for New York and London-based independent label Neon Gold, the half-Greek, Welsh-born singer/songwriter will release her full-length U.S. debut in May; she’ll be on the road for much of the spring and summer. Fusing smartly punchy lyrics, chart-friendly hooks and Diamandis’ robust, careening croon, The Family Jewels is an incandescent broadside of intelligent alt-pop, a colorful first effort from the 24-year-old synesthete who has quickly become one of the U.K.’s brightest musical stars. Ensconced in a hotel room in Austin following her inaugural SXSW performances, Diamandis chatted with Paste about inventing fans, trying out for a reggae boy-band and the making of Jewels.

Paste: How are things going?
Marina Diamandis: Good. I’m about to take a ride down the river on a plastic swan. I’m also looking forward to trying Moon Pie later for dinner.

Paste: How are you finding SXSW?
Diamandis: Actually wonderful. It’s beautiful to jog around, the weather is great and I have three shows left to do, all of which I’m buzzing about.

Paste: You’ve been making waves in the UK for some time. How are US audiences taking to you?
Diamandis: So far, even better than my dreams. The NYC shows were both sold out and the audience was phenomenal. I’ve never felt so connected to fans. I always thought it would be this way, but it’s a different matter when your suspicions are proven accurate.

Paste: You’re basically a solo artist. Why did you decide to go with the band-style moniker?
Diamandis: I didn’t have any fans for a long time so I thought I’d just invent them. Cue "The Diamonds.” I like the idea of a collective of people who all share the same heart and perspective on life.

Paste: Your debut album lands in the States in May via Atlantic Records. Tell me about that.
Diamandis: It was done over two years, I wrote every song and co-produced some of it. Producers were Liam Howe, Biff Stannard, Pascal Gabriel and Greg Kurstin. Liam did the bulk, though. Sometimes you’re lucky and have a solid bunch of people who gravitate towards you.

Paste: From the outside looking in your rise seems pretty swift. Does it feel like that for you?
Diamandis: No, I couldn’t get here quickly enough. It’s taken five years of scrabbling up every fake ladder that rarely led to anything. Everything I have achieved has been through my own DIY doings. I used to scour the small ads in the back of the performing arts newspaper, The Stage. Record labels rarely advertised there so when I saw one [for a reggae boy-band], I leaped on it. I rocked up wearing a disguise and obviously looked like a white girl dressing up as a boy trying to get into a reggae boy-band and obviously got turned away.

Paste: I’ve read that when you were younger you’d devour biographies of people like Madonna and J-Lo. How did that prepare you for the whirlwind you’re in right now?
Diamandis: It fueled my ambition. It also helped me figure out who I was. I am not someone who will take advantage or hurt people to get to the top. You can be kind and ambitious and different stories reflect that. People always assume if you want a superstardom level of success you have to be ruthless and screw people over. Yes, you have to be smart but you don’t have to be disrespectful. … Success is in songwriting, though, not in all the surrounding stuff. My success is seeing that I can help one person change the way they feel. I want to make people feel secure and comfortable with who they are, because that’s how I would like to feel one day. I want to make people strong. Not be a shiny, perfect superstar that makes us all feel inadequate. Pop is all about illusion and I am not. I am about the real world.

Paste: What are your plans for the future?
Diamandis: To write an album a year and to not be trapped in pop-world. I want to explore many different areas of music. Making interesting albums that satisfy and stimulate me is far, far more important than wealth or beauty or status or glamor. That world is boring and very temporary.