| Marina and the Diamonds | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Marina Lambrini Diamandis |
| Born | 10 October 1985 Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales |
| Genres | Indie pop, New Wave |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, keyboard, piano, glockenspiel, casio VL-tone, organ |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Labels | Neon Gold, 679, Chop Shop |
| Website | marinaandthediamonds.com |
Marina Lambrini Diamandis[1] (Greek: Μαρίνα-Λαμπρινή Διαμάντη, pronounced [ðiaˈmadi];[2] born 10 October 1985), better known by her stage name Marina and the Diamonds (sometimes stylised as Marina & the diamonds), is a Welsh singer-songwriter.[3][4] She rose to fame after reaching number two on the BBC Sound of 2010 poll list, coming second to Ellie Goulding. After releasing one private EP, Diamandis released her second extended play, The Crown Jewels EP, with help from Neon Gold Records, in 2009. Now signed to 679 Recordings, she released her debut full length studio album, The Family Jewels, followed by her third extended play, The American Jewels EP, in 2010. In 2011, Marina announced that she was working on her second album, Electra Heart which is due for release in spring 2012. The first single from the album, "Radioactive" was released in the UK on 3 October 2011.
Her stage name, "Marina and the Diamonds", consists of Diamandis's first name and the translation of her surname which means "Diamonds" in Greek. Although "The Diamonds" is often mistakenly believed to refer to her backing band,[5] it in fact refers to Diamandis's fans: she explains this on her Myspace page by saying "I'm Marina. You are the diamonds."[6]
Diamandis's musical style ranges from keyboard-based ballads to more up-tempo New Wave-style songs with full band backing.[4] She has cited a wide-range of influences such as Daniel Johnston, Blondie, The Distillers, Patti Smith, Tom Waits, Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Kate Bush, Britney Spears, Yann Tiersen, Elliott Smith, Dolly Parton and Madonna.[7][8]
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Diamandis was born in Abergavenny, Wales to a Greek father and a Welsh mother,[9] and brought up in the village of Pandy with her parents and her older sister.[10] She attended Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls, of which she said "I sort of found my talent there... I was the one who always skived off choir, but I had an incredible music teacher who managed to convince me I could do anything."[11] When her parents separated, Diamandis moved to Greece when she was sixteen years old to live with her father but returned to Wales two years later.[10]
Diamandis moved to London at the age of eighteen where she attended dance school for only two months.[5] Following this, in 2005 she took a one year singing course at Tech Music Schools. Diamandis enrolled on a degree in music at the University of East London, transferring in her second year of studies to Middlesex University, but she later dropped out.[12] She went for many auditions including the West End musical, The Lion King.[13] Diamandis admitted that she auditioned for a reggae boy band, held by Virgin Records, in 2005 to try to make it into the music business. She said she was "delusional with drive" and ultimately decided to dress up in male attire to try to amuse the record label to sign her, but she was unsuccessful. However, she was called back by the record label a week later.[14][15]
Diamandis has a synaesthetic condition that involves seeing musical notes and days of the week in different colours.[2]
In 2005, Diamandis created the name "Marina and the Diamonds".[16] When describing the origin of the name, she said:
I never envisaged a character, pop project, band or solo artist. I saw a simple group made up of many people who had the same hearts. A space for people with similar ideals who could not fit in to life's pre-made mould. I was terribly awkward for a long time! I really craved to be part of one thing because I never felt too connected to anybody and now I feel I have that all around me.[16]
Early demos of Marina and the Diamonds' songs were self composed and produced on the Apple software application Garageband.[13] Through Gumtree she found someone to produce a few tracks, for which she paid £500.[17] These ended up on her debut extended play Mermaid Vs. Sailor EP which was released on 23 November 2007. The record was created on hand-made CD-Rs by Diamandis and sold through her MySpace page. An estimated seventy copies were sold overall.[18]
In January 2008, Diamandis was first discovered by music scouter Derek Davies of Neon Gold Records. Davies booked Diamandis to open for Australian singer Gotye later that year where Warner Music Group first saw her and ended up signing her in October 2008 to 679 Recordings.[17]
Diamandis's debut single was a double a-side consisting of "Obsessions" and "Mowgli's Road" which was issued on Neon Gold Records in the United States on 19 November 2008, followed by her second extended play The Crown Jewels EP on 1 June 2009 featuring her second single "I Am Not a Robot".[19] Her first major label single, a re-recording of "Mowgli's Road", was released on 13 November 2009 under 679 Recordings in the UK and through Atlantic Records in the USA. On 7 December 2009 she was listed on the longlist for the BBC Sound of 2010 poll,[20] and on 7 January 2010 it was announced that she had taken second place.[21]
Marina and the Diamonds' debut album The Family Jewels was released on 22 February 2010. It peaked at number five in the UK Albums Chart and was certified silver in the United Kingdom days before its release.[22] A re-release of "Mowgli's Road" was released as the album's lead single on 13 November 2009.[23] However, the song "Hollywood" was released as the first major single from the album on 1 February 2010.[24] A re-release of "I Am Not a Robot" on the 26 April 2010 became the album's third single. Diamandis said she decided to re-release the song because "people seem to empathize and relate with the song, regardless of gender or age."[25] "Oh No!" became the album's fourth single on 2 August 2010.[26] "Shampain" became the album's fifth single on 11 October 2010.[27] She embarked on her first headlining tour on 14 February 2010, consisting of seventy dates around the United Kingdom, Ireland, mainland Europe, the United States and Canada.[28]
Early on in 2010, Diamandis has been collaborating with producer Benny Blanco and guitarist Dave Sitek in Los Angeles on new material which she describes to be "a really great opportunity for me as a songwriter. [We are] such a weird threesome - a combination of super pop and really indie".[5]
In March 2010, Atlantic Records signed Marina and the Diamonds to Chop Shop Records in the United States.[29][30] Before the album's American release on 25 May 2010,[31] Diamandis released her third extended play, The American Jewels EP, digitally and exclusively for the United States on 23 March 2010.[29][30] Diamandis made her North American debut on 14 March 2010 through a series of performances.[32]
Marina and the Diamonds was nominated for Critics' Choice at the 2010 BRIT Awards[33] and came fifth in SHREDnews' "Ten Artists To Watch in 2010" list in March 2010.[34] She also won the award for Best UK & Ireland Act at the 2010 MTV EMA awards, sending her into the Best European Act category, although she failed to reach the top 5 nominees.[35]
Marina announced at a concert in Glasgow on 1 November 2010, that she would be releasing new material as early as October 2011, although has since announced via her website that she is unsure how long it will take for the album to be completed. There is still no such indication as to date of release. In a January 2011 interview, she announced that her second album will mainly be about the female sexuality and feminism. On January 19, Diamandis was announced as a support act for the US leg of Katy Perry's "California Dreams Tour".[36] Three early demos were leaked in early 2011, called "Sex, Yeah!", "Living Dead" and "Jealousy", each showing a more pop sound.[37] A number of these previously unreleased tracks have been performed as part of the Burger Queen Tour. "Jealousy" made its television debut at the 2011 Glammy Awards in Germany. Of the leaked tracks it is so far the only to be confirmed for the new album, yet according to Diamandis "has nothing to do with the concept of the album". She is currently recording material with producers Guy Sigsworth, Labrinth, Greg Kurstin, Diplo, Dr. Luke, Stargate and Liam Howe.
On 8 August 2011, Diamandis uploaded a new video to her YouTube page titled "Part 1: Fear & Loathing". In an interview with Popjustice, Marina explained the whole concept of "Electra Heart" with the album to be under the same title and "Fear & Loathing" as an album track, and to be released on iTunes on 25 September. However this will not be an official single. The high concept video for it sees Marina slowly transforming into the character of Electra Heart, a guise Marina says "epitomises and embodies the lies, illusions and death of American ideologies involved in the corruption of self." but will however not be an alter-ego as Marina says it is too "clichéd". Asked to describe just what Electra Heart is and stands for, Marina told Popjustice: "Electra Heart is the antithesis of everything that I stand for. And the point of introducing her and building a whole concept around her is that she stands for the corrupt side of American ideology, and basically that’s the corruption of yourself. My worst fear - that’s anyone’s worst fear - is losing myself and becoming a vacuous person. And that happens a lot when you’re very ambitious."[38] The second song, "Radioactive" produced by Stargate premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 22 September 2011. It was released on iTunes on the 30 October 2011.[39] Further developing the Electra Heart concept "Part 2: Radioactive" the official music video for the single premiered. On her first video chat with fans, Marina revealed that Electra Heart would come out "the same month as the previous album," which came out in February. However, Marina has since tweeted the ambiguous statement "Some news. Electra Heart is not being released in February...", leaving people to wonder if the album will be released earlier or later than February. No further release date has since been confirmed.
On 20 November 2011, Marina released another video onto YouTube, entitled "Marina and the Diamonds | "Starring Role" Demo", stating that the demo was a song from Electra Heart.[40]
Aside from music, Diamandis became the new face of Max Factor. The venture was confirmed early 2011 with a number of photoshoots since taking place.
Marina and the Diamonds has been influenced by a wide-range of musicians from PJ Harvey to Britney Spears.[7] Diamandis has also noted Daniel Johnston as one of her major influences saying:
He really opened me up to a whole new world of music and a whole new perception of what an artist is. For me, he really encouraged me because if you think of someone who has been spoon-fed pop, up until twenty-one years old, and you hear someone like Daniel Johnston you're like "God, this is terrible, but I love it." It sounds like a child has made it, like, the production is so all over the place. He's obviously got something very captivating here yet he doesn't fit the normal mould and people still love him. I thought "if he can do it then [so can I]," that's when I started to produce things myself and play live, even though I wasn't even great on the piano. It's all about emotion and if you have heart, people connect to that.[41]
Diamandis calls herself a "DIY musician"[41] and describes her sound as an alternative to mainstream pop music.[7] In an interview with ClashMusic Diamandis said that she does not come from a musical background and explained “I probably have a bit of a different sound because I don’t really know what I’m doing”.[42] Lyrically, she says her music analyzes people and that if she wasn't a musician, she would be a psychologist.[43]
Critics usually catalogue Marina and the Diamonds as a New Wave pop artist. In an interview with The Guardian she said, "I suppose I'm an indie artist with pop goals".[8] Although Diamandis has urged that she never tries to sound like any other artist or copy a genre of music, she has been compared to a variety of artists such as Kate Bush[42] and most commonly Florence and the Machine.[44] PopMatters commented on her vocal delivery and attitude saying it "has a tendency to overshadow the music, which is often melodically inventive, but we are rarely given the chance to realise this."[45] The Guardian's Paul Lester wrote that "her songs are hard to fathom. They veer between simple keyboards-based ballads and more upbeat and catchy, quirky new wave-inflected numbers enhanced by percussion, guitar and drums."[4]
As well as her music, Marina and the Diamonds is also notable for her unique attire.[46] When asked in an interview to describe her fashion style in three words, Diamandis said "vintage, cheerleader and cartoon".[47] You can see an element of this style in the video for 'Oh No!' Which was released in June 2010.She has praised model/DJ Leigh Lezark's fashion style and called Gwen Stefani her definitive style icon calling her image "cartoonized but in a very fresh way".[47] Diamandis has mentioned that she sometimes makes her own outfits with clothes she buys from charity shops.[48] She also collects vintage cheer jackets.[47] She has often been seen wearing clothes by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac,[49] Laura Mackness,[50] Beyond Retro,[51] Motel Rocks,[52] Jervoise Jackets[53] amongst others. Diamandis has admitted that she would "like to do something in fashion, not designing, not one of those skanky celebrity lines, but being involved behind the scenes".[10]
As part of Selfridges' "Sound of Music", Diamandis designed her own window display for the London's Oxford Street branch in May 2010.[54] She also appeared as a "live mannequin" for the display.[55] Marina was featured on VOGUE.CO.UK throughout November 2010 for a popular sartorial section called Today I'm Wearing - where she blogged her daily style choices for the fashion website.[56] On 20 December 2010, Diamandis announced on her Twitter that she would be the new face of the new make up range "Max Factor Max Colour Effects" and performed an intimate gig at London's Cuckoo Club.
In 2009, Marina and the Diamonds played at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Swindon early in May 2009,[3] Glastonbury Festival in June 2009,[57] and the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2009.[58]
In promotion for her album and "Hollywood", Diamandis performed at Brand New: 10 for 10 at London's Dingwalls,[59] had an eleven minute 4Music special - 4Play: Marina and the Diamonds - on Channel 4,[60] performed at T4's Outside-In Festival,[61] New to Q Sessions[62] in January 2010, was a musical guest on GMTV, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, The Review Show in February, 2010[63] and Later... with Jools Holland and T4's Frock Me! in April, 2010. She performed at the Isle of Wight Festival 2010 and Glastonbury Festival 2010 in June 2010 and is planned to appear at other music festivals across the United Kingdom, mainland Europe and North America.
Diamandis had already sold out the first leg of her first headlining tour, The Family Jewels Tour (including the third leg of her tour, The Gem Tour) before the release of her debut album. Her entire tour currently consists of seventy dates across six legs around the United Kingdom, North America, Ireland and mainland Europe.[28][64][65] Diamandis was accompanied by support acts Clock Opera and Alan Pownall for the first leg of her tour and Spark on The Gem Tour.[66]
On 4 November 2011 it was announced via the Coldplay website that Marina and the Diamonds are supporting Coldplay at Manchester in their European tour.[67]
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| Year | Organisation | Nominated work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | BBC Sound of 2010 | Marina and the Diamonds | Sound of 2010 | Second place |
| 2010 BRIT Awards | Marina and the Diamonds | Critics' Choice | Nominated | |
| SHREDnews | Marina and the Diamonds | Ten Artists To Watch in 2010 | Fifth place | |
| 2010 NME Awards | Marina and the Diamonds | Hottest Woman | Nominated | |
| 2010 BT Digital Music Awards | Marina and the Diamonds | Breakthrough Artist of the Year | Nominated | |
| MTV Europe Music Awards | Marina and the Diamonds | Best UK & Irish Act | Won | |
| Marina and the Diamonds | Best European Act | Nominated | ||
| UK Festival Awards 2010 | Marina and the Diamonds | Best Breakthrough Act | Nominated | |
| 4Music Video Honours | Marina and the Diamonds | Hottest Girl of 2010 | Eighth place | |
| Marina and the Diamonds | Box Biggest Breakthrough of 2010 | Tenth place | ||
| Hollywood | Best Video of 2010 | Nominated | ||
| Virgin Media Music Awards | Marina and the Diamonds | Best Newcomer | Won | |
| 2011 | Glamour Women of the Year Awards | Marina and the Diamonds | Best Band | Nominated |
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