Diagram of the Heart have a heart-to-heart before Bestival
At the heart of Imperial on the weekend, all diagrams were out of mind save the endlessly energetic Diagram of the Heart. They shared their love of ginger-nut biscuits before playing Bestival this summer
A small band with big sounds, they are a London-based electronic duo who have enough energy to outrun the energizer bunny. They’re on the road to be quite the big deal. Here’s what Kye and Anthony had to say before they performed at Bestival this summer.
Diagram of the Heart is quite an exquisite name, are you guys all really into biology?
Yeah, we were both doctors. Only joking we weren’t. We got to a stage where we had written god knows how many songs, and we thought we ought to get a name. Diagram of the Heart resembled what we were about and our music having one foot in the club and a driving heartbeat.
You are signed up to Deconstruction Records. Was that something you were aiming for seeing as they are a dance style label?
It was a very natural thing, one of the first people we spoke to was Mike Pickering from Sony and it was just a very natural and perfect time for us, as they’re all about having one foot in the charts and at the same time being very much in the club scene.
I think what’s exciting for Kye and I is having signed to Colombia, we were given the opportunity to work, along with Mike Pickering, Hacienda DJ and the lead man of M-People, with deconstruction records which was fantastic.
If you could choose a musician, DJ or anyone to jam onstage with, who would your ideal artist be?
We both really love Faithless and we actually have a song on our album that we would love to have Maxi Jazz on. We have a song called ‘Tell Suburbia’, which is about 9-10 minutes long, it’s epic, and we’ve always thought Maxi Jazz would just be perfect.
I’d love to see Noel Gallagher up on stage playing guitar with us, which would be pretty mental, just because we have that mix of styles within what we do and we both have different influences so it’s a mix of dance music with pop music. There’s also a lot of influences from people like Kasabian and Oasis.
Seeing as you have a foot in both camps, one being dance music and the other a more indie style, where would you prefer playing, in a large arena/rave or a tight knit indie venue?
I think our music is for people who want to go out and have a really good time and just jump up and down and go mad Diagram of the Heart
For us it’s not so much the venue but the people. I think our music is for people who want to go out and have a really good time and just jump up and down and go mad; we’re about escaping and letting go and thowing your hands in the air. That can work anywhere whether it’s a little bar or a big festival.
What’s your favourite type of biscuit?
Rich tea or ginger.
What in your opinion is the best hangover cure?
A fry-up or a strawberry milkshake.
If you could go back to one day in history, when would you visit?
Woodstock, I’d love that.
What can people expect from a Diagram of the Heart gig?
Full energy, full power and a good time, that’s what we’re about.
You’ve been touring around plenty recently so where would you say the best place you’ve played is?
For me personally it was Ibiza Rocks; it was amazing to be up there and I’m a big fan of Calvin Harris as well, so it was amazing to support him and the crowd was just unbelievable, it was completely packed.
There have been loads of really good ones like when we supported the Scissor Sisters in Manchester, there were 4,000 people and that was wicked.
What do you think the near future holds for you guys?
Hopefully more of the same, we’ve had an amazing summer, a summer that for people who play music is a dream. I just hope it continues and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t.
To wrap it up, what would you say to musicians out there who dig what you’re about and want to do the same?
I know it sounds cheesy but I’d say never give up, I think that’s the best advice anyone could give you. We write our music together but we’ve been working hard individually and that has brought us two together. I don’t think even the most successful musicians in the world would say its easy... It’s a roller-coaster, you’ve got to hold on tight. Luckily we have each other and we’re really good friends.