All These Years by Diego B

His signature tenor voice glides from verse to verse, soothingly smooth, with an almost incomparable tenderness and clarity. It's no wonder that Diego B was voted by his peers in the online music community as "Best Male Solo Artist " in the 2004 International Online Music Awards. He was also awarded an IOMA nomination for Best Composer.Diego not only earned this recognition, but he nonchalantly continued to produce more great tracks throughout the year, offering further evidence of his talent as an accomplished musician and singer. Here at IOM, we're not surprised by Diego B's accomplishments, and it was quickly decided that we should dig a little deeper and find out more about this artist by asking the inevitable questions...

Welcome to IOM Diego.. can we begin with you giving us the official history of Diego B?

Church choir, school choir, singer in a band... that was in the early 80's, when we played westcoast-stuff, skiffle and rock n' roll, a wild mixture! I had so much stagefright, that I needed a guitar to hold on to.

Once I had learned around three or four chords, I wrote my first song. I loved the lyrics of Neil Young and the vocal arrangements of America, the Scottish supergroup Stealer's Wheel was another main influence, then came Prince...btw, he has just signed to a major label and has a new single out!

What would you say have been your main musical influences?

As I say, I loved Neil Young's lyrics and America's vocals as well as Prince and Stealer's Wheel. I think my music is a cocktail of my idols: the vocal-style is a little bit Gerry Beckley (America), Neil Young was an influence for guitar chords and the rest is fantasy (It's always hard to describe one's own music). I use a synthie-phrase and acoustic-guitar together in a song, I just call it rock pop, sometimes more pop, sometimes more rock.

What could you tell us about "high points" in your career?

Of course the IOMA award for best male solo artist and the nomination for best composer! to collaborate with other artists from different genres is a great pleasure and every single collaboration is a highpoint. there are still a few artists at besonic, I'd like to work with, and no...I won't tell you who!

And on the down-side, how about the low points?

Well, I really don't know, what I did between the early 80's and my first own recordings in the middle of the 90's... I wrote some songs, but I have never really tried to be successful with my music, wasted time, and that's a long lasting low!

What was your first stage and/or studio experience like?

I had my first stage experience around 1979/80 in Husum, a small town in the north of Germany.

I studied at the SAE (School Of Audio Engineering) in Hamburg in 1994/95, where I had my first studio-experiences as an audio engineer and as an artist. It cost a lot of money and I have a nice Diploma hanging on the wall, but I have never worked in that job.

On to the more intimate side of Diego.. what did you dream about last night AND you can't say 'I do not remember'...

I had sex with Halle Berry! No, Wally called it insomnia in his interview, I wrote about it in a song called "Restless Mind"... so, dreams are rare.

And, if we were to "shadow" you on a typical day, what might we do?

Get up 6.30am, go to work. come home at 5pm, dinner, watch a little bit of TV, make some music.

What did you do the day before yesterday?

Nothing special... it was a typical day!

What five albums would you want to find if you were stranded on a desert island with enough food, water, a copy of IOM, a complete reproduction of Prince's recording studio and a fantastic CD player?

Prince - The Hits/The B-Sides, Neil Young - Decade, Fleetwood Mac - Rumours, Bob Marley - Legend, America - Greatest Hits.

If you could have three wishes, what would they be?

1. I'd like to hear one of my songs in a movie or tv-production.

2. Health.

3. More time to produce music.

If someone were to tell you to pack your bags and 'never come back' what would you take?

My wife, all of my equipment, some CD's, Books.

and what, may we ask, are the five albums you listened to most recently?

Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head, The Cure - Greatest Hits, David Gray - A New Day At Midnight, Counting Crows - August And Everything After, Graham Lyle - Something Beautiful Remains.

What would you say is your favourite album cover of all time?

I don't have a favourite album cover!

What five movies did you watch most recently?

Heartbreakers, Kill Bill 2, Lord Of The Rings1-3, Jurassic Park 3, Gothika.

If you could have been responsible for writing a famous song or piece of music, what would it be?

American Pie - Don McLean, All You Need Is Love - Beatles, When Doves Cry - Prince, All Right Now - Free and many many more. I don't have just one favourite song.

Who would you most like to meet or have as neighbour to borrow a bag of sugar from?

Prince!

What bugs you most?

Some songs or artists on the radio, for example; Robbie Williams (in the 80's it was Phil Collins), "Englishman In New York" by Sting (I just can't listen to that song anymore). Oh and Anastasia, she's a german MTV-presenter, arrogant and stupid.

What kind of thing makes your day really shine?

An evening with friends playing guitar and singing some songs together.

I hate to end it all like this Diego but.. finally, what are your plans for the next twelve months?

Hope to finish my CD in 2004!

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