Playlist: Abby Diamond

What’s the best music video you’ve seen recently and why?

SZA - Good Days. People are used to female artists being sexy, and she flips the fantasy on its head in a humorous, trippy, tongue-in-cheek way. She’s in a field of mushrooms, she’s pole dancing while reading a book upside-down in a library… all the while the camera lens is cutting to more retro shots and arty B-roll footage. 

SZA is a weirdo at heart, and it’s as if she’s saying, “I will twerk for you in this diamond lingerie, but BRB first I’m gonna become a fungus and roll down this AstroTurf.” We contain multitudes, and the viewer get all sides of her through these different viewpoints.

What’s the first music video you remember being impressed by?

Madonna - Take a Bow. I was seven or eight when this video first premiered, and was just starting to learn about sexuality from my older sister and from seeing a naked woman in the movie Braveheart. What is so rock and roll about Take A Bow is the entire perspective is shot through the female gaze. Most of the video is Madonna looking longingly at this beautifully costumed bull fighter’s butt. And when the camera is on her, there is a sophistication in her complete ownership of her body. I believe the best music and films convey a sense of deep longing or nostalgia for a lost time, and Madonna elegantly and expertly captures that feeling of desire and memory.

And what’s your all-time favourite music video?

OKGO - This Too Shall Pass. I did some songwriting with Tim Nordwind, OKGO’s bass player, prior to the pandemic, and I’ve always been impressed with how they approach their music videos because they do everything themselves.

This Too Shall Pass is a Rube Goldberg Machine and shot in one take… the whole thing is a wild ride, watch it!

What other directors/artists do you look to for inspiration?

I love St. Vincent, and was recently featured on the same music video watch list as her through Billboard for my project BEVERLEE. Beverlee is named after my mom’s cousin Beverlee Jacobson, who was murdered by her Hell’s Angels boyfriend in 1970 and is about unheard voices and is queer, left-of-center pop. If you’re curious, you can see my video 6X which was shot an iPhone with a bunch of friends!

FKA Twigs, H.E.R, A Tribe Called Quest, Weezer, Mavis Staples and how she has uses pop music as protest. The list would be far too long if I continued or went to dead artists, so will leave my list here…

My friends Lulu Wang who directed The Farewell and Barry Jenkins who won an Oscar for Moonlight are artists whose work I greatly admire. Lulu’s visuals are so dreamy yet honest, and she walks a delicate edge of telling her families’ stories without exposing them. Her partner Barry’s work is often described as dark and brooding, but some of my favourite moments in Beale Street are when you experience moments of joy: the glisten in lovers’ eye when they find a place to live or fall in love. I believe the purpose of life is feel seen, and of course minorities are notoriously unseen and are fighting for their existence along the outskirts of society. The way both of them have used their power to show the minority experience is something I appreciate and need as a gay woman.

What are you listening to at the moment?

I’m a very nostalgic person as previously noted, and from time-to-time I’ll revisit my favorite records of yore. I love Fiona Apple’s new album Fetch the Bolt Cutters and ended up diving back into Extraordinary Machine which she also produced with Jon Brion. The album was made in 2005 and the arrangements are so imaginative and timeless. I’m actually learning Better Version of Me on piano now!

What’s your favourite bit of tech, whether for professional or personal use?

I could list a bunch of really impressive producer gear here, but a lot of my time in COVID has been about getting back to basic, raw, realness. I got a used Yamaha U1 upright piano off Craigslist, and there is nothing purer than walking into my studio and starting in on scales and Satie. I imagine myself as a Victorian woman being groomed for society or something ha! Seriously though, so much of making music for me is not pretention; it is about crushing my ego and continuously learning. Practicing piano again daily has transformed how I approach life or work projects at Hook+Line. Bryan Senti, who owns the company, has been this disciplined for years and I think it explains a lot about his calm and confident character. There can be six pages of really difficult measures, but you break it down into small chunks, learn the left hand, learn the right hand… suddenly something impossible is now literally within grasp.