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Musician, film composer, performing artist, dreamweaver, spiral guide, and sound healing practitioner, Diani, who works in the underground electronic music tradition of sonic myth making to resurrect spiritual tradition, ancestral memories, generational trauma, and healing.
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His debut album, Under, was released in September 2020 and was featured as Album of the Day on Bandcamp Daily, Wire Magazine, Mix Mag, Nut Magazine, and more.
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His debut feature film score for Mountains, directed by Monica Sorrell, has won awards at Tribeca Film Festival, Black Star Film Festival, Charlotte Film Festival, and Screened at TIFF.
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Today, Lebenae and Sam chat with Dionny about alignment bringing him onto score lists, the early days of growing up in Paris and South Florida, the Ryan Leslie effect, and his journey from music production to film scoring.
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We also play a few tracks from Dionny's monthly astrology playlist.
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Now, let's get into our show.
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Hey Diani! Hey.
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Hi.
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Thank you for joining us today for this conversation where we get to learn a little bit more about you.
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First of all, how are you doing today?
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I'm doing well.
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Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
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I'm really excited to be here.
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I'm having a great day.
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I'm with my sister and her newborn child that I've been helping take care of.
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So it's a nice, nice time.
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Lovely.
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We're so happy to have you here.
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Just like we're so happy to have you be a part of our project.
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So the honor is all ours.
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Can you just tell us a little bit about what your earliest memories of music are?
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Yeah, I love this question.
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I was born in South Florida.
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So a lot of my earliest even just like sonic memories are very like the ocean, just being around the ocean a lot.
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And you know, both of my parents loved a wide range of eclectic music.
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You know, my dad's Haitian, my mom is white American, but grew up in Zimbabwe.
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And so, you know, I was listening to music from the continent a lot, like just Zimbabwe musicians and then Haitian musicians, and like I think earliest, earliest memories I feel like are probably in our like car rides with my mom, where she would just always like have like Erica Badu playing, or like Oliver Mtkuzi, that he's one of the Zimbabwe musicians who grew up on.
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Anj Angeliki Joe was like a big person who grew up on too from Benin.
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Yeah, so I could just list a whole bunch of artists from all over that I grew up on, which I feel very like privileged and lucky to have access to all of that, you know.
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That's awesome.
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So your family played a lot of music in the household, but are they musicians themselves?
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Or how did you get into playing music then?
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So my mom was like an artist and slash architect, and my dad is a chiropractor.
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So they, you know, they're not musicians themselves.
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There aren't necessarily I didn't necessarily know of any musicians in my family, but it's just music and and particularly dancing, like they both were loved, they're very social, love throwing parties, love dancing, you know, loved they're both fire signs.
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Like it's just it's just always, you know, there's always something happening.
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There's always people over.
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There's it's very community-oriented people.
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So I think, you know, for example, my mom in Florida would host like drum circles in our like backyard.
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We had like a huge mango tree, and you know, on the weekends, yeah, that that that's a good example of one of my earliest memories is like these drum circles.
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And there was like a fire pit, and like I remember one night we like, you know, we played too loudly and like the police came and they were like trying to shut it down.
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So that's actually a really early memory that I almost forgot about.
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That's awesome.
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And then what were like some of the first instruments you started playing then?
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Yeah, I mean, you know, drum.
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Drum was a big one very, very early on, just because they there were drums around.
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And then I remember doing like piano lessons in Florida too at a young age.
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So I feel like those two were probably the first, very first instruments.
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Yeah.
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So you started playing instruments when you were younger, but then how did you discover that you wanted to play music as a career and as a profession?
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Can you talk us through your journey as a musical artist?
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Yeah.
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I always so this is funny, in high school, I f you know, that's the first time I had got my hands on like a laptop that had Garage Band on it.
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And that was like my entry point into like producing.
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And I remember at that time I was like I was like a big YouTube pen, especially at the beginning of YouTube.
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And I remember this producer Ryan Leslie, who would like he was just known for like basically posting all these videos of himself in the studio and like behind the scenes and like showing how to build a track from beginning to end and like the layering and the whole process.
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And like I became super obsessed with watching all of his videos, and I was like, that's what I want to do.
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And you know, he at that time he was producing for musicians like Cassie and stuff like that.
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That was like a big thing, and I remember that watching his videos inspired me to produce a track on on Garage Band one summer with my cousin in Florida, who he was like around my age, and you know, we're probably like 15 or something, 14.
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And he wanted to rap, so I like produced like the first song I I recorded with him was like a beat for his like rapping, and like that was I mean it was so fun.
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That's so cute.
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Do you and your cousin still make music together?
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Not together, but we both professionally make music now.
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So he's he's like living in Atlanta, like making beats for rappers, which is crazy.
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Oh my gosh, how's like and then from making music on your own with your cousin watching Ryan Leslie's work, how did you get into film score and composing?
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Like what initially drew it to you?
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Yeah, so fast forward to like college, you know, in that time I was getting into garage band, I was living in in Paris.
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Like I grew up for a pretty good chunk of my childhood in in Paris because my mom was doing like uh her PhD thesis there, and then we ended up staying there for like six years.
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So a lot of my formative years were there, and it had a huge impact on me because you know, cinema is like was birthed there and like there's a whole culture of like, you know, just like these little unique theaters that only play very specific things, you know.
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And I would just kind of I kind of like developed that habit of like just going to the to the cinema by myself and just going to see films and you know, a lot of the conversation with friends and things like that were like around that culturally, just like talking about going in depth of like film analysis, like in high school, like you know, so that had a huge impact.
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And then by the time I was applying for colleges like back in the in the US, I was like, okay, I know I want to be in New York, and I was a lot of my like artwork in high school, like I was doing the IB program.
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So I highlight I did was doing high-level art, which is honestly more intense than college.
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And I was my thesis at that time was visualizing sound.
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And so I was researching a lot of like synesthetic, synestete artists, which is like I don't know if you heard it's like a neurological syndrome where your senses are cross-wired.
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So like some people will like see sounds and some people will like taste shapes and like things like that.
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And so I was really fascinated by that and how you know having that neurological framework like impacted these artists' work and their visions and how they saw the world.
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And I think that's what draw draw me to eventually do to focus on film in college.
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So I was focusing on documentary film and sound design, and I decided to not go to the film school.
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I went at NYU, I went to NYU, and I went to Gallatin, which is like the school of individualized study where you can basically create like an interdisciplinary thesis and curriculum.
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And so I was taking classes like in the film school as well as the music school and kind of like continuing that thing of like breaking the barriers of discipline.
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I think that's always been a part of my journey.
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And I felt like sound and film just kind of like were mediums that were the most accessible in doing that.
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That's so brave that like eight to be like, I'm gonna make my own degree.
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Exactly.
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Which is very like influenced by my mom, my mom's whole energy.
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Like, you know, she was a teacher professor for most of our lives, like growing up with her, and she was always kind of trying to break the boundaries around like teaching and like what it means.
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She always encouraged us to to do that, you know, and to kind of like trust ourselves and trust what we are passionate about and like not being afraid to like create your own path, basically.
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That's wonderful.
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Just listening to the trajectory of how you got from listening to music to playing music to taking it on a career and then going into this kind of specialized field.
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It's kind of like you're so unaware in a way of how your environment is like subconsciously dictating where you're supposed to go.
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And then one day it's like this constant accumulation of everything shows itself, and you're like, Oh yeah, this is me, this is my artistry, this is my word.
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Yes.
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Great description of the journey as an artist.
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Takes one to know it.
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Yes.
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All right, let's talk a little bit about your involvement in lists.
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What interested you about being a part of this project?
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Yeah, I mean, so many things.
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Firstly, having done a lot in within the visual visual world, I think I've always wanted to do like more audio play things.
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And yeah, I mean, it was my first time being asked to like score a radio play like this, you know?
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So it it felt like one of those moments of like, oh, this is a no-brainer.
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And also, like, I was so excited.
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Oh my gosh, I love that.
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The oath is an integral part of the first episode, it's the climax within the first scene.
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We are building up to this moment, and so then I just want to know what the process of scoring the oath was for you because this was the only section that you scored, but it's also, I would say, almost the most important part.
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Totally.
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Yeah, I mean, already like having having had that information of knowing that it's like a very critical point in the story and knowing that like that was the part that I would you know was gonna be focusing on.
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It made a lot of sense to me, just given the the kind of music I make and kind of like the the depth of it and kind of like sometimes like intensity and seriousness.
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I was like, oh, this is like my world, but then at the same time it was like a perfect combination of like this unknown of like jumping into something new, but then at the same time I was like, oh, like this is something that I really enjoy creating, like these really like climactic moments and like deeply transformational moments, like spiritually within sound.
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So I was like, oh, this feels very aligned, and even like the direction that you gave me in terms of like like free jazz and kind of like this open-ended conversation of instruments, I think was very exciting.
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And when you first reached out, I also you know, there was a whole arc of like the things that came into my life.
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I was like moving when you from when you first asked to when I actually started making it.
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So I had been like in New Orleans when you first asked me, which was already like absorbing so many amazing sounds.
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And then fast forward to like when I was actually creating it in Detroit, I had met this like amazing couple of musicians who have like a studio basement essentially that they offered me to like work in.
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And they have like a bunch of instruments.
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And I remember being on the phone with you being like, oh my god, like now I have access to all these instruments, and now I can this is like the perfect time to make this.
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And then you know, you know, also like a week prior to to starting creating it, I had been gifted a Korra from one of my friends, you know, from Senegal.
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And you know, that was just like hugely important because in my research of like looking into Ghanaian, Ghanaian music and like you know, Korra being a part of that too.
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I felt like, oh, this is like the perfect, this is like very like divinely orchestrated in like what what I can now create.
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I think that when you uh came on to the project, you really brought something special to the oath and your ability to collaborate and to kind of meld our visions together to the two these stories was really exciting.
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And I'm very excited for other people to hear it because I think it just fits in so seamlessly and be into the project, and it just makes that moment all the more exciting because your music is used at a second storyteller, the second narrator.
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We had the time cues and everything, and so this call and response is so active and alive through the music, and it's gonna be sick.
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I appreciate that.
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Yeah, I think a lot of my journey has as an artist has been through collaboration and through specifically like collective work, like and and especially having a lot of my artistic formative years in New York too.
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I think I was just fully jumped in the deep end of like being around other artists and musicians and filmmakers, and that has a huge impact on how I see the world and like creativity.
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But in particular, post-college, I uh joined a film collective called New Negro's Film Society.
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So all black women filmmakers.
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And at that time, you know, I was like one of the youngest members, so I was just like kind of just looking up to them like, oh my god, I can't believe I'm here.
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This is amazing.
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And it just felt like we were you know, a part of history and just very strong, incredible filmmakers.
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So yeah, I was like constantly inspired, you know, and actually one of my first like official film scores, short films, was with one of the members from that collective, Jatavia Gary.
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Um, and I scored her uh part of her juvenile document film, but you know, she definitely was a huge impact of like seeing myself as you know, doing this professionally long term.
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That's awesome.
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And then where do you draw your inspiration from?
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I know we touched on it a little bit, but I think this is another why this project felt so aligned is because a lot of my especially right now, but even earlier on, like my inspirations were in that realm of like free jazz, particularly Sun Ra.
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Like Sun Ra was a big influence on my album.
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But also I remembered and I remember like very young age, I was looking up my name like in Google, like at the beginning of Google Times, and I remember finding this musician named Johnny Diani, and I was like, wait, what?
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And my and it was like spelled the same way as my name, and I was like, who is this?
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And he literally is like this avant-garde jazz musician from South Africa who just created music I've never heard before.
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And at that time I hadn't even done a deep dive into like his music.
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I was just like, oh, looking at his images, like, that's so cool.
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But I didn't like actually go, I didn't actually listen.
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Like that's as far as that goes.
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Yeah, I was like, oh I'll come back to that somewhere.
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But then now I like have done deep dives into his music, and in particular this song called Gr uh Grandmother's Teaching, where it's you know clearly very ancestrally driven and you know, tapping into the the full capacities of like sound as I see it in terms of like oh like my voice is not just my own, it's like everyone that came before me, you know, and I can channel and I can actually like tap into that and like speak allow my ancestors to speak through me through sound and like what does that mean?
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What does that do?
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So a lot of my inspirations are people that think super deeply and expansively about the about the healing capacities of sound, how sound lives in the body.
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So, like another example more recently is like Milford Graves, considered like one of the like just like OG free jazz people, but per particularly with percussion.
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So, like I don't know if you've seen there's like a documentary that came out on Criterion called Full Mantis, Milford Graves, I think it's called, but it just goes into his like percussion work and how he just like very polyrhythmic, like almost like Like he would just like dip into like rhythms that I've never heard.
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And he he was kind of like going really deep into like the heart space and like doing research on his own heart at the same time and like recognizing the fact that like we know this one basic rhythm of the heart, you know, like boom boom boom boom boom.
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But he was like using these tools to kind of listen to all the other rhythms that are happening in between that one rhythm, if that makes sense.
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So like it's kind of like a fingerprint, like every heartbeat is different when you like really go into like those intricate rhythms in between.
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And he was like using that wisdom to like channel into his music and percussion making.
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So you just start to hear these things, you're just like, oh, I didn't even know that's possible.
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So yeah, I'm really just inspired by people that really think outside the works when it comes to music making, what is music and like applying that to storytelling within this context, you know.
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Absolutely.
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I feel the same way.
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I like I want to be inspired by something that I haven't seen before or heard before, and that challenges the way that I perceive something within my world.
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So yeah, I feel that that's also a really great segue into talking about your practice as a healer.
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How does your practice as a healer inform your artistry and your work?
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Yeah.
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I mean, I remember one of the earliest reasons why I got into like quote unquote alternative forms of healing as a young person is because I I just felt very failed by like the medical and industrial conflict.
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And in so many ways that a lot of us feel.
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And so one of the first things I found was Reiki.
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And which is like a healing, you know, a healing practice in tradition from Japan where it's using your hands and you know, energy work to kind of like a channel and and transmute blockages in the body and things like that.
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That really opened me up to a lot and like I you know, I found this woman in Brooklyn who was practicing out of her home.
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And that practice, a huge part of that practice was sound because she was using like chakra, like the different chakra frequencies that are kind of like down into different there's like different frequencies that align to different parts of the body.
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So like sound healing has this very like direct impact.
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Like sound has this direct impact on the body, and it can really like shift things in us.
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So again, it's kind of like bringing me back to my own healing and like my own like traumas and like different physical things I was experiencing that I needed.
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I needed this kind of medicine, and it got me into like practicing raking myself and using sound as a tool to just kind of deepen that practice.
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It was one of those things where I felt like it it came out of survival, but it also came out of again my like passion for sound.
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Like it almost that was always there every step of the way.
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That's such a good question.
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Well, actually, yeah, this kind of brings me to like the playlist that I was telling you.
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I make like basically every astrological sign, I make a playlist every season.
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So for the Pisces season one, I I discovered this artist local, who I've never heard of before, but I I just had him on repeat um the whole month of March.
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Essentially.
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Because I was like every song that this person is making is just like just infectious, you know?
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Yeah, local, that's the plug.
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Alright, local, everyone, take a look at and then what are you working on right now?
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That's a good question.
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I I mean I'm actually working on a new song that I want to I've been performing it.
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It's called Olocun's Chamber of Rage.
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And I've only performed it, but I actually haven't recorded the vocals fully yet.
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So I just have the backing track production, and I wanna a goal this year is to just release it, release it on plums, and like also work on a music video for it.
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So TBD.
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That's cool.
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What is um like the sound of it?
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Is it kind of rooted in that free jazz element or like where where's it hitting?
00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:19.359
Yeah, this one feels new.
00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:27.759
This is interesting because you know, since my first album, I haven't produced a song where it felt like I wanted to release it.
00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:34.480
Like I hadn't had that feeling in a while, like I've made some things, but like this is a very that feeling of like, oh I this has to be released.
00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:47.759
Um and I think it's because it sounds like everything that I've kind of like gone through in the interim of like creating is now getting like channeled into this new sound.
00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:57.279
It feels more of like a it's hard to it's kind of like I mean it's electric electronic dance heavy but more techno as well.
00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:12.880
And it's the first time I really like wrote full lyrics because like before I was mostly doing like you know, there would be a word here or there, kind of like chanting, and like it was very more focused on the composition, I would say.
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:21.519
But now I've like actually written out a full-fledged like song, so that feels new to me, and I definitely want to pursue just like songwriting more.
00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:22.160
Cool.
00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:28.160
That's fun, like entering into a a new realm for yourself, expanding your artistry.
00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:34.240
Okay, well, now we just want people to know where they can find you, so plug yourself.
00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:35.839
Oh yeah, for sure.
00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:40.079
Um, yeah, so I'm on Instagram at DeaniDuze.
00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:45.119
I feel like that's I use that platform the most, especially just reaching out to me there.
00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:46.000
Yeah.
00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:48.160
I would just say Instagram, honestly.
00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:49.200
Okay, cool.
00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:52.319
Well, I'm looking forward to hearing the new track when it comes out.
00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:56.079
I would also love to see it performed, so I'm looking forward to that video.
00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:00.480
And I want to say thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today, Dionny.
00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:03.759
It's always a pleasure to talk with you and thanks.
00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:06.400
Thank you so much.
00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:07.839
It's a pleasure to be here.
00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:10.160
Yeah, looking forward to talking more.
00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:17.759
Thank you to Dionni for that wonderful conversation.
00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:20.880
Be sure to find him on Instagram at Dionydo.
00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:24.640
D-Y-A-N-I-T-O-U-Z-E.
00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:26.400
Alright.
00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:32.319
We're gonna switch things up a bit and play some tracks off of Dionny's monthly astrology playlist.
00:32:32.799 --> 00:32:35.759
This playlist is made for the water dwellers.
00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:37.359
We're looking at you guys.
00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:44.240
You can find the full playlist on Dionni Spotify as well as our link tree.
00:41:29.039 --> 00:42:09.840
I'm the only one that you found on the flame, but baby just played it straight, great, gold game, eight, uh spit, last bit, last bit, last bit, Maurice bit, Maurice, Maurice beat, Maurice, bitch, and I'm not sure.
00:45:40.880 --> 00:50:52.480
Perfect daylight painting for the chest to sky Because it spread further than its earth's trush bathing all these righteous lies the Take its course to the stars tonight Because it's beauty in the air No let the journey take its own Hello It's not ready to come down see it's dangerous dangerous Cause we used to take the Easy road I can't Cause I can't Got the system that we find Cause it's beauty in the air Let the burning land feels Hold the street like a cloud full of peace like a dog Hold the radio full of shame Hold the moon Save the name Hold the street like a gloom for the peace like a dog Hold the radio full of shame on the moon save the name of the back of the door that you feel about me I've been out in the top of your way from Don't come to your way don't come in.
00:00:01.439 --> 00:00:21.519
Musician, film composer, performing artist, dreamweaver, spiral guide, and sound healing practitioner, Diani, who works in the underground electronic music tradition of sonic myth making to resurrect spiritual tradition, ancestral memories, generational trauma, and healing.
00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:34.960
His debut album, Under, was released in September 2020 and was featured as Album of the Day on Bandcamp Daily, Wire Magazine, Mix Mag, Nut Magazine, and more.
00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:48.640
His debut feature film score for Mountains, directed by Monica Sorrell, has won awards at Tribeca Film Festival, Black Star Film Festival, Charlotte Film Festival, and Screened at TIFF.
00:00:49.439 --> 00:01:03.920
Today, Lebenae and Sam chat with Dionny about alignment bringing him onto score lists, the early days of growing up in Paris and South Florida, the Ryan Leslie effect, and his journey from music production to film scoring.
00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:08.400
We also play a few tracks from Dionny's monthly astrology playlist.
00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:11.439
Now, let's get into our show.
00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:17.519
Hey Diani! Hey.
00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:18.079
Hi.
00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:23.920
Thank you for joining us today for this conversation where we get to learn a little bit more about you.
00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:25.359
First of all, how are you doing today?
00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:26.159
I'm doing well.
00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:27.920
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
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I'm really excited to be here.
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I'm having a great day.
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I'm with my sister and her newborn child that I've been helping take care of.
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So it's a nice, nice time.
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Lovely.
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We're so happy to have you here.
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Just like we're so happy to have you be a part of our project.
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So the honor is all ours.
00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:50.879
Can you just tell us a little bit about what your earliest memories of music are?
00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:52.879
Yeah, I love this question.
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I was born in South Florida.
00:01:55.599 --> 00:02:02.959
So a lot of my earliest even just like sonic memories are very like the ocean, just being around the ocean a lot.
00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:08.800
And you know, both of my parents loved a wide range of eclectic music.
00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:13.759
You know, my dad's Haitian, my mom is white American, but grew up in Zimbabwe.
00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:35.520
And so, you know, I was listening to music from the continent a lot, like just Zimbabwe musicians and then Haitian musicians, and like I think earliest, earliest memories I feel like are probably in our like car rides with my mom, where she would just always like have like Erica Badu playing, or like Oliver Mtkuzi, that he's one of the Zimbabwe musicians who grew up on.
00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:39.840
Anj Angeliki Joe was like a big person who grew up on too from Benin.
00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:48.000
Yeah, so I could just list a whole bunch of artists from all over that I grew up on, which I feel very like privileged and lucky to have access to all of that, you know.
00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:49.199
That's awesome.
00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:54.560
So your family played a lot of music in the household, but are they musicians themselves?
00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:57.039
Or how did you get into playing music then?
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So my mom was like an artist and slash architect, and my dad is a chiropractor.
00:03:03.039 --> 00:03:05.199
So they, you know, they're not musicians themselves.
00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:17.840
There aren't necessarily I didn't necessarily know of any musicians in my family, but it's just music and and particularly dancing, like they both were loved, they're very social, love throwing parties, love dancing, you know, loved they're both fire signs.
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Like it's just it's just always, you know, there's always something happening.
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There's always people over.
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There's it's very community-oriented people.
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So I think, you know, for example, my mom in Florida would host like drum circles in our like backyard.
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We had like a huge mango tree, and you know, on the weekends, yeah, that that that's a good example of one of my earliest memories is like these drum circles.
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And there was like a fire pit, and like I remember one night we like, you know, we played too loudly and like the police came and they were like trying to shut it down.
00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:54.319
So that's actually a really early memory that I almost forgot about.
00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:55.439
That's awesome.
00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:59.759
And then what were like some of the first instruments you started playing then?
00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:01.919
Yeah, I mean, you know, drum.
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Drum was a big one very, very early on, just because they there were drums around.
00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:11.840
And then I remember doing like piano lessons in Florida too at a young age.
00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:16.399
So I feel like those two were probably the first, very first instruments.
00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:16.959
Yeah.
00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:26.079
So you started playing instruments when you were younger, but then how did you discover that you wanted to play music as a career and as a profession?
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Can you talk us through your journey as a musical artist?
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Yeah.
00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:38.879
I always so this is funny, in high school, I f you know, that's the first time I had got my hands on like a laptop that had Garage Band on it.
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And that was like my entry point into like producing.
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And I remember at that time I was like I was like a big YouTube pen, especially at the beginning of YouTube.
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And I remember this producer Ryan Leslie, who would like he was just known for like basically posting all these videos of himself in the studio and like behind the scenes and like showing how to build a track from beginning to end and like the layering and the whole process.
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And like I became super obsessed with watching all of his videos, and I was like, that's what I want to do.
00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:13.120
And you know, he at that time he was producing for musicians like Cassie and stuff like that.
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That was like a big thing, and I remember that watching his videos inspired me to produce a track on on Garage Band one summer with my cousin in Florida, who he was like around my age, and you know, we're probably like 15 or something, 14.
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And he wanted to rap, so I like produced like the first song I I recorded with him was like a beat for his like rapping, and like that was I mean it was so fun.
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That's so cute.
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Do you and your cousin still make music together?
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Not together, but we both professionally make music now.
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So he's he's like living in Atlanta, like making beats for rappers, which is crazy.
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Oh my gosh, how's like and then from making music on your own with your cousin watching Ryan Leslie's work, how did you get into film score and composing?
00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:04.800
Like what initially drew it to you?
00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:12.480
Yeah, so fast forward to like college, you know, in that time I was getting into garage band, I was living in in Paris.
00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:22.079
Like I grew up for a pretty good chunk of my childhood in in Paris because my mom was doing like uh her PhD thesis there, and then we ended up staying there for like six years.
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So a lot of my formative years were there, and it had a huge impact on me because you know, cinema is like was birthed there and like there's a whole culture of like, you know, just like these little unique theaters that only play very specific things, you know.
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And I would just kind of I kind of like developed that habit of like just going to the to the cinema by myself and just going to see films and you know, a lot of the conversation with friends and things like that were like around that culturally, just like talking about going in depth of like film analysis, like in high school, like you know, so that had a huge impact.
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And then by the time I was applying for colleges like back in the in the US, I was like, okay, I know I want to be in New York, and I was a lot of my like artwork in high school, like I was doing the IB program.
00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:17.199
So I highlight I did was doing high-level art, which is honestly more intense than college.
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And I was my thesis at that time was visualizing sound.
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And so I was researching a lot of like synesthetic, synestete artists, which is like I don't know if you heard it's like a neurological syndrome where your senses are cross-wired.
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So like some people will like see sounds and some people will like taste shapes and like things like that.
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And so I was really fascinated by that and how you know having that neurological framework like impacted these artists' work and their visions and how they saw the world.
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And I think that's what draw draw me to eventually do to focus on film in college.
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So I was focusing on documentary film and sound design, and I decided to not go to the film school.
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I went at NYU, I went to NYU, and I went to Gallatin, which is like the school of individualized study where you can basically create like an interdisciplinary thesis and curriculum.
00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:19.199
And so I was taking classes like in the film school as well as the music school and kind of like continuing that thing of like breaking the barriers of discipline.
00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:21.439
I think that's always been a part of my journey.
00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:28.480
And I felt like sound and film just kind of like were mediums that were the most accessible in doing that.
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That's so brave that like eight to be like, I'm gonna make my own degree.
00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:35.120
Exactly.
00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:40.399
Which is very like influenced by my mom, my mom's whole energy.
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Like, you know, she was a teacher professor for most of our lives, like growing up with her, and she was always kind of trying to break the boundaries around like teaching and like what it means.
00:08:51.120 --> 00:09:02.159
She always encouraged us to to do that, you know, and to kind of like trust ourselves and trust what we are passionate about and like not being afraid to like create your own path, basically.
00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:03.200
That's wonderful.
00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:15.519
Just listening to the trajectory of how you got from listening to music to playing music to taking it on a career and then going into this kind of specialized field.
00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:25.919
It's kind of like you're so unaware in a way of how your environment is like subconsciously dictating where you're supposed to go.
00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:34.399
And then one day it's like this constant accumulation of everything shows itself, and you're like, Oh yeah, this is me, this is my artistry, this is my word.
00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:35.120
Yes.
00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:38.480
Great description of the journey as an artist.
00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:41.919
Takes one to know it.
00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:43.840
Yes.
00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:05.440
All right, let's talk a little bit about your involvement in lists.
00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:10.159
What interested you about being a part of this project?
00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:11.919
Yeah, I mean, so many things.
00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:22.639
Firstly, having done a lot in within the visual visual world, I think I've always wanted to do like more audio play things.
00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:30.480
And yeah, I mean, it was my first time being asked to like score a radio play like this, you know?
00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:33.919
So it it felt like one of those moments of like, oh, this is a no-brainer.
00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:35.840
And also, like, I was so excited.
00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:38.080
Oh my gosh, I love that.
00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:44.720
The oath is an integral part of the first episode, it's the climax within the first scene.
00:12:45.039 --> 00:13:00.080
We are building up to this moment, and so then I just want to know what the process of scoring the oath was for you because this was the only section that you scored, but it's also, I would say, almost the most important part.
00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:02.240
Totally.
00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:16.159
Yeah, I mean, already like having having had that information of knowing that it's like a very critical point in the story and knowing that like that was the part that I would you know was gonna be focusing on.
00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:27.519
It made a lot of sense to me, just given the the kind of music I make and kind of like the the depth of it and kind of like sometimes like intensity and seriousness.
00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:51.600
I was like, oh, this is like my world, but then at the same time it was like a perfect combination of like this unknown of like jumping into something new, but then at the same time I was like, oh, like this is something that I really enjoy creating, like these really like climactic moments and like deeply transformational moments, like spiritually within sound.
00:13:51.919 --> 00:14:05.360
So I was like, oh, this feels very aligned, and even like the direction that you gave me in terms of like like free jazz and kind of like this open-ended conversation of instruments, I think was very exciting.
00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:11.600
And when you first reached out, I also you know, there was a whole arc of like the things that came into my life.
00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:15.440
I was like moving when you from when you first asked to when I actually started making it.
00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:22.480
So I had been like in New Orleans when you first asked me, which was already like absorbing so many amazing sounds.
00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:34.559
And then fast forward to like when I was actually creating it in Detroit, I had met this like amazing couple of musicians who have like a studio basement essentially that they offered me to like work in.
00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:36.320
And they have like a bunch of instruments.
00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:42.799
And I remember being on the phone with you being like, oh my god, like now I have access to all these instruments, and now I can this is like the perfect time to make this.
00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:54.000
And then you know, you know, also like a week prior to to starting creating it, I had been gifted a Korra from one of my friends, you know, from Senegal.
00:14:54.320 --> 00:15:04.399
And you know, that was just like hugely important because in my research of like looking into Ghanaian, Ghanaian music and like you know, Korra being a part of that too.
00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:11.759
I felt like, oh, this is like the perfect, this is like very like divinely orchestrated in like what what I can now create.
00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:26.559
I think that when you uh came on to the project, you really brought something special to the oath and your ability to collaborate and to kind of meld our visions together to the two these stories was really exciting.
00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:43.759
And I'm very excited for other people to hear it because I think it just fits in so seamlessly and be into the project, and it just makes that moment all the more exciting because your music is used at a second storyteller, the second narrator.
00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:52.480
We had the time cues and everything, and so this call and response is so active and alive through the music, and it's gonna be sick.
00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:56.320
I appreciate that.
00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:46.480
Yeah, I think a lot of my journey has as an artist has been through collaboration and through specifically like collective work, like and and especially having a lot of my artistic formative years in New York too.
00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:57.839
I think I was just fully jumped in the deep end of like being around other artists and musicians and filmmakers, and that has a huge impact on how I see the world and like creativity.
00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:04.000
But in particular, post-college, I uh joined a film collective called New Negro's Film Society.
00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.240
So all black women filmmakers.
00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:15.119
And at that time, you know, I was like one of the youngest members, so I was just like kind of just looking up to them like, oh my god, I can't believe I'm here.
00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:16.640
This is amazing.
00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:24.319
And it just felt like we were you know, a part of history and just very strong, incredible filmmakers.
00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:34.079
So yeah, I was like constantly inspired, you know, and actually one of my first like official film scores, short films, was with one of the members from that collective, Jatavia Gary.
00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:46.960
Um, and I scored her uh part of her juvenile document film, but you know, she definitely was a huge impact of like seeing myself as you know, doing this professionally long term.
00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:47.920
That's awesome.
00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:50.640
And then where do you draw your inspiration from?
00:19:50.799 --> 00:20:07.839
I know we touched on it a little bit, but I think this is another why this project felt so aligned is because a lot of my especially right now, but even earlier on, like my inspirations were in that realm of like free jazz, particularly Sun Ra.
00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:10.720
Like Sun Ra was a big influence on my album.
00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:25.440
But also I remembered and I remember like very young age, I was looking up my name like in Google, like at the beginning of Google Times, and I remember finding this musician named Johnny Diani, and I was like, wait, what?
00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:28.559
And my and it was like spelled the same way as my name, and I was like, who is this?
00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:37.920
And he literally is like this avant-garde jazz musician from South Africa who just created music I've never heard before.
00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:41.200
And at that time I hadn't even done a deep dive into like his music.
00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:43.359
I was just like, oh, looking at his images, like, that's so cool.
00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:45.920
But I didn't like actually go, I didn't actually listen.
00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:47.839
Like that's as far as that goes.
00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:49.920
Yeah, I was like, oh I'll come back to that somewhere.
00:20:50.400 --> 00:21:25.279
But then now I like have done deep dives into his music, and in particular this song called Gr uh Grandmother's Teaching, where it's you know clearly very ancestrally driven and you know, tapping into the the full capacities of like sound as I see it in terms of like oh like my voice is not just my own, it's like everyone that came before me, you know, and I can channel and I can actually like tap into that and like speak allow my ancestors to speak through me through sound and like what does that mean?
00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:26.160
What does that do?
00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:35.920
So a lot of my inspirations are people that think super deeply and expansively about the about the healing capacities of sound, how sound lives in the body.
00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:46.079
So, like another example more recently is like Milford Graves, considered like one of the like just like OG free jazz people, but per particularly with percussion.
00:21:46.960 --> 00:22:05.359
So, like I don't know if you've seen there's like a documentary that came out on Criterion called Full Mantis, Milford Graves, I think it's called, but it just goes into his like percussion work and how he just like very polyrhythmic, like almost like Like he would just like dip into like rhythms that I've never heard.
00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:20.000
And he he was kind of like going really deep into like the heart space and like doing research on his own heart at the same time and like recognizing the fact that like we know this one basic rhythm of the heart, you know, like boom boom boom boom boom.
00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:29.839
But he was like using these tools to kind of listen to all the other rhythms that are happening in between that one rhythm, if that makes sense.
00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:37.519
So like it's kind of like a fingerprint, like every heartbeat is different when you like really go into like those intricate rhythms in between.
00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:44.480
And he was like using that wisdom to like channel into his music and percussion making.
00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:47.680
So you just start to hear these things, you're just like, oh, I didn't even know that's possible.
00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:58.160
So yeah, I'm really just inspired by people that really think outside the works when it comes to music making, what is music and like applying that to storytelling within this context, you know.
00:22:58.480 --> 00:22:59.359
Absolutely.
00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:00.799
I feel the same way.
00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:11.519
I like I want to be inspired by something that I haven't seen before or heard before, and that challenges the way that I perceive something within my world.
00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:18.400
So yeah, I feel that that's also a really great segue into talking about your practice as a healer.
00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:22.960
How does your practice as a healer inform your artistry and your work?
00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:23.839
Yeah.
00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:39.039
I mean, I remember one of the earliest reasons why I got into like quote unquote alternative forms of healing as a young person is because I I just felt very failed by like the medical and industrial conflict.
00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:42.720
And in so many ways that a lot of us feel.
00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:46.960
And so one of the first things I found was Reiki.
00:23:47.680 --> 00:24:03.759
And which is like a healing, you know, a healing practice in tradition from Japan where it's using your hands and you know, energy work to kind of like a channel and and transmute blockages in the body and things like that.
00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:09.839
That really opened me up to a lot and like I you know, I found this woman in Brooklyn who was practicing out of her home.
00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:26.079
And that practice, a huge part of that practice was sound because she was using like chakra, like the different chakra frequencies that are kind of like down into different there's like different frequencies that align to different parts of the body.
00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:29.359
So like sound healing has this very like direct impact.
00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:33.200
Like sound has this direct impact on the body, and it can really like shift things in us.
00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:45.039
So again, it's kind of like bringing me back to my own healing and like my own like traumas and like different physical things I was experiencing that I needed.
00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:55.920
I needed this kind of medicine, and it got me into like practicing raking myself and using sound as a tool to just kind of deepen that practice.
00:24:56.559 --> 00:25:06.400
It was one of those things where I felt like it it came out of survival, but it also came out of again my like passion for sound.
00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:09.440
Like it almost that was always there every step of the way.
00:28:58.079 --> 00:28:59.759
That's such a good question.
00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:05.839
Well, actually, yeah, this kind of brings me to like the playlist that I was telling you.
00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:10.559
I make like basically every astrological sign, I make a playlist every season.
00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:23.119
So for the Pisces season one, I I discovered this artist local, who I've never heard of before, but I I just had him on repeat um the whole month of March.
00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:24.240
Essentially.
00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:29.440
Because I was like every song that this person is making is just like just infectious, you know?
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:31.759
Yeah, local, that's the plug.
00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:41.279
Alright, local, everyone, take a look at and then what are you working on right now?
00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:42.559
That's a good question.
00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:48.319
I I mean I'm actually working on a new song that I want to I've been performing it.
00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:50.960
It's called Olocun's Chamber of Rage.
00:29:51.680 --> 00:29:55.279
And I've only performed it, but I actually haven't recorded the vocals fully yet.
00:29:55.359 --> 00:30:06.160
So I just have the backing track production, and I wanna a goal this year is to just release it, release it on plums, and like also work on a music video for it.
00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:07.440
So TBD.
00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:09.599
That's cool.
00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:12.000
What is um like the sound of it?
00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:17.039
Is it kind of rooted in that free jazz element or like where where's it hitting?
00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:19.359
Yeah, this one feels new.
00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:27.759
This is interesting because you know, since my first album, I haven't produced a song where it felt like I wanted to release it.
00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:34.480
Like I hadn't had that feeling in a while, like I've made some things, but like this is a very that feeling of like, oh I this has to be released.
00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:47.759
Um and I think it's because it sounds like everything that I've kind of like gone through in the interim of like creating is now getting like channeled into this new sound.
00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:57.279
It feels more of like a it's hard to it's kind of like I mean it's electric electronic dance heavy but more techno as well.
00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:12.880
And it's the first time I really like wrote full lyrics because like before I was mostly doing like you know, there would be a word here or there, kind of like chanting, and like it was very more focused on the composition, I would say.
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:21.519
But now I've like actually written out a full-fledged like song, so that feels new to me, and I definitely want to pursue just like songwriting more.
00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:22.160
Cool.
00:31:22.319 --> 00:31:28.160
That's fun, like entering into a a new realm for yourself, expanding your artistry.
00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:34.240
Okay, well, now we just want people to know where they can find you, so plug yourself.
00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:35.839
Oh yeah, for sure.
00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:40.079
Um, yeah, so I'm on Instagram at DeaniDuze.
00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:45.119
I feel like that's I use that platform the most, especially just reaching out to me there.
00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:46.000
Yeah.
00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:48.160
I would just say Instagram, honestly.
00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:49.200
Okay, cool.
00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:52.319
Well, I'm looking forward to hearing the new track when it comes out.
00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:56.079
I would also love to see it performed, so I'm looking forward to that video.
00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:00.480
And I want to say thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today, Dionny.
00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:03.759
It's always a pleasure to talk with you and thanks.
00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:06.400
Thank you so much.
00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:07.839
It's a pleasure to be here.
00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:10.160
Yeah, looking forward to talking more.
00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:17.759
Thank you to Dionni for that wonderful conversation.
00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:20.880
Be sure to find him on Instagram at Dionydo.
00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:24.640
D-Y-A-N-I-T-O-U-Z-E.
00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:26.400
Alright.
00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:32.319
We're gonna switch things up a bit and play some tracks off of Dionny's monthly astrology playlist.
00:32:32.799 --> 00:32:35.759
This playlist is made for the water dwellers.
00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:37.359
We're looking at you guys.
00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:44.240
You can find the full playlist on Dionni Spotify as well as our link tree.
00:41:29.039 --> 00:42:09.840
I'm the only one that you found on the flame, but baby just played it straight, great, gold game, eight, uh spit, last bit, last bit, last bit, Maurice bit, Maurice, Maurice beat, Maurice, bitch, and I'm not sure.
00:45:40.880 --> 00:50:52.480
Perfect daylight painting for the chest to sky Because it spread further than its earth's trush bathing all these righteous lies the Take its course to the stars tonight Because it's beauty in the air No let the journey take its own Hello It's not ready to come down see it's dangerous dangerous Cause we used to take the Easy road I can't Cause I can't Got the system that we find Cause it's beauty in the air Let the burning land feels Hold the street like a cloud full of peace like a dog Hold the radio full of shame Hold the moon Save the name Hold the street like a gloom for the peace like a dog Hold the radio full of shame on the moon save the name of the back of the door that you feel about me I've been out in the top of your way from Don't come to your way don't come in.
