Meet You At The Show: So how’s the tour going?

Nina Diaz: It’s going great! The people are awesome, energy’s really good, and the music’s great.

MYATS: How did it feel to get signed to a label so fast and have so much success so early on?

ND: Well, we still have lots to do. But it’s been really great with all of the support from our friends and family, and both new and old fans.

MYATS: Were you guys always planning on being a musician?

ND: Yeah, it’s always been a dream of all of ours. Since I was little, I’ve always wanted to be a musician.

MYATS: Out of all the amazing tours you have been on (SXSW, opening for The Pogues, Morissey, Tegan and Sarah, Social Distortion and Cyndi Lauper to name a few), which has been the most memorable and why?

ND: Each tour has it’s own energy and is great in its own way. But I think the first tour is always the best, when everything is new and exciting. Our first tour was back in 2004, with Culture. South by Southwest was great. Cherie Currie of the Runaways came on stage with us and we played “Cherry Bomb”. It was awesome.

MYATS: Do you think living in Texas has had an influence on your sound?

ND: Umm…Yeah my grandfather used to listen to all kinds of music, it was always playing in the house. There was a lot of Spanish music around, and the mix of rhythm always around us definitely made an impact on the way we played.

MYATS: Being an all girl band, do you guys ever feel intimidated in such a male-dominated business?

ND: No, I don’t. I mean of course there’s a lot of people who think we’re somebody’s girlfriend, or we can’t play our instruments properly but we just ignore it and keep doing what we love.

MYATS: How was it having Morissey calling you guys up, whom you guys are such big fans of?

ND: It was surreal! As it was happening, we were really in a get-to-work mode after our first tour and it all happened so fast.

MYATS: How do you guys manage song writing while being on tour so often? What is your writing process?

ND: Usually I write the main songs and lyrics, and the girls write their parts and then we work together to get the songs as good as we can.

MYATS: Are there certain times or places that inspire you more than others?

ND: Haha no, it’s not like “Oh, it’s that time of the month!! Time to write some songs.” It just happens.

MYATS: You and Phanie as sisters are inevitably going to argue about something one day or another.. how do you guys deal with each other?

ND: We just walk away from each other.

MYATS: Do you have any big plans for the summer?

ND: Well, after our tour we have Polandfest, which should be pretty sweet!

Interview Conducted by Amelia Robitaille