The Fast-Paced World of Adan Diaz
It was a bright, newly fall afternoon at South Facing Windows when we sat down with 17-year-old Adan Diaz for a long-awaited in-person chat. The last time we spoke with the Godmode artist was for our 2021 Spring/Summer Artists To Watch list, in which, over Zoom, quarantine and its effects on Adan’s music process shaped the conversation. Fast-forward to today, Adan’s day-to-day life has started to pick up again–and rather quickly. Between stacked rehearsals and preparing for the release of an EP, this new fast-paced lifestyle has left Adan with a fresh point of view on music and of his own process.
Originally a creative space and source of inspiration during lockdown, Adan no longer finds his bedroom a central influence on his current sound. “I think I feel so influenced seeing everyone and myself just being out. Seeing people do things makes me wanna push even harder,” Adan says, “Little experiences I have now are constantly happening and I can constantly use them to write.”
These days, life is pretty eventful for the young artist. Between working on new music and a trip to L.A., Adan still finds himself using his everyday experiences as inspiration for his writing. “I think a lot of it has just been moving around so quickly, so I’ve kind of been building off of that,” explains Adan.
Last month, Adan blessed listeners with the release of his new single “legroom.” A song he worked on while out in L.A., Adan describes the single as one of those in-the-moment songs. “It was one of those freestyle type of things where I freestyle a couple bars and then we literally worked from there,” Adan recounts. Production-wise, Adan likes his songs to be based around the guitar. As an instrument that comes naturally to him, Adan finds it necessary to always have a guitar in the studio no matter what. Alongside the catchy chord progressions played on his guitar, Adan wanted the song to include a bassline and some drums. “I really wanted it to be bass inspired so we just added a nice bass to it and literally just a drum loop,” explains Adan, “Usually, we would put drum loops to keep it in place, but the drum loop felt so natural.”
This week, Adan will be joining Chicago duo LOWERLIPDRIP in opening for Victor Internet at his Lincoln Hall show. When asked how he and Victor first connected, a big smile grew on Adan’s face as he reminisced. “Wow. You know what? It started a long time ago. I covered his song almost two or three years ago when he was blowing up for “Tinder Song.” I just covered it and he commented one time. I’ve always followed him since,” explains Adan. What started as a small online interaction eventually grew into an IRL relationship when Adan reached back out to Victor–ultimately leading them to later linking up in the studio together.
As a Mexican-American artist, Adan finds it important to keep a Spanish influence within his music. A song he’s especially looking forward to performing at the show is a new track off his upcoming EP titled “difícil.” Though it’s the only song on the EP in Spanish, Adan is proud to have incorporated this influence into the project. “It’s just one of those chorus-y Spanish songs. I’m excited to have that Spanish influence again in my songs with a hint of pop to it,” says Adan.
When asked if he wanted to share anything about the EP with his listeners, Adan kept it brief, as to not give too much away. “It’s a little bit of rock and a little bit of pop. That’s all I’m gonna say. It’s a little bit of both. There’s no in-between.” Despite there still being a bit of time before the EP drops, we’re no less excited to be able to hear some of Adan’s hits and possibly some unreleased songs at this week’s Lincoln Hall show.
Catch Adan live Thursday, October 14th at Lincoln Hall as he opens for Victor Internet alongside LOWERLIPDRIP. You can purchase your tickets to the show at the button below, and be sure to listen through Adan’s catalog of releases on Spotify and Apple Music.