Rain welcomes Jim White who launches Ane Diaz today on LaunchLeft. Jim and Ane have an interesting history of 20 years, culminating in collaborating in the recording studio for her new record Despechada. Jim's ascent to fame followed an unconventional route that few artists experience. An author, composer and musician, Jim shares how David Byrne had a lot to do with lifting him up early in his career. Hailing from Venezuela, Ane possesses a captivating narrative behind the music she brings to life, the process of working with Jim and co-producer Paul Fonfara in the studio, and how she came to release Despechada on LaunchLeft’s label. Tune in to hear about the journey of these two talented individuals and stay to the end for the inspired song 'Carmela'.

Album Ane Diaz Despechada: https://ingrv.es/despechada-6x4-m

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LaunchLeft Podcast hosted by Rain Phoenix is an intentional space for Art and Activism where famed creatives launch new artists. LaunchLeft is an alliance of left-of-center artists, a curated ecosystem that includes a podcast, label and NFT gallery.

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IN THIS EPISODE:

[01:57] Jim explains how he fell into the art of music and the other visual arts he’s explored. 

[10:18] Jim talks about his unique sound, the people who formed his career and the breaks he got early on in his career. 

[15:00] Jim shares how he and Ane met and how all the parts came together magically to produce her music. 

[30:00] Ane is excited to share Venezuelan folk songs with people who are not Latino. 

[31:42] The story of Yma Sumak. 

[34:48] Ane shares her love for Venezuela and the history of the music, and she also reflects on the experience of working with Jim. 

[40:29] The group discusses how the arts are funded in different parts of the world and Minnesota. The show closes with Carmela by Ane Diaz. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

Often, you don’t need to understand the language of the art. You can feel the expression of what it is saying. 

It’s exciting to work with musicians who are willing to work outside of their comfort zone.

Towns that invest in the arts thrive because they bring people who want to live there and visit. 

BIOGRAPHY: 

“Despechada means heartbroken or without your soul,” explained Ane Díaz about the title of her evocative new album, out June 9th via LaunchLeft. “It’s a very powerful word used for love affairs, but that’s also how I feel about losing my country.”

The beloved homeland that inspired Díaz is her birthplace of Caracas, Venezuela, where she was first exposed to the music she would go on to reimagine for Despechada. And while she moved to the United States decades ago, and carved her own path in the alternative music scene, now she is melodiously facing her innate homesickness with these songs, handpicked by her mother, on an intimate Venezuelan folk LP. The result is a sonically lush and lyrically nostalgic journey through her heritage.   

“For people that lose their country, there’s always this sadness — this thing you can’t go back to,” said the singer and multi-instrumentalist. “That’s why I called it Despechada. “As time has passed, my memory of my country is fading. It’s almost like a loved one you’ve lost. I don’t want to forget their face or forget how they felt. So it’s this fear of losing my country that made me record this album.”

The new record is being released by Rain Phoenix’s LaunchLeft, a Los Angeles-based label. Phoenix met Díaz in the late ‘80s in Gainesville, Florida’s thriving music scene. Their then-bands shared countless bills and even toured together.

During the 1990s, Phoenix and Díaz connected again in The Causey Way, a punk-rock band on Jello Biafra’s Alternative Tentacles label. By 2001, Diaz had formed her own band, Producto, comprising original songs sung in both English and Spanish. Along the way, her dynamic discography has earned praise from the likes of Jonathan Richman of The Modern Lovers (with whom she opened for in 2018) and Michael Stipe of R.E.M. 

Looking back, Díaz said the long road through the American underground is what ultimately led her back to her Venezuelan roots. “After I went through a few genres, I realized, ‘this is me,’” Díaz reflected. “It’s my bliss. It’s really where my voice lives.”

Aiding in the production, mixing and mastering of Despechada are Jim White, Paul Fonfara and John Keane. “I approached Jim White because his music is exactly what I wanted for these songs,” Díaz said. White is an acclaimed American singer-songwriter, visual artist and author.

“He understands sounds that are non-traditional. He knows how to create sounds with tin cans and forks ... it’s a super organic feeling. I wanted him to help create an environment that wasn’t anywhere else, something altogether unique in regard to these traditional folk songs, and I think he masterfully delivered. ”

Her family roots are further utilized through the album’s cover art, which features a painting by her brother Miguel. “We have the same nostalgia, he and I. You can see it in his paintings,” Díaz said. “This one is really beautiful. It’s my cousin Vanessa sleeping.”

Though, that sense of family is something that pervades her work on Despechada — just ask her old friend Michael Stipe, who said this about her catalog: “To meet her, to see her perform, to hear her music, to hear her voice ... you sense something,” Stipe said. “There is a familiarity; there’s that kind of thing. That electric pulling … that you feel when amongst family.”

 Despechada TRACKLIST:

Clavelito Colorado 

Pueblos Tristes

Mi Nostalgia

El Colibri

Carmela

Fulgida Luna

Mi Negra

Angelitos Negros 

Sombra De Los Medanos 

Duerme Negrito

RESOURCE LINKS

Podcast - LaunchLeft

Jim White Music - Website

Jim White - Facebook

Ane Diaz Music - Website

Ane Diaz - Instagram

Ane Diaz - Twitter