It Came To Me In A Dream: In Conversation with DIAMOND CAFE

march 27, 2025 - toronto, canada

While I can’t lie and say this is our first meeting, as the night previous a group of us, including Diamond and the band, found ourselves bonding over pints after his underplay at the Warner Music Canada office. When I graciously told the pop-funk singer that I would pull out all of my best investigative interview questions the following night, his only request was to talk conspiracies. I knew at that moment that this on the record interview was bound to give birth to a conversation like I've never had before, with an artist just as unique as his sound. 

We met at a Toronto west-end bar, Death & Taxes to chat all things revolving the Diamond Cafe cinematic universe. The artist often described as a modern-day Prince, the effortless and timeless swagger radiates off the singer as we slide into matching suede seats.

Thanks for taking the time to sit down with us!

DIAMOND CAFE: Glad to chat again.

Where did the moniker, Diamond Cafe, come from?

DC: It actually came to me in a dream which was really cool because I was trying to find a name for the longest time, and I was like, when it comes naturally it'll happen. I was diving deep into getting into consciousness and that whole field. All my friends would talk about lucid dreaming and stuff and I was just super interested in that. I was just, kinda finding ways to think about it all the time so I could dream a little bit more. And then it didn't come out as a name, but I was like, in this desert? All these sand dunes. I saw this super black building in the distance and it was all plain and it had a neon diamond logo on it. It reminded me of a cafe and then I thought… Diamond Cafe. To me it's a whole world. It's not just my name. It's that whole universe that I live in.

How long was the project happening before you found the name?

DC: It wasn't too long after, 'cause I think I made about four songs that never made it on the project because I was still learning how to write songs that I felt comfortable enough releasing. So probably a year later. Cool.

You mentioned your dad had a lot of involvement in your career. Was there any advice he gave that stuck to you throughout?

DC: The one thing that he said that always sticks with me is no matter how many people are in the room, perform like there's 10,000 people in the room because he was like “there are genuine fans who really care about you and who are there to see you.” Even if I'm performing for a crowd of five, it's those people who really care about it. I want-

He cuts himself off for what could be misconstrued as a flair for dramatic effect, but in reality, appeared to be pure drive and determination as shown with the lilt of desperation in his voice as he returns to the thought with: 

I need to give them the best that I can give them because they're the ones who make you, obviously you're gonna be able to win over someone who hasn't heard it yet and then they become mega fans.

So you produce most of your music?

DC: I produce all of it except all of it except three songs recently. Last year there's three songs that I did with producer Pomo. 'cause I just wanted to branch out. I wanted to try something different and challenge myself. But yeah, just producing my own music just feels like me, like Diamond Cafe, the world.

So you're completely involved start to finish?

DC: Yeah, completely start to finish.

We were briefly interrupted by the bartender delivering Diamond Cafe class espresso martinis. Canadians know politeness as the bartender went on to ask who the artist sat in front of me was, Diamond flawlessly and graciously introduced himself. As he scurried off and we resumed conversation, I caught a  slight tilt from Diamond’s head as the music playing in the bar hit the opening chords of Diamond Cafe’s, “Sweet Cherry.” Without verbal acknowledgement, but a small smile, I'm met with a “where were we?” from the vocalist.

For gearhead music people, is there a specific program you use? What features about it do you like? What works for you?

DC: I love Logic. I'll never stop using that. It's kinda like the rich man's Garageband. It's so easy and they've got so many beautiful sounds in there. I like the bongos you can get outta Logic, they slap. Those are great. but I don't really use software instruments. When I got my first [pay]check it just goes back into everything I make. So I bought a bunch of synthesizers from the eighties and I just use all real instruments from that era.

It's nice to see people using real instruments. It's it has a sense of soul.

DC: There's definitely something different about it because it's analog, it's. So everything is made different. When you hit a chord, it's just “oh!” You get chills.

You put out the “Diamond Cuts” what's different about these releases compared to the original releases?

DC: It’s mostly production or remixing. Up until I got signed I was just mixing and mastering everything myself. It was a bit more lo-fi and so we wanted to do a remastered, high quality version of the songs. And those are some of the fan favorites from the old school days.

It's not the whole catalog. No. But we're gonna do some more “Diamond Cuts” in the future too, there's more coming. 

You've also had a few collaborations with other artists, is there a dream collaboration on your list?

DC: I always say my dream collaboration is just with anybody who's on the same wavelength. It doesn't matter if they are famous or not. They could just be starting out. But as long as we're on the same wavelength and we just click and lock in, and hit the pocket.

I like to say there's two types of people who consume music; people who like either focus on lyrics first or instrumental first. When you're going into writing a recording, where do you start with those two?

DC: I always start with rhythms because I play all the instruments, but I've never had I never had any lessons or anything. I don't even know what chords are specifically. I just hit the keys and find a root note and then I'll just build. I'm finding what sounds good. It's like building blocks. Honestly, recording these songs, kinda getting off topic here, but recording these songs, my listeners are hearing my growth through the years growing as a musician and songwriter. But I like to start with the rhythm. And then keys. These are the biggest part, and then it'll all just happen at the same time. Then there it is, and it'll all come out in a dump. 

It comes to you more than you're forcing it?

DC: I've tried to think about sitting down writing a song, but it just doesn't work and then I just get kind of frustrated. Even if I don't write a song every day, there's something that's waiting and it'll come at the right moment.

It's like what David Lynch says...

DC: Yeah. “Catch the fish.” It's the same exact thing, read my mind.

What Diamond is referring to is the quote from a 2014 article with David Lynch, “Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you've got to go deeper. Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure.”

On the note of David Lynch, you’re into films like Mulholland Drive, if your music could be a soundtrack to a film, whether it's a real film that exists or something you create, what would that be?

DC: Ooh. I want to get a budget one day to make a film. I would love to make a  cinematic musical, almost like a musical film. A visual album. I want to do my own take on a True Romance style film. It'd be cool to, in between scenes, have it cut to a performance shot or something. Just make a musical film. True Romance or going back to Lynch again, Blue Velvet, that type of thing.

Like mirror balls and the neon lights?

DC: Yeah. Like that one seventies film, a shot on the dance floor. Dark club. Berlin. Smoke everywhere. Yeah. It's the dream at this point. 

You have that stylistic cinematic feel and aesthetic, what would be the ideal setting for people to listen to Diamond Cafe?

DC: I always say my music is an advertisement for the live show. It's because that's where I'm most myself. I'm most vulnerable and I'm most tapped into some other frequency. It’s just something about having people involved. I like to do crowd work and get and make people feel like they're not watching a show, but that they're all involved. I love breaking people out of their shell on stage and like getting them to dance and put away their phones because a lot of the time throughout this tour, I've noticed a lot of people have their phones up recording. What I want to achieve is just have people in the moment on a dance floor.

What do you think film and music have in common when it comes to effectively conveying deep emotional themes of love, betrayal, obsession, etc? 

DC: My goodness. I don't know. Certain films leave you questioning afterwards. That's a really good question. I think it might be one of those questions where you can't convey how a song makes you feel in like the even if the lyrics are right there in. Cinema and music go so well together. It's the perfect marriage, like the climax of the film, with the music, everything has to coincide, but oh my goodness I don’t know. That’s a tough question.

With a laugh between the two of us, I moved on.

I’ll hit you with an easier one here, What are the top three albums that have shaped you?

DC: . I have to say Cupid Deluxe by Blood Orange. That changed my life. Probably right now There's a Riot Goin’ On by Sly and the Family Stone. “Sexy MF” song off Love Symbol by Prince fantastic. Yeah. 

You put out your latest song, “Loverboy” at the tail end of last year, can you give us a run down of that track, and what’s to come?

DC: Oh, Loverboy. I wanted to write a song about this time, instead of a love song or something. I wanted to write something that's fiction, and so it's pretty much about murder. If you listen to the lyrics.

“Ooh, deep in the night/Oh, you're deep in the ground, oh, ow/See, heaven must've bet a long time ago/'Cause I bet you're probably suffering now”

DC: You know it's a clear picture. Then with:

“Pretty boy in a bag of meat, meat, meat, meat”

DC: So it's about my friend got cheated on and I got so mad 'cause she's like a sister to me. So I wrote a song about a fuckboy getting murdered. Murdered. You know what I mean? 

It's nothing I love more than a female country musician singing about murder, to be honest. 

With a final laugh at that comment, we’re, rightfully, cut off from a conversation lasting longer than I believe either of us imagined. Diamond was set to do more press coverage stacked by Toronto’s desire to understand the enigmatic artist. After Diamond set across the street for soundcheck the lights in the bar dimmed to match the sunset from the window. I return a borrowed pen from the same bartender as he raves about the music he was introduced to, just 10 minutes before, filling the room. Something about the swaggerful Diamond Cafe resonates with a mystique people simply want to be around. Exactly as he affirmed early on in our conversation, Diamond Cafe and his music is simply an advertisement to the world of his live talent.