Artist Spotlight: Diana Silvers

Diana Silvers is no stranger to the spotlight, having established herself in several well-known films such as “Ma” and “Booksmart.” With the release of her debut album, From Another Room, we get the chance to delve into the person behind the roles of the perceptive Maggie Thompson or the aloof Hope. The 11 tracks not only give us a glimpse inside her mind, but highlight values important to her – suddenly the distance between her and the listener becomes increasingly narrow, and we find ourselves in the place of Silvers’ confidant. 

A lot of the album’s outcome has been something that just happened on its own. When asked if music had always been in her plans, she confirmed that making a record had always been a dream of hers, but that expanding her career into music wasn’t necessarily her intention; yet once it started, it “made so much sense.” Talking with people, communicating in this said room, felt so fulfilling and right. That, combined with the fact that doors just kept on opening, “it felt like the universe was just like, yes.” 

Even her alignment with the dreamy folk sound she presents to us “just kind of happened.” To her, genre is a funny word – it could be anything. The common point with all the artists she admires – think Prince, Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney –  is that they go where the music takes them, and “as long as the songs are speaking to (her), they’ll take on any form.”

There’s something so sincere in the way Diana Silvers presents herself. A question will always be followed by a story, an evident excitement to share. This album represents just that: to her, songwriting is the practice of vulnerabilities, and she lays them down flat on the table alongside matters that are dear to her, as ‘Airplane’ illustrates, which was described previously as a “catalyst for the record.” Coming from a place of being fed up with the current political climate after being too shy to speak out, it was after recording 'For Dad’ that the end goal shifted to making a full record, as well as hoping that songs like this would inspire others to speak out more. 

“There’s a man in the seat in front of me, and he’s angry about a baby girl who’s crying.” From 'Airplane'

‘Airplane’ also touches on the oppression and disdain women face from the moment they’re born, where men are just mad at you for some reason or another. The lyric portrays the juxtaposition between a baby girl, with emotions yet to be regulated, and a grown man mad at the nature of it all. It’s the illustration of the standards and expectations bestowed upon women so that men can live more comfortably. “I don’t know a single woman who hasn’t experienced something of that in their life,” she says, “(I) couldn’t tell you.” In Silvers’ life, women are an important part - they’re her best friends, her closest people, the first people she sends her songs to. “They are the reason I’m supported, the reason I have the confidence to like, do anything.” This also leads her to mention that her next record revolves around the transition from girlhood to womanhood, aka her current status – a very singular, yet universal experience. 

“What you can consume, or like what you listen to, or what you watch – all of those things kind of, they seep into you and (...) they come back out; what you breathe is what you breathe out.”

From Another Room is an amalgamation of her personal journey, as well as all that she interacts with, which accompanied the album rollout and its media. It’s an album dictated by her feelings, swayed by the sound of a strumming guitar and a perfect listen as we crawl from autumn into winter. 

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