Interview: Ákos Bánfalvi
Photography: D.L. Hootman Photography (www.dlhootman.com)
Dan Pineda (sparemediagroup.com)
“FASHION AND I ARE TWO OF A KIND; I AM
FASHION, IT’S INSIDE OF ME SO I EXPRESS IT
OUTWARDLY…” - DIAMOND DEZ
Diamond Dez is a Sacramento, California
based musician with a huge regional buzz.
She is very active in promoting herself, her
music, and her endeavors as she writes and
records new music and plays live shows.
Diamond started singing and performing
at age 4, when she began writing music
through her love for poetry. Diamond grew
up on stage, singing in church and in
school talent shows. She was never a shy
performer. As a preteen, Diamond joined a
break dancing team, being one of the only
girls battling. In high school, she joined the
step squad, where she not only performed
but designed and handmade her entire
team’s uniforms. Diamond Dez has always
expressed herself through art and dance.
At age 14, she began tattooing her body
with images that told stories about her
life. Diamond went after her career as a
freelance alternative model by age 16, after
being trained professionally under John
Robert Powers. Throughout high school,
she attended underground metal shows and
became a well known “scene queen” for
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being a social butterfly, taking on the mosh
pit head first, and for being a popular model
on MySpace. Diamond Dez stayed close to
music until she finally reached a place of
making her own.
Diamond Dez has been creating many
looks of her own for a decade and has been
affiliated and approached by very successful
people who have inspired her along the way.
Dave Navarro, Lil Wayne, and Steven Tyler
are just a few of the celebrities that Diamond
has casually caught the attention of. She has
been inspired by the many successful artists
she has worked with such as Lady Gaga,
Chino Moreno, Kurupt, Bonnie McKee, Olly
Murs, Riff Raff, Priceless Da Roc, Mistah
F.A.B., Baby Bash, Jon Hart, Chanel West
Coast, and T-Pain are a just a few artists
who have personally made an impact on her
career according to Diamond. Dez released
her new single Top of the World last year
through Sony.
Diamond Dez is sponsored by The Secret
Society of Ex Mermaids, a clothing and
accessory line, Rollie Fox Locks, a company
of custom made dreadlocks, and she has
become the face of Exclusive Boutique and
is working with Fvmous Clothing Company
who is duplicating sweaters of Diamond
Dez’s photo shoots.
Tell me about your childhood and teenage
years. Did you always want to be a model?
What’s funny about that is I actually thought I
was a model when I was a child. (Laughs.) I
just loved the camera. I guess you can say I
wanted to be a model since I can remember.
So how did you get into modeling? Did you
always think growing up that you were more
photogenic than your family and friends or
were you scouted?
I got into modeling professionally at age 15
through John Robert Powers, a modeling
agency. I can remember being scouted out
many times as a young girl while at festivals
and family amusement parks and yes, I was
always the eccentric one in the family photos.