Nina Diaz: Recovery, Authenticity and Identity

Sarika D. Mehta » Podcast

Nina Diaz, lead singer of the indie punk rock band, Girl in a Coma has been on tour for her debut solo album, The Beat is Dead. This album tells the story of her struggles with addiction, rehabilitation and getting clean. We met at KBOO Community Radio for a delightful performance interview, including two songs: January 9th and For You.

Nina talked a lot about the experience of writing and composing songs while in various stages of rehabilitation, in hopes that her album will help others who struggle with similar issues.

She let us geek out for a moment about linguistic choices, as a native Texan. We talked about the pressure of an ethnic last name, what languages are or are not expected of you and how this is further impacted in “Trump’s America.”

Nina Diaz, photo by Jade Hernandez

I really enjoyed meeting Nina – not just for her impressive voice and creative music styles – but for owning who she is. One of my favorite parts of the interview is that she said her way of fighting back is by being the most authentic version of her self: a woman of color – no apologies.

This interview aired for the June 28th, 2017 episode of Intersections Radio. Check out the podcast and stay tuned for videos!

Air date: 6/28/2017 (KBOO), 7/5/2017 (XRAY) https://sarikadmehta.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/intersectionsradio_ninadiaz.mp3

Read the transcript of the interview: 062817 Intersections with Nina Diaz transcript