“A rainy day in the sunshine state” is how 21-year-old writer/producer Artemas Diamandis, known by fans as Artemas, describes his music. His description – based on a terrible storm during his only visited to LA – epitomizes his enthusiastically sarcastic attitude towards life that is so evident in his music.
With bittersweet lyrics and empowering hooks someone at any age or stage in life could sing along to – Artemas writes memorable 90s-inspired anthems with a modern twist. Hailing from a little village in the United Kingdom, Artemas grew up wanting to be a singer; but it wasn’t until he watched a Kurt Cobain documentary in his childhood bedroom that he set his heart on being a “wannabe-popstar.”
Check out his most recent anthem “Sunny” and hear from Artemas himself below in his exclusive interview with LADYGUNN.
Hello, tell us about yourself.
A small village just outside of Oxford in the United Kingdom!
What do you think you sound like? Can you describe your sound?
It’s hard to pinpoint my sound down to just one word or a genre… it’s modern, pop and left of center with a 90s sound to it. I grew up listening to bands like Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I think their influence naturally comes through my music. I try to make every song I write catchy, catchy with a cool concept behind it.
At what age did you realize that you wanted to be a musician? How did that happen?
I realized I wanted to become a musician at the age of 16 after watching the Nirvana Documentary, “Montage of Heck” on Netflix. After watching that, just randomly on a school holiday, I became obsessed with writing songs, I wanted to be like just like Kurt Cobain. It was something about his aura in the documentary that hit home with me. It gave me my calling. I’ve been writing songs ever since and I transitioned to pop music.
What’s something you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t yet?
This is very clear and obvious for me. I want to make an album at some point. Being a new artist, you can’t really put out a full project because there’s not enough ears yet. I feel like there’s a good chance in the near future that I’m going to be able to put out a full project. I like the idea of creating this thing, and it being my baby, and it being perfect. Putting it out with the whole story behind it. It’s really exciting to me! I know all my favorite artists have at least one or two great albums and I just love the idea of that challenge.
What food could you eat every single day?
Well, in fact, when I was in LA for four months last year, I pretty much ate chipotle every single day. They don’t really have it everywhere in England… there’s actually only one in London and I bloody love it. So when I was in America, I took advantage and ate chipotle every single day. I can’t wait to get back so I can do the same.
What’s one thing you want your fans to know?
I appreciate every single one of you and I’m going to drop a heck-load of music on y’all. It seems like 90% of my audience is in America and obviously you can tell I’m from the UK.. so I’m trying to paraphrase and pick up some of American’s lingo… but yeah I’m going to drop a frick-load of music on y’all in 2021.
When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?
From a young age, I’ve always wanted to create. Before music I wanted to be an actor, I would act out famous scenes from movies on photobooth. I actually have a really cringe clip of me pretending to be Don Vito from the Godfather except my voice broke and I was pretty chubby.
What or who was the inspiration behind “Sunny?” What’s one thing you want your fans to know?
Sunny is about a girl I used to date. We were obviously not right for each other and were much happier apart. However, this did not stop me from being silly and seeing her again. I felt like every time she came back into my life I was worse off and that is the inspiration of the ‘Sunny’ metaphor of the song. Ha… that’s the most honest I’ve been in an interview so far.
What do you hope your fans feel when they listen to SUNNY?
I hope they can see the growth from last year’s single. Every sound and lyric in “Sunny” is very intentional, catchy, and direct. I hope it sticks in their brain.
What’s your go to Netflix Show?
I’m very contradictory because I enjoy very highly regarded, critically acclaimed cinema yet am on my 100th rewatch of friends. Maybe I need to get a life…
If you could be a character in any movie, who would you be?
I identify a lot with every Jason Segel character, I don’t know why.
What other artist would you choose for your dream collab? And why?
Very difficult question. I was intensely jealous after watching Post Malone perform with the Red Hot Chilli peppers at the Grammys in 2018. Felt like he was living my childhood dream. Something along those lines… I’d also love to do a Shawn Mendes x Camilla Cabello-esque collab with Katy Perry as well, but with a pop-punk twist. A verse from Pitbull would be the icing on the cake.
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photos / Bethany Smith
story / Lauren Crimmins