Victoria musician, though not a star, keeps on 'pushing back the clouds'
APRILL BRANDON - Victoria Advocate
José Diaz is a musician in the truest sense of the word. His story begins the same as many others' stories. He got his first guitar at age 13 and dreamed of becoming the next Jimi Hendrix after hearing Hendrix's version of "The Star-Spangled Banner." In high school, Diaz had a band called Legasys, which eventually had a small following in the Bloomington and Victoria areas. They played local gigs and dreamed of making it big.
But they never did. And this is where Diaz's story starts to turn. Instead of quitting and sitting around and reminiscing about the good ol' days, he kept playing. Even though fame and rock stardom haven't been knocking down his door, he - now age 41 - still continues to write, play and produce music as if he was getting paid like, well, a rock star.
"Every note has been worth it, even though I haven't hit the big time," Diaz, who lives in Victoria, said. "To take something from inside myself and share it with people, that's what it's all about. I love that feeling of creating something, recording it and then being able to listen back to it and see what I've done. It's always been about the music."
For Diaz, music is more about the craft, than the spotlight. Even though his style is hard rock, he says, "a combination of heavy metal '80s style, with a little bit of progressive rock to it," he doesn't limit himself on his sound.
"My inspiration comes from every single note of every single song I've ever heard. And I like to listen to a lot of different genres of music - from new wave to country, from rock and blues to classical and jazz," he said. "I also take a lot of inspiration from the things that happen around me; from my life and imagination."
With no formal music training, despite a year in seventh grade playing the recorder, which Diaz admits with a sheepish grin, he played every instrument, wrote every note and lyric and recorded each and every song for his four CDs in the small studio he has in the back of his house. Needless to say, the writing and recording is a long process, especially since Diaz can only get to his studio when he's not working at his day job. Working in the oil fields for 23 years, Diaz looks at his musical career realistically.
"I don't see myself leaving that job any time soon, unless, you know, Eric Clapton happens to call," he said with a smile. "But I try to get into the studio as often as I can. Some days it's easier and some days it's harder. But it's all been worth it. Every note I've ever played has made it all worth it."
Diaz's latest CD, "Paint by Thunder," was released in July. Available online through his own Web site and CDbaby.com, so far sales have not been great, although in the digital realm, his songs have been downloaded more than 100 times.
And he already is beginning to work on his next CD.
"It's difficult to sell independent CDs when you don't have a record company throwing money into the marketing aspect. But when you do it all yourself, you get to do your own music, which, for me, is more satisfying," Diaz said. "And I can't see myself not doing this. This is my life. Music is my life."
Though heavy metal fans have waned over the past several years, Diaz believes that the genre will never truly go away.
"Heavy metal always rears its ugly head." His motto is: "Stay loud, stay proud, keep pushing back the clouds." And Diaz's music will continue whether it get the attention of the music industry or not.
He is, after all, a musician.
For more information about Diaz or to purchase one of his CDs, go to www.legasyssongs.com or www.cdbaby.com.
• Aprill Brandon is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 580-6514 or abrandon@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.
Copyright, (c) 2006, The Victoria Advocate
Aprill Brandon - The Victoria Advocate
(Aug 25, 2006)