Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Diana Burgess. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Diana, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

A few years ago I quit my day job and started pursuing music full time. I had been dreaming of making my own schedule and setting aside quality time to write music, and my decision to prioritize my art felt like the only way forward. I’m still adjusting to the change, and embracing the new perspective of putting my music first. It’s easy to sit back and let opportunities come to you- I was fortunate to be in that position for a long time. But when the pandemic hit and almost all gigging stopped, artists were faced with an unlimited amount of free time and very limited opportunities to work. After the pandemic the live music landscape in Austin changed, and many venues had closed, lowered their budget for music or cut it out completely. My decision to be freelance full-time happened at a very difficult time, and continues to be a challenge. Despite those obstacles, the time I have gained to focus on my own projects has been invaluable.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a cellist, educator and composer born and raised in Austin, TX. I started playing cello at age 5, and grew up playing classical music as well as playing in my dad’s Beatles cover band, The Eggmen. Throughout my teenage years I wrote and performed music with various groups, blending classical and pop genres. In my senior year of high school, I joined Mother Falcon, a large symphonic rock band that had already made a name for themselves in Austin. Mother Falcon was exactly what I had been seeking musically- the opportunity to write and perform pop/indie/rock music, but with classical instruments (mainly cello!) at the forefront. We went on to tour nationally from 2013-2018, and released several albums and music videos. We had some incredible opportunities, including playing NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, Millennium Park in Chicago, Festival d’ête in Quebec, and the Winter Jazz Festival in NYC. We also collaborated with inspiring artists like Ben Sollee, Kaki King, Amanda Palmer, Gina Chavez, Tony Trishka and Todd Reynolds. While performing and touring with Mother Falcon, I earned my Bachelor’s of Music degree in Cello Performance from UT Austin. In 2012, Mother Falcon developed and ran a summer songwriting program called Mother Falcon Music Lab, encouraging young musicians to find their creative voice through collaborative composition. We ran the camp for 10 years, reaching hundreds of students of all backgrounds and economic statuses in the Austin area. I am passionate about bringing classical instruments and sounds into other genres of music, and embraced this idea further through writing and releasing a solo album, You Run in 2020. The album explores grief and reflection, combining layered vocals, cellos, guitars and banjo. The title track was featured on NPR Music’s All Songs Considered. Recently I have been focused on composing instrumental music, largely inspired by the natural world. My next album, Menagerie (releasing fall 2024) is an all instrumental album. Each composition is inspired by a different North American animal, including mountain lions, raccoons, armadillos and more. Another project, called Small Sounds (which can be found on YouTube and my socials) is a series of short instrumental pieces scored to videos of natural phenomena (flora, fauna, water, clouds, etc.) The music features unique instrumentation including cello, charango, kalimba and found sounds.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

There are so many incredible organizations and support systems in place specifically in Austin that are invaluable for musicians. For example, HAAM (Health Alliance for Austin Musicians) helps musicians afford healthcare, and SIMS, which provides reduced price mental health services. Institutions like these make it possible to work in music full time, and it would be incredible for other cities to adopt similar programs. In my experience, the main obstacle facing musicians is how society places (or doesn’t place) monetary value on our art. With the popularity of streaming services, musicians are making minuscule amounts, or often no money at all, from the music they release. It takes thousands of dollars to record, produce and release music, and there are no institutions in place for musicians to recoup even a fraction of that cost through the sale of their music. Spotify (one of the worst offenders) just made an exploitive system worse by deciding to demonetize all tracks that make under 1,000 streams annually. Currently, 86% of tracks on the platform don’t make this cut, and even if you do get revenue from your music on Spotify, you make fractions of a penny per stream. Sites like bandcamp.com provide a much more ethical system for musicians selling their music (you can set your price for digital sales and merch on the platform) and it even allows customers to pay more to support the artists. While streaming music is convenient, it diminishes our already devalued art and makes it near impossible to create more. If you purchase an artists’ music once, either on Bandcamp, direct from their website, iTunes or at a live show, you can then stream it guilt free, knowing you’ve done the minimum to support the art you love.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I am constantly inspired by music and art that mixes different influences and genres to create something unique. I studied classical music growing up and in college, but was always most interested in the blending of classical and other types of music. Classical music is often treated as an isolated genre, and one that is seen as inaccessible and posh. One of my goals is to expand the possibilities of what classical music can sound like and the contexts in which it can be explored in. For someone who grew up in both the classical and “rock band” worlds, it felt natural to combine the two, and I love working in a place that explores and celebrates art that embraces fluidity and rejects calcification.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dianaburgessmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dhburgess/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DianaBurgessMusic/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dianaburgessmusic
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dianaburgessmusic Bandcamp: https://dianaburgess.bandcamp.com/album/you-run

Image Credits
Marshall Tidrick, Dave Pedley, John Gutierrez, Maggie Ball, Brynn Osborn