TALKING SHOP

Diamond tells us the story behind Third Culture and shares his music-making tips

Born in Kerala, India, producer and DJ Michael Diamond emigrated to the UK with his parents when he was young. “Although I’ve loved and soaked up the culture of the UK growing up, I am still viewed by many as a foreigner,” he says. “On the other hand, when I return to India I am seen and treated as a Westerner. Over time, this has left me feeling that, whilst I possess aspects of both cultures, I don’t truly belong to either one.”

It’s these feelings of disconnection that inspired the music that forms his debut LP, Third Culture. Channelling the trauma of fractured identity into dense, saturnine dance music, the record shrouds intricate, knotty drum patterns in moody synths and jazz-inflected atmospheres that recall classic Deep Medi dubstep as much as Floating Points’ vivid and cinematic electronica.

Collaborator Alex Wilson’s evocative saxophone solos book-end the record, while Áine Kim Kennedy’s words give context to the album’s concept, rendering the third culture experience as a restless insomniac’s fever dream.

Arriving at a moment when the UK’s South Asian community is growing increasingly visible within the wider electronic music scene, Diamond references collectives such as Dialled In, No ID, and Daytimers as instrumental in this shift. Third Culture brings a nuanced perspective on an experience that’s shared by many fans and fellow artists.

“I think that the world is becoming a more open place. People and cultures are becoming more and more intertwined,” Diamond tells us. “I think that through everything that’s been happening this year I have achieved a greater understanding of my own cultural roots and this album project is a big reason why.” In creating a project that aims to represent a struggle to discover a fixed identity, Diamond has arrived at a sound – amusical identity – that’s truly his own.