Interview
Interview
Karen Dió: “I want to show women and the queer community that punk rock is a space for us too”
The Brazilian-born punk provocateur on building community, embracing vulnerability, and why fun and fury go hand in hand
Crafting a whole new world and claiming it as her own, Karen Dió is the ultimate Latin riot grrrl. With her defiant reintroduction to the music scene marked by last year’s debut EP My World, the Brazilian-born UK-based musician has been making waves with her bilingual, no-bullshit approach to punk.
Championing head-on honesty within short, sharp songs that take aim at everything from the fragile male ego to the danger of worshipping false idols, her fun, fiery vision blazes fully into life when she stands upon a stage. Recently rounding off a huge run of dates opening for nu-metal legends Limp Bizkit, each and every fine-tune of Dió’s sound has been centred on the power of a killer hook, and with her confidence boosted higher than ever – she’s ready for the next chapter.
With that chapter set to kickstart with a performance at Download Festival this month, the future is looking bright. Now ready to continue building a community grounded in empowerment, honesty and pure punk catharsis, we caught up with Dió to reflect on finding her voice again, learning on the fly, and why her world is only just getting started.
It’s been just over six months since My World dropped, which felt like such an important release for you. After your previous band’s split, when did you realise that you were ready to step back into music again?
After moving to the UK, I almost didn’t do music. Being in a band and all the struggles that come with that… When I moved to the UK, I had to settle into life again. I had to settle into the country, sort my visa, find a job, and I was living this normal life. At that point it felt like, “Why would I give myself an extra job by doing music too?” At the same time though, I was slowly making music. Once I decided that I was doing music, I was ready for it, and I feel like I am more comfortable now. I’ve settled more into the country and settled more with the language barrier. I feel more comfortable speaking English now than when I moved to the UK, but I’m still getting used to all the different accents! Once I was ready to make music again though, I was ready to do shows. I love making music, but I feel like I was built to be onstage. That’s just my type of persona.
There’s a big difference between performing as part of a band and going solo though. Was that a liberating step for you, or a daunting one?
It’s scary because now if anything goes wrong, it’s my fault! I still have my band who support me, and I love them, but I am ‘the band’ now. When you’re in a band, you don’t worry so much about how the guitarist will be on stage and stuff like that. It’s a group, and everybody is their own thing within that. Now, I am the band, and it’s completely different. I feel like I’m still figuring out how the Karen show works, but I’m definitely getting there, especially after the Limp Bizkit tour. I had a great opportunity to play 16 shows in a row, and I was able to polish my shows. I know what I want to do, and what I don’t want to do. It’s a big responsibility now that I’m a solo artist though.
A lot of it comes down to trial and error…
Exactly, and that’s the hard bit because I have to be at peace with the stuff that doesn’t work. I play the shows and think, ‘Did that suck?’, but that’s why you play shows. You have to learn whilst doing it, there’s no other way.
It helps when you have solid songs behind you, and My World certainly isn’t short of those. It’s an incredibly direct EP, and every song is short, sweet, and straight to the point. What draws you to that sound?
That’s just me, I’m that kind of person. I’m very honest, straight to the point, and there’s no f*cking around. With the whole experience that I had being in a band and having been doing music for this long, that’s my persona, so it naturally happens. It took me ages to find out what I actually like with writing music, finding out my style. What I like is that punk rock style though, and that aligns with who I am. That’s why I like punk rock music so much, because I’m very honest and straightforward… This is who I am. If you like it that’s okay, and if you don’t, that’s okay too.
We have to talk about the virality of ‘Sick Ride’. That song is a little different from everything else you’ve released, but it’s resonated deeply with people. What’s it been like to see that reaction?
To be honest, it was very shocking for me. I didn’t expect it when I first wrote the song with Matt [Bigland], my husband, because it did feel quite different from what I used to do. It was the first time that I had something with these different references, and we were inspired by songs like ‘Hollaback Girl’ by Gwen Stefani and ‘Mickey’ by Toni Basil. It was a different way to write songs, and I didn’t know what people would expect. When we were writing that song though, Matt knew that there was something special there. We released it, and it clearly stood out from the other songs. It went viral around February of last year, and loads of people found out about it. Still, there are new people finding out about it, which is a great thing. It’s the kind of thing that could happen to anybody, but you don’t expect to happen to you. I really didn’t expect that to be the song that would connect with people, but it does have this amazing energy that feels so empowering. Without that song, I wouldn’t be playing with Limp Bizkit, because that’s how Fred Durst found out about me. Without it I also wouldn’t have all these amazing fans and this community that we’re building. I’m very grateful, but I didn’t see it coming.
Fun is central to this project, but there are also songs like ‘Poor Man’ and ‘So Funny’ which have a real bite to them, taking aim at egos, false idols, and mistrust. Is it important for you to show that whilst punk can be fun, it can also carry those deeper messages?
Absolutely, especially coming from my background. I’m Brazilian and just moved to the UK, so I was raised in a country that is very sexist and homophobic. As a woman, I’ve been through all these situations, and that’s shaped who I am. I like to speak my truth and share my experiences, and I’m very connected to that. That’s why I get straight to the point, because that’s just how I communicate. I can express myself in music. It’s a learning curve though, because growing up in a sexist country, I didn’t have all those ways to express myself. I’m stronger now, more confident to be myself, and more self-aware. That doesn’t mean that things are fixed though, and we still have to talk about it. At the same time, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to have fun. It’s about finding a balance between speaking the truth and finding a way to live your life and have fun. Life in this weird world can sometimes be very miserable, that’s why I try to have fun when I’m on stage. I’m not the type of person that listens to a lot of sad songs, and I wasn’t an emo girl or anything like that. I’m always trying to have fun, but I’m also being honest to my reality.
You’ve spoken about wanting to open doors for other Latin American artists too. Have you started to see any glimpses of that happening yet?
Yes, and it’s not just Brazilians. It’s so nice when I get messages from places like Mexico, and every time I play a show I always ask if there are any Latin Americans in the crowd. During the Limp Bizkit tour there would nearly always be someone, and I would say, ‘Look, I’m here. You can also do this if you want to. You can do whatever you want to do, you can be on your stage’. I never had that representation before. All of the representation I had was women, which is also a huge thing, but there weren’t many Latin Americans. I’m not the biggest thing in the world, but I know that I’m getting more visibility now. I hope that can be a positive thing for women, queer people, and even men. I feel so lucky to have fans messaging me to say, ‘I’m doing music again because of you’. That’s very inspiring, and very motivational for me. Being a musician has lots of challenges, even nowadays, but seeing people connecting with the music and feeling motivated to do their own thing…. That’s why I’m doing this.
That only builds as the shows grow, and playing this year’s Download Festival is a huge opportunity. How are you feeling about that?
Honestly, my show feels very ready for it. When I decided to go back to playing live, I knew my vision. It was always to play to thousands of people, and I have built a show that can work for 50 people but can especially work for thousands. I’m ready to play Download Festival, and I’m so happy that it’s happening now. If it was last year, I’m not sure I would have been ready. I’ve never played a big festival like this, and it’s so important for my scene, and for people in Brazil to see. I’m so excited to play on the same day as Green Day too because I’ve never seen them live. I’ve seen Weezer once before, but I really want to see them again. I’ve never seen McFly live either… There are so many amazing bands there, and it’s going to be so much fun. I’m looking forward to it not just as an artist, but as an audience member. It’s probably going to be one of the best days of my life so far.
![Karen Dió - Casual (Chappell Roan cover) [Visualizer]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/SOYGUKvvdNk/0.jpg)
That’s important because obviously you’re an artist, but so much of what you do is rooted in being a fan and just loving music. Is it important that no matter how big this gets, that always remains at the core of this?
If you don’t have that love for music, and that passion for music driving you… Why are you doing this? I am obsessed with music. I always read the lyrics, I always look to see who produced the records I love, and I have tons of playlists on my Spotify with loads of different artists. I am obsessed with it, and the weirder the better. I like to be challenged, I like to listen to weird things, and I don’t believe that there is such a thing as bad music. There’s just music that didn’t touch me for some reason. If you’re not passionate about music, there’s no reason for you to be making it.
Looking towards the future then, now that your platform is building, what part of your world are you most excited to build next?
I want to build my community, because I feel like I’m still in the beginning of that. I want to show women and the queer community that punk rock is a space for us too. I’m slowly building that, and there are always more people finding out about me. The more that I release songs, the more people will hear, so I want to find out who my community is and have fun with them live. I also want to start playing more shows, and I need to write more music too. I was so busy at the beginning of this year, but now it’s time to write a load of songs, connect with my fans, and play as many shows as I can. Basically, I want to do everything!
Karen Dió plays Download Festival this June. Find tickets here
