Put It In The Air – Blown Sits Down with Artist and Producer Diles

We had a moment recently to sit down with someone that Blown readers should know about. We humbly lay our heads down in the Land of Enchantment, and are continually encouraged, inspired, and amazed by the fellow inhabitants of this land we call home. One of those amazing human beings happens to be local entrepreneur, producer, and business owner, Diles. We caught up with him at his studio, Central Root,  recently and asked him about music, life and more in New Mexico.

“I love New Mexico. The vibe here is pretty unique and it is a really powerful place to call home. I feel like in many ways it really is a great place to be an artist and has proven to offer a lot of inspiration to artists from many different art forms. I like how we do things here and I feel lucky to be around so much culture and history,” he said.

Living in New Mexico with access to major thoroughfares of I-25 and I-40 has led him down a road of growth that one might describe as “organic,” but powerful nonetheless, potently producing projects that have resulted not only in music, but in life long friendships.

“A lot of my collaborations have always come from networking and by meeting artists through making music. This has led to building some really solid friendships with a lot of people who I often consider family. It just continued to spread and grow organically. The Southwest has heat for sure,” said the thirty-something producer.

He listed just a few of the folks he’s worked with in the sunbaked Southwest and beyond – that “short list” includes but is not limited to:

Esme Vaandrager, Jessica Lopez, Hakim Bellamy, Molina Speaks, Mike Wird, Felix Fast4ward, Babah Fly, Bianca Mikahn, Suzie Q. Smith, DJ Cavem, Ill Se7en, Idris Goodwin, MykrfiendX, Jungle One, Dahm Life, Def-I, Wake Self, Kayohes, James the stupid, and more – yes more.

Do yourself a favor and blow a couple hours Googling those names with a Blown product in your lap.

With an extensive network, that extends into Burque’s ever growing music scene and talent pool, Diles and his partner in their co-owned studio, Central Root, seems to be sitting in fertile soil when it comes to the possibility of a sustainable future in the music business.

“Mike is my business partner and is a complete wiz on so many things and has really helped me sharpen my engineering and mixing skills and is always putting me on game to some new technology. We both bring different values to the table and work really well together especially seeing as we are in our 5th year of business now. We work on a lot of projects together and also take on different work independently…there have been hundreds and hundreds of songs produced, recorded and mixed at the studio. We won best studio last year for “Best of Burque” so that was dope to get that nod,” noted Diles.

Best of Burque is no slouch award – in fact it’s more like a “couch award.” Thousands of folks many who likely are sitting with a Blown product riding shotgun on the futon, take time out of their life each year to pick the what’s what and who’s who in the ABQ. We asked Diles what’s makes something the “best,” in terms of a studio “sesh…”

“One of the key jobs of a good producer and engineer is to help create an environment that allows an artist to really get away from normal everyday brain chatter and really try to zone out with the music. When vibes are right everyone in the room can feel it and there is an energy felt when things are really clicking,” he said.

Sure, sure, we know – vibes, right – what else?

“If I know I am gonna be in the studio for a long period of time I like to get some healthy studio fuel like trail mix, fruits, chips, hummus, and stuff like that. Then of course pizza and thai food is always a good look too haha….” added Diles.

Interesting… a list of food – all that work must make one hungry… got it.

Speaking of “getting it” – we rolled up the interview with some questions about a new project that he is packaging and getting ready to hit the streets with. This thing will be the 7th in a series of musical treats all by the name of Green Chile in the Air. This year’s batch is Volume 7 – and aims to impress, as did all the rest. Diles blessed us with a few words about the work.

“Green Chile In The Air is an annual album I create every year around chile season and feature a bunch of different artists each time. Volume 7 drops 1/18/18 on all digital outlets. At this point, it’s well over 100 songs in the collection total and has featured artists from places like Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, Seattle, LA, San Francisco, Oakland, Phoenix, Chicago, and from countries like Cuba, Mexico, Canada, Nicaragua, Switzerland, Trinidad, and more,” he said excitedly.

It’s nice to see excitement from someone who is tending to their craft, and cultivating their skill in order to share it with the world – that’s a Blown story for sure. We remain inspired by the hustle we are surrounded by, in our industry and others. A chat with this local business owner reminded us that sometimes we need a reminder why we do what we love – and why we are thankful to be able to do so.

“Every year I feel like I am not gonna be able to pull it off but driving through the streets and seeing chile stands is like an instant reminder to get into the studio and work on it. I owe it to all my homies who always come through for me with quick turnarounds often on short notices so it’s def a team effort,” he said.

We say, cheers to that. And, you heard the man – you can smell it, now go taste – there’s Green Chile in the Air – Blown family, you know what to do.