Interview: Diva Bleach chats about their music, inspirations, & more
Interview by Dulce Naranjo // Photos by Kelly Fox
Who is Diva Bleach?
Diva Bleach is a fun, colorful, sparkly pop rock band formed by three members. They are Brie Britter, Sara Windom who are the band’s guitarists and back up vocalists and Sydney Roten who plays the bass and is the lead vocalist. All three of them are songwriters.
How was the band formed?
The members all went to the same high school and they met at an after school extracurricular music program called School of Rock. They first all attended as students and then worked there. Although the members knew each other for a while the band didn’t form until 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, when Brie reached out to Sydney to form a band with her. The two members wrote music together for a year and it wasn’t until they started playing shows that they decided they needed an extra guitar player and asked Sara to join their band.
Who came up with the band name Diva Bleach?
After they graduated high school and they were working at School of Rock, Sydney had a coworker named James, who knew her dream was to be in a band. At the moment the band wasn’t even formed. One day James went into work and said “Sydney I had this dream last night, of a band name, I want you to have it, if it’s your vibes, it’s Diva Bleach!” Sydney thought it was pretty cool and she held onto the name for years until the band was formed. When they were picking out names, Diva Bleach was the winner.
What is your favorite part of being in a band?
Sydney’s favorite part of being in a band is getting to meet kind people all around. Whenever they travel, they get to meet cool local bands and people who go to their shows. Meeting their online fans and getting to connect with them in real life. “I just think it’s very cool to connect with other musicians and music fans.”
What is the band’s creative process like?
Lead singer Sydney answers that it really depends on the song. All three of the members have an equal hand in writing the band's music. Sara and Sydney have a habit of writing whole songs and taking them into their practice sessions and seeing if anyone wants to build off of them. Brie will have a guitar riff that she wrote or a vocal melody. “Each song is different, but we all write the lyrics, guitar riffs and bass parts.”
What keeps the band motivated and inspired?
Sydney answers for all the members when she says that they all write their songs based on real life experiences. They are always inspired by things that happen in their everyday life. “Songwriting is like therapy, almost.”
What is your favorite part of being onstage?
“The feeling is unlike any other. I love playing music and dancing with people. It’s a great way for everyone in the room to connect.” Sydney continues to say that whether you’re the person playing the music or the one going to the show, everyone there is there for the same reason. The shared love for music. Together or not all the band members of Diva Bleach have done music for many years and performing is one of their absolute favorite things in the world.
Do you prefer the creative process or performing?
“I like both for different reasons.” Sydney states that if she’s in a social mood, she loves to be onstage performing and interacting with people. When she is by herself, writing is a good way to get in touch with her feelings and write about what is going on in her life. “If I had to pick one, it would be performing, it’s my favorite I think. We’re extroverted in general.”
How did you react the first time you found out you were going on tour?
“When we found out, we had wanted to do that forever, we were just excited to get out.” Sydney says the band was super stoked for their first tour. She had been listening to Sundressed for the longest time and meeting the guys from Telltale was fun because they were really nice. The lead singer states that it was a tour filled with good vibes all around. Everyone was so supportive and it was a great first tour to go on. Overall they were excited to get out, play shows and travel.
Favorite part of being on tour?
“Being with your friends everyday and everyday is different.” Sydney gets super excited and continues to talk about all the crazy things that happen while being on the road. The lead singer loves getting to meet new people all the time. “Trying out the local restaurants for the first time is super cool.” She talks about the bond you get to create with the people you’re in the car with everyday. “Waking up in a different City every day and finding out the fun local things to do.” Life on the road is filled with surprises and new experiences everyday.
3 things lead singer Sydney needs to have while on the road
“Definitely my inhaler.” Sydney already lost her voice once at the end of tour, so she bought a humidifier that helps her throat stay healthy. Squashmallows! The singer says that a lot of the time you’re taking naps in the car and if you don’t have one it can be uncomfortable. The third thing Sydney needs on the road is her NIntendo Switch or it can get boring. She loves playing Mario Kart with friends and Animal Crossing alone. These things keep her relaxed while the band is on the road.
Who are your biggest music inspirations?
“I grew up listening to Taylor Swift and I still like her.” Taylor swift is definitely one of the biggest music influences in Sydney’s music career. Especially lyrically wise. The lead singer also listens to a lot of early 2000s emo rock bands like My Chemical Romance and Silverstein. She also really enjoys Pop music, like Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne. Finally Sydney says that she listens to everything but those are her main inspirations and she then shares a little about getting to go to the opening night of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour. “It was so good! It was cool, because it was opening night and nobody knew what was happening.”
Do you have a dream collab?
“The Regrettes would be really cool!” Sydney shares that she got to see The Regrettes live a couple times this year and expresses how their shows are so much fun. We talk about how both Diva Bleach and The Regrettes have similar sounds and it would be an amazing collaboration. Let’s hope we get to see one in the future!
What does the Diva Bleach dream tour look like?
“Poppy and Boy Genius.” Sydney states that she would love to open for both artists and she also shares that Brie is actually going to see Boy Genius live. Sydney also wanted to go but the show completely sold out and she was unable to get tickets. Hopefully her great friend and bandmate Brie will facetime her during a song and get great videos.
What is Diva Bleach’s dream city?
“We want to hit all of them.” The band’s dream is to tour all the cities in the world. They just want to get out and tour, share their music with the world. “Dream city definitely New York” but New York is definitely at the top of their list along with a few others from the UK and Europe like “London and Paris, all of that.” answers Sydney.
What inspired The City?
Their latest released single The City was written by one of the band’s guitarists and back up vocalists, Sara Windom. And it’s just one of those songs that doesn’t have a meaning.
What would be a WOW moment in your career?
“I would love to just quit my job.” All of the band’s members currently have jobs like the rest of us. Sydney works at a hair salon and Sara works at a Starbucks. Sydney states that the moment she can quit her job and tour full time, she’ll know she made it. “Even if I can barely pay my bills, the moment I can quit my job, I think that would be the moment for me.”
Has Diva Bleach had a WOW moment yet?
Diva Bleach recently played a battle of the bands show in Phoenix and the winner got to go to a festival. The band entered it just for fun and they played their song Beaches. Sydney says that everyone that showed up for their set knew the words of their song beaches and was singing super loud for them.That was an amazing experience for them as a band. Sydney also mentions that meeting fans in real life is always a surreal experience. She then continues to share a heartwarming story of how a fan from Canada flew to Las Vegas just to see Diva Bleach perform live. It was actually the fan’s birthday gift from her mom. Diva Bleach thought it was very cool and sweet that the fan flew in from another country just to see them! So the band made her a special custom poster and their drummer Christian gave the girl a set of his drumsticks, since the fan was actually learning how to play the drums herself. To the band moments like that, getting to meet their fans in real life are wow moments in their career.
What does Diva Bleach hope to inspire their fans and potential listeners?
“I just want people to be who they are and not be afraid to reach out if they need help.” Sydney opens up and expresses that a lot of the band’s lyrics can get pretty heavy sometimes. So she wants their fans to have a safe space to process things that they are going through.The lead singer also says that she wants to see more girls in the music industry. With all these femme bands coming out and starting, Diva Bleach included. She wants more of that.
Has Diva Bleach faced any challenges as women in the industry?
“Occasionally we’ll get some guy that’s hitting on you at a show.” Sydney says that once in a while they will have some random drunk guy trying to hit on them at a show and of course that’s very uncomfortable. Otherwise Diva Bleach feels like right now they have a good circle going on in their career. They feel safe with the people around them.“I think we’ve been very lucky, because the men we have come across in our career have been good people.”
What can we expect from Diva Bleach in the future?
“We’re just trying to make this our full time thing.” The band hopes to be putting out more music, playing more shows, festivals and hopefully we’ll have some Diva Bleach music videos coming out soon! They do have a lot of demos right now, ready to be recorded. The lead singer Sydney hopes to get those demos out as soon as possible for their fans to listen to as fully recorded songs. Overall Sydney is feeling optimistic and excited for the band’s music career.
Please check out the band’s music if you haven’t yet. It is filled with 2000s pop rock vibes. Summer is coming, make those fun beach, road trip vibes playlists and don’t forget to add one, two or three Diva Bleach songs in there to spice it up. Stream, Beaches, The City, Eggshells and be on the lookout for the sparkly pop rock band Diva Bleach visiting your city!
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2VxQbMGeePVnCV94WQbVqF?si=P00JN6MzSw2SFb4nY6rnqg
https://instagram.com/divableachband?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
