Ervin Munir Interview With Colby

Guide

Hello, Ervin. You’re releasing “Diamond Ring” on August 15th. The song features an interesting mix of classical piano and indie folk guitar. What made you decide to blend these elements together?

There’s a lot of drama and passion expressed lyrically in the song, and expressive piano seemed like the right instrument to highlight it. Also, I wanted a piano-rich song for my third album (coming early next year). The guitar is my go-to instrument and features on most of my songs. In this case, it was mainly there to provide a rhythmic background with the shuffle rhythm provided by the drums. It was a risk putting these together, but it paid off.

Working with producer Aeron Z Jones again, how did you approach capturing such raw emotional territory in the studio?

I had written “Diamond Ring” a few months before we decided to record it together, and I was already used to performing it live with my acoustic guitar. So I had a strong idea of how I wanted to sing it. The addition of the piano gave me an additional vocal guide. I was in the vocal booth doing my thing, whilst being transported by an excellent backing track.

The diamond ring serves as a powerful symbol throughout the song. Can you walk us through how that image came to represent the story you wanted to tell?

I wanted to write an anti-love song, and as the diamond ring is a symbol of love, it was fair game. It’s also an easy word to rhyme with!

Your lyrics paint vivid scenes like “the house burnt down from the roof right to the ground.” Do you draw from personal experiences when writing such emotionally heavy material?

Thankfully, I have only a little firsthand experience of the level of drama and violence portrayed in the song. That happened in my family as a child. Subsequently, I gained knowledge and awareness of more destructive relationships when talking with and forming relationships with women who had their own firsthand experiences. That’s what I used as the spark for this song.