RAGGED - NEWS - RAGGED Exclusive: Dia Frampton Comes Alive

RAGGED Exclusive: Dia Frampton Comes Alive

April 13, 2012

Straight from the pages of the new issue of RAGGED, enjoy an excerpt from our feature story with Dia Frampton here, and be sure to download your free PDF of the full issue here, for the rest of the article including additional photos from our shoot with The Voice beauty!

So without further ado, enjoy!

In addition to a major-label recording contract and a readymade fanbase, Dia Frampton got something else she never bargained for from NBC’s The Voice.

Following Frampton’s triumphant turn on the talent show, the 25-year-old who won America’s hearts and ears—and second place—has been launched into the pop music stratosphere, but not without some side effects. “I feel like I’ll never be able to look at chairs the same way again,” says Frampton on the eve of leaving on tour, where she will open for Voice mentor Blake Shelton. But what Frampton lost in the comfort of a certain piece of furniture, she gained in the experience of making Red, her solo debut featuring gorgeous vocals and collaborations with everyone from The White Stripes’ Meg White, Kid Cudi and members of Foster the People to another Meg—her own sister, with whom she has been playing music with for years.

Here, RAGGED talks to Dia about the surrealism and excitement of competing on The Voice, her songwriting methods on Red and what a girl’s to do while on tour.

What was the most surreal moment for you on The Voice?

Singing with Miranda Lambert on the second-to-last episode of the show. Everything was coming to a close, and spending the last performance on stage with her was really perfect for me because I am a big fan of hers. There was a moment when I looked at her—we were harmonizing together—and I was freaking out in my head.

What was your favorite moment of the show?

Singing “I Won’t Back Down” with Blake. I’m a huge, crazy Tom Petty fan—that’s why Blake picked that song. Anything that he could do to make me more comfortable, he did. So playing a song from one of my all-time favorite artists with one of my new favorite artists was awesome. That was the time, for 20 seconds, when I let loose and had a lot of fun.

What was the process of making Red like?

Red was made very quickly, which I’m scared about because I never really like to rush when I’m doing art. I usually spend months thinking about it. But we wanted to put the record out before season two of The Voice started, which is a wise business move. I did want to take my time on the album, but I also wanted to push it out before season two so it could get its own chance before it was covered up by all these amazing emerging season two artists.

How did you go about songwriting for the album?

I wrote about 50 songs for Red. We narrowed it down to the 10 we liked the best. I got to work with a lot of people who I respect. I wrote with my sister, who I’m in another band with, so I’m used to working with her. We wrote a song called “Hearts Out To Dry”— that’s the most special to me for a lot of reasons. It’s my sister and my best friend— we’re singing on it together, having fun in the studio.

(Continued in the new issue of RAGGED…)