Ana & Gene: Their Journey to the Josie Awards and beyond.

Yaya Diamond TV

#yayadiamond #dreamchasersradio #podcast #interview  Website: https://www.ana-and-gene-official.com/ Anna and Gene from the Dream Chasers Podcast discuss their upcoming appearance at the Josie Awards and new music plans.  Join us as we sit down with Yaya Diamond to share our excitement about attending the Josie Awards in just three weeks. This update gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the preparation required for such a major event.  Beyond the awards ceremony, we are also working on a fresh project. We talk about our creative process and the inspiration behind writing a brand new holiday tune that we hope will capture the festive spirit. Whether you are a fan of our show or curious about the songwriting journey, this conversation covers what we have in store.  Subscribe for more updates on our music projects and podcast episodes, and let us know in the comments if you enjoy holiday music.  Get vidIQ to grow your channel faster! 🚀 https://vidiq.com/yayadiamond  0:00 Setting the Stage for the Josie Awards 2:10 Tracing the Roots of a Creative Partnership 6:28 Navigating Stage Fright and Early Memories 10:42 Crafting a New Holiday Anthem 15:42 Connecting with Fans Across Digital Platforms

Transcript

00:04Hi, I'm Anna and I'm Jean and we are Anna and Jean and we're excited to be here because we're

00:10going to be talking about us going to the Josie Awards in three weeks and writing up a new holiday

00:17tune. Yes, we are so excited for that and we are here with Yaya Diamond.

00:37Yaya Diamond's Dream Chasers, we won't wait. Subscribe today before it's too late. Inspiration flowin' just like the breeze. Chase

00:47your dreams and feel at ease.

00:53Be good. Be very good.

00:57I'm being good. I am being very good. I think I'm jealous. I do. I think I'm just, I think

01:07I'm jealous. I don't know. I don't know.

01:09But I think that my guest just came on and told you that they're going to be at the Josie

01:15Awards this year and

01:18I'm done. I'm jealous. Yeah, yeah, I am. I really am. This is going to be an amazing

01:24event. The Josie Awards, I've been around it, around, around it before. Not in it, but around it and

01:32it seems like it's a lot of fun and I want to welcome my guests to the show because we

01:37got to

01:37talk about this. We got to talk about their new thing that's coming up for the holidays and the

01:42Josie Awards, which I am very, I am, I am so jealous. Thank you guys. Thank you, Anna and

01:47Jean, for coming. Hey, I think I'm jealous. Oh, for what? Because I want to go with you.

01:55Well, come on. Come on. I want to go.

01:59Come on.

02:00Yay. So before we get into that, okay, calm down. I want to talk about you guys. You guys

02:08are a wonderful duo. Am I correct? You guys do a duo. And tell me, how did this begin? When

02:16did

02:16you guys know you were going to be doing a duo together?

02:20Well, it started about six years ago, actually. Not even six years ago. Actually, a couple of

02:26years ago, we decided that Anna had written a couple of songs. It was called Narcissistic

02:32You and Keep On Giving You Love.

02:34And he was out in New York still. We met during COVID.

02:38Right. I was in New York City at the time, and I was filming the movie Asylum Road 2 as

02:45an actor, because that's what I do, as well as perform and sing and write songs and so

02:50forth and music. Anyway, to make a long story short, she wanted to do the song first called

02:56Keep On Giving You Love. And I said, okay, Anna. I said, when I get to Chicago, we'll work

03:02on it. And she said, okay, okay, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up.

03:07Yeah, I was like, come on, I need to work on this.

03:10I said, I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying, but it's a thousand mile run, you know?

03:15Uh-huh. Oh, wow.

03:17Oh, wow.

03:18And when I got here, we started working on the song. And while we were working on it,

03:22we decided she had another song, too. It was called Narcissistic You. And she wanted some

03:28music and to do some stuff with that, too, as well. And of course, Gene on the spot is

03:33going to do it.

03:35You know, I knew I knew your face from somewhere, because my husband loves action movies, and

03:40I said, I saw this man before.

03:43Yes, I've been known for quite a few movies and television shows and so forth, and as well

03:48as I've made several gold records myself.

03:51That's amazing. That's amazing. Well, I haven't made any. Those are my mothers.

03:59I remember her music. Huh? I remember hearing her music when I was little.

04:05Aw, thank you. Yeah, she's gone. She's gone. But she's never gone, gone. But she's not here,

04:11you know, on this earth anymore. But that's okay, because she left behind amazing music and

04:16amazing me. Yes.

04:19Crazy. How's it crazy me?

04:23Yeah. Well, you know, my mom, the same thing. She passed away, too, and she was a well-known

04:27singer as well. Yeah.

04:29It's amazing what they do. I mean, you know, to follow in their footsteps to do the thing

04:34that most people are so scared to do. They're so nervous to get out there and do. I mean,

04:38I don't understand how they're nervous when we live, like, one time. I mean, Anna, have

04:44you ever been nervous to get out there? Or have you always been, like, that go-getter?

04:49Okay.

04:51Well, because my dad was a senior songwriter, too. And then also, he was a security guard

04:57that he worked in. I believe he worked at a hospital as a security guard. But on the

05:03side, he always loved music, too. And I remember, because my dad was in the Air Force, he's an

05:11Air Force veteran. And then my brother was in the Marines, too. So the thing is, so I

05:17remember, like, as I was growing up, I was two years old the first time. I can remember

05:22back that far. And there's my dad playing on his acoustic guitar. And it drew me to him,

05:27so I just sat right in front of him. And then I was like, and then I would clap. And

05:31then

05:32as I got older, three or four, then I was like, I want to do what you do. So I

05:36would sit

05:37over there and just watch him play. And then when he started playing, because my father,

05:43when he did, like, some gigs, he loved playing for the veterans. And so I remember, like,

05:51my first time, I believe it was my seventh birthday. I was seven years old. And I was

05:54like, Dad, Dad, I go, I want to sing with you on stage. And he was like, he's like, you

06:00do? I was like, yes, I want to be with you on stage. And I want to sing to the

06:05veterans,

06:05too. And so he was like, you know what, for your birthday, I'll let you do that. And so

06:10then each year that he played for the veterans, I was on stage with him.

06:16See, we didn't have any of that nervous stuff. There was no time for it.

06:21No, because when you're a kid, you're just like all excited. And you're just like, I want

06:25to do this. I want to do that. And so but the weird part was, I didn't start feeling my

06:30first nervousness. Not until I was like 14. It was weird, even though I've been on the

06:36stage as a kid with my dad growing up. When when it came out, because I took choir. And

06:43when it was so I mean, my first solo debut, I think it was when I first made my solo

06:48debut

06:48of singing in the choir. That's when I kind of started feeling nervous. And I was like,

06:53Oh, oh, on the spot. On the spot. Right. I didn't care.

07:00Well, I personally, I mean, when I was the first time I ever was, shall I say, stage shy,

07:07if you will, was when I was in front of my second grade class with my guitar and playing

07:12the song. Oh, but I mean, you know, all those, they're so cool is just to have those memories

07:23and then to see fast forward today that you guys are going to Josie Awards. Come on, man.

07:30So how'd this happen? I'm going to calm down. I'm just not going to say anything.

07:35She won't explain that. He would like me to do it.

07:37Well, go ahead.

07:37Okay. I mean, well, we had released, as you know, I don't know if you know, in 2024,

07:46we made a EP called Uh-Oh, Who Do You Love? And that one struck gold for us with Narcissistic

07:53You and Keep On Giving You Love.

07:55Well, Keep On Giving You Love actually was a single release five months later. And so because

08:03of there's the cutoff for, I guess how they have it for the Josie's like April,

08:07uh, 30th. So anything that's made like beforehand, you know, it could like, uh, for the following

08:15year. So our EP came out in January, but Keep On Giving You Love came out in August. So that

08:23one we applied, was able to apply for the Josie's and we actually, for that song and they put it

08:30adult in last year. So they put it in adult contemporary.

08:34Nice.

08:35So since you were picked last year for that song, this year we cut two more top hits.

08:41And, uh, this one was called, uh, I Feel Alive So Alive and See Me Smile.

08:47And both of them this year got picked for the Josie Awards.

08:52That is so good. I'm so proud of you guys. I'm so happy for you. This is something that,

08:57you know, it's like, it's, it's that, that feeling like, yes, you know, when you jump up

09:04and down, I just, I remember the excitement and, and just the sheer excitement of just being

09:10able to put it out there and have the recognition and then see other people recognize it. You know,

09:17what does that feel like for both of you? I mean, I know you guys are together. I know you

09:21guys have

09:22had a little bit of success from the past and now it's like really kind of snowballing. That is

09:28really good.

09:29Well, I personally feel, uh, really excited about it. You know, I mean, I've made so many hits in the

09:37past by myself. Yes. A lot of them had made awards and so forth and so on. And I've been

09:43on television

09:43for a lot of them. I was even on the Dave Letterman show for one of my songs, but, um,

09:50uh, this year

09:51with the Josie's, it's really, really exciting for us. Uh, really exciting for me. And I know it's

09:57very exciting for Anna to, it is so exciting for me too, because the Josie's, oh my gosh, they're like

10:05one of the, they're the biggest independent music award shows. So for independent artists. So I was

10:11like, oh my God. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I'm so happy for you guys. And I know that, I know

10:17that Jean has

10:17had success, but then together it's different. It's like almost, almost not all the way, but almost

10:23starting over again, because now people are looking at the other half going, okay, what can this person

10:28bring that wasn't brought before? And just to have that recognition is just an amazing thing.

10:34Congratulations, both of you on this. And then you're working on your holiday, or is it a single

10:40or is it, what is it? Okay. Tell me about this. Yes. Yes. It's a holiday single and the song

10:49is going

10:49to be called, it's a holiday party. Yes. And so it's going to be because we're genre benders.

10:54Yes. So this is going to be a crossbreed between rockabilly, pop and rock.

11:01Hmm. I like rock. And right. And it's going to be like very upbeat and driven. And it's like,

11:08so it's pretty much because me and Jean rewrite stories and rewrite true stories. So we, but this

11:17holiday party, this is what I envisioned, what it's going to be like. And for us to be playing

11:22a holiday party that, so it's like us walking in and then we see that no one's having fun.

11:32So, so. No, you can't have that. Right. You can't have that at a holiday party.

11:36Oh, you got to liven that thing up, man. What? So me and Jean are talking to each other with

11:42our band saying, look at this, guys. We got to liven this place up. That's rocking.

11:47I love it. I love it. Yeah. No, you can't have a doll party. I don't go to doll parties.

11:52I don't stay at doll parties. Hello.

11:57Wow. That is so good. Guys. Congratulations. I mean, I know that your website is Anna dash

12:04and dash Jean dash official.com. I'm going to put that link in the description box below,

12:09but do you guys have like social media where people can follow you?

12:12Yeah. We do Facebook. So we have an Anna and Jean Facebook page and then we have an Anna

12:19and Jean Instagram too page. Oh, nice. Nice. We were doing TikTok, but then, you know, when

12:26the controversy with China and all that stuff. So for some reason, cause we thought we won't

12:32be able to use TikTok. We just unfortunately let it fall to the wayside.

12:38I think, I think a lot of people did that. Then they all jump back on like, Oh, okay. It's

12:46good

12:46now. Oh, Hey. Yeah. Okay. I'll be back. So, so, so it's kind of, I mean, we can go back

12:59there. I mean,

13:00I've been thinking about it, you know, but I take some time to like rebuild it kind of because I'm

13:06assuming that some of our fans, you know, left it because we all thought, you know, there wasn't

13:11going to be any more. We thought it was over. Yeah. You'd be surprised though. You'd be surprised

13:16because I did the same thing and no one dropped it. Wow. Wow. Okay. So you might want to get

13:22on

13:22there like today. Go back and be like, Hey guys. Yay. We're going to the Josie awards. That's

13:29why we were gone. We were busy building a holiday. We were kind of busy.

13:32Yeah. We're both out. Sorry. We're away. We were busy. We're going to the Josie's now.

13:40Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh wow. And the Josie awards is September the 20th and I'm excited

13:49for both of you. It would be nice last year. I was outside the Josie awards. I was outside

13:57because we had another thing that we were going to. And so we kind of walked by and I said

14:02hello

14:02to a few people and I just kept going. I didn't go last year. Plus I wasn't a member, but

14:07this

14:07year I am a member. Um, so, so I will be going, I'm going to figure out if I can

14:16go, if I can't

14:16go, then I'm sorry, but it would be nice. Oh, that would have been cool. But, uh, also

14:24because, um, because I know how the Josie's, how they have like media people there too. Right. Yeah,

14:31they do. They do. And, and I haven't signed up for the media because I'm not sure if I'm going

14:35or not. Um, but it is in Nashville, right? Yes. I have a Nashville connection. Oh, well,

14:43maybe you can sneak in here. Let's see what I can do. Hmm. Well, I am excited for you guys

14:54and

14:54whether or not I go is irrelevant. You guys get there and win the freaking award. No, right. Okay.

15:00Awesome. This time. Win, won award for the, what was that? Yes. So win it for New York and Chicago.

15:09I got to watch. Yeah. I got to watch these hands when they go up in New York. Yeah.

15:15Watch out. Oh my gosh. Well, and Angie, it's been such a pleasure having you guys on. Um, I know

15:26you have that engine on Facebook and you're getting back to TikTok. They didn't leave. They lied. I know,

15:35but they will be back hopefully on TikTok for you guys. And, and I want to thank you.

15:41YouTube. I forgot. I don't mean to interrupt. You got YouTube. We're, we got a YouTube channel. So we're

15:46mostly, we have to say we're, we've been to, well, uh, mostly on YouTube now. So, uh, so it's energy.

15:55Um, we have our YouTube channel. Well, is that all, is all of that on the, everything is there on

16:02the,

16:02um, on the top up there on your website? Uh, yes, yes. Definitely. It's on our website. Yes.

16:10We, we put, oh, we put what, like our major, like right here. Yeah. So we put our major,

16:18you know, social platforms that like we check and stuff like that, but we're, we're on everything,

16:23honestly. Okay. Um, and we're on all digital platforms. Our music is worldwide. Um, our music

16:29is worldwide too on the radio. Yeah. We're all over the radio. And so, and so it's pretty,

16:35we're pretty much. Yeah. I'm so happy for you guys. This is wonderful. And, and I can't wait to meet

16:43you.

16:43You forget Jean. I know, right? Chicago sisters. Yes.

16:49What is the problem with New Yorkers?

16:53Chicago rocks. Yay, baby. Yay.

16:57Sorry, Jean. No, no, no, no. No offense, Jean. I'm so sorry. Um, but girls have to stick together,

17:04I want to meet you too, Jean. It's okay. I was just bothering, but I want to thank you

17:18guys so much for being on the show. It's been such a pleasure. I had so much fun and I

17:22hope

17:22that you guys go ahead and go to the website. I'm going to put all the information in the

17:25description box below. So it'll be easy for you guys to find them and please support them.

17:30They are indie artists going to the Josie awards. I don't know guys. I don't know. I'm not going to

17:37promise anything, but what I am going to say is that if I'm not there physically, I am definitely

17:42there mentally to help you win that award. I know, right? Yes. Watch out Jean. Don't get knocked out

17:50now. Okay. I want to thank you guys so much for tuning in and thank you guys so much for

17:58being on

17:59the show and you too. And until next time, guys, don't forget to dare to be different. Hey, Jean,

18:07Anna, don't go nowhere. All right. Here we go.

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