Meet Scott Diehl | Guitarist, Vocalist | The Storytellers Band

We had the good fortune of connecting with Scott Diehl and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Scott, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The factor that’s been most vital is that we’ve built a band – and our brand – on the foundation of gratitude. Gratitude for each other in what we all bring to the music, to rehearsal and to the live shows, but also gratitude for our audience. We don’t have “fans” like other bands. At least we don’t call our audience “fans”. To us, that word “fans” isn’t giving our audience enough credit for what they bring to what we’re all doing, which is considerable. If our audience doesn’t come, then we’re finished. We only exist because they do. They inspire us, first by showing up, but also with their energy and smiles and dancing. They are Storytellers, too. So we really refer to our audience as our community, and we are their community. We don’t take anything for granted. We love these people. We appreciate them. We tell them all the time that we see them and recognize what they bring to the experience. They feel appreciated and part of all the beauty and color and fun, so they keep coming back. As long as they do, we’ll keep doing what we’re doing.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
The Storytellers is more than a simple band. We write, we rehearse, we play and perform music, but that’s just one part of what The Storytellers ultimately is. We are a creative collective. We are all about promoting good positive things and ideas. We invest a lot of time and money into creating compelling artwork, not just to promote our shows, but to make our community consider something good, or to make them laugh and smile with a funny meme we create, or to share their own stories and experiences. The Storytellers are musicians, but we also have photographers, graphic artists, philosophers, poets, chefs, bakers, and writers who are on our team and in our corner. So even with our music, particularly with our original songs, it’s just a single part of our goal of using different avenues of creativity to create a little whimsical, humorous, interesting, colorful joy into the lives of those in our community, as well as us. We do not see ourselves as part of the music business. We are in the Joy Business. It keeps things fun and light, and makes us gauge “success” on factors other than music and money. That’s not to say that we don’t take music seriously. We do. We want to improve but not for the sake of achieving anything other than the benefit that’s inherent in the doing itself, in the practice. That creates its own movement and its own direction. We’re headed in a good direction.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If someone came to town and was interested in really good, memorable time, we’d take them to one of our free outdoor shows that we perform semi-regularly around Los Angeles and Orange County. Hundreds of people come! Our community and audience is extremely diverse, so you see an incredible mix of men and women, mothers, children and families, dancing to the music, clapping their hands and singing along. We perform a lot of songs by the Grateful Dead, so a fair amount of tie-dye-wearing hippies show up, and they’re fun to watch and be around. The sound is always good, and people have lots of room to celebrate the joy of being alive. Experiencing and participating in live music is vital to achieving health and happiness. Moving around, moving your feet to a rhythm, singing along to soulful lyrics, it makes you feel good. Our live shows are a perfect place to let your inhibitions go and experience a deep sense of fun. Especially when the audience realizes that they’re instrumental in creating that experience.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Our shoutout is dedicated to our community of friends and family who come and contribute to the fun. That they take time out of their busy lives to come and dance and create good vibes and energy towards the creation of a joyful, memorable time is inspirational. We have one of the most loving, giving, generous, fun, kind tight-knit communities out there. They deserve credit and recognition, because it would be so easy for these folks to think everything is somehow about us, as a band, or about our music. But they don’t think that. They understand that the experience is equally about them, and they play a vital role in everything we do. Trust me, standing up there on a stage looking out at the audience, that’s the real show! It’s so much more fun and interesting than what we’re doing. Don’t tell them I said that. They might start charging us!

Website: https://www.storytellersband.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestorytellersband/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/storytellers_LA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheStorytellersBand/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/TheStorytellersBandCA

Image Credits
Bob Vitti Photography Sound Snap Photography