James Slainmann
Composer & Guitarist
Music for Film, Tv & Video games based in Los Angeles

Musician in mind, dilettante, genuine music lover, I repost and share what I find innovative, inspiring, ingenious, or simply interesting. I’m always curious to discover new artists of talent; so follow me, and, maybe, I’ll follow you back, share your stuff, and contribute to make you famous ;-)

"Let the music of your life give life back to music" -Daft Punk

The Story of Opāru…

Opāru is the musical endeavor of Los Angeles based songwriter, singer and actress Dianna St. Hilaire. Opāru's music can be described as future electro with a dark ethereal undertone. Combined with dream-like operatic vocals, Opāru's work creates a unique depiction of modern pop culture.

Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, St. Hilaire started to write and perform music at a very young age in choir and musicals. Self taught, her first instrument was the piano and she worked tirelessly at the craft of reading and writing music. When St. Hilaire was in her late teens she began performing with punk bands and for producers as a back up/ studio vocalist in New Mexico, where she took on her first musical alias, the highly successful group Versailles. Partnering with the infamous Kim Fowley (The Runaways, Kiss, Joan Jett, Alice Cooper), she has toured the US extensively, been featured on the official Grammy ballots, as well as charting on Billboard. Versailles’s music was also on rotation with popular stations across the U.S. including KROQ and NPR tastemaker KCRW.

St. Hilaire reinvented herself in late 2015 with the new project Opāru, deriving from the Japanese name of the birthstone opal. Opāru’s roots stem from dream-pop, 80s synth pop, indietronica and new wave. “The music represents pure animalistic human emotion”, St. Hilaire confesses, “It epitomizes what it is like to be human by transcending the human experience with self discovery and acceptance of who we are on an emotional level.” Influences can be found throughout the record including the likes of Mt Eden, Lindsey Stirling, Odesza, Aurora, Black City Lights, Chvrches and Grimes.

After the success of her first release ‘Remember Me’, Opāru is back with a project that is some of her most personal work to date. The new single, ‘The Deep End’ is a love song to her beloved and admires the strengths and the flaws in a relationship, but most importantly it focuses on the depth of what most humans attempt to attain in their lifetime. Opāru reveals, “The Deep End is about a unique equality between two people on an emotional and physical level. Our survivability paired with our own hopes and dreams and how we can make them a reality for each other by helping one another to change the world”. Combining heartfelt lyricism, haunting pop melodies and dark experimental synthesizers, ‘The Deep End’ will succeed in drawing feelings of hope and admiration from it’s listeners.

Opāru has created a poignant lyric video to accompany the release of ‘The Deep End’. The video encompasses the beautiful aspects of nature, blending them with an urban landscape. Featuring stunning time-lapsed visuals of nature at it’s finest, the hustle and bustle of a city at night and a brilliant night of dancing lights, the video highlights the importance of finding compassion for living things and being mindful of your inner animal.

With an ever-growing fanbase and media attention, Opāru is ready for the next chapter of her musical journey with the release of ‘GHOST TO FOLLOW’ due summer 2018.

Followers of jamesslainmann