David Diaz’s “Are We Gonna Talk?” began with a question that came from a very real place. After a friendship broke down and an attempt to ask for emotional support was met with silence, David found himself reflecting on a pattern of giving too much of himself to people who did not always give the same in return. Rather than leaving that frustration where it was, he turned it into a song, transforming hurt, anger and a few uncomfortable truths into something both personal and instantly relatable.

The video, however, takes that emotional story somewhere considerably more unexpected. Initially reluctant to make a video at all, David was persuaded by his friends and co-directors Abiesel “Abi” Baez and Kahlil Antonio to turn the song into an ’80s slasher movie, with David himself becoming the rather unlikely “Callback Killer.”

Shot over three days with a large cast and crew, the production became as much about collaboration and having fun as it was about telling the story. David describes the experience as feeling more like a camp getaway than a conventional music video shoot, with everyone from the directors and actors to the production and design teams contributing to the final result. Here, he talks about the personal experiences behind “Are We Gonna Talk?”, the unlikely inspiration for its horror-themed video, and why sometimes the best way to deal with being ignored is to become the killer everyone remembers.

Tell us the story of this song. Why did you choose to visualize the song specifically in this way?

“Are We Gonna Talk?” came from a falling out I had with a close friend of mine. Essentially, I came to understand that I was putting a lot more into the friendship than he was, and it wasn’t the first time that happened. 

What initially brought everything on was that I was in a place where I needed something, and that one particular thing was just support. When I asked him for emotional support, it felt like it was too much or like I was an inconvenience to him, because when I asked him, he never answered me. Eventually, I found out he was prioritizing other things he thought were more important, and I felt like I wasn’t being prioritized. 

In our relationship, I had given him a lot. I didn’t necessarily put everything on hold, but I did a lot for him and sacrificed a lot for him, and it just felt like he didn’t care about me at all. So I tried to reach out—nothing: no answer, no response, no conversation or explanation. I was completely in the dark. 

At some point, I messaged him, “Are we gonna talk at all?” Still nothing. So I went home and made a song out of that line. 

I felt like a complete idiot for putting myself in a position to be treated like that. It had happened to me a lot in the past because I was a people pleaser. I wanted people to like me, and I would do anything to try to keep them around, even if it hurt me. This was happening during a transitional period when I was starting to undo a lot of damage and unlearn things that didn’t benefit other people or me. So I got angry and made it into a song. 

For the cover art and the general promotion, I knew I wanted it to be something along the lines of phones and people not getting a callback, and I wanted to be a little bit on the nose with it. Initially, it was going to be more modern—flip phones, smartphones, texting, whatever—but I was like, “That’s so boring.” 

I want to say what I want to say, but I want to find a fun way to say it. If it’s going to be out there forever and people are going to hear this message, I think it’s more fun and more palatable for me, and hopefully for other people too, if it’s something familiar presented in a unique package. So, whenever you come back to it, see it or listen to it, you’re like, “Yeah, there’s that message that I know,” but you’re seeing it through this really unique, different lens of an ’80s world. 

I really enjoy world-building, lore, and things like that, so that was really fun. My favorite color is blue, so I wanted to incorporate that into things too and put myself into the world. 

It’s sort of a meta version of myself. It’s still David Diaz, the artist and the person, but more like a blank canvas so he can be whatever he needs to be for a particular song or situation. So yeah, it’s kind of me, but it’s also not at the same time. I had a lot of fun with it. 

What was the inspiration behind this video? (visual, storyline, etc.)

I can’t take too much credit for the inspiration behind the video, because, initially, I didn’t even want to do a video for this song.

I usually find music videos to be very daunting and stressful. Even with shoots that I’ve really enjoyed in the past, they were still stressful for me because there’s so much involved and usually a very large crew. Mind you, these are amazing people who are so much more talented than I should be working with and have incredible vision and skill. It’s just such a different world for me. I appreciate it because I love films and movies, but these people actually know what they’re doing. 

My friends and co-directors Abiesel “Abi” Baez and Kahlil Antonio came to me and asked, “If you were to do a music video for this song, what would you want to do?” And I was basically like, “I don’t really know.”

Then they said, “Okay, listen. Hear us out. What would you think about an ’80s slasher horror?” 

And I was like, “Are you out of your f**king mind?” They know I hate scary movies. I can’t do anything involving supernatural horror because I will 100% get nightmares (I’m a lucid dreamer, so it makes them even a thousand times worse). 

They were like, “Just think about it,” and I did. And I was basically like, “Yeah, no. Let’s do something else.” 

Then, I think they showed me something, or showed me a plan with shots and different ideas, and somehow they managed to sell me on it, and I went through with it. 

I remember one thing in particular. They were like, “Imagine this will technically be a sort of therapy for you.” 

And I was like, “Uh, what do you mean?” 

They said, “Instead of you being scared of anyone, you’ll be the one that’s scary.” And I was like, “You know what? I didn’t think about it like that. That’s actually funny.” 

I’m so glad I listened to them because these guys absolutely know what they’re doing. They were incredible, and they came up with a lot of the story. I gave them the general direction I wanted and the inspiration behind some of the more specific parts of the story that inspired the song. 

Even though the song was inspired by that one particular situation I mentioned, it’s happened to me multiple times with different people. So it’s really a collection of all of these different experiences. That’s why there are the friends who die and me as the killer – it’s the dramatization of the consequences of the actions of those particular people.

Visually, I really wanted to stick to the ’80s, and our entire production team did an amazing job. They were so much fun to be around and so much fun to watch and work with. I can’t wait to show everyone the behind-the-scenes footage, because what that place looked like before is absolutely not what it looked like during the shoot. 

Abi and Khalil came up with the rest of the sequence, the shot order, and everything along those lines. They would flesh everything out and run it by me. 99% of the time, I would approve everything on the first go because I really admire and respect their creativity and vision. I entertain it and run with it because I’ve learned to trust them and their process, and they’ve done the same with me.

They really understand me as a person, my art, and how I communicate artistically. I feel like we make a really good team, and I love working with them, even when it’s on fun little side projects that nobody might ever see, something you might see in the future, or things we’ve done in the past that I’m really happy we did. 

I think this is the best thing we’ve done together, and I plan to work with them more in the future, whether it’s a music video or one of their projects, because they’re so much fun to be around and work with, and they’re awesome people overall. 

The same goes for the crew and everyone they brought on and worked with on these projects. There’s a whole list of people who did amazing work on set during the video shoot, and I wish I could mention every single one of them by name here (which I will in the video credits, for sure). Abi and Kahlil were definitely the driving forces behind the storyline and the characters. Visually, I came in with ideas that the art and production design team, captained by the talented Ross Widener, brought to life so, so beautifully. Just wait until you see my blue scrapbook they made for the video; it’s hilarious.

What was the process of making this video?

The process of making the video was absolutely so much fun. 

As I said before, we had already done multiple videos together, and I had done other videos before meeting them as well. The song itself had been finished for a long time, so by the time we started seriously talking about doing a video – and after they convinced me—we started booking everything far in advance. 

Everything you see in the music video, including the location, was locked in about a year in advance. We had everything planned out to the day. We were ready. 

They, along with my manager, Amanda Do Nascimento, got everyone on the crew on board, organized the schedule and logistics, and when we got there, it was a three-day shoot. Because we booked the location for multiple days, those of us who chose to stay could room there for the duration of the shoot, which was really cool. They were actual cabins that you could live in. 

I really wanted to make sure that while we were shooting the video, everybody had a good time and that it was low-stress. I wanted it to feel more like a camp getaway than a job. 

I was constantly taking people’s temperatures and asking how everybody was doing, if people were enjoying themselves, or if anybody was stressed out. Everyone kept saying they were having a really fun time, which I was relieved to hear. 

Some people were coming off other shoots and really noteworthy projects, and working on some amazing things. They were tired or spent, and even though they still decided to come work on this, they were having a blast because the environment on set was very laid-back. That was really, really nice to hear, especially since I was internally freaking out because I felt responsible for everyone and everything. After all, my name was on it. 

More than anything, I wanted everybody to feel comfortable and have a good time. I know this is a visual extension of my song, but I don’t have to make a music video. I’m doing it because it’s fun. After all, I love the art form and the medium, and I love the vision everyone brought to it.

Even though I’m responsible for the music, the song, and the basis of where the video came from, everything else is because of this crew, Abi, Kahlil, my manager, and every single person involved – from catering, to the production assistants, to people who came to visit, people running to get food or coffee, somebody getting me water, wardrobe, costuming, makeup—everyone. Everybody did such an incredible job, and I had such a blast. I’m so glad I got to meet everyone who was there. They all deserve so much credit.

The killing scenes were absolutely hilarious. Honestly, it wasn’t just those scenes—any time we were shooting, we would forget we were filming a music video because it started to feel like we were making an actual film. You’ll really see that more in the behind-the-scenes footage. These actors are screaming their heads off and acting their faces off. They did such an amazing job. If you muted the song and just listened to what was happening on set, it could have been a movie. 

I absolutely want to highlight the actors because they were incredible and some of the most talented people I’ve worked with in my life. They brought so much life to these characters without having much to work with. Our main four are Carolina Lopez, who plays Gina, Jacob Stutchman, who plays Scooter, Marlene Zapien, who plays Wilma, and Sebastian Ortega, who plays Fernando, and then Joslyn Guzman and Christina Castillo play the other two characters, Daniela and Ellen, who get killed at the beginning of the video.

They all did an incredible job. They had to adapt and work through things with us at the last minute because we sometimes needed to change things around, and they were amazing. They also had fun with it, which was great, and they made really cool and funny choices that I’ll remember forever and always come back to the video to rewatch. 

I also really want to highlight our director of photography, Carlos Irazabal. He did such an incredible job with these shots. I could not have asked for anything better visually. I don’t know anything about cameras, but Carlos absolutely knows what he’s doing, and he is so good and so talented. He’s also such a real person, and I could say the same about everybody else on the crew. Abi and Khalil did such an incredible job directing everything together, and Carlos captured it all so beautifully. He really managed to let the characters shine and let the actors’ talents and interpretations come through. They took direction so well, and everyone did such an outstanding job. 

I know this answer is already long (sorry), but everyone involved made this production what it was, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out. I feel so lucky to have been part of this production because of the people I got to work with. No artist can do something like this all alone. It takes a village, and everyone involved knocked it out of the park. 

I’ll always remember the shoot fondly. At the end of every day, we would chill out, drink, eat, talk, be loud, and have a great time. Some of my favorite parts were sitting out in the grass or on the porch, stargazing, talking about life, hearing about projects everybody was working on and their passions, and just having a blast. 

I hadn’t met some of these people before, so it was really cool to get to know them. It genuinely felt like a getaway—like camp, but no one gets murdered by the Callback Killer. 

I felt like a kid again, if I were alive in the ‘80s, haha. It was the best.

Keep up with everything David Diaz on his Website