Alright, so its essay crunch time now... due in t-12 hours... and I still have 2 pages to go. This right here, this is my procrastination! I know my family reads this, so I'm sorry to have to admit this to those who see me as a responsible student... but this is how its always been haha. This is how I get my 80s in University. I put it off until the last minute so that I force myself to come up with genius ideas and pull off a good mark. Now you know my shameful secret, and I apologize haha.
Anyways, my youtube browsing brought me back to some old favorites and I felt compelled to discuss them here... awkward interviews. Now, as someone who wants to be a music journalist, I have come to find these incidents quite funny and a little sad to watch, all at the same time. It almost pains me to see how some of these interviews go. Sometimes its a lack of research (or proper research), sometimes it crosses barriers and sometimes its just missing a great deal of personality on behalf of the interviewer.
First off the lack of research. When going to interview an artist, it is ESSENTIAL that you know what you're talking about. Otherwise, you just look silly and they may get annoyed. I'm not saying this out of experience, just out of being a witness to this. Watching interviews where the artist feels that you could care less... yeah, not going to help you out much. You often see them get frustrated and become more and more difficult to talk to.
Artists, like any other people, have comfort zones. Naturally, when you cross said comfort zone, nothing positive ensues. Things just get awkward fast. No one wants that. I hate watching interviews where the artist becomes an object, not a person. Its frustrating. Put yourself in their shoes... if you wouldn't answer the question, maybe they wont either and thats totally fair.
For an interviewer, personality is key. If the artist doesn't feel like they're getting anything from you, why should they be bothered to put on a show single handed? Its a lot of effort to perform and these people do it for a living. Having someone to share the job with probably makes it a lot easier so do your part and play it up!
This all spawned from a SINGLE disastrous interview that my friend Kelsey showed me a while ago. Ever since, I have not been able to look at interviews the same way... its just THAT bad. The interview, posted below, is with Max Bemis of Say Anything. He's their lead vocalist and a very interesting subject when approached right. This girl, this girl is terrible. You can just SEE the way max is wishing it would end. I particularly enjoy the lack of eye contact, the stupid questions and the way he just gives up completely early on in the interview. My favorite part is when she takes the stuffed unicorn out of his hands, as it seems to be his only source of amusement throughout the duration of her question/answer banter. If anything, this interview provides a lot of laughs, and a lesson on what NOT to do if you ever find yourself in her situation. Check it out, have yourself a chuckle!
Rock On!
- Girl At The Rock Show
AHAHAHAHA YES! This is amazing.
ReplyDeleteThe last five minutes are like watching some awkward blind date where both of them want to run away but they can't.
ReplyDeleteThis always makes me laugh haha Thank you for showing me. I was missing out until I saw this. It really is like an awkward blind date. There is SO MUCH tension and awkwardness in that little room. Guaranteed the second that camera shut off, Max ran for his life.
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