One of the funny things about interviewing a band is sometimes after they agree to be interviewed, they sort of flake out. I can’t say why. I’m not in a band. They still want to do the interview, but they don’t want to actually be there for it.
Here are a few of the weirder things people in bands have told me or requested regarding their interviews:
“Um, we can only do this after the show. How about 1 a.m.?” (The answer is always no, unless it’s Grace Potter –then yes. One a.m. is fine. Two is okay, too.)
“Only two (or three) of us can be there.” (Especially useful if the band has four, five, six or seven players)
“We really don’t want to do a picture. We took one a couple of years ago. It’s on the website. Can you to use that?” (Bonus if the band has had membership changes or if the lead singer has developed a chronic addiction to chili cheese fries)
also…
“We have our own pictures. We look really good in black and white.” (Newspapers have been color for around 50 or 60 years, but bands keep taking black and white pictures, sepia tone pictures and goofing around with the color settings on photo shop.)
“Can we do this after sound check? That’s an hour before the show. We’re going to get a bite to eat. We could do it right after. ” (The interview will take place between songs, maybe?)
“Couldn’t we do this on the phone? We don’t really think of ourselves as a local band.” (Then why does your phone number have a 304 area code?)
You are here.
“Would it be okay if we got the questions in advance?” (No, you may not see the teacher’s notes)
“Can we see the article before it runs?” (No, you may not grade your own paper, but yes, if I get something wrong, you can taunt me at your leisure for decades to come. This right can be passed down to your children. Memberships in this club is not exclusive, sadly)
“Couldn’t we just shoot the picture and you write the article from what we’ve got on our website/myspace/facebook?” (I was asked to do this back when I first started and I thought they were joking. The singer in question had to explain to me he wasn’t.)
“How about an e-mail interview? That’s probably better for both of us.” (No, sock puppets would be better and a lot more fun.)
“I’d really rather we not focus so much on our background. I’d rather we just talk about our musical impact.” (A pop punk band I’d never heard of was playing the LaBelle and asked me to not ask questions about how they were formed or who they were. Obviously, they were a pretty big deal and extremely influential –even if I’d never heard of them and they were playing a very small theater in South Charleston, along with five other bands)