Interview Etiquette

[Westex]

Hey Kids,

Some of you guys ( Mike M. and Mike D. and Don Julio) have been at this for a long time and I was sorta curious about some of the 'rules' of interviews that you guys who chase down the old bands practice and follow.

Bad questions? Order of questions? Is it ever too early or too late to ask about photos and records? That sorta thing...

Thanks for any/some/all insight...

 

[greenfuzz]

Prior to starting 60sgaragebands.com, it was much harder to wrangle an interview out of somebody. Once I had a website to show someone, however, it generally made things much easier. I always open by indicating I'm researching for a website and that I'm interested in the subject's '60's band. Years ago the response was invariably, "are you kidding me?" but since I now complete 90% of interviews via email the surprise has generally lessened.

I always ask about photos, recordings and video. I am a collector, afterall, and though I am always interested in a band's story, the interest is multiplied tenfold if the interviewee has songs or footage to share.

The website has also made it much easier by allowing me to stick to a pretty generic questionairre. Yes...I realize all interviews tend to read the same if using that method, but if the interviewee responds enthusiatically enough there is always interesting information to be gleaned (If I happen to know a lot about a group beforehand, I'll ditch the setlist of questions and attempt to come up with original ones). The order of questions is sequenced to "guide" the interviewee along so that his/her responses aren't all over the board.

Bad questions? I'm sure I've offended some people, but never so much that I've entirely ditched a pre-determined question.

I don't know if this helps or not, and I'd enjoy reading the tactics of others.

 

[beccabear67]

I could pass on a few things I learned (sometimes the hard way) when I ended up conducting interviews for magazines in the past, sometimes this was in person and sometimes by phone. Something might apply to the area of musicians and music history. I used to get quite nervous so if I wasn't properly prepared I would pay for it, and more than once I succeeded in getting somebody else to take my preparation and do the actual interview at the last minute which is how much I used to love doing interviews.

Avoiding needlessly complicated, long-winded or leading questions. Try to edit what you ask down to the bare minimum needed. Generally the shorter your question the longer and more detailed the response will likely be, and the longer the question the more restricted and shorter the answer.

If it's a live interview rehearse ways of getting the subject to expand on something where they seem to have enthusiasm or more information even if it's a tangent.

Remember this is a fellow human being like anybody else, not good to come off as too much of a fan although okay to show you are genuinely interested in what the person has to say.

Have an informed wild card/left field question ready, something you don't think the person will have been asked a hundred times but is something in line with what you know about them, and pull it out if you sense they are getting a bit tired or been responding to one of those asked-a-hundred-times questions.

In magazines it was common courtesy to let the interviewee proof-read and correct the transcript after. This might not apply to your situation.

Hope something here helps.

 

[Stampy]

I find what Greenfuzz says, and also what Beccabear says is correct. Keep the question short and you usually fine an enthralling long answer. Which in turn leads to another question that you didn't expect to ask.

I always enjoy interviewing. I'm finding out that if you get the chance to do it one on one, there is always a cnance that there is something else you didn't know about, because people can not read emotions in an email. But don't get me wrong, emailing is also great.

 

[Stampy]

One other thing I did forget to mention was to show manners i.e. be polite, always be humble, because it isn't everyday that you get to hear someone else's story.

 

[Westex]

Manners, politeness are a given.

I do sometimes find myself interrupting them while I proceed to tell their story for them. Or share some piece of minutia that'd be great for a thread here, but doesn't mean squat to them.

 

[Lisa_Wheeler]

For the most part these are folks who have lived in obscurity for decades, hell probably their own neighbors didn't even know they were in bands. So when you track folks down, they are honestly thrilled that someone is actually going to take time to listen to their stories.

Make sure you have plenty of time to listen - that's the best piece of advice.

Also, contrary to what I used to do as a journalist, I *do* allow the folks I interview for the blog the opportunity to view the story before I run it. It's just a courtesy, and I think it gives them the piece of mind that some chick who tracked them down is not some wack job who is about to butcher their life story, for all the world to see.

It's incredibly rewarding to give someone who was previously "unGoogleable" their due.

Look forward to your stories!

 

[depravedskippy66]

Lisa, could you post a link to your blog?

 

[Westex]

One of the enjoyable parts of interviews are the random connections... in email exchanges this afternoon with the drummer for the Sounds of Night on Hap ("Sorrow") I found out that he played drums in the school band at the junior high where I currently teach. One of the drummers of the Knights Bridge (my wife taught his son) and a drummer for the Roadrunners/Foxx also went to this school. It's like the Humes (Jr.) High of Odessa, Texas rock n' roll.

 

[Lisa_Wheeler]

http://www.pueblocitylimits.com

 

[Westex]

Okay... so when is enough enough? How far do you chase? Do you try and find all the band members? In the case of the Knights Bridge in the past year+ I've talked to guys that played in the band before the single was recorded and members after. Of those on the single... The lead singer passed away in Mexico some time ago. The bass player has disappeared without a trace. I've had contact with both the guitarist and drummer but neither are real anxious to talk. The recording group was together for all of five months. If you're gonna do a story about one of the greatest Texas 45s of all time for something as simple as a blog when do you just 'be done'?

 

[MopTopMike]

I would include the pre-45 and post 45 members, and their recollections to flesh out the big picture. If you are telling the story of the 45, it isn't important. If you wish to recount the full story of the group, it is important. Their ultimate legacy may be their 45 but it isn't the whole shebang!

 

[Lisa_Wheeler]

Well, I don't push. No is no. Can't tell you how many times I have gotten nowhere with pestering---so I just don't .
You have to respect their decision, and move on. You've done plenty of blog posts without interviews, and the quality
of it hasn't suffered, in my opinion.

 

[Westex]

I'm not talking about pushing, but was just wondering when a good enough story is a good enough story. I've contacted the drummer by email twice and talked with the guitarist's wife once. I'm certainly not hounding... in my opinion.

For garage fans the legacy of the band is the 45. But that group was together roughly from Feb. to May of '68. Aside from the car wreck, a battle of the bands where Lucky Floyd gave the Bridge the win, the chart topping (local) success of "C.J. Smith", and reasons for the rhythm section leaving there are few other details.

It wouldn't be a big deal, but I'm OBSESSED. Maybe that should be lower case, though.

 

[Lisa_Wheeler]

Don't put pressure on yourself to be the ultimate authority of the band--you won't be.
You have read enough of my blog entries to know that I tell what I can, and admit what I can't. The beauty is, once your story is part of a search engine, someone looking for information, or someone who might know a bit more, will usually contact you.

The main thing is to just have fun with your blog!

 

[tom kirby]

I've been interviewed many times. The most important thing is to be prepared. Especially if conducting a "live" interview. I prefer the questions written out, but if you're doing it live, give the person the questions prior to the interview. Like some of you realize, it was along time ago and with many of the people you'll be talking with haven't spoke of those times in 40 some years. For the best responses, give them adequate time to recall and reply. Don't leave alot of "dead-air" between questions. Don't allow the interview to get away from you. Don't allow the person you're talking to have to start asking question just to fill the ackward "dead-air." You must set and maintain the direction and rhythm of the interview. And, always leave the door open for future questions or recalled memories. But you're conducting the interview, so keep it moving and ask other related questions to spur them along in the direction you want the interview to go without seeming pushy or just performing a necessary but unpleasant task. Again, once you've decided on your method of interviewing, be prepared and show genuine interest in what the individual has to say.

 

[Jeffers66]

I'd add: Don't immediately change the subject when someone starts talking about their 70s/80s/90s bands... even though you're getting bored. Their life didn't end when they left high school, and it looks weird to only care about bands with kids in them. If you obsessively keep going back to your subject's wyld 45, you might have a better time, but it will clearly flag you as someone with an agenda. Don't just care about the record. See the person as a human being. Listen to the tangents, and bring them back on target when it seems right (unless you're live on the radio, chatting in between their 45s. That's different from a regular phone conversation, since others are listening and time plays a bigger role.) I've done hundreds of interviews since starting my book in 1977 (no exaggeration) and a lot of the folks I've spoken with are still friends today.

 

[greenfuzz]

I'd add: Don't immediately change the subject when someone starts talking about their 70s/80s/90s bands... even though you're getting bored. Their life didn't end when they left high school, and it looks weird to only care about bands with kids in them. If you obsessively keep going back to your subject's wyld 45, you might have a better time, but it will clearly flag you as someone with an agenda. Don't just care about the record. See the person as a human being. Listen to the tangents, and bring them back on target when it seems right (unless you're live on the radio, chatting in between their 45s. That's different from a regular phone conversation, since others are listening and time plays a bigger role.) I've done hundreds of interviews since starting my book in 1977 (no exaggeration) and a lot of the folks I've spoken with are still friends today.

I completely understand what you're saying here, Jeff, and it definitely make sense...to an extent. For example, if I was interviewing Harrison Ford today, right when Cowboys & Aliens is out, I would somewhat understand if he didn't want to talk about Star Wars. If, however, the interview was being conducted for yodarules.com, I think he should understand what info I'm trying to glean. In other words, if I contact someone about his 1966 teen band, I hope he'll understand if I don't care one bit about Aluminum Foil, his '80's group. I'll give the interviewee all the time he needs to discuss later bands, but please don't expect me to feign interest, for my next question will attempt to get him back on track. This, of course, shouldn't prevent Joe from rickastleyandothershit.com from asking about Aluminum Foil, correct? In other words, save it for a different or more appropriate audience.