7 ways to prepare for a band interview
Interviews can be stressful, especially when you are put on the spot. Here are some strategies that can help you go into your next interview confidently.
by Carla Malrowe of Bandzoogle
Interviews are what give fans a special, intimate look into the lives and minds of the musicians that they love. They are a great opportunity for bands to inform and inspire their fanbase, promote their music, and pique the curiosity of a wider audience. Interviews can also be the perfect opportunity to disappoint, offend, enrage or bore your audience, and, if you’re really reckless, completely ruin your reputation.
That is why there are thousands of “How to prepare for an interview” articles online. It’s important to be 100% prepared. Here follows a few ideas about how bands should approach interviews in order to really seize the opportunity.
1. Make decisions around how you want to be perceived
Having a clear view of how you want to be perceived as a band will give you clues about what is valuable to share, and the tone in which you want to share it.
If you want to be perceived as super serious musicians, you’ll use professional language, be modest about your achievements and have valuable advice to share. If you want to be perceived as punks that are “here to have a good time,” then you’ll use slang that your audiences are used to, tell that story about forgetting the bassist on the roof of the bar, and make jokes with the interviewer.
If you want to achieve both, it will take a bit of extra planning to see which topics you’ll handle as serious and which topics can be approached light-heartedly. With each approach, keep the overall image of your band in mind.
2. Use your “Entertainer Brain”
You are an entertainer. In every aspect of your career, you are to entertain your audience, and the same counts for interviews. Take that seat as if you are taking the stage. Think of entertainment as the act of evoking intense emotions. To be entertaining in an interview, you can choose to be funny, vulnerable, boisterous, serious, sombre, hilarious, or insightful. All of these are entertaining elements that will evoke emotion in listeners. Whatever mood you’d like to set, deliver that mood with power.
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3. Ensure consistency, but add spice
Interviewers will always be asking you the same old questions, therefore, you need to keep your story straight. There will always be a question about your origin, your influences, and your creative process. These answers need to be tattooed on your brain so that your story is consistent in interviews and publications.
Interviewers also get a bit gutsy at times and want to delve a bit deeper. They might ask you what the craziest things were that ever happened on tour, the funniest moment on stage, or the biggest disaster in the recording studio, so start thinking of some spicy ones and keep those in the back of your mind.
4. Take control of your story
Don’t let an interview question force you into saying something that you don’t agree with. If you disagree with a question, you don’t have to answer it. For example, if you’re asked “How do you want your listeners to feel when they hear your song?” and you don’t agree that you should be dictating or presume to dictate people’s emotions, then say that.
A good interviewer will also be skilled in guiding an interview in a certain direction. Worst case scenario, they can also lead you into a trap. If you don’t like the direction it’s taking, take the reins and steer it back to a place where you feel comfortable. Subtly and skillfully changing the subject is your best bet.
5. Avoid controversy, even if it comes from a place of innocence
Be careful of the terms you use. Language is loaded. This means certain terms have controversial connotations, even if you meant to use them in an innocent way. If the interviewer brings up topics with a socio-political sensitivity, make sure you have a politically correct and inoffensive answer ready. Think it through; you can’t just wing these things. Please don’t use your interview space to get cancelled.
6. React to questions as a unified front
An interview is not the place for band members to fall into a heated debate about what a song means or what the influences are. Plan in advance to only share the beliefs, positions, experiences, and influences that are shared by all band members.
It is also important to share the spotlight. A single member should not be answering all the questions. Decide in advance which question is best suited to which band member. You want to portray each member as being equally invested in the band and equally passionate about the music. It is also fine for two members to answer one question, perhaps from two angles.
7. Think PUBLICITY!
The interview space welcomes self-promotion, so don’t hold back on encouraging fans to stream your latest single, buy your new limited edition vinyl, or attend your next show. This is perfectly acceptable as long as you handle this with tact.
You are telling a story to your audience through your interview. Decide how you want to be seen, and engage in a way that supports that vision. And remember, authenticity is what separates the wheat from the chaff. Use the above steps to sculpt your truth for success.
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Carla Malrowe is an avid alternative songwriter and vocalist from South Africa, currently residing in The Netherlands. Check out her electro-industrial project, Psycoco’s single “Stay Awake.” Malrowe’s music is a haunting juxtaposition of electronic and analogue sounds with lyrics that explore a post-apocalyptic conflict between love and loss. Her solo EP, ‘The petals and sand’ is set to be released later this year.
