[lenjan]

One word:

UGH.

I just finished a very painful, relatively brief interview with a member of the BoDeans (you might know them as the guys who did the "Party of Five" theme song). They are from WI and coming into town in a couple weeks for a festival sponsored by my employer. (How handy.)

I know what I like to listen to, but I don't know jack about the music business. I researched as much as I could, but the guy was borderline hostile and I'm really just not knowledgeable enough to ask intelligent questions. Consequently, by the time I finished the thing, I was sweating like a horse (pigs don't sweat, according to my farmer friends ) and now I'm all tense and my tummy's upset.

Usually people are very happy to explain what they do to you, but when it comes to somebody who's had 20 years of national exposure, you can guarantee they've heard the same questions 8 billion times, and if you don't come off as knowing what you're talking about, you're pretty much doomed.

So here's what I want to know: How do you deal with facing something you know you have no business doing? Because I've been obsessing about this all day, and it turns out to have been for good reason. There were other people who would have been much better at this than I.



(BTW, if anybody wants Kurt Neumann's home phone number, let me know. )

[sabby]

awwwwwww ((((((((((((((( candybear )))))))))))))))))

So sorry the interview didn't go well for you. Sounds to me like this guy was a turd!!! I don't care how many times they are asked the same questions....common courtesy should dictate that he deal with it more pleasantly. He was a cad hon....can I have his number so I can call him and tell him to go pound sand??

Hon, a question for you....since you were obsessing about it all day, could it have shown in your face or your voice that you were ripe for the kicking?? If so, it surely doesn't mean you should have been kicked....that's not what I mean. I mean that prima donnas are usually pretty good at figuring out who is vulnerable and who isn't.


sabby

[lenjan]

((((((sabby)))))))) Thanks for always making me feel better.

I probably did sound pretty nervous, and he does have a bit of a reputation for being obnoxious with reporters. I'm just bummed I got thrown into the situation to begin with. Got any tips for handling it better next time? I mean, I have met and interviewed way more important people than a middle-aged folk-rock guitarist and had no problems whatsoever.

[sabby]

Hmm....usually if I'm in a situation where I feel I don't have enough knowledge about something, I use humor to cover up what I feel to be my ineptness. I'll be flat out honest going into it with the person and say "hey, I'll admit, I'm not very knowledgeable about you, but do me a favor, be gentle and fill me in with the specifics would ya?" I would have a huge smile on my face....and act as confident as I am with the other folks I've interviewed....just admit to them I didn't have the background I should...no excuses being made...just statements Don't know if that helps.....but I hope so

[DocClyde]

Stop calling yourself a pig!

Guys like him are the real pigs cause they can be mean to others without thinking...that is so unfair.

[Lenny]

A good person,,,a guitar does not necessarily make...

You did well in letting him think he is...

But you are...

Lenny

[(JD)]

Bummer. I'm sorry the interview didn't go well. You've done interviews before and the basics you pulled from research should have been enough for them to at least work with you. Anyway, being considerate isn't impossible no matter how ignorant they perceived you to be.

[AAAAA]

I'm with Sabby, the guy sounds like a jerk. If his only claim to fame is a theme song from a show 15 years ago, he should be grateful for the attention I think.

[lenjan]

They actually still have a pretty good fanbase in the Midwest, just not anywhere else.

I'm just not a happy girl today, I think. I think too I am not cut out for my job. But that's more than I'm willing to contemplate without chocolate.

[lenjan]

BTW, my favorite self-referential barnyard animal is "cow."

I wasn't calling myself a pig, I was saying people always say "sweating like a pig," and pigs don't sweat. When they get hot, they wallow in mud and it's taken care of. Horses do sweat, however, rather copiously.

These are the sorts of things one learns living in rural areas.

[I_WMD]

re - wind ,,,,,,,,,, To bad we can't >>>> Butttttttttttttttt.

I have never heard of this group .
So just to give ya a better slant >> what if ??? You had said ,, you all are fanbased well here in the midwest ,, but not so well elsewhere ? How DO YOU find it that you are so almost well known ?
hehe.

end of re - wind.

[AAAAA]

I've not heard of them, I'm in Northeastern Wisconsin myself. But my point is that he should be greatful for the interest. A good performer appreciates his fans.

[DePressMe]

Hi candybear...sorry the interview did not go so great. Try to let it roll off you....roll all the way to pig pen and the mud. How well you did the interview does not determine "who you are." You are not a fraud. You did the best you could--you went the extra mile, too bad he did not meet you in the middle. Unfortunately, the world has people like that in it...do your best--that is all you can expect of yourself and let the chips fall where they will. Do you have to write up the story now? or is this on video? If you have to write it up, use your brilliance to turn a not so great interview into a work of art...in that sense, the interview is not over yet. You will have the last word.

[sabby]

Will this help you ((((((((((((( candybear )))))))))))))))))))))

[lenjan]

ROFL (((((((sabby)))))))) You know all the right things to do! LOLOL Too bad that's the closest I'm getting to chocolate anytime soon.

I did write the story this afternoon, but haven't got any feedback on it yet -- I'm sure something will be horribly wrong with it, because that's just the way things are going for me at work these days. Oh well.

[EJ711]

Candy,

Who did you talk to when you were growing up who made you feel stupid?

[DePressMe]

Candybear...I have been struggling at work too. It makes life difficult when work is not going so well....we invest so much of our time and energy into work....I hope things look up for you.

[Perna]

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
candybear said:
Usually people are very happy to explain what they do to you, but when it comes to somebody who's had 20 years of national exposure, you can guarantee they've heard the same questions 8 billion times

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post"> I think that will save you? Never heard of them :-)

Sounds unpleasant for you, no excuse for him to be borderline hostile, you hadn't done anything to him! I was playing the gave here at PC, "interview the next person" and asked my husband what question to ask someone and he thought it was like a job interview and so he offered up the same question he actually asked me at my job interview 25 years ago, "do you fix your own car". Not one of your typical questions one gets asked in a job interview (but very germane because we had to fix our own machines (special computers, had to swap out bad drives, etc.).) so I guess when faced with something I feel is over my head, I would try to acknowledge it to myself and then get as much fun and learn whatever I could out of it? I'd ask what I was interested in knowing.

[Doh2007]

Hey, you've seen the worst and survived. Instead of beating yourself up, how about planning on it going better next time? He would have been rude no matter what, but maybe we all can think of questions for next time.

How about, What would you like your fans to know about you that they might not already know?

I took a class with a woman who was an editor with People mag. She said no matter how prepared she was, even after years of doing it, she still got nervous when she had to do an interview.

[lenjan]

I don't normally get nervous. I do interviews all the time and they don't bother me a bit. The difference here, which is maybe what your People mag friend was saying, is that it was somebody relatively well-known (at least in my area). They've put out 10 albums and they've been doing interviews for 20 years, and there's just not that much left to say.

It got worse before it got better, btw, but today has been at least sort of OK. everybody for trying to help me out.