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March 28, 2024, 02:44:38 PM

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Terrible Musician Interviews

Started by phantom_power, March 03, 2021, 07:54:31 PM

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phantom_power

I am sure there has been a thread on this before but I saw this the other day and couldn't help but share what is maybe the worst interview I have seen.

Indie musicians are inarticulate fucks at the best of times but this takes the piss. Renegade Soundwave on Night Network:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9D-qHLcnIw

Can anyone beat that for mumbling, sneering, "actually I don't care about any of this" crapness. The naff outfits and hair don't help either, nor that they are slagging off some good music

Oz Oz Alice

This isn't as such terrible but amusingly combative: for some reason someone decided that letting Lou Reed interview people would be a good idea as he does on this edition of MTV's 120 Minutes. He keeps cutting the guy off, asking him to justify himself then telling him not to justify himself to him. This has sent me into a wormhole of watching Lou Reed interviews: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjhVR6fMDgA

This is my favourite part:
QuoteLou: Why do you charge money to get into the event?
Mark: It costs us a lot of money to get in.
Lou (suddenly polite): That seems reasonable.


I.D. Smith

I don't think this one is terrible as such - and I've mentioned it before - but this Primitives interview on the Wide Awake Club with Michaela Strachan makes me cringe a bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z13op1g-nA

The worst bit is when she asks "What's your favourite toy?" and he goes "Look....can we talk about the album?". Now I get that it's a completely inane question......but it's the Wide Awake Club. You're surrounded by kids who look like they're barely over 10 years old, at most. It's not The Tube, and there's not going to be any big discussion about the record, so I don't know what they were expecting during that 2 minutes or so of interview.

I think I also speculated on this before, but maybe something happened backstage before the interview that's made it so frosty and dismissive. I also get that probably doing these kind of things was maybe the least interesting part of being a reasonably high profile band back in the 80s, but they still came off as a bit above it all in an unattractive way. Still like them, though.


Johnny Textface

There's a few Ian Brown ones out there. Always comes across as a bit of a nob.

buzby

Quote from: I.D. Smith on March 03, 2021, 08:35:35 PM
I don't think this one is terrible as such - and I've mentioned it before - but this Primitives interview on the Wide Awake Club with Michaela Strachan makes me cringe a bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z13op1g-nA

The worst bit is when she asks "What's your favourite toy?" and he goes "Look....can we talk about the album?". Now I get that it's a completely inane question......but it's the Wide Awake Club. You're surrounded by kids who look like they're barely over 10 years old, at most. It's not The Tube, and there's not going to be any big discussion about the record, so I don't know what they were expecting during that 2 minutes or so of interview.

I think I also speculated on this before, but maybe something happened backstage before the interview that's made it so frosty and dismissive. I also get that probably doing these kind of things was maybe the least interesting part of being a reasonably high profile band back in the 80s, but they still came off as a bit above it all in an unattractive way. Still like them, though.

The Primitives sold their own indie label out to RCA in exchange for greater exposure and chart success. If they didn't realise a result of that would be getting booked for promo on kid's breakfast TV then more fool them. No sympathy for them.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: phantom_power on March 03, 2021, 07:54:31 PM
I am sure there has been a thread on this before but I saw this the other day and couldn't help but share what is maybe the worst interview I have seen.

Indie musicians are inarticulate fucks at the best of times but this takes the piss. Renegade Soundwave on Night Network:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9D-qHLcnIw

Can anyone beat that for mumbling, sneering, "actually I don't care about any of this" crapness. The naff outfits and hair don't help either, nor that they are slagging off some good music

Cocaine Sex. If Brooker and Morris had conjured that up for Nathan Barley, you'd quite rightly think, "Bit obvious, fellas. Must try harder." But no, there it is in reality. Cocaine Sex.

MiaConfused

Quote from: Johnny Textface on March 03, 2021, 09:14:25 PM
There's a few Ian Brown ones out there. Always comes across as a bit of a nob.

Brown's not had a good lockdown. He's gone full-on conspiracy theory ranting nutcase. I'm only glad I was never a fan of The Stone Roses and their tone deaf monkey boy singer.

badaids


This was the first time I ever saw Davina McCall on TV, embarrassing herself and James Dean Bradfield on MTV.  Horrible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4M_Bniy0Dg

Quote

My mate from school once lent me a Stone Roses VHS compilation with all their videos on it & tacked on the end was a load of music TV interviews, presumably meant to show what rebellious, swaggering antiheroes they were and in every single one they just sat there staring at their shoes sullenly, biting their fingernails, mumbling inarticulately, and generally coming across like a gang of sulky teens being made to sit through another parental bollocking. Ian Brown was pushing 30 at the time.

In one of them he starts having a go at the interviewer for how boring he feels it is, ignoring the fact that he and his band had made it boring by walking in with such a childish attitude, shrugging at every question, acting like they're too cool/stoned to even think (may not have been an act) and outright refusing to articulate anything at all.

badaids

Quote from: Quote on March 03, 2021, 11:28:49 PM
My mate from school once lent me a Stone Roses VHS compilation with all their videos on it & tacked on the end was a load of music TV interviews, presumably meant to show what rebellious, swaggering antiheroes they were and in every single one they just sat there staring at their shoes sullenly, biting their fingernails, mumbling inarticulately, and generally coming across like a gang of sulky teens being made to sit through another parental bollocking. Ian Brown was pushing 30 at the time.

In one of them he starts having a go at the interviewer for how boring he feels it is, ignoring the fact that he and his band had made it boring by walking in with such a childish attitude, shrugging at every question, acting like they're too cool/stoned to even think (may not have been an act) and outright refusing to articulate anything at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky6_cUn-454

Is it this one.  It's horrible.

Quote

That one was on there yeah, and it's pretty uncomfortable, there was also another one recorded in the studio somewhere where the whole band are there, smirking and non-answering every question like it's beneath them. They were probably at no.36 in the charts or something.

I can't remember exactly what he (Brown) says: "It's hard to pretend you're interested when you're not..." (or something like that).

All their interviews seemed to follow the same pattern.

Narduwar interviewing Sonic Youth is in a similar vein. Although superficially irritating, and subtly a bit antagonistic in way he isn't in more recent interviews thats hes conducted, there's still no excuse for their behaviour, basically showing off to one another to look cool. Upon reviewing the interview recently I was informed by the comments that they were like my age now (35) when this was going on which takes it to another level. It's interesting that he seemed to get the most hassle from the bands around this time whilst the rappers of today treat him with nothing but respect for his scary amount of research

https://youtu.be/n9gN_Krim7M

By review I meant "re-view"; I'm not someone who does reviews of interviews

GoblinAhFuckScary

You can do an entire thread of MES interviews but I came across this one today from around the release of Levitate where he attempted to stub his fag out in the interviewer's face, and got thrown out of the pub he was at for fighting the wall

QuoteMES: (Sudden mood swing becomes instantly conversational) What did you think about the Princess Di thing? Were you upset?
loaded: Not really. Shocked, surprised. But I didn't cry. How about you?
MES: (No response.)
loaded: Are you pro-monarchy?
MES: Nah.
loaded: So why do you think so many people have got so upset?
MES: They've got nothing better to fucking think about.
loaded: Hasn't it got to be more than that?
MES: (Long, long, long, LONG silence.)
loaded: Are you alright, Mark? Are you just not in the mood?
MES: (No response.)
loaded: (Concerned) Is there something I've said to upset you?
MES: No. It's alright. (Another long, uncomfortable silence.)
loaded: Is it me? Do you just not want to talk to me specifically?
MES: I can't see the point. I've got work to do. I'm in a fucking band.
Ioaded: Aren't interviews part of being in a band?
MES: I don't particularly like your magazine, I don't fucking really wanna talk to you, I'm not interested. I don't see what it's got to do with my band. People who buy my records don't read loaded
loaded: But maybe loaded readers would buy your records after reading this interview
MES: (Raising voice) People who read loaded are just frustrated perverts like yourself! I'm not interested in talking to anyone who can't have a drink like a fucking man!
loaded: ( Irritated) What's that supposed to mean?
MES: ( Yelling) What it fucking means is that you're a fucking dead-leg cunt and I'm not talking to you.
(Childishly) You smell ! (Gets up and buggers off.)

https://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/3331055

SteveDave

https://youtu.be/AkNvk2MgiCc

Drugs are bad. That would never have happened on Graham's watch.

Also, ladies and gentlemen, the despicable Miles Kane

https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-last-shadow-puppets-26-1206075

jonbob

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uUFklia47WM
This is not really Tom Waits being terrible, but it is Tom Waits being interviewed on a 1970s Australian midday TV show with a live audience of mostly aged pensioners

Jockice

Quote from: I.D. Smith on March 03, 2021, 08:35:35 PM
I don't think this one is terrible as such - and I've mentioned it before - but this Primitives interview on the Wide Awake Club with Michaela Strachan makes me cringe a bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z13op1g-nA

The worst bit is when she asks "What's your favourite toy?" and he goes "Look....can we talk about the album?". Now I get that it's a completely inane question......but it's the Wide Awake Club. You're surrounded by kids who look like they're barely over 10 years old, at most. It's not The Tube, and there's not going to be any big discussion about the record, so I don't know what they were expecting during that 2 minutes or so of interview.

I think I also speculated on this before, but maybe something happened backstage before the interview that's made it so frosty and dismissive. I also get that probably doing these kind of things was maybe the least interesting part of being a reasonably high profile band back in the 80s, but they still came off as a bit above it all in an unattractive way. Still like them, though.

You have and I've mentioned a few of the ones I did too. Thankfully not recorded. But my favourite of this sort of thing is in the late 80s with Nik Kershaw when the hits had dried up and he couldn't get arrested. Anyway, as a favour to his record company/publicists, the bloke in charge of my paper's music coverage at the time agreed to get him some publicity with an interview. The thing was it wasn't to be done by him (or indeed me) it was to be by a female reporter who was doing a special feature for Valentine's Day. So he was expected to talk about his love life. Not even in a scandalous way. Just some romantic quotes. Maybe not what his people would have preferred but it would keep his name in the public eye (even if it was in a small way) the paper would have used a big picture of him and with any luck the article would have mentioned his latest album or whatever. They know how the game works.

But come the phone interview Kershaw became increasingly tetchy and kept trying to talk about his music I presume (like the Primitives should have done) that he was aware of what was expected of him but nevertheless kept trying to change the subject and not being very nice at all. The interview apparently ended with him going: "What about my career?' to which Linsey accurately replied: "What career?" I don't think he had any comeback to that.

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

Quote from: SteveDave on March 04, 2021, 12:30:08 AM


Also, ladies and gentlemen, the despicable Miles Kane

https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-last-shadow-puppets-26-1206075

TBF,  Miles Kane is a well known Carol Cleveland fan, and was merely making a reference to one of Cleveland's best known comedy lines. The interviewer should have done a bit of research, and could have responded by saying something like " I'm not a man, you silly boy".






Not really, he's a cunt who deserves a good # Metooing. Makes shite music, too.

pigamus

Quote from: Jockice on March 04, 2021, 06:43:03 AM
You have and I've mentioned a few of the ones I did too. Thankfully not recorded. But my favourite of this sort of thing is in the late 80s with Nik Kershaw when the hits had dried up and he couldn't get arrested. Anyway, as a favour to his record company/publicists, the bloke in charge of my paper's music coverage at the time agreed to get him some publicity with an interview. The thing was it wasn't to be done by him (or indeed me) it was to be by a female reporter who was doing a special feature for Valentine's Day. So he was expected to talk about his love life. Not even in a scandalous way. Just some romantic quotes. Maybe not what his people would have preferred but it would keep his name in the public eye (even if it was in a small way) the paper would have used a big picture of him and with any luck the article would have mentioned his latest album or whatever. They know how the game works.

But come the phone interview Kershaw became increasingly tetchy and kept trying to talk about his music I presume (like the Primitives should have done) that he was aware of what was expected of him but nevertheless kept trying to change the subject and not being very nice at all. The interview apparently ended with him going: "What about my career?' to which Linsey accurately replied: "What career?" I don't think he had any comeback to that.

Is Nik Kershaw supposed to be the arsehole in this story?

Jockice

Quote from: pigamus on March 04, 2021, 08:15:07 AM
Is Nik Kershaw supposed to be the arsehole in this story?

That's for you, the public, to decide!

phantom_power

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on March 03, 2021, 10:29:10 PM
Cocaine Sex. If Brooker and Morris had conjured that up for Nathan Barley, you'd quite rightly think, "Bit obvious, fellas. Must try harder." But no, there it is in reality. Cocaine Sex.

It is a good song and I love Renegade Soundwave but in that interview it seems they have fallen in love with the smell of their own farts. Other songs of theirs are Kray Twins, Probably a Robbery, Pocket Porn and Murder Music so it is all of an oeuvre

jobotic

Much like (the much better) Biting My Nails, the instrumental versions are the ones to listen too, without those berks on them.

Phil_A

Quote from: jonbob on March 04, 2021, 05:44:07 AM
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uUFklia47WM
This is not really Tom Waits being terrible, but it is Tom Waits being interviewed on a 1970s Australian midday TV show with a live audience of mostly aged pensioners

I think the most awkward Waits interview(which I would love to be able to find again) was when he was on the Channel 4 show Loose Talk (not the BBC one with Kevin Day). Waits was either hungover or jet-lagged and clearly wasn't up to doing his usual interview bit, and the audience was full of Legend Giles's shouting out things like "HE'S DRUNK!" (Waits: "Excuse me sir, up yours."). Amazing telly, but very uncomfortable.

That was also where he had his infamous encounter with Ian Hislop - Waits, who's mumbling at this point, mentions he's come over to plug his new album, Hislop says jokily "Do you think you could plug it a bit louder?", to which Waits growls "I'll plug it my own damn way!" Hislop has dined off this encounter for years it seems.

phantom_power

Quote from: jobotic on March 04, 2021, 09:58:10 AM
Much like (the much better) Biting My Nails, the instrumental versions are the ones to listen too, without those berks on them.

I really like some of the vocal stuff they do, though it hasn't aged well, but In Dub is their best album yeah


crankshaft

Quote from: Jockice on March 04, 2021, 09:02:40 AM
That's for you, the public, to decide!

It's possible he wasn't briefed correctly before the interview. Also, I've heard that his first wife was truly vile so perhaps that's another reason he wasn't comfortable talking about his love life.

good times

Quote from: GoblinAhFuckScary on March 04, 2021, 12:22:20 AM
You can do an entire thread of MES interviews but I came across this one today from around the release of Levitate where he attempted to stub his fag out in the interviewer's face, and got thrown out of the pub he was at for fighting the wall

https://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/3331055

I guess it depends how you're defining terrible, it's at least fairly entertaining that one.

As shit faced as he might have been (personally think he's amping it up out of boredom but hard to tell from the text) he nails loaded/lads mags here:

MES: (Suddenly) loaded?
Ioaded: Um,yes?
MES: Never read it.
Ioaded: Have you no idea of what it's about?
MES: Flicked through it. Fantasy life. Bungee jumping,
paratrooping. Birds in hotel rooms.

This one with PJ Harvey in 95 makes me quite uncomfortable (lecherous interviewer):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4n2F7feKB0

Jockice

Quote from: crankshaft on March 04, 2021, 02:33:05 PM
It's possible he wasn't briefed correctly before the interview. Also, I've heard that his first wife was truly vile so perhaps that's another reason he wasn't comfortable talking about his love life.

Yeah, could have been. Or maybe he had been and chose to ignore it. I've been in that situation myself when I'm trying to interview someone on a particular subject and the person concerned just wants to talk about their pet subject. All part of the fun of journalism. I'm glad I don't have to do it for a living anymore. I wasn't really taking sides there. I didn't particularly like the woman who did the interview incidentally. And she knew literally nothing about music so I can imagine it being excruciating on both sides.

Also, does anyone really believe that pop stars appear on TV programmes etc that aren't about music because they really want to? It's more often that they've been instructed to promote themselves by someone further up. Just like most people in other jobs, they have to do things they don't particularly like.

M-CORP

Just saw this and had to draw people's attention to this bizarre moment with the late Florian Schneider of Kraftwerk fame. Kraftwerk were never keen on interviews, Florian in particular, and I can only imagine that malaise being compounded by the interviewer bending down to stick the mic in your face, and then speaking Brazilian to the camera after every fucking question.

Also : "What. Do. You. Think. Of. Massive. Attack?"

My fucking arsehole. Florian's responses are great though...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wUt1fIymB4

Oz Oz Alice

Totally lost it at the "What songs are you going to play?", "All" exchange thanks for posting that.