- What do you like most about playing music?
- What inspired you to start playing and making music?
- Describe your creative process when you write new music.
- Who’s your ideal musician to collaborate with and why?
- Are there any musicians who inspire you?
Are you an experienced musician who’s looking for a new opportunity? Or are you just starting out and looking for your first job in the music industry? No matter where you are in your career, you’ll likely need to go through an interview process to land the job you want.
In this article, we will provide you with some tips on how to answer common interview questions for musicians. We will also provide you with a list of sample questions and answers that you can use to help you prepare for your interview.
How to Interview a Musician
I was asked recently by one of my subscribers about interviewing music artists on their radio show and what kind of questions they should ask. As a result, I compiled a list of interview questions for music artists that could be used as a starting point.
For me the key to interviews is to treat each person as an individual, so not too many generic questions that they will have answered hundreds of times before. Ask open questions that will encourage detailed and honest answers. Be ready to adapt – it’s okay to have a list of questions you want to ask, but if one of their answers takes things on a bit of a tangent, go with it. Finally, make sure you do your research beforehand. The interview will likely go much better if it seems like you are taking a genuine interest in the artist.
How To Do A Good Interview With A Musician
Before I go into the set question ideas you can ask, I want to give you a very important tip:
Adapt to the musician in front of you!
What do I mean by this? Simple, research your subject and what theyre all about!
Learn what songs and albums theyve released before, look into what gigs theyve performed at, and find out if there are any big ‘talking points surrounding their name.
For example, if you do your research into them and find out theyve been dating someone whos also in the public spotlight, you may want to ask them about this.
Or if youve found out theyve had a falling out or ‘twitter beef with another artist, you may also want to inquire into this.
Its important you dont cover anything that will make the musicians walk out of the interview though or anything theyd hate you for, as you need to remember that part of the reason theyre doing the interview is to promote themselves.
Therefore they wont want to talk about anything that will tarnish their , or that theyre not comfortable with. Not only will this harm them, but itll often harm you if word gets out that youre someone to avoid when it comes to interviews.
Id still encourage you to get personal and find out the ‘real musician though. This will help you stand out from the crowd, and allow you to conduct a interview that their fans will actually want to see.
If all your interview consists of is “my album is out in”, “I love my fans”, and “buy my album”, you wont get many people paying attention to your interview or sharing it around.
How To Make A Musician Comfortable During An Interview (And Why You Need To)
Most medium to high level musicians are pre-trained to have set answers during an interview. Its your job as the interviewer to break down these barriers, and get them out of the routine of answering with their premade answers too much.
How can you do this? Well while there are a number of ways, some of the best ways are to:
If you can make the person youre interviewing laugh, theres a good chance youll have them being the real them. Even if theyve prepared, real laughs cant be forced or held back; if you find something funny you find it funny.
This also makes it more likely that theyre react to the question or whatever is happening based on emotion. This is ideal for you.
As I mentioned, you need to try and steer them away from their premade answers, and have them really giving you a two way conversation. One of the best ways to do this?
By asking them random questions they never thought theyd ever be asked. Ive put a couple of examples of the type of random questions under the ‘Top Ten Questions To Ask A Musician In An Interview section below, so check that out for an idea of what you can ask. Get your subject to feel fully comfortable, and usually it leads to a much better interview.
Questions about the artistic creation
Must Read:
FAQ
What is a good question to ask a music artist?
- What first got you into music?
- Who inspired you to make music?
- How would you describe the music that you typically create?
- What is your creative process like?
- Who would you most like to collaborate with?
- If you could go open a show for any artist who would it be?
How do I prepare for a music interview?
- What skills have you learned that will help you in your singing career? …
- What made you decide to pursue a career in entertainment? …
- What kind of singer would you classify yourself as? …
- What has been the best performance of your career so far?
