One of the things I learned the hard way, after doing our first interview, was that I needed more hosts. I hadn't realized that I would need a back up for the back up. So I looked at my options. Not having any friends and family that are qualified or would even want to interview people, I chose to place an ad. I checked out Variety first, because, well, it's THE show biz magazine, but they were too expensive. They start out at $225 and go as high as $2250. It was a bit too pricey and not only that, but anyone looking at ads there would probably want to get paid. A lot. On a hunch, I checked out craigslist. $25 sounded perfect to me.
So I placed the ad and got a response very quickly. And not just a response, I got more than I thought I would. It was by no means overwhelming. It was just a good response. There were around thirty or so people who left me messages . The most interesting one was a real live morning deejay from Northern California. We played phone tag for a while and finally connected briefly. But we were having a party at the house so it was hard to hear. She still seemed interested when I suggested we speak again under better circumstances, but I never heard from her again. I called a few times and emailed her but it was just as well. We weren't ready for someone like her.
After all the contacts, I eventually picked three people. Matt, a guy who said he worked for MTV. Jackie, a girl who said she was a fan of Nic Harcourt. He is an influential music director from KCRW, the public radio station in Santa Monica. The third person was a lady who was shot out of a cannon.
She told me I would not regret my decision to pick her. The lady was interesting in a weird kind of way. She sent me her My Space page where she had video clips of her saying that she was at a famous person's house but we never saw the famous person or anything remotely suggesting that this famous person lived there. It was actually pretty funny. She wanted to start right away, but I told her it took time to find the right song and person to interview. Then I suggested that if she was interested, she could pick a song and write some questions about it. I was surprised when she sent me the song and questions in a few days.
I replied to her that it was a good effort and I appreciated her enthusiasm. However, although George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess is an American classic, it was a bit too old for what I had in mind for Story of Songs. Even though Janis Joplin did a version of Gershwin's Summertime, it was a rather obscure song from Janis. One of the questions she wrote was a multiple choice question. Now that would've been funny asking a guest a multiple choice question. Unfortunately, I never heard from her again. It would've been a more interesting blog if she had stayed on board.
So I placed the ad and got a response very quickly. And not just a response, I got more than I thought I would. It was by no means overwhelming. It was just a good response. There were around thirty or so people who left me messages . The most interesting one was a real live morning deejay from Northern California. We played phone tag for a while and finally connected briefly. But we were having a party at the house so it was hard to hear. She still seemed interested when I suggested we speak again under better circumstances, but I never heard from her again. I called a few times and emailed her but it was just as well. We weren't ready for someone like her.
After all the contacts, I eventually picked three people. Matt, a guy who said he worked for MTV. Jackie, a girl who said she was a fan of Nic Harcourt. He is an influential music director from KCRW, the public radio station in Santa Monica. The third person was a lady who was shot out of a cannon.
She told me I would not regret my decision to pick her. The lady was interesting in a weird kind of way. She sent me her My Space page where she had video clips of her saying that she was at a famous person's house but we never saw the famous person or anything remotely suggesting that this famous person lived there. It was actually pretty funny. She wanted to start right away, but I told her it took time to find the right song and person to interview. Then I suggested that if she was interested, she could pick a song and write some questions about it. I was surprised when she sent me the song and questions in a few days.
I replied to her that it was a good effort and I appreciated her enthusiasm. However, although George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess is an American classic, it was a bit too old for what I had in mind for Story of Songs. Even though Janis Joplin did a version of Gershwin's Summertime, it was a rather obscure song from Janis. One of the questions she wrote was a multiple choice question. Now that would've been funny asking a guest a multiple choice question. Unfortunately, I never heard from her again. It would've been a more interesting blog if she had stayed on board.
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