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Getting an interview can be a very exciting event for a new musician. As an emerging musician, it is a great chance for you to promote your career.

Now doing an interview can be tricky, so being prepared is crucial. I would really recommend preparing for it just like you would a test or a job interview. Sit down and compile a list of possible questions that you may be asked. Develop and rehearse answers so that you sure that you are communicating best information to the journalist that will be the greatest benefit to you career.

Television interviews are a little different. In a TV interview, the camera captures all of your facial expressions so if you have to think of an answer or if you look uncomfortable answering a question, it is all going to be caught on film. So just relax!

Interviews and press can radically kick start and affect your career. It is very critical that you are creating and reflecting the type of image that you want the public and potential fans to see and identify with. Now you may have heard the saying “There is no such thing as bad press, as long as they spell your name right”. Well this statement may have been true at some time, but now journalism has changed dramatically from what it used to be. Some Journalists are striving to become celebrities themselves and will try to get whatever dirt or negative story that they can to help them get “the big payday”. While some negative attention could give you publicity, too much could affect the outcome and direction of your career.

I am sure that all of you have seen shows like TMZ and tabloid magazines that promote this negative type of journalism. Well no matter what stage of your career that you are in, you should be aware that any journalist could try to make you look bad, to try and advance or promote their own career, or just simply to make you look bad.

Now some may think that I am being unfair to journalists, and yes maybe I am. Some journalists are genuine but others do have agendas. All that I am trying to say is that in today’s music industry you really have to be careful.

As you become more popular as a musician, managing interviews and publicity can become very time consuming. Most musicians choose to hire a publicist to handle these things for them. Having a publicist allows you to be more in control and better prepared for the interview itself. This is a great luxury to have although most bands and musicians can’t afford this, so what I have done is compiled a list of tips that I have learned from doing interviews.

Here are some tips and things to remember when doing an interview.

1. The journalist or person conducting the interview is not your friend. They may act like they are but do your career a favour and believe me that they are not!
2. If there is a touchy subject that you know that you could be asked in an interview, know your position and rehearse your answer so that you won’t be caught off guard.
3. If you think that a journalist won’t ask a particular question, you can be almost guaranteed that someone will, so again be prepared.
4. The interview is NEVER over! I have worked with bands and musicians that have said things joking around after the interview that has ended up in print as the main focus of the article.
5. Most journalists are not there to help you promote your career. They are working, and most have an agenda to advance and promote their own career. (Do people want to interview Lady Gaga because she is famous? No they want to interview her because they can put it in their own demo reel and resume to help them advance their own careers.)
6. Don’t say anything that you wouldn’t want your own mother to hear you say in an interview.
7. Bad press may get your publicity, but it may not give you the respect and admiration that you are looking for.
8. Don’t let journalists try and get under your skin. Some journalists will say or do things to provoke an outburst from you to get an answer or reaction that they are looking for. Stay cool, calm and collected. Try not to let them get to you.
9. If you are asked an unfair question, don’t feel pressured that you have to answer it. There are many different techniques out there that you can use to avoid answering certain questions, musicians, athletes and politicians do it every day (we will discuss this more in a later article).
10. Being prepared is the key!

No matter how hard that you try, you are eventually going to have someone say something bad about you. Try not to let it get to you.

Good Luck!