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First, a bit of background. The interview was done for a preview article for the Beach Boys show at the Ventura County Fair for a Santa Barbara-based online newspaper called noozhawk.com. The interview was set up at my initiative, and I'm guessing that Mike agreed to do it because of his Santa Barbara connection. To my knowledge, none of the other area newspapers did an interview with him for this show, and it wouldn't have happened had I not navigated my way to the right people to contact. My preview article on noozhawk.com included what I judged to be the parts of the interview that would be of broadest interest to the local readership, but as I typically do, I posted the full thing on my own website. In fact, you might enjoy some of the other interviews posted there - http://music-illuminati.com/category/features/interviews
I didn't receive any suggested questions or list of "forbidden topics" from the band's management, PR firm, or Mike himself. In fact, in the almost 150 interviews I've done, I don't ever recall receiving anything like this, apart from a gentle "It'd be nice if you mentioned the new album...", etc, which didn't happen in this case. Maybe I'll kick myself someday for not asking Mike any "tough questions" while I had his ear, but remember, this was for a concert preview article for a county fair. To me, that doesn't seem like the time to go 60 Minutes on somebody. Note that there was no promise or expectation of anything for doing this, say free tickets or a signed copy of Smile
OK, my questions, apparently like those of many other interviewers, were admittedly kind of obvious, but I honestly think that these are the sorts of things that the general public wants to know. Bear in mind that the vast majority of the people reading such a preview article have probably never read an interview with Mike Love before.
I personally like to keep my interview questions somewhat open and vague, so that the interviewee can take them where they want to go. This keeps them talking, and often seems to help them to actually enjoy doing their thousandth+ interview. The more detailed or obscure a question is, the more likely the interviewee is to give a rather uninteresting question like "Yes" or "No" or "What was the question again?" I also think that this approach helps to keep the focus on them rather than me coming across as trying to display "superior knowledge" to the general readership, or something like that.
Remember also that the interviewee is going into this with the understanding that the interview is being done to promote their upcoming concert/release. A few times I have gotten carried away with other lines of questioning - asking Alan Parsons too many questions about Pink Floyd, or asking Don Felder too many questions about The Eagles - and they politely asked for the focus to shift to their upcoming show. This is a bit awkward when it happens, but fortunately in those cases I was able to quickly get back "on track".
There is no doubt a time and a place for tough questions, and there are no doubt plenty of people who are better informed about The Beach Boys and Mike Love - and better at instantly coming up with good follow-up questions - than myself. Personally, I would enjoy reading such an interview, but I wouldn't expect to find it in such a preview article.
When I transcribed the interview, I did notice that Mike didn't mention Al Jardine at all, which I thought was interesting. Also, I was surprised that he apparently isn't too concerned about the recordings released because of the European Union copyright law.
OK, I've rambled on long enough. I'm happy to hear your feedback, even if it's on the negative side. And, BTW, I have tried to set up an interview with Brian Wilson several times in the past when he was doing something in the Santa Barbara area, with no luck. If one ever comes through, maybe I'll ask you guys what you really want to know, and then I'll try to figure out how to fit it in...
Oh, one more thing. You might (or might not) get a chuckle out of the following question I asked of Blag Dahlia, singer for the punk rock band The Dwarves, who happened to be performing on the same night as a previous Beach Boys concert in the area:
JM: The Beach Boys will be playing that same night in Santa Ynez, which is close enough that some Santa Barbarans will make the trip. What would you say to someone who is trying to decide if they should go to The Dwarves or The Beach Boys?
BD: They might be a better band, but we draw the line at huffing tape head cleaner and f***ing the Manson girls.
For the record, I went to see The Dwarves that night. Hey, I'd never seen them before!
- Jeff
