INTERVIEW

Here is my article research for my double page spread. I carried out an interview with the band Guardians. I chose 20 questions to ask them about various aspects of their life as the Guardians.

Here are the Questions I originally chose to ask them:

1.      Tell me about when you first got together?

       2.      How long have you been together?
      3.      Where did you play your first gig and how did it feel?
      4.      Do you write your own songs?
       5.      What/who first inspired you all to start a band?
       6.      How  was it being in a recording studio for the first time?
       7.      Who is the bossiest?
       8.      Where can you see yourselves in five years time?
       9.      Do you have any strange warm-ups before you play a gig?
       10.  What one word would you use to describe your band?
       11.  Who is the biggest flirt with the girls?
       12.  What are the plans for the future?
       13.  What is the biggest misconception of new bands like yourselves of today?
       14.  What made you decide to change the name of your band?
       15.  What is your most embarrassing experience since being in Guardians?
       16.  What advice would you give to fellow bands?
       17.  How does music affect the world around you?
       18.  What are the biggest misconseptions of bands on the Wirral?
       19.  What’s the best and worst thing about playing gigs?

When arranging the interview I contacted one of the band member, Sean Mcminn-Davies, over facebook.

I asked specific questions which relate to the Guardians for example I asked about their recent name change for the band. When I had completed my interview and wrote it all up, the length of the interview was over 5 pages. I had to edit it down so that it would fit onto 3 pages of my double page spread. Here is my final draft of my interview.

Can you tell me how you first got together?

Craig: I wanted to start a band really, I emailed Mike, told Brad, and got Sean and it just all came together

Sean: me and Craig were in a band before this, but then Guardians just came together.

How long have you been together?

Craig: 6 long

Brad: no five

Craig: yea five long years

Where was your first ever gig?

Brad: Claire Mount Church

How was it?

Brad: it was really good

Craig: you actually weren’t there

(Sean bursts out laughing)

Craig: he wasn’t in the band yet but yea it was brilliant

Brad: I joined a few months after

How old were you then?

Brad: I was 13

Craig: 14, we were 14

And you write all of your own songs, do you do any covers?

Sean: say if we’re doing a gig at a pub, people want to hear songs that they know, but at the same time we want people to hear our own stuff so we try and equal it, nights like tonight, when we have lots of fans here we’ll do our own stuff

Who has influenced you the most as a band?

Brad: on the whole we’d say Biffy Clyro, Lost Prophets..

Craig: The Blackout

Brad: each one of us have our own sort of taste in music, but it all comes together really well, a cliché but its true

How did you find recording for the first time in a real studio?

Craig: I thought it was great

Sean: best few days I’ve ever had it was so good

So I guess that was when it all felt really real?

Sean: yea it was such a buzz

Brad: the fact that it was in London as well

All agreed

Sean: it could have been the same studio somewhere else but the fact that it was in London made it feel a bit more real

So being honest, who’s the bossiest?

All point at Craig

Craig: it’s not me, as if I’m the bossiest, it’s Brad, god

All laugh

Brad: Craig always gets in a mood

So do you make all of the decisions?

Brad: all of us really

Sean: when it comes to big decisions we always make sure we all have a big say in it

Where can you see yourselves in 5 year time?

Craig: headlining a world tour, no I don’t know

Sean (serious): we never formed a band to get big, but you do think that it would be great if someone could hear you, then you could get the nation and the world to hear your music, I think that’s the main thing

Brad: a big part of it was seeing how we progress, as a band and as musicians ourselves, because who knows, in the next five years we could be playing folk

Band agrees & laughs

Your music was first indie, and has now progressed to rock?

Brad: yea it’s all about progression

So do any of you have any strange warm up rituals we need to know about?

Brad laughs: we actually sing Britney spears

Sean: we do a group huddle before every gig and then most of the time we’ll do a Britney spears hit

Craig: yea hit me baby one more time

I guess that’s quite normal to some warm up rituals?

Sean: it definitely could be worse

Brad: mike gets foot massages

All laugh and agree

Craig: he’s oblivious

Band tease mike and laugh

Brad: wake up mate

Mike: what

Craig: so nothing out of the ordinary

So who’s the biggest flirt?

Brad: oh no

Craig: don’t even say it’s me

Craig: that’s not a very good question (hiding in shame)

Sean: who is the biggest flirt though?

Mike: Sean

Brad: Sean? I’m the only one who’s single though

Craig: yea actually three of us have girlfriends

Sean: bachelor number one

So is it all left to brad then?

Craig: Bradleyyyy (teases’ brad)

Brad: all these women I’ve never had

What would you say is the biggest misconception of new bands around here?

Craig: define misconception

All laugh

Sean: it’s what people... kind of what people...

Craig: everyone around here is indie, and we’ve always tried to keep a rock element

Sean: the musicians in bands around here have been playing for a really long time so surprisingly there is a big bunch of experienced musicians in this area, were really lucky to be here, with Liverpool just on the doorstep, it’s such a good place to be in a band

Why did you decide to change the name of your band?

Brad: I think it was a natural progression

Sean: The name suited us back in the day

Craig: (jokes) back in the good old days

Sean: it was good for when we were 14/15 but when you get to an adult age we thought we kind of needed to change the name

Brad: we’d turn up to places and people were always expecting bearded men, and then we turn up and it’s like woahh “I wasn’t expecting that”

Sean: there have been a few times in the past when we’d thought about changing the name, and not all four of us had thought it sounded good, and then just all of a sudden someone suggested guardians and we were all like yea, that was the right time

What is the most embarrassing experience you have had so far whilst being in the band?

Brad: personally or as a band?

Craig: haha you fell of your amp (to brad)

Brad: (embarrassed) yea we were playing Vale Park, I got on top of my amp, thought I was really cool and then I fell, was lying on the floor for about five minutes until I got back up

Craig: flat on his ass

Did you carry on playing?

Brad: oh yea yea (laughs)

Craig: he played on the floor

Sean lets out a high pitched laugh

Brad: I’ve had my t shirt ripped off before

Sean: that was just scary                                    

Brad: it was quite embarrassing; I thought I was going to die!

Brad: hey what about when you climbed the academy speakers

Craig claps his hand together in remembrance

Sean: it was a really sick gig, and basically we blew it, (laughing)

Craig: no you blew it

Sean: I tried to climb this pa amp and I just got stuck

Mike: I found that funny

Sean: you just found it funny that I was scare

Craig: we fall over a lot

All laugh in agreement                                            

What advice would you give to fellow bands like yourselves?

Sean: keep going        

Brad: practice practice practice

Craig: and gig whenever you can no matter where it is

Brad: you’ve got to be very committed to it as well

All agree with brad

Sean: there are times when it is hard, but then there are some incredible times; don’t think about the hard times, just keep going

Craig: great advice Sean

Sean: I’m going to cry

Sean laughs to himself

How does being in a band affect everything else, for example work?

Mike: you can’t get a job

Craig: hard, because you never know when you’re going to play, and playing doesn’t really pay much at the moment so were almost working for free for ourselves

What is the best and worst thing about playing gigs?

Mike: the atmosphere, when you’re on stage you get that massive adrenalin rush, the worst thing is setting up, carrying all the shit

Brad: the best thing is being able to play the songs that you write, there is nothing better than working on a song for that long and being able to express it to people, worst thing…

Craig: you have to stand next to me

Brad: yea sure couldn’t think of anything better

Craig: the reaction from the crowd, worst thing is not eating much

Sean: the best thing is that it feels so good getting the crowd to respond to your music, worst thing to copy mike really is packing up, but you get it done because you know the gig is going to be worth it