Questions For Van Susans (With Evaluation)

Van Susan’s Possible Questions

When did the band start?

This is such a vital question purely because it sets the foundation of Van Susan's history to the audience, also the mention of the word 'Band', will tell the audience that hes involved with music, Me and my work partner feel this question is frequently used with most music interviews through our research, so it is a safe question to go with nevertheless there is a reason why its so commonly used, setting the foundation. As this is a very simple question I'd expect a simple answer, something like, 'In the year...', and to follow up this question we could say how was each member appointed to the band.

What do you play in the band? And what do you find so interesting about what you play?

This question is another basic generic one but it is so vital because they are the point of interest for the audience so the audience needs to know what they do and why they are so special they get to be on camera getting interviewed. I want the interview to have a structure/order by structuring it in with a beginning, middle and end, this will make the interview flow and just be much more satisfying for the audience as apposed to just having random questions. with the  'What he finds interesting' question, it is a much more open question and could gain a good insight as to why he likes the particular instrument hopefully showing his passion for the instrument and music in general.

What were the bands influences, also who or what are your influences to play your style of music?

These questions are another piece of quality information that viewers especially music fans will be interested in to see if they can relate with the interviewee. Because of the two staged style of this question the answer to this should be very in-depth as it asks him personally what his influences are. The structure of this  question is great as it gives a basic generic question to begin with and then follows up with the much more detailed and personal question, through research these questions are very effective at getting long interesting answers, and that's what we hope Van Susan s will give us.

Can you possibly talk about what (made you split away from the band)?

Here you can see the structure of all these questions have changed as in how I have eased the more personal questions in slowly, thus this being a very personal question hopefully it will gain me a very detailed and interesting answer. When I ask this question I'm going to make sure the interviewee is ready for it because of its personal nature, and I want him to give a good answer for this as it gives the audience an insight into the reality of the music industry, and the life of a musician. Hopefully Tim the interviewee will give a emotional response and we could maybe zoom the camera to amplify the drama of it all.

Are you going to join another band?

This is another personal question which is smoothly followed from the previous as they both share a relationship, so it will link very nicely. Hopefully I will be able to improvise something in the interview which is a little more detailed because this question as it stands now could be answered with one word which will be the worst case scenario.    

Do you play any other instruments other than a bass guitar?

I'm thinking about possibly moving this question higher up on this list maybe under the second question as it relates with music much more compared to these which are more about his personal life. This question should be a pleasurable one for any musician because they can either show-off there musical talents even more or they could start talking about there instrument which is always interesting because every instrument has a story. Nevertheless this is a question that could have a one word answer again so I might have to possibly add something to it to get him to explain himself more. 

What are you currently doing now?

This is a very simple question and should get a long and detailed answer, I might possibly move it close to the last question about if he gets any income from the band as I feel these two questions could fit together nicely, and also this question is great for the audience to specifically see what this particular artist does within his musical 'space', which should entertain the audience as it gives them an answer that they would like to know as we all live together in the present.

What was it like to headline at Indigo2?

This question I feel could defiantly go higher up on this list to give the interview more structure, I have said I should move it higher because its talking about the band Van Susan's and this and the next two questions relate to the band instead of his personal life. He should hopefully have some good storys about this question and the next two because it is very interesting as not many people have experienced what he has, and this will keep the audience engaged. 

What was it like touring the UK?

(This question also relates to the question above)

Have you ever played with the Van Susan's outside the UK?

(This question relates to the one above) 

What equipment are you using at the moment?

This is a great question to ask because I'm sure some of the audience will have a keen interest and knowledge of music and knowing what and why someone chooses a certain instrument is important to know because that is what makes the music at the end of the day, also this question is very specific so it will be guaranteed to have a detailed answer after it, which is perfect and what I'm looking for out of all my questions.

Did you ever get a good pay for being in the Van Susan's?

This is a very engaging question for the audience because people often aspired to be a musician but it was just a dream so to hear from someone trying hard to work his way up the industry doing lots of gigs in a range of venues if he gets a good pay or any at all! This is a great question to link in with a follow up question I could effortlessly improvise for example, 'So is that what the music industry is like?', or 'Did your label pay out a lot on your last EP?'