When is it okay to go down the trope road?
I was messing around on Facebook and I ran into some things that both Matt Fanale of Caustic and Alex Reed of Seeming had mentioned. It had to do with interviews given by music magazines and other online scene sites. Caustic mentioned that a question he’s received is “What challenges do you face as a white guy in this genre?” Alex Reed had mentioned some other standard questions that have lost traction over the years. I had mentioned that very one in passing and he agreed that it was one that had lost it’s merit.
It got me to thinking about that question in general. Why would that be a taboo question? I have a probable theory in regards to it. In the industrial scene, it seems rather homogeneous: white guys. Sometimes there are bald white guys, but that’s another running joke for another day. There are women and other PoC in the genre, and I’m sure the question has come up at one time or another. However, when should it be used if at all?
If an artist has a formative experience that pertains to said question, it’s quite possible that the artist will bring it up without significant prompting. On the flipside, if you are interviewing a rather prominent artist that has well documented experiences, you owe it to yourself to look these up and avoid the beaten path. Always do your research, folks. The interviewee will thank you for it.
I feel that you may be able to skate on this premise when interviewing someone that’s considered relatively new to the game and has gained some notoriety. Even while keeping that in mind, still do your research. Treat each interviewee with respect and do your best to make the interview process as engaging as possible.
