When I was a kid (and by kid, I probably mean teenager), I would daydream about being a rock star. I remember spending extended periods of time in the washroom staring into the mirror - pretending to sing to huge stadiums full of screaming fans, and conducting one-way interviews where I would explain what life is really like as a tortured artist. I think my toothbrush made a decent substitute for a microphone, but it wasn’t quite the same.
Now if I’m perfectly honest, I’ll admit that perhaps I still entertain the mirror from time to time. There’s something fun about picturing a distant life of prestige and stardom. However, in all reality, I don’t foresee any stadium-rock or MTV interviews coming my way anytime soon. But things are happening, slowly but surely, and I’m getting pretty excited about it.
Yesterday was my debut radio appearance. Tony Bookless, and I drove out to Abbotsford (singing along to Michael Jackson songs most of the way) to meet Nathan at CIVL radio. I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t even know if we were going to do an interview, or if I was going to co-host a show, or if I was going to play a song, or whatever other options there could be… so I brought my guitar and some CDs and hoped for the best.
Nathan greeted us at the door and that immediately gave me a good first impression of him and the studio. We proceeded into one of the booths and just started chatting casually. Tony joined in the conversation from time to time, but was mostly there to shoot footage for the new Jeffisode # 3, which will be coming soon. Nathan interviewed me with very well-phrased questions. He even did some research on me and quoted my bio a couple of times. I was quite flattered about that. I felt like I was some sort of professional (which, I guess, is what I’m trying to be). I am not very good at speaking off the top of my head. I tend to stumble over words, so I was a bit nervous about being interviewed. But Nathan asked questions in such a way that made it easy for me to sound interesting. The guy’s got skills.
After the interview, he had me record something called IDs, which is something like, “Hey! This is Jeff Hawker, and you’re listening to CIVL radio.” That was pretty fun. But not quite as fun as what came next… I got to perform “Shame on Me” in the studio. Interviews and IDs are part of the job and I enjoy them, but it is the music that I get excited about.
Anyway, I had a great time at CIVL radio. If you get the chance, look them up online at www.civl.ca They support local artists and they are doing something really good here. I’ll let you know when you can get the mp3 recording of our interview.
Tags: Abbotsford, CIVL, interview, Jeff Hawker, Jeffisode, Michael Jackson, MTV, radio, Tony Bookless