Rock your Radio Interviews for Bands and Musicians

One of the happiest moments for any musician or band is to receive an invitation to a radio interview. This is a big opportunity to promote yourself and get radio play for your music.

Musicians should know the dates of their performances and song release dates. These can also be noted and read out during the interview.

Prepare your band well by arranging which questions each member has to answer. Remember to keep it fun and interesting while being respectful and acting like a role model on air.

Let’s look at a few categorised tips to guarantee success for your next radio interview:

Know the Type of Interview

There are a variety of ways how your interview can take place. My favourite is of course to go into the studio and have the real experience of the radio station. This also gives you a chance to network and meet new people in the industry.

Some of the different types of interviews to be aware of are:

• Live interviews
• Pre-Recorded
• In a studio
• In a Cafe
• Via telephone
• Via ISDN-Line

An ISDN-Line is a transmitter that teleports the location. It will sound like you are in the studio live, where you could be located elsewhere.

Be Prepared as a Band

Before such an interview there will be aspects to be prepared and ready for. Take a moment after band practice and discuss these things as a group. Try to be open-minded and understand that it will be a matter of give and take.

Make sure that all members get a chance to shine and speak about some things that they are comfortable with.

Sharing the Studio Microphone

You will arrive at the studio with perhaps only one or two microphones to share between the whole band. Discuss this beforehand and decide who will sit together to be prepared for any possible scenario on arrival.

Who Answers Which Questions?

Normally one receives a framework of the possible questions beforehand so that the musicians can be prepared.

If you received the questions beforehand, then it will be easy to share the workload. Make sure everyone gets a chance to come forth and answer some of the questions.

If you didn’t receive a question list, then share different topics that you can be asked about. Here’s an example of various topics:

• Where did the band start and where the name came from? (Band beginning related)
• Your biggest show to date and talking about performances. (Gigs related)
• The album, new single, music video or EP release dates.
• Genre, inspiration, song meanings related question.

Once each of you has a topic about the band that you can talk about, the sharing of the microphone becomes easy.

General Band Behaviour

It’s all about conducting yourself in the right sort of manner.

• Don’t swear on air.
• No one-word answers. Expand on the question and make the answer interesting to the listeners.
• Try not to use internal jokes that the listeners won’t get.
• Don’t giggle or laugh too much on air.
• Absolutely don’t turn up intoxicated.

These are all general no-go’s, which should be followed blindfolded.

Arrangements with the Interviewer Beforehand

If there are any questions that you don’t want to be asked on air, make sure that you communicate this to your interviewer. Examples of these could be related to:

• A difficult past
• Interest in other people
• Conflict with other people

By the way, if you guys are currently dealing with some discipline issues within the band you would like to sort it out, don’t miss the article I published about How to deal with conflict in your band. It will guide you through the process to get it solved as easily as possible.

Be Clued-Up on the Band Admin

• Know your upcoming concerts dates and venues
• The release date of your next album, EP or single.

You don’t need to remember all of the info. You can also just read from a paper or your mobile on air.

Be Personable on Air

Being warm on-air and treating it like you are having an informal conversation with an old friend makes it much more pleasing and inviting to the listeners.

Have fun with the interview and have interesting stories to share. In this way, you will have the best chance of being asked back again.

This post was written and posted by De Wet from startingmyband.com on 23.03.2023. The content was stolen from me if this blog post is seen anywhere else.

This is just such a fun and interesting interview to listen to. One almost can’t get away from listening, and it makes one seriously curious to see a live performance.

They don’t take themselves too seriously and they bring so much fun to the interview. That’s why they always get asked back for interviews.

Radio interviews should be used to promote yourself and make sure that you invite people to your shows. It’s golden publicity!

Interview Questions for Bands or Musicians

Here’s a list of interview questions I got sent during a recent interview about my band and music career. It is in many cases an open interview with plenty of space for open discussions.

Have interesting stories and experiences to share within each question to make listeners feel emotionally attached to your band.

1. How did the band start? -> Talk about the beginning, when everyone was in school or college and what brought the band together.
2. How did you decide on your band name? -> Who’s idea was the band and what were the other options?
3. Where was your first gig? -> Where have you performed in front of people for the first time? How many fans attended the first show? Why at this venue?
4. How did you start to write your own original tracks? -> How does your songwriting process work? What was your first written song? How do your instruments come to meet the melody, drums and different influences? What comes first: the song or the sound? (Referring to the melody vs. the instruments)
5. Have your band taken breaks before? -> What causes bands or musicians to take breaks?
6. With which other big bands have you shared the stage? ->Tell an interesting story about the coolest show you have performed and with whom you played with.
7. What is the most difficult part about keeping a band together? -> Talk about the process of putting the band together and the elements one take into consideration when choosing your members.
8. What is the biggest audience you have performed to? -> Your greatest event up to date.
9. Have you been featured on any compilations lately? -> How did it happen? How did the featured song got chosen?
10. Do any of you still have day jobs? -> What are your qualifications? When did you start focussing 100% on the band?
11. What is your personal favourite song from your released music? -> Tell what the story behind the song is and what effect it had on your life.
12. What genre would you categorise your music in?
13. How did your vision change during your released albums? -> Talk about the first released song in comparison to the latest released single and how your mindset and talent have changed and developed.
14. What are your plans for the future and what can we expect from you in the near future?

This interview can keep a conversation going for 40-50 minutes. Interviewers will filter through questions as the conversation continues and make sure that the audience gets the best value from the interview.

Use these as a guideline to prepare yourself well and make sure you invite guests to your social media and concerts!

If you are keen to add further spice to your marketing campaign, don’t miss the article I wrote about What to do to get booked regularly as an artist. There are some valuable tips to follow that guarantee your success as a musician.

Until next time!