There are several reasons why I love doing what I do. Meeting talented, interesting and nice people (good-looking is just a bonus) and getting to hear their stories probably ranks on top. I’ve never been very good at telling my stories; I always feel the dramatic ones are overly melodramatic and almost everything else is boring. And so I’ve always preferred writing about someone else. Especially when they have something interesting and/or intelligent to say.
All-American Rejects Tyson and Mike had lots to say. As did Doug and Jesse of Hoobastank. I was lucky enough to land a group interview with both bands during MTV World Stage Live In Malaysia last weekend. And I’ve probably said this before, but as big a fan as I am of talent, I am an even bigger fan of nice. I feel being talented, famous and successful doesn’t give a person the right to be an arrogant ass, and it’s far more difficult (and underrated) to be nice, especially when you don’t have to be, than it is to be talented. You are born with talent after all.
(This quote by rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel that I think I read on Sivin’s Twitter has stuck with me all fortnight. “When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people.” Yep, I’m definitely getting older. And yes, I had to Google the rabbi.)
So these guys were really nice. Which was fantastic. We got a quick photo opportunity with Pixie Lott while she was grabbing a bite – I felt bad about interrupting her finger sandwich, actually – but otherwise, I didn’t really get a chance to meet the other bands that were in town. From what I heard, most of them were pretty approachable. Which is the way it should be I think, but then again, I have always been a tad too idealistic. I’ll come back to that later.
I’m not sure what I expected from the interviews – laughs, great quotes, interesting insights? – but one thing I didn’t expect was to be inspired and to walk away with a whole new respect for Hoobastank. Without taking anything away from Tyson and Mike (shuffle the names around and you get Mike Tyson) who were wonderful and quirky and weird in a really cool way, it was Doug and Jesse who struck a chord as they talked about their music and how the band has been playing together for 15 years and how they try to stick to their ideals as musicians.
It wasn’t even a question I’d prepared but one that came to me in the last five minutes of the interview. And it was just amazing to me how a bunch of guys started a band in high school and named it a stupid word they didn’t even know the meaning to – those are Doug’s words, not mine – and 15 years down the road they’re still playing together because they love music so much. Obviously they’re not the only band who’s done that and it’s all nothing I didn’t already know, but somehow, given the context and hearing it from the guys themselves as they talked about money and integrity and being homegrown…
It could hardly have been more timely for this slightly jaded, cynical writer who was and still is going through this idealistic and integrity-obsessed phase. I’m demanding more integrity of Y and myself and I’m revisiting my ideals as a writer. Is it really possible to be an earning writer without sacrificing my integrity? I understand the pressure to write what others want to read, especially when money is on the line, but surely there must be a way to balance both? I remember someone once telling me I was too idealistic, it may have been my mother, and oh dear, it’s starting all over again.
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