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The idea originated with singer Jon Bon Jovi. Jon kept upping the ante with his label and ultimately they consented to a four-CD set of essentially new material. Here, he talks about this 20th anniversery project (100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong) and the things that make Bon Jovi unique.

100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong was released November 16, 2004

Steven:

Did it begin as a simple one or two CD box and then just started to grow?

Jon:

I didn’t know what it would be, to be honest with ya. It was dependent on what the record company would allow and what kind of package they would want to do. So, being brutally honest with you, it was dependent on what they were willing to pay for. It came down to what they would sell it for and there was this whole discussion [about that]. So they were cool. At first they were like, ‘Well, we’ll do a 24-song set’ and I said, ‘Keep it, that’s not a box to me, it’s a two-record set.’ And then they said, ‘Well, what do you want to do?’ and I said, ‘Well, how ‘bout 50 songs?’ And they said, ‘OK, we’ll do that.’

Steven:

Was there a lot of re-mixing and re-mastering that had to be undertaken?

Jon:

No; 40 of these songs nobody in the world has ever heard. Forty. And the other ten are rare soundtracks and things that people wanted us to release and we didn’t have the vehicle. Like there’s a song called ‘Edge Of A Broken Heart’ that was a fan favorite from the Slippery When Wet era that was on a soundtrack for a little movie called The Disorderlies. And so this was an opportunity to release it finally. So, that was like a no brainer. Things like that.

Steven:

Jon, not having heard the record, can I randomly choose some titles here and have you talk about them?

Jon:

I think it would be better for me to tell you a couple songs because you haven’t heard them. You know what I mean? It would be a better story. There’s a couple things on the first CD but there’s one called ‘Why Aren’t You Dead?’ Certainly would be a fan favorite and it was during the period between ’90 and ’92; we wrote it, having written songs in the past like ‘Bad Medicine’ and ‘You Give Love A Bad Name’ so we knew how to write those kind of tongue in cheek, cute choruses.

When we tried to do it because we knew how when we did it for what was to become Keep the Faith, it didn’t ring true anymore. We knew it was time to move on, so this is the classic case of this is the one that got away. So, people who were big fans of that era of the band will hear this one and go, ‘Yeah, that’s what I love.’ So that’s a good example of that.

‘Miss Fourth of July’ is a great one. That one and a song called ‘Only In My Dreams’ that Tico [Torres] sang, very influenced [when I was] in my Tom Waits era. Tom was such an influence on me in those great ballads that he writes and the great picture lyrics. And I wrote songs like ‘Bed of Roses’ because of Tom but while I was knocking out songs like this, these didn’t make it. But ‘…Fourth of July’ which is really a pretty neat song, something that perhaps I’d love to hear Don Henley sing, really talks about the loss of innocence and youth and how at that point in my career, I was really dis-enfranchised by what the business of music had become.

Steven:

Speaking across the board, when you’re trying to determine what songs will eventually make their way onto a CD, you try to determine what really makes the song work, the poignancy of the lyrics and …

Jon:

What works for a record when you consider that, for me, a record has to say something about who you are at that point in your life and that it’s not repetitious and then finally that there’s continuity in the record so it has, in fact, a beginning, a middle, and an end. You can’t have two songs that are a 6/8 waltz, the Tom Waits-influenced thing. You can have one and then you move on and the other one doesn’t get hurt.

Steven:

As you were sequencing the material and re-listening to this music, could you sense a growth in the songwriting and your own profile as a musician?

Jon:

Oh, sure. I think we’ve gotten better with time but that’s subjective, I guess. It depends on who you ask and how the song touched people. You know, you get a song like ‘It’s My Life’ and it moves the masses; you get a song like ‘Everyday,’ you think it’s the end all, be all, and it’s not a hit single, it doesn’t mean I don’t love it just as much. So, am I supposed to judge everything by hit singles? No. It’s a hard question to answer. I think we’ve gotten better; we’re certainly diversified, we’ve grown. We’re not still writing ‘You Give Love A Bad Name’ twenty years later, or trying to. Let’s put it that way.

Steven:

What about your relationship with Ritchie as a guitar player? How would you explain that?

Jon:

Ritchie is twenty times the guitar player I’ll ever be. I play guitar as good as a songwriter, to be honest with ya. You know what I mean? Jeff Beck’s got nuttin’ to worry about with me. The truth of the matter is what I wanted to do with the guitar was write songs and the way I learned to play was about that. It wasn’t mimicking some guy’s hot solos, it was ‘What chord progression was that?’ and ‘What inversion is that?’ That stuff actually never ends either; you never stop learning.

In fact I really feel humbled on this new studio record by John Shanks who I think is going to surprise a lot of new people. Because he and Richie went just crazy with guitar stuff like tunings and different instruments and it was really fun to watch. You know when to chime in and when not to but those guys, they’re great.

It [new record] sounds like us but it’s very contemporary. It’s hard to describe what it is but it’s pretty rockin,’ I can tell you that. And there’s only one song that’s a slow song on the record. That song is called ‘These Open Arms’ but that’s it, man. This is a rock record.

Steven:

You just mentioned how this new record sounds like you and at the some time has a modern feel. How have you been able to consistently change without ever losing your core integrity?

Jon:

When grunge came along, we didn’t pretend we were from Seattle; when rap came along we didn’t add a scratcher. And a lot of times, guys are real guilty of that stuff, they jump on the bandwagon. Even the great Stevie Tyler was out there singing with Britney Spears and ‘N’ Sync [during the halftime ceremonies of a Superbowl game]. I wouldn’t have done it. A lot of my peers suddenly in ’92 pretended to be from Seattle and got all dark and pretend to be somethin’ they weren’t. Or, as much as I dig Gwen Stefani, when I heard them puttin’ a rapper in the middle of the record, I went, ‘Oh, that’s a different thing.’ That’s not for me, I’m not doin’ it. We stayed true to who we were, we grew with what we did.

Like it or not and trust me, there’s people on both sides of that coin, the one thing I can say is it’s honest. It is what it is but at least you know what it is. It’s not trying to be something it’s not.

Steven:

So you were honestly a bit skeptical about the reception of Crush in the marketplace?

Jon:

Not skeptical, I believed in it, but I didn’t know it was gonna find another generation of fans. That was the amazing thing because that record touched six-year olds and sixty-year olds. Everybody felt some reason to say, ‘No, it’s my life.’ And of course everybody wants to be in control of their own life. I didn’t realize that when we wrote it. When we wrote it I was selfishly thinking of my movie career. Like Frankie said ‘I’ll do it my way.’ Sinatra. I’m gonna get a president elected, I’m gonna make movies, I’m gonna make records, I’m gonna do everything you tell me you don’t want to hear from me. And that was exactly what that song was about and then you see athletes using it, kids chanting to it, and all this amazing stuff happened. Who knew?

Steven:

And that guides us to the final question: You have all the money and cars and prestige anyone could ever want so what is the guiding force?

Jon:

You know, I just really enjoy writin’ a song. That gives me greater pleasure than recording it, which is second, and touring it, which is last. I get great pleasure out of it. You know it’s gonna be there forever and that to me is the greatest feeling of all of them.

Thanks a lot for your time, you did a great job.

By: Steven Rosen

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Caffeinated Content

This band is one that is very hard to pinpoint. With members from all over central PA, you can’t even pick one home for the band. Their sound is somewhere between industrial, goth and alternative rock, with a dark vein running through it all. The band lists their influences from Nine Inch Nails to early 80’s new wave and still to Seattle grunge.

We recently caught up with the band at the Sterling Hotel in Allentown, one of their favorite places to play, and I can see why. As part of an all industrial line-up, Allentown crowds know how to appreciate good industrial rock. The band showcased a few songs from their EP, “The Telegraph,” as well as some new songs, with a decidedly different sound. Singer Jeff explains, “The new songs are available through myspace and also their website. Our sound is changing, I think. Getting a little more aggressive than The Telegraph. If you take Telegraph as a ‘goth, alt’ record, then the songs we are working on currently are more on the industrial side. We are also currently working on, not so much a group of songs with a concept, but more so themed. The Telegraph was more of a look into a diary , and the newer songs are being written with a different theme, or purpose in mind.”

Being a goth band in central Pennsylvania doesn’t exactly sound easy. “We are definitely a minority,” the band explains, which explains why the band plays with such passion and dedication. With all-industrial shows like those hosted by The Sterling Hotel, though, goth bands are finding more and more fans in the area these days. The guys in FTA generally have to travel out of their immediate area for goth/industrial shows, but they tell us they’re hoping to bring more goth bands to the local scene. “We’re hoping to identify more with music fans locally to bring in some goth bands and do some more goth shows here.”

There was one question we just had to ask, after hearing a certain rumor: We’ve heard that you’ve been labeled as a violent band. What are your thoughts on that? The answer: Honestly that surprises us to hear. If people say our shows or band is violent or extreme than that’s what they get out of our performance and music and I’m definitely ok with that. We try to convey real feeling and real emotion through our shows and in our music. So I’m definitely ok with whatever people get out of what we are doing. Whether its violent, dark, emotional, heavy whatever; If one person can take something away from us and keep it with them, if only for a second, then we are definitely achieving what we are trying to do.

By: Tonia Jordan

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Lately, I have enjoyed reading about some of my favorite songwriters. It is an attempt to understand their thinking and perhaps glean some of their methodologies, if such a thing exists. I was able to find a rather broad range of biographies in my local library. I will provide a brief description of a few books that I read recently and provide some additional comments.

First of all, there is an excellent compilation by American Songwriter Magazine appropriately entitled “Song” that has some very nice interviews with a wide variety of songwriters including Tom Petty, John Prine, Willie Nelson, Jeff Tweedy and Sheryl Crow. Each interview provides insights and recommendations to other songwriters which may be helpful. I recommend this book to those folks who may not have the time to dig into full blown biographies. It is a compilation of somewhat condensed interviews and many of the artists provide suggestions to aspiring songwriters.

I happen to be a Wilco fan since moving to the Chicago area, so I read a book called, “Learning How To Die” by Greg Kot. It is an interesting story of a group that defied the industry’s formulaic approach to popular music and songwriting. It also offers a very nice example of a band that managed to break through despite a variety of challenges. This book provides not only a very good insight into the current trends of the music industry, but also helps folks to understand how the music business operates. Furthermore, it helps distinguish the more avant garde approach of a singer songwriter from the more commercial approach of a pure performer or a pure songwriter.

I read Warren Zevon’s biography, “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” written by his friend and former wife, Crystal Zevon. It is a tragic story, but it provides a very nice description of the underappreciated Zevon, who wrote with a style that we may never really see again. Zevon is to music what Hunter S. Thompson is to literature. He was the epitome of “gonzo”, a term coined by H.S. Thompson. Hunter seemed to recognize this particular characteristic in Zevon as they became fast friends.

I recently read “Paul Simon”, a biography by Laura Jackson. I find this book particularly enjoyable as I recall the events surrounding the emergence of Simon and Garfunkel in the 60’s. I find it particularly interesting that some of my favorite songs written by Paul Simon had distinct ties to events in his life as well as events in history. There are too many songs to list but I especially love “Sound of Silence”, “The Boxer”, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, “America”, “Late In The Evening”, “Graceland”, “Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes”, and “You Can Call Me Al”. While it would be fun to provide an analysis of these songs, I will not spoil the book for those who may have an interest in reading it for themselves. However, I did find it interesting that Simon employed a habit of collecting somewhat random thoughts and observations in a notebook which were later infused in his writing.

I have just completed a biography written about the late Woody Guthrie by Elizabeth Partridge entitled, “This Land Is Your Land”. This book is very readable, yet, for me, it was extremely dark and depressing. After reading the book, I wanted to hug my 14 year old and go outside to see if the sun was still shining. It was, thank God. While Woody Guthrie is one of the most prolific songwriters of modern times along with folks like Leonard Cohen, his life was worse than I could have ever imagined. Nonetheless, it is difficult to cast Woody Guthrie in a 100% positive light. I cannot pass judgment on this man other than to say he was extraordinarily unorganized in every way except for his unique gift of songwriting. Incidentally, it was my interest in Bob Dylan that led me to Woody Guthrie. I had heard Guthrie’s name many times growing up, but I was not prepared for his tragic story.

If you are interested in songwriting, I would encourage you to learn more about the songwriters who have made an impression on you. It is interesting, but it can also be a bit frightening as you may find some characteristics similar to your own. There is definitely something that draws certain folks to this art form and it is interesting to see certain similarities that weave through their lives, in both circumstances and behaviors.

Perhaps one very positive attribute that stands out the most for me is the tendency for all great songwriters to be extraordinary observers of life, in general. They seem to have a peculiar ability to put words to things that are indescribable for the rest of the population. These words allow listeners to instantly identify with human thoughts and emotions in unique ways.

A bit on the darker side, there are certain characteristics that are very difficult to understand for those of us who are tied into society’s framework. Some songwriters have exhibited self destructive behaviors that seem to coincide with their success. For some of these people, there seems to be a common thread of introspection, depression and mania. While my list is rather tame compared to some of the others who were, perhaps, not able to achieve the same level of notoriety, there seems to be enough similarity to give us good reason to remain vigilant with regard to our own lives. Extreme circumstances and behaviors can provide ample material for a songwriter, but it just makes good sense to temper it with moderation (when possible) for the sake of maintaining the self control and respectability that I believe is necessary for a sustained, happy life. Art is a wonderful thing, but there are plenty of very good examples of art that exists without tremendous suffering as a prerequisite. If you have suffered, then by all means, find a way to convert your experience into art. However, I would urge anyone not to go through life looking for opportunities to suffer for art’s sake.

Finally, these books provide an added bonus for fans of music during the most prolific 50 years in the history of music. There is a cultural aspect to each book that perhaps provides a better understanding of the environmental elements surrounding each artist. These elements include history, politics, social change, economic conditions, and pop culture. In addition, each of the above books is a “Who’s Who” of influential folks surrounding the music industry during this period.

By: Del Boland

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There is no question that the competition for teaching jobs is extremely tough. I have sat on teacher interview committees where we had narrowed it down to four people for the open teaching position and it broke my heart that I had to tell three of them they did not get the job despite being excellent teachers.

If you are getting calls for interviews, but you are not able to seal the deal and secure yourself a teaching position, you need to look at every aspect of the interview…you need to do every little thing to separate yourself from the intense competition.

There are many things teachers should do during the interview, but one of the most overlooked is asking questions of the interview committee.

I am always shocked at how many candidates simply do not do this…or don’t put as much emphasis on it as need be. By asking questions you are accomplishing two main goals. One, you are determining if this is actually the right teaching job for you, and two, you come off and giving the appearance of confidence…don’t underestimate this.

Also, by asking the correct questions at the correct time YOU begin to take over and control the job interview. The interview then becomes more of a two-way conversation between colleagues on the same level than it does a one-way interview in which the candidate is simply fielding questions from superiors.

I have always said that the best interviews are the ones that don’t “seem” like interviews…they felt natural…they felt more like conversations.

However, what questions you ask are also important. You don’t just want to ask questions for the sake of asking questions…you want to ask the right questions. And, by asking the right questions during your teacher interview you will separate yourself from the other candidates applying for the same teaching job.

Unfortunately, many people just can’t seem to come up with the right questions.

Here are 10 questions you should ask during your next teacher interview:

1. How many classes would I be teaching?

2. How many “preps” does this position require? (Remember, you may only be teaching 5 classes, but if you have four different “preps” for four different subjects you may be in trouble)

3. Would I have my own classroom? (Having to teach in different classrooms can make teaching much more difficult)

4. Do you have a teacher mentor program? (A teacher mentor program can be a new teacher’s saving grace, but veteran teachers can benefit from them as well)

5. Will I have opportunities for professional development? (You want to give the impression that you plan to grow professionally)

6. What type of access would I have to technology? (Grade book software, email, united streaming, etc.)

7. What duties are required of the position? (Lunch, hallway etc.)

8. What type of extracurricular activities can I get involved with?

9. How much planning time do teachers have? (Don’t ask this question first…it will come across as planning time is your most important question. However, planning time is important and different schools will have different amounts of time allotted for teacher planning so you should make sure you know before you accept any teaching job)

10. What is the school policy on inclusion?

Again, by asking questions during your interview you will establish an air of confidence about you. However, more importantly, you will determine if the school is truly a good match for YOU.

By: Adam Waxler

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Music Interviews

OK, very few of us like the interviewing process. Unfortunately, you’ve got to face the music once in a while. Keep these few nuggets in mind when you’re going on your next interview or if you want to advise a colleague:

Be very very honest – if an interviewer senses at all you are being evasive in answering questions or are trying to fudge your way through questions, you’re doomed.

Recognize that the interviewer is looking both at your knowledge and your thought process on how you would approach problems – for instance, if you get a “how would you build a 150 story skyscraper” question, just take a deep breath and start talking through how you would do it. Saying things like “it’s impossible” shows lack of initiative and creativity and will negatively impact the interviewer’s perception of you.

Don’t lose your cool – the interviewer may intentionally be trying to get you off balance and see how easily they can frustrate you. Stay the course and don’t allow the interviewer to get under your skin. Answer questions thoughtfully; not laced with emotion.

Show passion – interviewers will want to see how much excitement and energy you’re going to bring to the job. Be passionate about the job, the company, and the products the company sells. Coming in with the excitement of cottage cheese will not leave the interviewer with a comfortable feel you are going to attack problems.

Be on time, dress nice, and smell good – These are very easy to control and can only help in the impression you make. Make sure your clothing is in-style, conservative, and fits you appropriately. Wearing a suit from the 80’s that doesn’t button around your midsection might not be the best attention-getter.

By: Lonnie Pacelli

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Anyone can record an interview by phone using very inexpensive equipment. Here in the use I would recommend you buy a simple microphone that you can pick up at an electronics store like RadioShack.

If you have a computer, you can plug that microphone into your computer’s microphone jack.

Next you look for inexpensive or free software where you just click the play button on your software and you start talking in to your microphone on your computer.

If you’re a practitioner and have expertise you can talk your audio products into the microphone without doing an interview with another person.

And once it’s done, you can save that recording as a digital mp3 file or a wav file.

Then save that file to a folder on your computer. If you choose to you can do some simple editing to the audio file. Once you edit and saved the recorded audio, you now have an audio information product.

You now have valuable information that you own. You have taken ideas and maybe case studies and experience and you’ve captured it forever.

You have got that expertise into an audio recording which can serve you very well.

You can use this recording as a free download to educate potential prospects. You can put the recording on a CD or have it transcribed into a word for word transcript.

Or this expertise can be sold and distributed without actually having to be there or to deliver it face to face or one on one.

Recorded audio is the most powerful marketing took known to man.

By: Michael Senoff

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Athletes, performers and presenters across all disciplines know that practicing is only way to be sure of increasing the probability of consistently achieving the desired result. Assessing practice sessions in a constructive manner will develop a personal set of tools and strategies to overcome paralyzing stress, or deal with distractions that are often present in competition and/or performance situations. In basketball, it is common to see a player preparing to attempt a goal by repeatedly bouncing the ball. Then with single-minded focus on the hoop they aim and throw to make the shot. The preparatory bouncing of the ball is designed to tell the player’s mind and body to remember what they have practiced and to do it exactly as rehearsed, right there and then.

Preparing for a job interview requires the same practice discipline. An interview performance requires the applicant to

1 Listen and interpret the interviewer’s questions
2. Formulate and organize thoughts and ideas, and
3. Verbally present a confident response in an engaging manner.

The stress of an interview situation along with the surprise factor of hearing a new question makes concentration and logical thinking a challenge for many applicants. As a result their responses may not include all the requested information. A hesitant delivery will damage a candidate’s chances of being considered competent to perform all requirements of the role. In fact, the candidate may be qualified, experienced and capable, but let down only because they present themselves poorly in an interview situation.

This strategy has three simple phases – collect questions, present your response and review your answer for adequacy of content, organization and delivery performance.

1. Collect Sample Interview Questions. The wider the range of questions the better; both the standard interview questions on written, verbal and interpersonal communication, teams and organization as well as those specific to the role, discipline and industry sector being apply for. For example, if the job specialty is computers, then make sure to include technical questions. Surprisingly little time is required to search interview websites and copy text to create a list of over 200 questions. These need to be printed onto a sheet of paper, and then cut into strips so there is only one question per strip of paper. All are to be placed in a single container. HINT: Try not to read, interpret or think about questions as you gather them.

2. Practice Listening to Questions and Delivering your Response. To recreate the surprise element, questions should be pulled at random from the container. As most interview questions are asked by an interviewer, it is ideal to have someone read the question to you. However when this is not possible, simply select a slip of paper from the container, read the question and promptly launch into presenting a response. HINT: Read the question once or twice only, and then get rid of paper to avoid the temptation of rereading and disturbing the flow of your response.

It is important to play this game full out. Pretend that you are there in the interview. Like a musician practicing a piece of music, if you lose your place or make a mistake, recover and continue, do not stop your presentation. In a real interview this situation can and does happen. It only becomes significant to the interviewer, if you fail to deal with it in a professional manner, in other words, maintain composure and continue with your response to its logical conclusion.

3. Evaluate the Adequacy of your Response. Reviewing your delivery, content, organization and presentation is essential to improving your performance. If another person can observe you, then ask for their feedback. Were you convincing? What did they like? What could you improve? Sometimes it is good to give your evaluator a form with the specific areas you want them to assess, like “Did I talk too fast, if so, where?” If practicing on your own, staple the question slip to the top of a sheet of paper. Make notes about how you felt you performed, what went well, and indicate what you need to practice again to give a better response this question and why. These sheets become an excellent reference source for review of future responses or as checklists on similar subject matter.

Many people avoid listening to recordings of their voices, or even worse, seeing themselves performing on video. The rewards of reviewing your audio or visual interview performance far outweighs the impediments created by excessive self-judgement. Using recordings to confirm whether the required standard has been achieved, and to identify areas of improvement is now a standard practice for any serious performer. As World Public Speaking Champion, Ed Tate once said, “You look like that. You sound like that. Get over it.”

Listed below are the benefits of practicing a job interview response out loud, just as if you were there:

- Being able to assume a relaxed state prior to being asked a question
- Avoiding auditory paralysis brought on by excessive stress or fear
- Enabling the analytical and logical parts of your brain to work creatively together
- Allowing access to a higher intelligence to assess how the interview is progressing, and if not favourable, to have intellectual and emotional capacity to make adjustments to your presentation and/or engagement of the interviewer
- Becoming accustomed to instantly thinking and organizing your thoughts on any subject
- Increasing the likelihood of presenting confidently using appropriate voice and body language
- Confirm, practice and consolidate good performance techniques
- Develop and rehearse a repertoire of stories to illustrate a particular skill or competency 
- Identify and address any weaknesses in presentation, organization and content, and
- Practice talking about yourself in a positive way.

By: Melody Braithwaite

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Kansieo.com

Lucrative to one person may mean something different to another.

There’s millions and millions of different topics and niches and products out there.

My niche, the internet marketing crowd and copywriting and marketing niche, it is such a small niche.  

Copywriting niche, if you ask ten people on the street, “What is copywriting?” I guarantee you probably out of ten, maybe one may know what copywriting is.

My niche is a very small niche, but there are huge niches out there. One niche that I like within my small niche here is I like business opportunity.  It’s that saying, “Catch a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for life.”

When you’re selling a business opportunity on how to make money, or you’re selling them a system that he can implement and use to provide for his family for the rest of his life, that has a lot of value. There are a lot of people looking for that. So, I like business opportunity. One of my main products is an HMA Marketing Consulting System. That really is a business opportunity. It teaches you how to be a marketing consultant, and if you take to it and study it and implement it, you could make a nice living doing marketing consulting. So, it’s a short cut to the process.

Those type products have a lot of value, and it’s great to use audio interviews, expert interviews and testimonial type interviews to promote that type of thing.

So, I would go with business opportunities and you might find some other niches that are even more popular that have a higher demand and say, “Do your research.”

A lot of my recordings aren’t necessarily business opportunity, but they’re information trainings. Copywriting really, it could be a business opportunity, but there’s skills like negotiating and copywriting and sales scripting and how to get more referrals. Those are all skill type interviews, and those actually will translate into more money in your pocket.

So, my niche, business skills and business opportunities have been pretty good for me. So, I would stick with something like that, and I would also think about the type of margins when you’re creating your information product. What could they sell for?

Business opportunities tend to sell for higher margins. People will pay more for those. People will pay a million dollars. I don’t know how much a McDonald’s franchise is. Maybe they’re two or three million now, or they’ll pay a million dollars for a Subway. Franchises are being sold everyday, and these things go for fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, a million dollars because they’re business opportunities.

When people buy into them, they believe that that franchise is going to support them for the rest of their life. So, I would consider something like that with high margin. I absolutely believe that audio can sell high ticket items like that.

By: Michael Senoff

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Steven:

Maybe more than any other guitarist ever, you’re inextricably linked to the Gibson SG? What was the evolution that brought you to this particular instrument?

Angus:

I started playing on banjos and re-strung them up with six strings. [But] an acoustic guitar, an old bang up little ten-dollar job, that was probably the first thing I started playing on. Me brother Malcolm got a Hofner off of one of me other brothers and he got a Gretsch and passed the Hofner on
to me after much squabbling.

It was semi-acoustic and had all been packed with cotton. But I never used to really take it as a serious thing; I just used to fool around with it. When I was about 14 was when I really started playing it seriously. I got an amplifier for about sixty bucks that used to distort all the time. It was a Phi-Sonic. After that I got out and got a Gibson SG that I played
until it got wood rot because so much sweat and water got into it. The whole neck warped. I bought it second-hand, it was about a ’67. It had a real thin neck, really slim, like a Custom neck. It was dark brown. After about a year, you lose about half the power in the pickups so you either
get them re-wired or put new ones in. Just ordinary Gibsons.

Steven:

Did these early instruments still have that tremolo arm attached?

Angus:

They did but I took it off. I used to fool around with them but you begin sounding like Hank Marvin.

Steven:

And why did you remain loyal to the Gibson SG for the remainder of your career?

Angus:

It was light [weight-wise]. I’d tried the other ones, Fenders, but you’ve really got to do a number on ‘em. They’re great for feel but the wiring just doesn’t got the balls. And I don’t like putting those DiMarzios and everything because everyone sounds the same. All the other sort of Gibsons I tried like the Les Paul was too heavy. Hip displacement.

When I first started playing with the SG there was nothing to think about. I don’t know how this came about but I think I had a lot thinner neck. Someone once said to me they [Gibson] make two sized necks, one was 1 ½ and one was 1 ¼ and this was like 1 ¼, thin all the way up. Even now I still look all over and I still haven’t found one; I’ve been to a hundred guitar shops and I found the same guitar [model] but with different necks.

Steven:

Did you ever experiment with the Gibson SGs when they were called Les Pauls [Eric Clapton’s graphically appointed Cream-era guitar is probably the most famous representative of this model]?

Angus:

Yeah, I had a really old one I bought, a 1962. But it had a very fat neck; it was good to play but it felt heavier than all the other ones. That’s why I stopped using it. And when you’re running around a lot, it weighs you down.

Steven:

So from High Voltage on it’s always been the SG. Have you ever tried using more modern types of instruments?

Angus:

Yeah, I tried a Hamer but I wouldn’t buy an expensive guitar – especially in my case. It’s always getting beaten around. With the SG, you can do plenty of tricks with them.

Steven:

And you’ve been faithful to Marshall amplifiers as well?

Angus:

Ever since I’ve been in this band I’ve been using Marshalls. I’ve tried Ampeg and they weren’t too good for the sound I wanted.

On stage I have four stacks going, all hooked up with splitter boxes. 100-watt stacks … it’s good for your eardrums. I use a real lot of volume, I turn that up; I turn the treble and bass on about half and middle, the same. I don’t use any presence. If I don’t think it’s putting out enough top, I will kick up the presence.

With Marshalls, if you’re using a fair bit of volume, if you whack the treble and bass at half, that’s where they’re working. We get them from the factory, that’s what we do. We go down there and try them out and fool around with amps and tell them what we want and they doctor them up. At the moment, they’re all back to the old style of Marshalls, they’re very clean. They don’t have these master or preamp settings.

Steven:

You have entered the modern age of electronics in your use of a wireless system.

Angus:

Yeah, I use the Schaffer-Vega. I’ve been using that since ’77. On the receiver you’ve got like a monitor switch you can boost the signal and in the transmitter you’ve got the same sort of thing. You can really give a guitar hell with ‘em. I have used the remote in the studio and it worked really good. I don’t believe I’ve ever had a wah-wah or a fuzz box. It’s just the guitar and the amp and if I need anything, if someone says they
want a different approach to the sound, then I’ll get it with the guitar.

By: Steven Rosen

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When trying to get experts to agree to an interview you want to attract them to what you are doing. Basically, what’s in it for them is free advertising, it’s free publicity, it’s free exposure, and it’s free distribution. They do trade a little bit of their time for it, but it’s basically free. It is easy for them and you’re not asking them to write the interview.

I get approached from people who say they’d like to do an interview with me and they submit me maybe 20 questions that I have to write the answers to. I’m not going to do that, it takes way too long. It’s hard to write, but it’s easy to do an audio interview so it’s not a big deal for an expert to do it.

Plus, people love to talk about themselves. Whoever is listening, whatever expertise you are in, whatever you are passionate about, how many people do you really know who just love talking about what you love. So having someone who is really interested and be willing to listen and brag and talk about yourself, you know people will do it free just for that.

These are some reasons why people will do an interview. Then the higher profile people generally, they are the nicest people out there. There may be some cases where they weren’t nice but they are professionals and they are really nice and the real experts they like helping people out. They probably struggled from the beginning; they could probably see you in them of when they were getting started.

People like to help other people even if you say, “Can you help me out. I’m a nobody, I’ve got no Web site, but I want to do something with this interview, would you honor me to let me interview you and spend an hour on the phone with you.” You’d be surprised all you have to do is ask.

I think once you get them to agree to do the interview then you can kind of go over the outline of what is going to happen and you set the criteria. I guess if they are super busy, yeah, you could go over. You could go over and you could make an agreement with them. “Hey, we’re scheduled for 20 minutes; if it goes over would you be willing to do a Part 2 with me?” They may say yes or they may say no. Even if you have a very high profile person just to do 20 minutes, that is valuable. It could be 20 minutes of a couple great ideas.

But what else is really valuable? It could be being able to use their name on your Web site or in your promotion. That name could lead you to another interview. You know I interviewed John Carlton and I bet I can go get an interview with Clayton Makepeace. “Hey, Clayton, I’m Michael Senoff, I’ve interviewed John Carlton, Bob Blye, Joe Vitalie, a couple other copywriters,” which he knows, “would you like to be part of the copywriting interview series?” Why would he say no?

So you can use your interviews as proof to climb up to higher and higher levels. Definitely.

By: Michael Senoff

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