Fame, David Bowie, 1975
I recently read Matt Pinfield's book and it has me thinking about my former life as a journalist ... it's still pretty surreal how I was able to interview an assortment of very talented artists in a variety of disciplines. There was a time when I got asked pretty often, "Weren't you nervous?"
David Bowie's Fame was always my go-to warmup tune before an interview. It never failed to calm my nerves and put things into perspective. For me, the trick was using fanning as an interview tool. The game plan was always to let the fangirl get in and get out with sincerity and grace then to seemlessly transition that energy into well-informed (professional) questions/conversation.
This is my experience: Never doubt that every single artist/creative -- regardless of how successful they are or are not -- enjoys a healthy dose of honest fandom. Also, I promise you, that particular artist you put on a pedestal is a fan of someone, too. Knowing how it feels to be a fan may possibly be the only thing you have in common with that person you admire and that's more than enough to form a bond if you ever get a chance to talk to them.
After all, in the most basic sense, artists are still just human like the rest of us. Never forget: Success and star status are both subjective notions.
Fame, baby.
https://youtu.be/9tnRWcEg6i8
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