It can be nerve wracking if you walk into the interview and you're not sure what to expect.

It can be nerve wracking if you walk into the interview and you're not sure what to expect.

I think younger artists are often "students" of the rock press. They have their favorite rock star interviews and know how they're supposed to act. But I find that time helps a lot. If you have enough time you can sort of break that down just by being a normal person. And then they realize the interview isn't just a performance, and they can actually speak to you. I often try to get people into a space where they're not over-thinking what they're talking about and instead they're speaking emotionally, from within their experience.

If a musician cares about what he or she is doing, and you show up and care, you can go some place. That will never change. There are a number of ways to approach this, and my favorite is the way we're doing it now - just talking.

When I started teaching, I would get miffed if a student asked me to write him or her a recommendation for law school - I'd feel like that's not what we were doing in the course. But now I see that person as someone who might be gainfully employed. I bring in a lot of people to speak to my classes, and I've gotten to the point where I've expanded the type of guests I invite to include people both inside and outside of the traditional publishing world.

In Othello, Othello kills Desdemona, but no one reads that play as a model for their own behavior. In Lou Reed's case, you're listening to a song, and in my case you're reading about a life. Like Lou, I trust my audience to make their own moral determinations.

I'd say the vast majority of my interview experiences have been pleasant, better than pleasant. But sometimes there will be people who will size you up. There can be that "rock star" thing where they think it's cool to pull back.