Tuesday, 3 January 2017

Assignment 2: TV Guest Researcher

Assessor: Gilly Hope
Hand-in Deadline: 4th January 2017
Unit: 36 - Interview Techniques for Creative Media Production
Scenario: As a TV talk show researcher, your job is to choose who you will research who will be appearing on The Jonathon Ross Show. 

 TASK
  • Conduct research in preparation for interview on show (10 minutes).
  • Create a research portfolio and have a list of past interviews.
  • Research interesting topics and points of interest for discussion. 
  • Ensure that methods of research are documented i.e. magazines, books, videos etc.
You can pick ANYONE to appear on the show, just so long as you justify your pick with thorough research and opinion. 

My guest show pick? Maynard James Keenan. Being the lead front man and vocalist of one of my favorite bands, Tool, I figured Mr. Keenan would be a perfect pick. However, Keenan has a reputation for being rather notoriously hard to handle during interviews, as he can clearly get irritated or bored with questions. Being a recluse as well helps the man maintain an enigmatic and mysterious persona, which has only helped encourage the mythos surrounding himself and his band members. Thus to engage Keenan in a conversation, one must peak his interest and make it so that he takes the narrative and drive the interview forward. That would be hard work considering the time restraints.

Website links:
Magazine interview links: 
Video interview links:
Here below is a great example Mr. Keenan engaging in an interesting topic that no doubt spices his interests: Interview About Philosophy

Here is an example of Mr. Keenan not being so eager to co-operate: Work With Me

Robyn Doreian sums up Mr. Keenan's approaches perfectly when he authored an interview of the man himself entitled A Beautiful Mind, dated July 200 (a year before the release of Tool's third album, Lateralus):

"Maynard James Keenan is an intensely private person. The Tool frontman will speak freely on issues such as censorship and President George W. Bush. But when asked about his personal life, Keenan responds with "I am not going into that," and the conversation comes to a screeching halt.

What does get Keenan talking, however, is his passion for art, music, spirituality, and psychology. And when the conversation shifts to religion, the government, and the horror of compromised integrity, the singer is positively verbose. It seems Keenan has deemed it his responsibility to speak out against the forces that seek to oppress him."

 As a result of this research, I have come to the conclusion that in order to engage Maynard James Keenan in an interview, one must bring up the following topics as part of points of interest for discussion:
  • Political, social and economic areas.
  • Philosophical and spiritual engagements.
  • A link to Keenan's songwriting to these issues.
Thus, I have complied the following questions to be asked by host Jonathon Ross of The Jonathon Ross Show, given the hypothetical that Maynard James Keenan would decide to sit down for an interview on the show:
  1. Comparing Tool's EP Opiate and their first full-length album Undertow to both AEnima and Lateralus, it is almost like listening to two very different bands. Clearly the sound evolved. Was there any huge driving force behind such a change in mood and sound? Any political or philosophical reasoning?
  2. You've noted before that comedian Bill Hicks served as "inspiration" for Undertow, and it is obvious his impact could be later felt in AEnima, with Third Eye taking lines from some of his stand-ups. You have mentioned before how he and Tool were trying to deliver across a similar message. What exactly is that message? 
  3. Do you think after Bill Hicks death in 1994 that this message, this direction the band was going in, was more important than ever? 
  4. From what I have seen in your work, you have always held a rather, shall we say, skeptic view of religion, particularly Christianity. Of course, I like to compare A Perfect Circles' Judith to Tool's 10,000 Days' own Wings for Marie. In the former, you seem to hold contempt towards your mother for her religious views, but in the latter you seem more at peace, coming to terms with her beliefs. Has this been an overarching theme throughout your life? Or have you always held your mother and her faith in high regard?
  5. You once said the following: "If people can take something positive from Tool's music and use this for self-reflection and discovery, great. But I'm not going to preach to people about what they ought to know." This "Think for yourself, question authority" mentality, as well as Tool's advocacy for people to self-reflect and use it to better themselves, seems to offer healthy advice. And it is consistent. Do you think, with this advice, that people can break-away from the barriers in their lives and make it so they better everyone else around them?
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