Shitty interview

I should probably have better things to do on a Saturday night than tearing into an 18-year old internet article but I don't.

Some guy from the website WithGuitars.com posted a link to an old Throwing Muses interview on the KristinHersh.com message board. I read it and it was interesting, and at the bottom of the page there was a link to an article on Belly from 1993. The author's name is Steve Janes.

It isn't just the mispellings, mistakes, and missing words, though that's a big part of it. The whole thing is bad, even though the writer talks about doing research and making notes.

Here's the first sentence, exactly as it appears:

Belly has been described as an "alternative rock and based in Newport, Rhode Island".

Then the writer describes the beginning of his phone call to Tanya Donelly and the static on the line:

My pause, is due to Tanya's comments we have both watched too much X Files, know it sounds like I am mankind excuses, but, but...

The whole article is sloppy, but what makes it worse is that Janes tries to be stylish. All of these cute touches annoy me but the one that bothers me the most is coming up. Donelly talks about how the Star LP has been successful but she's still not sure if Sire Records understands the album or knows how to market it properly.

She has not lost her innocence or curiosity but she has also gained a more balanced, relaxed and, dare I say it, pragmatic view of the music industry.

Never mind the incorrect phrasing; "dare I say it" is such a lame journalistic cliche anyway, but it doesn't even fit in here. Pragmatic? What's the big deal? "Dare I say it, pragmatic...". I don't like it when people write certain things because they think it will give their writing "style".

If you get a chance, read the whole article at WithGuitars.com.

http://www.withguitars.com/belly-in-93-talking-star-and-feed-the-tree/

(I can never post links here but you can copy the text and place it in the search box.)


I did come across one interesting quote in the article. Janes asked Donelly if she was worried about the video for "Feed The Tree":

"A little bit, just because of the money spent and cos the guys that made the video were kind of idiots in some ways. Well, I mean the director of "Feed The Tree" was very pretentious and very LA."

I saw on Wiki that "Feed The Tree" was directed by Chris Applebaum. I know for sure that he directed the video for "Now They'll Sleep". It seems odd that Belly would choose to work with him again. (I never liked the "Feed The Tree" video, but the video for "Now They'll Sleep" is very good and one of my favorites.)