Sep112009

Radio Interviews & Other Canoodling

Recently I had a radio interview, Gentle Reader, at KWMR. KWMR is a local, mostly volunteer run, radio station with its headquarters near where I grew up. So over the tragically traffic-riddled three-day weekend I drove my shiny little spyder up north for a frolic and fraternization with the old rural metropolis. Yes, it still smells like cow.

Naturally, my mother insisted on accompanying me. We had a lovely breakfast beforehand, visited a near-by vintage clothing shop, and arrived slightly early for the interview. Barring the manifold embarrassment of having one’s mother in tow, (yes I know, but if you meet my mother you comprehend instantly why she did, in fact, have to accompany me) everything went smoothly. My previous experience in the matter of interviews has been podcasting and two, brief, YouTube-style video stints: one at BEA, and one to do with a video game. (Oh and there was one local news incident several years ago when I was “the woman on the street” with regards to a netflix exposé. Yes, netflix. And, no, it’s not a very interesting story.) It’s at times like these I think my life seems much more exciting than it actually is.

Regardless, what I am trying, rather wordily, to work my way round to is the following: In the interest of posterity, I thought I’d detail my radio experience. One day my cat’s sapient great-grand kittens (a la Red Dwarf) will read of this antiquated ritual and lament by-gone days.

The radio station in question was tucked away at one end of a long building past a physical therapist’s office and up a small set of stairs. Inside were several little desks and two studio rooms, one of which was already in use. In classic small town fashion: the physical therapist had once worked on my mother’s knee, the woman reading on the radio from The Little Princess (one of my favorite childhood books) when we walked in happened to be the mother of the librarian who gave me my first job, and the station manger grew up in the house my mother now owns. Sitting on the secretaries desk was an appetizing little cobbler, and littering the walls were various signs about shutting appliances off and making sure to close the window after it had been opened. It was all very homey.

Eventually Mimi arrived, my interviewer. Initially two ladies were supposed to interview me but one was ill. Mimi went over the questions she’d be most likely to ask and the general system of hand gestures she might use. Then, once the room was free, we went in and sat down while music played. I put on a set of headphones, she did the same and then began tinkering with an antiquated computer system. A little light went on. Just before she switched us live she reminded me not to use any bad words and off we went.

All in all it wasn’t very different from being interviewed on a podcast, except there was more equipment and we never stopped for a break or went backwards to rerecord anything. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

My mom’s only opinion on the result was that I came off sounding very interesting. Which brought me right back to the fact that my life always seems more exciting than it actually is.

And, with that pearl of wisdom, I need tea.

Quote of the Day:
“I can’t bring myself to say, ‘Well, I guess I’ll be toddling along.’ It isn’t that I can’t toddle. It’s just that I can’t guess I’ll toddle.”
~ Robert Benchley

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Posted by Gail Carriger

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