I was watching an interview P did in Australia (2003/2004?) and at one point he stopped the interview when asked a question about the Controversy period. So, what are the dos and don'ts if you want to have a good interview with Prince?

• Don't bring up the past
• Do praise him profusely
• Ask him about the corruption in the music industry

Any others?

A long tongue.

The ability to not laugh out loud at the ridiculous things the ball bag would be saying.

Don't mention Tony M, or where he places his feet

Make sure you have a good memory - because you'll have to ditch your recorder and notebook in the bushes outside Paisley Park.

dnaplaya said:

Don't mention Tony M, or where he places his feet

If you were preparing for a formal interview (probably true of any major celebs), I'd imagine it's reasonable to contact his people beforehand and ask for any dos and don'ts.

The thing with Prince is that things change fairly regularly - given he recently released the Controversy-themed poster, maybe he'd be more willing to talk about the past now?

But you'd want to be sure about that before possibly blowing the interview.

Research is important. Not just him, but the things he's interested in; eg. know a bit about the JW faith and the music industry going into the interview. Even if you don't necessarily want to go down that road with your questions, you're better off knowing what he's talking about if he takes the interview there (apart from anything else, it might assist you in getting things back on track, rather than being left thinking "WTF?").

I'd also be careful about "praising him profusely" - he's got an ego, of course, but he's also pretty shy. You don't want him to be uncomfortable around you because you're sounding like a crazed fan

If I were interviewing him, I'd mention some of his favourite current artists like Esperanza and Janelle - he enjoys putting others in the spotlight and I suspect it would help put him at ease.

As with anyone, the more of a rapport he has with his interviewer, the more he lets his guard down and as such, the better the interview.

bigbrother said:

I was watching an interview P did in Australia (2003/2004?) and at one point he stopped the interview when asked a question about the Controversy period. So, what are the dos and don'ts if you want to have a good interview with Prince?

• Don't bring up the past
• Do praise him profusely
• Ask him about the corruption in the music industry

Any others?

basically i'd stare at him unblinking and lean in real close like i can't hear no matter how loudly he speaks. i think it's nice to make a unique impression on people so i'd adopt some sort of trademark gesture for the interview, like a hair flip, use that a lot. and i wouldn't sissy out if he tried to change the subject if i asked him a question he doesn't like and tried to dodge it i'll figure, 'hey! that's the juicy bits!' and go for it!

[Edited 3/15/11 18:31pm]

Probably stay away from personal questions such as: his hight, weight, shoe size, the age at which he lost his virginity, if he really does shop at Nordstrom's Boys Department, etc.

And my go to for any meeting with a man - wear a bandage dress. They won't care what you ask them, and will probably walk out with his social security number and a black AMEX.

NouveauDance said:

A long tongue.

EleanorK said:

Probably stay away from personal questions such as: his hight, weight, shoe size, the age at which he lost his virginity, if he really does shop at Nordstrom's Boys Department, etc.

And my go to for any meeting with a man - wear a bandage dress. They won't care what you ask them, and will probably walk out with his social security number and a black AMEX.

you know you're wrong. Bring some Cap't Crunch, Doritos & pumpkin soup.

mzsadii said:

EleanorK said:

Probably stay away from personal questions such as: his hight, weight, shoe size, the age at which he lost his virginity, if he really does shop at Nordstrom's Boys Department, etc.

And my go to for any meeting with a man - wear a bandage dress. They won't care what you ask them, and will probably walk out with his social security number and a black AMEX.

you know you're wrong. Bring some Cap't Crunch, Doritos & pumpkin soup.

Ofcourse I'm wrong! It's the Neiman Marcus Boys Department, silly me.

Now don't forget soy milk.

I don't think it's possible to get a good Prince interview. Has he ever really given a series of straight answers to anyone other than Leno?

Yes, Mel B was a great interviewer I think, though I only saw part 1 of the interview. I'd love to see part 2! I think what made it successful was:

She was already a beautiful, successful singer in the music business (Someone Prince could relate to, respected and knew of)

The interview was done in his territory, Paisley Park

She kept it light and fun (word association game, etc..), was confident, flirted and joked

I think there was room for editing and there was probably discussion beforehand as to what would be discussed (and what not to discuss).

Wow, just wow. The org never fails. NEVER.

That Mel B infamy was one of the worst pieces of TV footage man (or woman) ever produced. An interviewer being asked questions by the guest instead of the other way around, childish giggling instead of serious talk, both behaving like stoned teenagers, talking bullshit. No real information at all, etc. Every single person i ever talked to about this one agrees that it's painful and embarrassing to the max. Then you post a Mel B pic at prince.org and instantly someone says "yeah, that was a great interview". lmao

FunkyDissCo said:

Wow, just wow. The org never fails. NEVER.

That Mel B infamy was one of the worst pieces of TV footage man (or woman) ever produced. An interviewer being asked questions by the guest instead of the other way around, childish giggling instead of serious talk, both behaving like stoned teenagers, talking bullshit. No real information at all, etc. Every single person i ever talked to about this one agrees that it's painful and embarrassing to the max. Then you post a Mel B pic at prince.org and instantly someone says "yeah, that was a great interview". lmao

^^^ Interesting info. Thanks.

Don't make it seem like an interview, if that makes any sense.

...Be the cast of The View, or Tavis Smiley.

Those are the ones where he did interviews and seemed the most comfortable.

Other than that, I pretty much think everyone else should stop trying to interview him and just invite him on as a musical guest, let him perform and do his thing, and let that be it.

It's not that I think Prince doesn't have anything to say, but the interviews are almost always awkward and kinda uncomfortable to watch, because it's usually them looking at him like he has two-heads, and asking him dumb, weird or invasive shit, and then watching him fumble for words and try to navigate through something like that.

FunkyDissCo said:

Wow, just wow. The org never fails. NEVER.

That Mel B infamy was one of the worst pieces of TV footage man (or woman) ever produced. An interviewer being asked questions by the guest instead of the other way around, childish giggling instead of serious talk, both behaving like stoned teenagers, talking bullshit. No real information at all, etc. Every single person i ever talked to about this one agrees that it's painful and embarrassing to the max. Then you post a Mel B pic at prince.org and instantly someone says "yeah, that was a great interview". lmao

Hey, everyone's entitled to their opinion. Yes, it was more fun rather than informative. I enjoyed just hearing him talk in a natural, relaxed voice. Prince said during the interview he was enjoying it & seemed more relaxed as opposed to previous interviews. I think he's toyingly thrown questions back at the interviewer for several other interviews also.

I saw someone's later post and I do agree, regarding information content, Tavis Smiley garnered the most from him. Prince was probably more willing to talk on a serious level since he was older and more mature. I don't think anyone would ever get that much info from him (unless he's the one that set it up), as he seems most comfortable "speaking" through his music.

There's my two cents, even if it is just worthless pennies to someone else....

You guys think the Mel B. interview was bad? You ain't seen nothing yet:

Watch this from behind your fingers in horror. She's so cringe-inducingly bad, that the video ends up being fun to watch just for the sheer fact you can't help what else is going to tumble out of her mouth like a bag of spanners next.

Part 1:

Part 2:

another tip. don't tell him you've wanted to sleep with him like your entire life....

oh i found this when i googled for a pic of her

http://goodboygonebad.com/?p=1947

the faces. hysterical.