In college at Harvard I was on the Harvard Crimson and Harvard Lampoon and covered cultural issues and also wrote freelance stories for the Chicago Tribune and the Boston Globe, reviewing music and talking to musical artists. So it was a natural progression to go from all of that to reviewing music.

After I graduated from Harvard, I went on to USA TODAY, then a very new newspaper that was struggling to sort of find its place, make its mark, get some respect. And it was a good place for a young journalist because it was a meritocracy.... [At USA TODAY] if you had the talent, if you're doing the job, if you're getting the interviews, if you're writing the stories well, they wanted to push you because they needed talent to sort of light the fires over there. It was a good place for me to do interesting interviews and to talk with people like Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, and Halle Berry, before she become a star.

JournalismJobs.com: Are you ever in awe when you interview big name artists?

Farley: I've talked with a lot of top artists -- everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Bob Dylan to Lauren Hill to Aretha Franklin to Joni Mitchell and Prince -- some of these people who are sort of the most reclusive stars of the world and some people who have had the biggest influence in pop music. I'm actually more in awe of the smaller artists like [Canadian folk rocker] Sara Harmer, or people like Alana Davis, who I think is a terrific pop rocker. She's not rich, she's not super well-known by any means. I'm just constantly in awe of people who are willing to sort of put themselves out there and do it for a love of the art and not to become famous. And that's what impresses me the most, not hanging out with Dylan backstage, which I've done.

JournalismJobs.com: Who are some of the more interesting artists you've interviewed?

Farley: Now and again you meet people who aren't as interesting or as nice as you might have thought. For example, Whitney Houston. When I interviewed her some years ago down in Miami, every other word out of her mouth was an "F" word. She cursed more than Snoop Doggy Dog... And then later, as your more untrustworthy stars are apt to do, she denied what she said to me in Entertainment Weekly. Luckily as a journalist -- if you're a good journalist -- you tend to tape your interviews, your big ones. So I had the whole interview on tape, and I played it for anyone who wanted to hear it. And that was put to bed. Now and again you'll run into artists like that who really aren't like the public image.... That was not as pleasant an experience as one might have thought going in to interview Whitney Houston. Some of the coolest artists I've interviewed are "The Roots," a terrific hip-hop band, and "Rage Against the Machine."

JournalismJobs.com: Do you look for undiscovered artists who you feel are doing quality work but are not getting the recognition?

Pages: « [ 1 ]  2   3   4  »