20+ Musicians Answer the Weirdest Interview Questions We've Ever Asked And It's Pure Gold
From space messages to zombie apocalypses, time-travel mishaps, and duets with fictional characters, we asked a wild set of questions to some of our favorite artists. 😎
When you interview enough musicians, you start expecting a certain level of unpredictability. But every now and then, things get really out there - zombie survival strategies, duets with Darth Vader, Netflix series starring Javier Bardem eating cereal for 30 minutes.
We've collected some of our favorite moments from our interviews over the last months; the ones that made us laugh, think, and occasionally wonder if we accidentally wandered into an alternate dimension.
Here's what happens when you ask artists the strangest questions imaginable and just let them roll with it. Pull up a chair, grab a drink, and enjoy the ride.
Time Travel, Alternate Realities, and Fantasy Jams
Some artists dream of sharing a stage with their heroes. Others...want to jam with Kermit the Frog.
Musicngear: If you could write a duet with a fictional character (from books, movies, or games), who would it be and what would the song be about?
Dark Tropics
A country music song with Darth Vader about his family tree might be fun to write. What rhymes with Skywalker?
Goldkimono
Lisa Simpson would be epic. We'd make something jazzy, slightly sarcastic. Lisa would bring the saxophone, of course, and some sharp social commentary. I'd play the jaded adult looking back, realizing she had it right all along. It'd be a mix of wit and warmth.
Charlie Aky
When I saw this, my first thought was Kermit the Frog. I have no idea why or what we would write about, but I think his experience from the Muppets movie would really help us...
Musicngear: If you had to swap lives with any musician from history for a day, who would it be and why?
Jesse Daniel Edwards
I believe it may sound contradictory, but I wouldn't want to swap this life of mine for anything…
Sam Robbins
I think I'd love to experience what it was like to be Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Fest, not when he went electric, but at the festival in 1963. Maybe it's because I just watched the new movie and I’m feeling all Dylan-y, but I recently rewatched the video of him at this show. I would just love to experience what it must’ve been like for him at that moment in music history - I think it was really all a combination of timing, his great songwriting and performances, and a lot of great marketing, but I'm sure it was interesting to feel like you were the zenith of a new era in popular music and in culture.
But… then I think I'd be okay to leave. Just a day of that is enough, I think!
ET Boys
I would swap lives with Tommy Lee, the drummer of Motley Crue, at their prime. I'm not really a party guy, but I think it would be cool to live the life of a rockstar for a day in the '80s.
Musicngear: Your tour van accidentally drives through a time portal and drops you into a completely different era. Where are you, what year are you in, and what are you doing there?
Sara Mae (The Noisy)
I'd really like to be in a John Waters movie and see Baltimore back then. To be a dreamlander and meet Edith Massey. Imagine being a band that plays in the background of a scene from Hairspray or something. Kind of like the Japanese Breakfast "Boyish" video.
Whitehall
A bright flash. Our eyes adjust to the new surroundings. The year is 50,000 A.D. The van is now made of jelly. In fact, jelly is the only thing we see through the windows, also made of jelly. The future is jelly. We do the only thing we know how to do. Open up the time travel proof peanut butter and GET. TO. WORK.
Charlie Aky
I love the film Back to the Future, and all the music in it is incredible. So let's go back to the 12th November 1955. I'm at the school disco just to see Marty McFly absolutely rip the life out of Johnny B Goode…
Musicngear: If you could form a supergroup with any historical figures, who would be in the band, and what role would each of them play?
Whitehall
Hardcore punk band: Abe Lincoln on vox and screams, Julius Caesar on bass (no one likes him, gets fired, then executed on stage), Joan of Arc on drums and triangle, Jesus Christ lead guitar and backup screams, Pinocchio on percussion (uses nose as drumstick), Martin Luther King on keys, synths, and spoken word vox and Dracula (vibes only, just stands on stage).
Steel Wool
JADEN: Gimme Sean Lissener on vocals and rhythm guitar, Evan Landi on drums, and Sam Schlesinger on lead guitar. Oh, those aren't historical figures? Well, hey, give it a couple of years! You wouldn't believe some of the stuff in their manifestos...
Tristan Tritt
Band Name: Vuja Dae / Drums: John Bonham / Guitar: Hendrix / Vocals: Ronnie Van Zant / Bass: Les Claypool / Head Groupie: Tristan Tritt
Musicngear: If you could headline one show anywhere in the world, on any stage, with any lineup, even fictional or from another era, what would it look like? No rules.
RAGS AND RICHES
I would say Royal Albert Hall or Madison Square Gardens, and the lineup would be RAGS AND RICHES, Queen, Post Malone, and Nirvana. I feel like it would be a wild show!
Musicngear: You've been offered the chance to headline Woodstock in 1969. What's the setlist, and who's the most nervous about time-traveling?
Propter Hawk
Brian is the least nervous since he has time-traveled before. He offers rules and guidelines to make the journey less stressful, and according to him, even enjoyable. We would copy The Who's full performance.
Musicngear: If time travel existed, would you rather jam with Talking Heads at CBGB in the late '70s, be the secret opener for Paul Simon's Graceland tour, or crash a laid-back reggae session in Kingston during the Bob Marley era?
Goldkimono
Woooow. All three sound ridiculously good. But I'd have to go with the Bob Marley reggae session in Kingston. No question.
Netflix Plots, Alien Messages, and Cosmic Weirdness
Stories, TV pitches, and songs for the void. Artists imagine their hits turned into shows or sent to the stars.
Musicngear: Your biggest hit is now a Netflix series. What’s the plot, and which celebrity randomly shows up as a guest star?
Boy Jr.
I'm gonna go with "I Hope You Feel Terrible" cuz I think that would be a pretty sweet series name, too, haha.
I think the plot would be about someone who starts the series out by trying to scheme a big revenge plot against someone who hurt them, only to find that the experience of working on a project and involving other people and learning new things to make it happen is fulfilling enough that they don't feel the need to get revenge.
And for some reason, Joe Jonas would be there.
Walt Hamburger
I guess it'd be based on divorce, and I'd be played by Chris Pratt...Dakota Johnson would play my partner, and Bill Murray would insist on a cameo.
Tristan Tritt
Five 30-minute episodes of TV static. The last episode will have Javier Bardem, dressed as the character from No Country for Old Men, eating cereal for 30 minutes.
No dialogue needed.
Dark Tropics
"Moroccan Sun" would obviously have to be a soap opera starring Jennifer Coolidge and Denzel about a cruise ship stranded off the coast of Morocco.
What crazy adventures will ensue? Could there be a murder at the wedding? I think so.
Musicngear: Netflix taps you to write the theme song for a completely unhinged new series. What's the show about, and what's the name of your track?
Mark Fredson
Show's probably about murder in a small town in Washington. The song is called The Dark Side of the Water.
Musicngear: If Jane Doe were the star of a comic book or a film, what would the plot be? What kind of characters would each of you play, and what would the title be?
Jane Doe
I was going to say we would do a 2025 version of "This is Spinal Tap" and call it "This is Jane Doe" and we'd just be ridiculous caricatures of ourselves - but...we'd be wacky versions of The Incredibles.
Charlie would be Dash, Zephry would be Bomb Voyage, Jake would be The Underminer, and I’ve been anointed as Mr. Incredible.
Musicngear: You've just been signed to compose the soundtrack for a totally bizarre movie about vampires and space pirates. What's the opening track called, and could you share a few lyrics or lines from it?
Alexei Shishkin
I imagine we could take a sort of "Romeo & Juliet" trope and make it a story where a vampire and a space pirate fall in love, but it's forbidden.
Let's call the opening track "Gothic Galaxy Theme". It would be an instrumental featuring a string section, a pipe organ, some grandiose choral parts, etc.
Musicngear: If you could send one of your songs into space as a message to the universe, which one would it be and why?
Boy Jr.
Oh, definitely "Zitty Stardust". I want the takeaway of that message to be "it's okay if you don't understand other people's identities. I hope you can still see the beauty in their happiness and give them peace".
Avery Friedman
"Somewhere To Go". I think it's the most otherworldly and eerie, but at the same time, pretty and enveloping. Not sure why I chose this one, but I feel the aliens would be at home within it.
Jordan Duffy
I would send CMF. It is a kick-ass song in itself, but it also talks about how you are wicked powerful, and no one can hold you back or put you down.
Ghosts, Mutant Gear, and Action Movie Weapons
When instruments get personalities, things get very interesting.
Musicngear: Your gear gets possessed by the ghost of a famous musician. Who's haunting it, and what strange quirks does it suddenly have?
Propter Hawk
Keith Richards is haunting my guitar, and it dispenses cigarettes at the headstock every time I play a Chuck Berry song.
Musicngear: Your pedalboard accidentally falls into a radioactive vat and mutates into a living creature. What does it look like, what powers does it have, and is it a friend or foe?
Steel Wool
JADEN: Sean's becomes a wyvern, Sam's becomes a bear, mine becomes a raccoon, and Evan's becomes an orangutan. They'd probably go off, flying from place to place on the wyvern's back and getting into adventures.
The band would end, but it might bring us some comfort to look up at the night sky and know they're out there.
Musicngear: Your instruments mysteriously gain AI consciousness overnight. Are they helpful bandmates, total divas, or plotting a full band takeover?
Whitehall
Definitely plotting a full band takeover. Especially the drumset. After years of brutal beatings and abuse, it's out for revenge and is the fearless villain leader of all the other instruments.
Together, they will beat us senseless and probably do our jobs much better.
Musicngear: If Supersonic Deuces were a weapon in an action movie, what would it be, and who would wield it?
Supersonic Deuces
I'd say we'd be an armored machine gun car in a Mad Max movie, perfectly chaotic and unstoppable.
Musicngear: If your music were a video game, what kind of game would it be?
ET Boys
I think it would be an RPG. Nintendo 64/PlayStation 1 style graphics. Lots of cool art, great soundtrack, and the story would be extremely convoluted.
Alexei Shishkin
There was a time when the answer would have been FIFA, but EA FC is absolute trash (if you're reading this, EA music team, I’d still take the spot).
This is such a "video game bro" answer, but it would be sick to have a radio station in GTA that would play my music and music I like. If any video game developers ever want me to score their game, they should get in touch; I’ll do it for free (if it’s an indie).
Soundscapes & Time Capsules
Musicngear: Someone discovers a time capsule out of your backyard in 2075 and finds a hard copy of "Company Man". What do you hope they understand about the version of you who made it?
Mark Fredson
That I was going through it and questioning whether the path I'd chosen to take with my life was the right one. But I hope they'd also understand that that very person who was in the midst of a slight crisis chose to make an album about it, which means that his decision to dedicate his life to music wasn't totally in vain.
I would hope that they could trust that I made the music for the right reasons, that it was coming from an honest place.
Musicngear: If music were a form of prayer, and each note a step on a path, what kind of landscape do you imagine your songs are walking through?
Levi Robin
Probably a desert. Sometimes in drought, other times in heavy rain and flash floods, other times under a clear night sky full of stars, and other times surrounded by a miraculous desert bloom.
Zombie Apocalypses and Survival Instincts
Musicngear: If your band had to survive in a zombie apocalypse, who's leading the group and who's getting eaten first?
Full Circle Boys
Ollie is getting eaten first, and Jagger would try to lead the group, but James probably has the most knowledge about surviving a zombie apocalypse.
Wrap-Up
From zombie apocalypse leadership to jazz duets with cartoon characters, these musicians gave us answers that were as funny, weird, and wonderful as the songs they create. Every quote is exactly how they said it; no edits, no filters, just pure personality.
If you've got music you want the world to hear -maybe even your own weird story to tell- drop us a line. Who knows? Your band could be next to get grilled with the questions that made this article an absolute joyride!
About Chris Roditis
Chris Roditis has been an active musician since 1995 in various bands and projects across a variety of genres ranging from acoustic, electronic to nu metal, british rock and trip hop. He has extensive experience as a mixing engineer and producer and has built recording studios for most of the projects he has been involved with. His passion for music steered his entrepreneurial skills into founding MusicNGear in 2012.
Contact Chris Roditis at chrisroditis@musicngear.com
This section of the blog covers various subjects among the vast array of topics that revolve around the life of the active musician.
Interested in writing a story as a guest or joining the Musicngear team as a Contributing Author? Contact us at info+newauthor@musicngear.com
