It’s no secret that some artists hate giving interviews. Whether it’s dull questions, a bad host or just poor timing, some artists get seriously fed up during interviews, and this can have some very awkward results.
Here are nine awful interviews to make you cringe. Beware: contains painful silences, blunt answers and sibling arguments.
Nick Cave and Billy Corgan on MTV
Nick Cave was widely feared among journalists in the ’90s, and it’s not hard to see why. He’s famous for his razor-sharp wit, and even sharper tongue. Just watch this clip of him ripping into Billy Corgan during a 1994 MTV interview (and watch Corgan awkwardly try to laugh it off).
Sigur Ros on NPR
If you can’t stand lengthy silences, look away now. You wouldn’t really expect an Icelandic post-rock band that sings in their own language to be the best interview subjects, but you’d be forgiven for expecting a bit more than this from Sigur Ros.
Oasis on the radio
This isn’t really an interview. It started out as an interview, but it just turned into the Gallaghers arguing for almost 15 minutes. See if you can spot the host occasionally try to get a word in edgeways.
Lou Reed in Australia
“You don’t stand a chance here. You’re digging you’re own grave.” You can probably count the number of good interviews Lou Reed gave on one hand. He hated the press, so you can imagine that he wouldn’t be too happy in a press conference… Here’s just one of his many confrontational interviews.
Nardwuar vs Blur
John Ruskin, more commonly known as Nardwuar, is arguably the greatest music interviewer of all time. His FBI level of background research makes for excellent viewing, however, when he infamously crossed paths with Blur in 2003, the end results are a bit harder to watch. Drummer Dave Rowntree stops just short of kicking Nardwuar’s head in before abruptly walking out of the room, leaving Alex James and Damon Albarn to sheepishly spend the rest of the interview trying to make it up to Nardwuar. In 2011, Rowntree made a public apology to Nardwuar on Twitter, saying he was ashamed of his behaviour. Nardwuar accepted the apology.
Aphex Twin in Russia
You won’t find many interviews with the elusive Aphex Twin. He stopped taking part in them a long time ago, and after watching this interview from 1994 you can’t really blame him. We’re not sure who’s interviewing him at this Moscow music festival, but it looks more like a police interrogation tape than a music interview and sounds like it’s being translated into about three different languages.
Father John Misty on BBC Breakfast
Whose idea was it to put Father John Misty on BBC Breakfast? Whoever it was obviously didn’t realise he’d be such a sarcastic customer. Watch as Mr Tillman can barely keep himself from laughing as he winds up the hosts.
A$AP Rocky on MTV
No words needed. Just watch.
Flying Lotus on MTV
She strikes again. Aurelia ran riot at Pitchfork Music Festival 2012 after winning a competition. Here’s another excruciatingly awkward encounter from the same weekend, this time with Flying Lotus.
