Day 29 of the #NaNoPoblano2021 challenge, now a.k.a. “NaJanPoblano2022” (heee….) . Major Theme: “A Few of My Earliest Things”. New sub-theme: “First Published”. Related post: My Evolution as a Writer.
This was my first celebrity interview ever, which could be the only celebrity interview I’d have in this lifetime. (I lost my chance at interviewing Lea Salonga much, much later.) I have my first-ever editor in college to thank since she assigned this to me.
I did have a partner or co-writer. I didn’t mind since I was still new to the school paper and needed to learn the ropes. He knew more about the music, plus, he was much cooler than me. Honestly, I wouldn’t really know if I could do the interview without him. We were interviewing celebrities…! We were to interview THE DAWN, “pioneers of Post-Modern Rock” here. I’m not sure who came up with that one (“pioneers of…”), my co-writer Butch or me, or if we got that somewhere. But pioneers, they really were.
The concert ticket, front…
…and back
They were doing a concert at our university. So the paper got permission from the organizers for the interview, which they arranged and made happen. We were allowed since the band had an important album out so, you know, it’s still publicity, however small. It was actually maybe an hour or so before the concert. They let us go inside their parked bus to meet the members. Unfortunately, for some reason, Jett Pangan, the main vocalist, was kept busy outside the bus. Usually, it’s really the vocalist who’s the main face of the band, right? So it was a bit of a downer that we couldn’t talk to him. I only have three out of four autographs. No cellphone yet, no camera, so no photos 😦
Not that we didn’t enjoy the interview! Of course, we did! I didn’t particularly know all of them then. I really just knew them as The Dawn. I just hoped I was asking the right questions. So thank goodness, Butch was the enthusiast. It wasn’t me who described Jett’s voice as “nasal”, though. (It’s true, Butch, so please don’t come down from heaven and scare me.) I wrote the first draft, he did the final draft where he added everything else. I do disagree about the description. We went to the concert (for free!) after the interview and, despite my headache caused by being near large loudspeakers, Jett sounded fine to me. Many years later, I would watch Baby The Musical and hear Jett sing live on stage again — great voice and definitely not nasal!
Being a writer does have its perks sometimes.
The End Justifies the Journey 
JGi, great that you got to interview The Dawn band members. Even though you had a co-writer, it must have been a thrill for you. 📚🎶 Christine
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It was! They were well-known because, for a long time after the ’70s or early ’80s, they were practically the only rock band you’d see on TV. But when we interviewed them, it was supposed to be one of their last concerts, ergo, the title of the article. From what I heard from the grapevine, they were trying not to disband. They did. (I THINK they tried to go back years later, just not sure of it.)
New and younger bands were coming out of the underground scene, starting the alternative rock era, and basically turning mainstream (although they probably won’t agree to the word “mainstream”). THE DAWN was not about alternative rock, the genre for the younger generation and more general public.
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Thanks so much for the details. Interesting! I love rock bands, and music in general. 📚🎶
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As do I. We may favor one over the other but it doesn’t necessarily mean we can’t enjoy the other one…Thanks for taking time to read, CE. It means so much to me 🙂
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