Dolores O'Riordan and the Stars of Track and Field

So, I’ve been very busy of late with a lot of different projects for CONFRONT Magazine. The two most pressing have been doing research for a phone interview I had on Tuesday with Dolores O’Riordan, formerly of The Cranberries, about her new solo project (though we spent a lot of time talking about her kids) and transcribing the interview I did back in March, with Daniel Orvik of the Stars of Track and Field.

The Dolores O’Riordan interview was really thrilling for me, because I’ve been a fan of her music since ‘Everyone Else is Doing it Why Aren’t We?’ which was the Cranberries’ debut CD. Dolores O’Riordan also qualifies as my “first” big celebrity interview and I’m fairly sure it’s the first time I’ve gotten an overseas call from Germany, which is where she was on Tuesday.

The Stars of Track and Field are, of course, a band whose music I love and enjoy, a band whose music deserves a far larger audience than it’s currently getting, thanks in no small part to the recalcitrance of corporate radio to play something that doesn’t easily fit into the mould of what their focus groups tell them the kids are listening to these days.

As I listened to my interview with Daniel Orvik to transcribe it for this edition’s Beat Bazaar, I was reminded of how well he and I hit it off, talking and joking throughout the interview.

I think that my time with CONFRONT Magazine has taught me to better appreciate music, simply because I’ve learned so much about what goes into the production of an album and how hard those musicians work to get their stuff out there, even after they have “made it”, per se.

By nature (and I speak from personal experience as an author) artists tend to desire acceptance and approval from other people. Life on the road for all but a very few lucky musicians who can tour with their closest family and friends tends to be very lonely, so I imagine it must be gratifying for them to meet anybody they can relate to, especially when that person appreciates their music.