Meeting Robert in person was a surreal experience, as with meeting any celebrity. It’s always startling to realize they are just normal people. Granted, not all have such a respectable history of being an all around artist and great human being – yet he was warm, courteous, and I thoroughly enjoyed the shoot.

On Oct 10, neo-nerd rock band Weezer played at GM Place as part of their new Troublemaker Tour. I had the opportunity to shoot the piece for VancouverIAM, which is how I found myself headed down to the venue that afternoon to meet up with the musicians.

I always find these gigs interesting, partly because you meet everyone else on the music-interview circuit. As the host, Matt Anderson, and I arrived at Gate 9, we joined the rest of the group awaiting their turn. There were reps from MuchMusic, Urban Rush, Electric Playground, and others.

I also chatted briefly with Nardwuar, one of the scenes most interesting interviewers. Apparently, Snoop Dogg can’t get enough of him. And I’m told Nardwuar was the only press Jay Z would take when he was up at Pemberton this past summer.

Anyway, back to Weezer. Turns out the band was split between the outlets, so we interviewed the guitarist, Brian Bell. Which turned out great because he gave us interesting, thoughtful answers about a variety of topics, including:

• the definition of a “hootenanny”
• why he loves playing in Japan
• and what is was like working on the massively popular Pork & Beans video

All in all, a great interview. Enjoy!