Before The Fray rocked The Hoop for the fall SOLO concert, I got the opportunity to interview a couple of the guys from the band. I, along with fellow journalism students Drake Fenlon, Kim Biggs and Dillon James, had a 20-minute sit-down interview with Isaac and Ben from the band.
This was my first interview with a prominent entertainer, and I was full of excitement and extremely nervous. I have always enjoyed The Fray’s music and can pretty much belt out any of their tunes word-for-word. Their style of music has always been something I easily connected with and enjoyed. Some people like to joke that when listening to them one needs a tissue in hand, but I disagree. There’s more to the band than just their signature slow hits. Check out their past albums, each is filled with songs that do more than just tug at your emotions.
Tuesday evening, before the concert, we all gathered in the lobby of the basketball offices at the Hooper Eblen Center to interview the guys. I quickly learned Isaac and Ben, the lead singer and drummer respectively, were far from high maintenance celebrities with diva demands. Both guys were extremely laid back, engaging, and hilarious. Both were very gracious with each question asked and they provided us with a good question and answer session along with some hilarious banter.
I asked the guys about their forthcoming album and if they could give us an update on the yet untitled cd. The guys announced that the album would be released on January 14th of 2014. The new single from the album, ‘Love Don’t Die’, was released on Monday and is very catchy.
On a side note, I wanted to ask the guys if I could join them on stage to sing ‘Never Say Never’ with them. However, I quickly realized how dreadful my singing is and thought better of the situation, but I digress.
The guys also genuinely inquired about the University and wanted to know details of its history and student body. Isaac particularly enjoyed Tech’s Golden Eagle mascot, as he snatched a statue of one off the basketball office front desk to hold while we all took some group shots. He later brought the same statue on stage during the concert and proudly sat it on his piano.
Later that night, The Fray took the stage and put on an excellent concert for Tech fans and proved to be more than just a slow ballad-singing group. It was a pleasure to get to interview Isaac and Ben and their authenticity really shined through. I appreciated them being very welcoming and their sense of humor. They made an awesome first interview for me.
