Top 5: HITS interviews

Hey guys!

Today is quite a special day in the history of HITS.

(Okay, that sounded wayyy too dramatic, but let's just go with it.)

Exactly 5 years ago I taped my very first video interview.
If you remember that interview - wow, thank you! If you don't, that's totally cool - let me just tell you about it.
My first interviews (both written and video) were with a duo called Martin and James.
Fun fact: the blog is named after a line from their song "Wrong Directions".

I have been and still am a huge fan of their music, so being able to interview them was a big deal to me.
We filmed that interview on a sunny day in Cologne, which is about three hours away from my hometown. So I've had three hours to freak out in the car and worry about everything that could go wrong. Perfect.

If you have ever met Martin, James and their manager Ryan, you will know that they're some of the nicest people on the planet and they will even take a 17 year old seriously and let her interview them.

Having them be the first band I got to interview was the best case scenario and to this day I'm super glad this happened.
You can check out the interview here.
 

In honour of five years of interviews, I thought it would be nice to share five of my favourite interviews with you today. 


Before we dive into this list, I just want to say that I have enjoyed every single interview I've ever filmed and I get to learn so much along the way all the time.

Not only have I had the opportunity to sit down with some of my favourite artists, I've also found new favourites so very often.


That said, here are five of my favourite interviews:


1. Interview & Accent Challenge: Kodaline

Dare I say this is iconic? No, I don't.

But not only is this one of our most popular interviews, it's also one of the funniest interviews I've ever hosted.
I am not sure if I've ever told the story of how I came up with the idea for the accent challenge, so I'll do that now.
When I met Kodaline for the first interview back in September 2015, their tour manager Lewis pointed out the Scouse accent I had at that time. We all had a laugh and that was that.

Well, until the second interview came around and I decided to work the subject of accents in there by making Jason and Steve read their own lyrics in different accents.

The rest is available for you to view, so I hope you laugh as much as I did. And make sure to check out Kodaline if you haven't already, they for sure are in our good books.

2. Interview & Song Title Challenge: Jack Garratt

This was one of those interviews that I really wanted to have.

It took a few emails to arrange it and it meant travelling three hours to get to Munich.
Jack Garratt wrote one of my all time favourite songs, so being able to sit down with him for a chat and challenge was extremely great.

I admire his creativity and think he's one cool dude, so I felt like I could get away with throwing in a fun little challenge of reading odd song titles in there.
And it worked out beautifully.

And now everytime I eat vegetables, it makes me think of you.
(You'll get this if you watch the video. Or if you're a Ramones fan.)





3. Interview: Jamie Lawson

This is the third and most recent interview I filmed with Jamie Lawson.

We first met in 2014 for an interview and have filmed together every year ever since. He was the first artist I interviewed before I actually knew him. Before that I had mainly interviewed artists I had met before or knew in some way.

I know I haven't met the entire population of the world, but Jamie is honestly one of the nicest and loveliest people. This latest interview was a lot of fun for me, so of course it is part of this list.

This was also the first interview in which things got political and you'll get to see a lot more of that soon.





4. Interview: Scenic Route To Alaska

Could this carry the title "most underrated interview on HITS"? In my opinion, yes.

YouTube and algorithms can kick you right in the behind when you're trying to share your content, so sometimes the stuff you're proud of doesn't get seen.

This chat with Scenic Route To Alaska was a lot of fun and maybe I'm biased because they think Betty White is cool, but I think you'd actually enjoy watching it regardless.

That said - please check out the stuff that's posted by creators you enjoy, you'll help them immensely - and you'll probably find more music you'll end up loving.




5. Song Title Challenge: Rhys Lewis vs. Josh Savage

So, one thing I love about filming interviews is that they are always unpredictable.

Sometimes they end up being super deep and insightful and other times they're just fun and entertaining. And I love that on HITS we cover both ends of the spectrum.

Hosting this little challenge (the same one that Jack Garratt aced) with two of the finest songwriters was a lot of fun and I love that we made this little collab happen in London.

Now, check out the video to see whether "You're The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly" is an actual song title or not. You'll be surprised for sure.




Which one is your favourite house in the sand interview?

I would absolutely love to see which one you pick - to refresh your memory, here's a list of all interviews.


Before we end this post here, I just wanted to thank every artist that has ever allowed me to ask them tons of questions and also to every tour manager, manager, PR and label - they all do such amazing work behind the scenes and allow people like me to live their dreams.
You're all wonderful!


Of course - the biggest thank you always goes to you - the audience.
Without you there wouldn't be a reason to record these interviews, so thank you for being a part of house in the sand.


And that's it for today!
Here's to the next 75 years of interviews.



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Credits // Words & Image: Vanessa Jetwash