AUDIENCE INTERACTION INTERVIEWS
GUSSIE LARKIN
MUSICIAN
Mermaidens
WELLINGTON, NZ
I started off by having a little chat to my best friend, Gussie Larkin, about audience interaction. She’s in a band called Mermaidens, who are a three-piece based in Wellington, New Zealand. She’s in this band with two of our other very good friends, Abe Hollingsworth and Lily West. We didn’t have a proper interview but she threw me some relevant information to work with. Here’s the chat we had via social media!
Dusty: Hey, I want to know some stuff about audience responses you’ve had from people. I want to know if and/or how they effect next performances/songs you create.
Gussie: In the band?
Dusty: YAS! The band!
A few days later…
Gussie: Hey, we’ve been recording all weekend so I haven’t had much time to think about this, but I think feedback from people definitely doesn’t change how I write music. It’s cool when people say they like a particular song or maybe a particular guitar part or whatever. But I just stick with what I think sounds best and I don’t overthink the performance side of it.
Dusty: I feel like you just answered most of the questions I would have asked you in one little spiel. Awesome.
Gussie: Sweet! Feedback from people has been positive, usually all people want to say is something along the lines of “great set, really enjoyed it.” The only people who have said specific things and who I’d actually listen to are probably my Mum and Ezra (boyfriend.) Ha ha!
Dusty: Makes perfect sense!
Gussie: We’ve been recording from 10am till 10pm every day! Only one more day to go though.
Dusty: So hectic for you!
It’s short and sweet, but as you can see by that conversation, she’s a very busy young woman!
Here’s an proper interview of their band conducted by Flying Out which is an interesting watch if you want to get to know the band, you can check it out by clicking here.
Click here for their In Session music video.
LYDIA KIRWOOD
MODEL
BYRON | MELBOURNE | SYDNEY
Recently I interviewed a lovely young woman, Lydia Kirwood, who is in the modelling industry. Because “beauty ideals” are such a massive part of our society, I thought it would be perfect to get some first-hand answers from someone who is actually involved with making beauty media and exploring whether audience interactivity contributes to changes in the portrayal of beauty or causes the subject of beauty (in this case, Lydia) to behave differently.
Dusty: How long have you been in the modelling industry?
Lydia: Just over one year now.
Dusty: How did you start?
Lydia: Meeting up with and shooting with a few people I met online and being signed with a small agency in Queensland.
Dusty: Which social media interface of yours has the largest ‘following’?
Lydia: Instagram and Tumblr as close second.
Dusty: Why do you think that is?
Lydia: My Instagram is 100% personal whereas Tumblr is a mixture of my own and other people’s work.
Dusty: Which countries/cities are your ‘followers’ from?
Lydia: I’d say mainly Australian and American cities, I have no idea though.
Dusty: What was the biggest ‘modelling gig’ you’ve done?
Lydia: I was cast for Karen Walker but wasn’t in Sydney for the gig unfortunately, I haven’t done many “big” things yet, I’m just starting with that stuff since signing. However, I did do a General Pants campaign last week!
Dusty: Favourite shoot so far?
Lydia: I’m not really sure, probably the tests where the photographer and I have the most creative direction.
Dusty: Does having a social following on Instagram (and/or other) help for gaining more work?
Lydia: Definitely, but that’s not to say that a girl will book well paid or higher end jobs with just a big following, it depends on their look and also having an agent with the right connections who can market you well.
Dusty: Do you pose by direction or whatever you feel works (or both)?
Lydia: Both, it depends completely on the photographer or person in charge.
Dusty: Does feedback and/or praise from anyone in comments on social media affect you at all?
Lydia: Kind of, but they are comments on a two dimensional image, so I don’t think it’s healthy to take them on board too much.
Dusty: Do the comments influence how you pose in next photos or what you choose to post? Give examples if so.
Lydia: Once you’ve been doing it for a while you know your angles et cetera. My ‘style’ has changed since last year though and I don’t find photos showing lots of skin interesting or exciting anymore, I like the fashion aspect in a picture more so I post for myself.
Dusty: Are you ever afraid of having rude, offensive or disturbing comments written on your photos?
Lydia: No, I don’t think any of my pictures attract that kind of stuff.
Dusty: Does it ever happen and do you take notice or delete said comments if so?
Lydia: If it ever does I just delete them.
Of course this is only one person’s thoughts on how audiences affect another’s productivity, however, it does allow for the public to understand that there is power in having a following on social media where you have the ability to control what comments remain and how you want to portray an image.
JACKSON SCHUMACHER
GUITARIST
Northeast Party House
MELBOURNE
My interview with the awesome human that is Jack Schumacher went very well and I feel it has held the most substantial information to work with. I think the main reason for that is because his band has a lot more content available to the public eye than the others who I have interviewed. They’ve been part of the scene for a while now, therefore have had time to generate a name for themselves.
Dusty: How long have you been part of Northeast Party House and had you been a fan since the band first started if you weren’t in it from the beginning?
Jack: My good friend Sean Congues and I formed the band in 2009. Sean and I had been playing together in bands all throughout high school but took a break from music after finishing VCE exams. After three weeks of attempting an environmental science degree I felt overwhelmed by the state of the world and quit to turn my focus back on music. Sean and I worked together in his home studio in the Dandenong Ranges for a few months until eventually we found a singer to work with.
Dusty: How large would you say Northeast Party House’s ‘social following’ is?
Jack: It’s been slowly but steadily growing. We have 16,000 likes on Facebook and 3,700 Instagram. The majority of which come from Australia and not surprisingly our hometown Melbourne is the most popular city.
Dusty: What was the biggest crowd you’ve performed for and where was it?
Jack: This past summer we played at Falls Festival in Lorne and Byron Bay. At each show we played to somewhere between 6 to 10 thousand people. The Byron Bay show felt bigger as we were playing the last set of the night in a packed tent rather than an afternoon slot where people are all scattered in a massive amphitheatre.
Dusty: Which was the most entertaining/exciting performance for you personally (and/or the whole band)?
Jack: Although those large festival shows are incredible to play, selling out our own shows is a very special feeling. In March we sold out at The Hi-Fi in Melbourne and playing to such a large audience who were singing along to every word was amazing.
Dusty: Do you have much to do with the music videos (or general band videos) that have been made?
Jack: It’s been different for each video we’ve made. Some we’ve made ourselves, some we’ve worked with a director on an idea we’ve had and others we’ve had almost nothing to do with apart from showing up on the filming day.
Dusty: If so, are the themes reflective of the band’s ideas, just singular members or other people entirely?
Jack: We all discuss video ideas together, but to keep the six of us, our manager and our label people happy is a very hard task given we are usually working with tight time frames and incredibly limited budgets. It’s usually just a case of what can we make work with the resources available to us.
Dusty: Do comments/ideas of your general audience in a face-to-face situation ever influence what happens in a next video?
Jack: Not really. Sometimes we’ll bounce ideas off friends. A lot of ideas have been canned as they haven’t passed the friend test.
Dusty: Do comments/ideas of your general audience comments over online interfaces effect/influence the content of next videos?
Jack: Again not really. There was one clip that attracted a few negative comments but they were comments that we agreed with. So it wasn’t so much a case of the comments influencing us but confirming for us that we didn’t want to go down that same path on our next video.
Dusty: Is the lyrical or melodical content influenced by audience? (eg. When you see which songs people like listening to the most at your concerts/videos and songs which have the most views/plays are songs are then produced with a similar style?)
Jack: Yes for sure. From day one our band has always been focused on putting on high energy live shows and we definitely think about that when writing and recording music. From time to time we sneak a new song into the set to see how the audience responds to a new direction.
Dusty: Would the influences (if any) come from mainly face-to-face, YouTube (or other video hosting sites,) or other social media comments/praise/dislike?
Jack: Mostly the crowd reaction at live shows but occasionally we take notice of comments made on YouTube or Instagram. It’s also good to hear feedback from people within the music industry such as sound engineers who are working at the venue we play or other musicians, lighting techs, mangers etc.
Dusty: Do you and/or the other band members ever have unfriendly comments from people on any of your content? (Facebook band page, YouTube… etc.)
Jack: Not directed personally at any individual but the band of course receives its fair share of negative comments.
Dusty: Does it bother any of you or are you not phased?
Jack: We actually find it quite amusing. We once received a review in Vice for a cover we did as part of a Triple J segment that said ‘Imagine being stabbed in the ear with a sharp dildo. Such a nauseating spectacle has rarely been witnessed in music.’
Brutal! Well, if it’s an consolation, I thought it was good.
Dusty: What video which the band has released is the most popular and why do you think it’s most popular?
Jack: Our ‘Like A Version’ for Triple J has over 200,000 views on YouTube. That is simply because Triple J have a large audience and we covered a well known song by an established artist. Our video clip for ‘Empires’ has 89,000 views but that is because it has been up on Youtube the longest.
Dusty: Which video is your personal favourite and why?
Jack: We filmed and edited our own video for our track ‘Fake Friends.‘ The footage comprises mostly of ‘On The Road’ footage from our album tour. Because we had full creative control we feel it represents us the most accurately out of any of our clips. It has only received 7,000 views because that particular song was never an official single and did not receive any radio play.
SEBASTIAN L
FACEBOOK PAGE ADMINISTRATOR
The Same Photo of Jim Carrey Every Day, Again
MELBOURNE
Dusty: How did you come up with the idea to make the Facebook page The Same Photo of Jim Carrey Every Day, Again?
Seb: There are heaps of “The Same Photo of ….” pages so it’s not really that original.
Dusty: When did you make this page?
Seb: I made the page mid September 2014.
Dusty: Was it just for your own entertainment?
Seb: I made it to see how many likes I could get for as long as I remained interested in it.
Dusty: How many “likes” does it have?
Seb: It has just over 4,000 likes.
Dusty: Did you expect that it would get this much attention upon making it?
Seb: I thought that it would get more likes faster.
Dusty: Why and how do you think it’s gained this following?
Seb: I haven’t promoted it ever and can see that my posts reach a small percentage of “likers.”
Dusty: Are you quite pleased that you have created something rather simple and yet managed to have such a big response?
Seb: People like the quick fix of stupidity. Great for short attention spans to see the same face of Jim erry’day.
Dusty: Do people ever message the page with praise or abuse?
Seb: People message me saying “omg so funny, we love you Jim” et cetera, but no abuse.
Dusty: Do you think creating Facebook pages are a good way of creating a social following generally? If so, why?
Seb: Facebook is a great Yellow Pages of all time. I like being able to look up any business or band and get in touch with them easily. I hate Facebook and what it’s done to our lives, but also its a huge help to connect the world.
Dusty: How do you think your audience would react if you posted a picture of Jim Carrey (pictured above) that wasn’t the same?
Seb: I think people would crack the s**ts and unlike it. I’ve guaranteed that I’ll post the same photo so, I’ll give people what they’re after.
Dusty: Would people be upset? (Jokingly, I would assume.)
Seb: Yes!
Dusty: Do you ever have unfriendly comments from people on any of your content which is posted?
Seb: No unfriendly comments. But I wouldn’t be phased if there were because I’m not personally exposed.
WHAT I FOUND:
In our website, we have aimed to use our group, personal vlogs and various other links to physically express the use of the way our modern day audience can interact online. Our main focus was YouTube interactivity while I also touch on the connectivity which Instagram and Facebook cater for. YouTube enables members to create, upload, and share a wide range of content ranging from homemade video to movie scenes (Lange, 2007 cited in Lee & Lehto, 2013). It allows users to present anything they want (within YouTube’s agreements) and publish works independent to involvement of another party in a cost effective manner.
The invention of the internet in 1983, while it still allowed for interaction, it was basic comparatively to its current and progressing state. Most audiences prior to the internet age were those of physical means, in theatre and cinema audiences for example. This allowed for a less vast array of viewers to interact with performers and seemingly kept the interactivity levels at a low as it was not widely accessible. Those who I did interview, such as Lydia Kirwood, explained that gaining social following or simply giving the option of following a public face helps to remain current as a public face and get more work as you’re publically exposed. Other interviewees had agreed that videos and posts on other social media were great ways to gain a self-made following, even if it was a slow progress.
In terms of YouTube and its initial launch in 2005 has become one of the largest video sharing websites of today. It has altered the participation era hugely, the changes in technology and progression of furthering their website to forever grow into a more complex multi-faceted interface where users and viewers can interact and navigate the website with ease, open windows to remain popular with a larger demographic. YouTube is an ever-growing, promising learning channel for one-time procedural tasks (even music videos) which informs others of relevant affairs and is a host for those in entertainment industries (Ryu, Kim & Lee, 2009 cited in Lee & Lehto, 2013). YouTube has steadily grown its interactive qualities with the addition of annotating videos which allow links to be embedded in their videos to navigate to selected previous or next videos in a series from people involved in this media interface. These users can consist of video bloggers and musicians and annotated videos are used to promote and gain views on their other works as it is a visually enticing, interesting way for viewers to navigate through YouTube. As long as one of their pieces are building a large audience, the promotion of videos with less views, whether it be through annotations or simply, links in the descriptions helps to heighten the popularity of other videos as humanely curious YouTube viewers are interested in seeing more of what they enjoy.
Those who use websites such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or Tumblr give viewers the ability to contribute single messages or take the floor a number of times (Marcoccia, 2004 cited in Lee & Lehto, 2013). Participants are able to contribute by commenting as little or as many times as they feel as long as the option to comment is available.
Interviewee, Sebastian L, stated that although he “hates” what Facebook has done to society, he is impressed and enjoys the accessibility and connectivity of said social media. This too, allows for those using the interfaces by posting artefacts to gather feedback and progress personally to craft a better performer to audience interaction and fan base. Those such as interviewee, Gussie Larkin, noted that her songwriting is rarely disrupted by what others say, however, praise is accepted and I imagine this is due to the fact that she has already created a very notable stylistic approach in everything she does. Subject, Jack Schumacher said, without going into too much detail, that there were negative words shared on occasion. However, these comments were mostly agreed on by the rest of the band which formed understanding within the band to steer away from going down a path of the same nature. He also had expressed that the style of his band’s work is largely crafted by what their audience seems to enjoy. The amount of views on their videos allow for better understanding of what to continue in order to remain interesting to their fans. Their music video Empires is an example of how links can be used in descriptions of their posts to promote their events and other works. Comparative to Gussie Larkin’s band Mermaidens, Jack Schumacher’s band Northeast Party House has been around for a lot longer than hers and is, in turn, less developed to the public-eye. Gussie Larkin’s thoughts could also be subject to change if Mermaidens become more popular and have a wider following in the music industry, they may come to a stage in their careers where their audience input influences their decisions more so.
Conclusively, this project has allowed me to understand that our growing technological age has and continually will cater for wider audiences through social media to help users to create self-made and independent fame.
And, finally, here is our collaborative conclusion.
Tweet #participationgeneration
References:
Bou-Franch, P., Lorenzo-Dus, N. and Blitvich, P. (2012). Social Interaction in YouTube Text-Based Polylogues: A Study of Coherence. J Comput-Mediat Comm, 17(4), pp.501-521.
Lange, P. (2007). Publicly Private and Privately Public: Social Networking on YouTube. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), pp.361-380.
Lee, D. and Lehto, M. (2013). User acceptance of YouTube for procedural learning: An extension of the Technology Acceptance Model. Computers & Education, 61, pp.193-208.
Marcoccia, M. (2004). On-line polylogues: conversation structure and participation framework in internet newsgroups. Journal of Pragmatics, 36(1), pp.115-145.