Prince Interview
Quick Bio
When writing Everyone Loves You When You're Dead, I combed through 20 years of adventures experienced while embedded in the lives of rock, pop and rap stars for magazine and newspaper profiles, searching for moments where the mask came off and celebrities revealed their true selves.Though Prince is in the book, I didn't include the following interview because the tables got turned. Instead of me interviewing Prince, he somehow started interviewing me. However, his questions often revealed more about his character than answers would be in a normal interview. The location was a Los Angeles club, where Prince sat with his entourage in a roped-off section, sporting a pencil-thin mustache and an '80s puffy black shirt with vertical white vents.
Suddenly, he started barraging me with questions and carefully evaluating each answer, as if he were giving me a test. Because Prince doesn't allow reporters to record his voice, the following is paraphrased and reconstructed from notes made at the time.
So what else do you do?
Neil Strauss :I write books.
What are they about?
NS :The last one was called The Game. I spent two years studying the techniques of the world's greatest pickup artists.
What were the others about?
NS :I wrote books about people in entertainment. I did one with Motley Crue, another with Jenna Jameson, and some others about music.
So you write rock books?
NS :I guess I mostly write about the dark side.
Why the dark side?
NS :Because it's more interesting.
But the light side can be interesting too.
NS :I suppose it can be. I never thought of that.
Do you believe in God?
NS :I definitely believe in something greater than ourselves, but it depends on how you define God. [pause] Why did you ask that question?
Because it lets me know what someone is about. If you think about it, the light side can be just as interesting as the dark side.
NS :Maybe I should write a book about that.
If you want to write a book about a mystery, I have one for you. Do you like mysteries?
NS :I love mysteries. That's what storytelling is all about.
Have you ever studied the Bible?
NS :I've read the Bible, but never studied it.
What do you mean by the Bible?
NS :The Old and New Testaments.
Which version of the Bible did you read?
NS :The King James.
The New World version is the most accurate version. It's also the best. It doesn't have the "thees" and "thous." It's just ordinary language. Do you pray?
NS :I don't pray. I've meditated, though.
Why not?
NS :I wasn't raised to.
Are your parents religious?
NS :Yes, but they didn't really practice.
What did they do?
NS :It was more important as a community to them.
Why is that important?
NS :Perhaps as a sense of identity.
Isn't that racism?
NS :I don't think it's about race. I think it's human nature to make divisions and pick sides, whether it's shirts versus skins or different sports teams.
Want to hear the mystery?
NS :I'm ready.
Next Page >>Peace, Love & Light [& Stay Funky] ...
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFloridaNPG/
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/PurpleMusicMansion/
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Live_4_Love_Minneapolis/
NPG Member 4 Life ... [Live 4 Love]
__._,_.___
MARKETPLACE
.
__,_._,___
No comments:
Post a Comment