John: hey
Ashley: hey
John: appropriate name :-)
Ashley: yep
John: do you have a link to your website?
Ashley: yes..::link::
John: awesome
Ashley: so, i'll start with the questions
John: sure
Ashley: so what made you want to start RealMagicTV
John:well when I first started it, it was an all magic show... I traveled across new york state performing magic for random people - in support of the Twin Towers Fund
John: then in my travels i was invited on Sevendust's tourbus, and performed for the band
John: that brought the idea of music into the show
Ashley: cool
Ashley:allright.. so how long have you been runing real magic tv
John: first broadcast was in october of 2002 on college tv in upstate NY
John:and first webcast was in January of 2003
Ashley: cool, what's a working day like for you?
John: a normal day is about 8-10 hours of work... emailing back and forth with managers, press etc
John: editing footage for the show
John: setting up new interviews
John: coordinating crew
Ashley: what's your personal favorite band or type of music?
John: i don't have a favorite overall... i have favorites for different reasons...
John: Simple plan and Maroon 5 are always the most fun to hang out with
John: A personal fav interview was evanescence for me
Ashley: yeah, i've met sp, they're great guys
John: they def are
John: Pierre has picked up magic as a hobby now
John: after meeting me in hartford back in march of 2003
John: he does magic for me now when i see them
John: it's really cool
John: Maroon 5 watches the show online... they were quoting bits last time I saw them
John: both bands really get into it
Ashley: that's awesome
Ashley: have you had any bad experiences with any bands?
John: not really
John: they all enjoy the magic.. brings interest into the interview
John: not the norm
John: catches them offguard
Ashley: that's great, what was the overall best experience from the start of real magic tv
John: a lot rank up there... Pierre saying i inspired him to do magic was big... because here is a musician who's music is inspiring to a lot of people out there, myself included
John: and to hear that you inspired him is just an unreal comment
John: especially when it's something non-music
Ashley: yea
John: u hear bands talking about music inspirations all the time
John: but to say this si what i do on my time off
John: something im getting into... and jeff saying he's practicing on the bus and on plane rides
John: that's really cool
John: one of the best interviews ive done..
John: was andrew WK
John: he and i really clicked
John: we're both very passionate about what we do
Ashley: cool
John: so much so that we like ever aspect of it, even the grueling stuff
John: so our 10 minute interview slot turned into him interviewing me for over an hour
Ashley: haha, that's awesome
John: yeah :-)
John: Maroon 5... first time i met them
John: they declared it the best interview they had ever done in the 9 years of being a band
John: i figured they weren't serious
John: just saying that... but then i had radio promoters coming up to me saying - WHAT DID YOU DO???
John: they really loved it
Ashley: that's so great
John: (we did the whole interview in a bathroom)
Ashley: haha
John: no rules with my interviews
John: we do whatever seems right
Ashley: who was the first artist/band you interviewed?
John: Sevendust - during the magic show
John: when it was all magic
Ashley: and the most recent?
John: then Howie Day
John: most recent...
John: we've taken a break for a bit... most recent was... hoobastank and Andrew WK
John: just before them we featured Barenaked Ladies
John: and Michelle Branch
Ashley: have you witnessed any crazy fan moments with the bands?
John: not really
John: i had a stalker
John: that was very strange
John: i was asking bands for advice about it
Ashley: how stalker-ish was it? lol
John: might have actually been hoobastank that i talked to about it - and they said wow we've never had something that bad
John: she lived in NC... was going to drive to NY to see me
John: sent gifts
Ashley: wow
John: etc
John: would go to shows and tell the msuicians she was best friends with me all this stuff
Ashley: haha, crazy
John: but in terms of musicians... haven't seen any bus hoppers or anything
John: hehehe
John: definitely a lot of screaming fans
Ashley: ..yet.
Ashley: lol
John: yeah im sure it will happen
John: security is pretty tight at the shows we do
Ashley: what has been your favorite contest from the site?
John: Phone Tap... by far
John: it was something I came up with halfway through last year
Ashley: yea, i've entered a couple of those, no wins yet!
John: I figured hey im with these bands that fans love... im having people send in questions... why not have the abnds clal them
Ashley: one of my friends actually won the call from pierre and jeff in the summer
John: awesome :-)
John:Jason Mraz's people hooked us up with a ton of merch
John: that's the biggest merch contest we have done
Ashley: i missed his show when he came to boston once, i was wicked mad about that, but i got to see him at the kiss concert
John: he's great
John: really different
Ashley: yea
John: im actually thinking about a new contest... just cause people get nuts over stuff bands have touched...
John: thinking about the bands signing the phone tap headset... and giving it away
Ashley:that would be cool
John:so u get an autographed item, something they used on the show too
John: be one of a kind
Ashley: i like that idea!
John: im gonna try that soon... trying to find headsets in bulk lol
John: gets expensive otherwise
Ashley: yeah
Ashley: if you could put your own cd together, what songs would you feature on it?
John: wow hmmm
John: let me look at my playlist lol
Ashley: allrighty
John: it would be a sampling of all the artists we have had - I really like and listen to the people i ahve on
Ashley: cool
John: that's prob the best answer... without listing 25 tracks lol
Ashley: lol
John: im a big fan of non-singles too
John: stuff they don't release to radio
John: I really try to egt those songs on the show
John: I get most of the CDs before they come out
John: so ill be listening and find a song i like and it ends up being the first or second single lol
John: we were thinking about having hilary duff on... to mix it up
John: and out of the whole cd i thought the song "come clean" was the strongest
John: sure enough it's nwo the new single
John: so now ill prob get tired of it hhehehe
::my computer shuts down::
John: welcome back
Ashley: haha thanks.. this computer is horrible
John: u need to sign up for something other than AOL
John: that's your problem hehehe
Ashley: well, usually i'd blame it on aol but im not on a computer i usually use...
John: hehehe
Ashley: anything else you wanna say?
John: hmmm
John: Well the Up and Comer's site is coming soon
John: real soon
John: we're taking submissions now through: http://www.realmagictv.com/myband
Ashley: wooh, up and coming bands!
John: people can submit their own bands
John: and we'll feature a new one each week
Ashley: awesome
John: we did it last year.... but our submissions were all through the mail then
John: im trying to make it more accessible
Ashley: awesome
John: and the one other thing is our network search
John: we're really looking for feedback from the fans as to where we should bring the show
John: http://www.realmagictv.com/networks
John: there si a small form there... I personally read every comment
John: and take note of every station suggestion
Ashley: that's really rad of you
John: RealMagicTV.com relaunched in June of 2003, since then we've had over half a million hits from over 100 different countries
John: we have a lot of people checking us out... and I think it's key to see what they think, and what they want
John: that's what I'm about
John: we have the technology to take suggestions, and get people interacting, so we should use it
Ashley: wow.. that's a really awesome way of thinking for the site
Ashley: thanks so much for the interview!
John: :-) no problem
Ashley: thanks muchos
John: you are welcome
John: thanks for helping to spread the word
Ashley: no prob, the site is awesome! 8-)
John: :-) thanks
John: takes a lot of time
John: but it's definitely worth it when u see people enjoying it
John: I'll ttyl!
Ashley: buh byee!