How to Interview Artists and Industry Pros

The difference between a forgettable interview and one people share is not the guest. It is the questions. Anyone can ask "tell us about your journey." The interviewers who stand out ask questions that make their guests pause and think.

I watched a podcast host send a guest an intake form before their interview. The form asked: "Was there a moment you almost quit music?" The guest answered honestly. Three years ago, she had been ready to leave the industry entirely. The host built the entire interview around that turning point.

The episode got 3 times the normal downloads. Listeners shared it because it revealed something the guest had never discussed publicly. One good question did what 50 generic questions could not.

If you have a podcast and want to interview guests, this guide shows you how to do it well. If you are still setting up your show, read how to start a music podcast first. For the growth strategy behind interviewing, read how to use a podcast to grow your music career.

What You Will Learn

• Why generic questions kill good interviews
• How to research guests beyond their bio
• How to build a guest intake form that surfaces real stories
• A question framework for crafting fresh angles
• How to listen actively and follow up naturally
• How to structure an interview with a narrative arc
• How to handle difficult guests and flat responses

Why Interview Skills Matter

There are over 4 million podcasts in the world. Most interview shows ask the same 10 questions. "Tell us about your journey." "Who are your influences?" "What advice do you have for new artists?"

These questions produce forgettable answers. Guests have answered them a hundred times. They go on autopilot. You get the same rehearsed response they give every other podcaster.

Original questions produce original answers. When you ask something a guest has not heard before, they have to think. That moment of thinking is where the best content lives. Listeners can hear the difference. So can the guest.

Great interviews build your reputation. Guests talk to other guests. When you ask good questions, word spreads. Better guests start reaching out to you. Your show becomes the one that artists want to be on because you actually care about the conversation.

Preparation Beyond Basic Research

Reading a guest's bio is not research. It is the minimum. Real research means understanding their work, their recent activity, and the stories they have not yet told.

Scan recent interviews. Search for the guest on YouTube and podcast platforms. Watch or listen to 2-3 recent appearances. Note what questions they have already answered. Do not ask those questions again. Note what topics they seemed excited about. Dig deeper into those.

Check their social media. Look at their last 20 posts on Instagram and X. What are they working on? What are they frustrated about? What have they been sharing? This is where you find current, relevant angles.

Read their blog or newsletter. If the guest writes, read their recent work. A single paragraph from their newsletter can become the foundation for an entire interview segment.

Use AI tools to summarize. Paste their recent interviews or articles into an AI tool and ask for a summary of key themes. This saves time and surfaces patterns you might miss. Look for "talking gold": personal stories, controversial opinions, interesting failures they have not shared everywhere.

A producer I know was preparing to interview a well-known mixer. He found a 2-year-old tweet where the mixer complained about a plugin that "ruined his workflow." He built a question around it. The mixer lit up. They spent 15 minutes talking about workflow philosophy. It became the most-shared clip from the episode.

The Guest Intake Form

Send every guest a short form before the interview. This saves prep time and surfaces stories you would never find on your own.

Include these questions:

1. What project are you currently working on that you want to talk about?
2. What are 2-3 topics you are excited to discuss?
3. Is there a topic you would prefer to avoid?
4. Was there a moment in your career where everything changed? What happened?
5. What is something you have never been asked in an interview but wish someone would ask?
6. Do you have any music or sound you would like included in the episode?
7. Any pronunciation notes for your name or project?

Keep it to 7 questions. Make it easy to fill out in 5 minutes. Send it at least 3 days before the interview. Most guests will fill it out. The ones who do not, you adapt on the fly.

The intake form does two things. It gives you material you would not have found through research. And it signals to the guest that you take the interview seriously. That sets the tone before you even hit record.

Crafting Fresh Questions

Use this five-part framework to build your question list. Aim for 10-15 questions total. You will not ask all of them. The list is a safety net.

Process questions. How do you do what you do? "Walk me through how you mixed the low end on that track. What did you start with?" These questions produce specific, actionable answers that listeners can apply.

Motivational questions. Why do you do what you do? "You have been making music for 15 years. What keeps you going when the streaming numbers are low?" These questions produce emotional, relatable answers.

Influential questions. Who shaped you? "Who is the one person who changed how you think about music production?" These questions produce stories and give credit to people your listeners might discover.

Contextual questions. Where does your work fit? "How do you think AI tools are changing the way producers work in 2026?" These questions produce opinionated, shareable answers.

Challenges and growth questions. What did you learn from failure? "Was there a moment you almost gave up, and why didn't you?" These questions produce the most powerful content. They are also the ones guests rarely get asked.

Use "what" and "how" questions more than "why." "Why" can feel like an interrogation. "What" and "how" invite explanation. Instead of "why did you switch to Ableton," ask "what made you switch to Ableton and how did it change your process?"

Active Listening

The best interviewers do not stick to their question list. They listen and follow up.

Close other tabs. Silence your phone notifications. Give the guest your full attention. If you are checking your notes while they talk, you will miss the moment.

When a guest says something unexpected, follow up. "Wait, go back. You said you almost quit in 2023. What happened?" That follow-up is often where the best content lives. Your prepared questions are the scaffolding. The follow-ups are the building.

Use silence intentionally. When a guest finishes a thought, pause for 2 seconds before responding. Most people are uncomfortable with silence and will keep talking to fill it. That is when they say the thing they did not plan to say.

I heard an interview where the host asked a singer about her writing process. She gave a short answer. The host did not respond immediately. Five seconds of silence. Then the singer said, "Actually, I have been writing differently since my dad passed away last year." That moment became the most-shared clip from the episode. The host did nothing. The silence did the work.

Structuring the Interview

Build a narrative arc. Do not just go through your question list in order.

Start with the why. Open with a question that gets to the guest's motivation. "What are you trying to do with your music that no one else is doing?" This sets the stakes early.

Explore the struggle. Move to the hard parts. "What has been the biggest obstacle in the last year?" Listeners relate to struggle more than success. This is where the guest becomes human.

End with the lesson or next chapter. Close with a forward-looking question. "What are you working on next, and what are you excited about?" This leaves the listener with anticipation and gives the guest a chance to plug their current project.

Do not linger on bios. Get past "so, how did you get started" within the first 5 minutes. The longer you stay in bio territory, the more listeners tune out. Get to emotional or insightful moments early.

Balancing Your Presence

Your job is to guide the conversation, not dominate it. Keep your speaking to 5-10% of the interview. The guest is the star.

React naturally. "That is wild." "I had no idea." "Tell me more about that." Short reactions show you are engaged without taking over.

Transition smoothly by connecting your next question to what the guest just said. Instead of "My next question is about your new album," say "You mentioned you have been in the studio a lot. Is that for the new album?" This makes the conversation feel natural rather than scripted.

Handling Challenges

Not every interview goes smoothly. Here is how to handle common problems.

The disengaged guest. Some guests give short, flat answers. Pivot to more specific questions. Instead of "tell me about your creative process," ask "walk me through how you made the beat on your last single, step by step." Specific questions force specific answers.

The controversial topic. If a guest says something controversial, do not argue. Listen, acknowledge, and stay neutral. "That is a different perspective than I usually hear. How did you arrive at that view?" Let the guest explain. Your job is not to agree or disagree. It is to draw out their thinking.

The flat response. If a question gets a one-word answer, do not move on immediately. Reframe it. "Let me ask it differently." Or shift to a related topic. Some questions just do not land. Move on without making it awkward.

Pre-Interview Logistics

Get the boring stuff right before you hit record. Technical problems ruin interviews.

Get a signed release form. Every guest should sign a simple release giving you permission to publish the interview. This protects you legally. Use a standard podcast guest release template.

Confirm recording location, tech setup, and timing. Send a confirmation email 48 hours before the interview. Include: date, time, time zone, platform (Riverside, SquadCast, etc.), and estimated duration. Ask the guest to use headphones and be in a quiet room.

Brief the guest on format and sample questions. Send 3-5 sample questions so the guest knows what to expect. Do not send your full list. You want the answers to feel spontaneous.

Send a one-page tech prep guide. For remote guests: use Chrome or Firefox, close other tabs, use wired headphones if possible, sit in a small room with soft surfaces. This 5-minute prep saves you from hours of audio repair later.

For help with the broader outreach process to get guests in the first place, read how to build relationships with music bloggers and journalists and how to cold email artists and A&Rs. For help putting together your press materials, read how to create an electronic press kit.

Post-Interview

Your work is not done when the recording stops.

Review your performance. Listen back to the first 10 minutes. Did you talk too much? Did you interrupt? Did you follow up on interesting moments or move on too fast? Note what to improve for next time.

Edit for clarity and pacing. Cut long pauses, tangents that go nowhere, and technical glitches. Do not over-edit. Some pauses and "ums" make the conversation feel real. Aim for a version that is 10-20% shorter than the raw recording.

Write show notes with timestamps and links. Include: episode title, guest name and bio, links to the guest's music and socials, timestamps for key topics, and any resources mentioned. Good show notes help with SEO and give listeners a way to find specific moments.

Send the guest a thank-you message. Include the expected publish date and a link to the episode once it is live. Offer to send them clips for their socials. A grateful guest is more likely to share the episode and come back for a second appearance.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get big-name guests on my podcast? Start with guests at your level. Build a library of 20-30 good interviews. Big-name guests say yes when they see you have a track record of good conversations. Cold-pitching a famous artist with 3 episodes published almost never works. Build your reputation first, then reach up. For the full pitching process, read how to pitch yourself as a podcast guest.

How long should a podcast interview be? 45-60 minutes is the sweet spot. Long enough to go deep, short enough to respect the guest's time. According to Edison Research's Podcast Consumer 2026 report, daily podcast consumers spend about 5 hours and 11 minutes per day with audio. Your interview needs to earn its place in that window. If you can make it 30 minutes and keep it compelling, do that.

Should I send guests questions in advance? Send 3-5 sample questions, not your full list. Guests want to prepare but you do not want them rehearsing answers. Sample questions give them a sense of the direction without turning the interview into a scripted Q&A.

What if my guest says something factually wrong? Do not correct them on the spot unless it is harmful misinformation. If it is a minor factual error, you can gently ask a follow-up: "I had read that it was actually [X]. Have you seen different data?" If it is a major error, address it in your show notes with a correction. Do not embarrass the guest during the interview.

How do I handle a guest who keeps plugging their own stuff? Redirect gently. "That is great, and we will link to that in the show notes. I want to make sure we get to [next topic] because I think listeners will find it really useful." Most guests take the hint. If they do not, let them plug once more at the end and move on.

Do I need to transcribe my interviews? Yes. Transcripts help with SEO, accessibility, and repurposing. Most hosting platforms now offer automatic transcription. You can also use tools like Descript or Otter.ai. According to Spotify for Creators, transcripts also improve discovery on their platform. For the full repurposing system, read how to repurpose podcast content for social media.

How do I interview someone I disagree with? Listen, ask follow-up questions, and stay neutral. Your job is to draw out their thinking, not to win an argument. Listeners respect hosts who can hold space for different perspectives. If the guest says something harmful, you can address it in a solo intro or outro after the interview. For more on handling controversial topics, read how to handle negative reviews and online criticism.

Your Next Step

Build your guest intake form today. Seven questions. Send it to your next confirmed guest. The form will surface at least one story you would not have found on your own. That story will become the best moment in the episode.