The 40 minute interview gave me a chance to work with Kate on interviewing skills, although I can’t add too much. It also gives me a chance to talk about interviewing as a process for this project.
The team at the station and I have agreed to a two-step process in interviewing. The first interview is unstructured to give us a broad understanding of the field of knowledge the interviewee has. This interview is then analysed for themes relevant to the research to follow up in a second interview.
In Neol’s case our initial interest is in his early music years in the early 1970s, jamming with a variety of musicians in community centres in Coventry. We're interested in the role such centres played for incubating the music that Coventry became synonymous with in the late 1970s.
The next stage is to re-interview Neol about these organisations and their role in Hillfields music scene in those days. As Kate and I go through the interview we will spot other things of interest. Perhaps the way Kate used some local knowledge or the route of questions she used in the interview.
From conducting these interviews Kate will support others at the station using the same process.
And of course there is the music. Neol broadcasts on Hillz FM every Monday.