Picture taken with Professor Joseph Bogdan and fellow classmates.

In my previous blog post, Finding Bob Boilen, I discussed my final project for my Managing and Licensing Intellectual Property course taught by Joseph Bogdan.  I utilized my previous blog post as a method to complete my final project.  My assignment was to reach out to the producer of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series, Bob Boilen, and interview him.  I figured it would be more effective to reach out via this blog than sending an awkward/desperate e-mail.  I put my blog link on his Facebook page and also tweeted him, and the next day, I received an e-mail from the man himself!

“I saw your project… you should know that I’m happy to help.  We can start with e-mail and then maybe a phone call would be best.  We’ll sort it out.”

Here are some of the questions that I asked:

1. What were your first, worst, and best jobs?

I was a busboy at a country club around the age of 16. I was fired for getting into a political argument with one of the customers. I was also a bit spacey and spilled things. My best job is a toss up. All Things Considered as the shows director for 18 years was incredible… but hosting All Songs Considered for the past 12 years, listening to music and going to shows for a living… It can’t really get better than this. I’m very fortunate and count my blessings daily.

2. What was the turning point(s) in career… coming to work for NPR?

I think making the decision to play music and not just listen to it. That happened late in my life, I was 26 (seemed late at the time) but it really opened me up… I was a relatively quiet and shy person and starting a band (Tiny Desk Unit) gave me greater purpose and opened me up… it lead to writing music for theater, which led to being interviewed on NPR, which lead to getting a job at NPR.

Tiny Desk Unit courtesy of Bob Boilen's Web site.

3. What is next?

We’ve been reinventing All Songs Considered. The format has been changing from a show I would write and record to a spontaneous conversation with fellow music geeks… particularly my co-host Robin Hilton. The blog is an ever growing way to present new ideas, and we’re constantly adding new features and new writers to our blog.  The 24/7 stream is constantly being fine tuned and injected with great new music.  We’re taking our show on the road, and we’ll be doing a series of listening parties in cities that I think will include New York, Chicago, Seattle, and Portland… all of this is still being worked on.

4. Is there a list of objective criteria that this person uses in order to book an act?

It’s simple…someone on staff has to LOVE it…from there everything falls into place.

5. If you find a band you want to be on the show, what is the process of getting them on?  Do artists reach out to be on the show?  If so, how many?

I get pitches daily from publicists and artists… not sure how many… but a few dozen a week for sure. I mostly look at calendars to see who’s coming and then reach out that way. NPR Music is an office filled with a dozen or so music fans.  Everyone is welcome to pitch an idea for a Tiny Desk Concert. Once we determine we want to do a band, then I usually write to the publicist or the artist.

6. How many people participate (work) on the show?

It’s really me and Robin Hilton plus an intern. I play engineer while we record and run the soundboard and cut/edit the recorded audio, Robin builds the web page with help from our intern. We have a lot of help on our blog from NPR Music’s Jacob Ganz. Of course there’s a larger staff of people that work on NPR Music and make our show more visible and better.

Picture of Robin Hilton and Bob Boilen. Image obtained at acousticana.us.

7. Types of statistics used?

We keep stats on everything you’d imagine…page views, mobile views, podcast, downloads, etc.

8. What do they show about the value of being booked?

Bands booked on the show have told me over the years what a huge difference it made to be on All Songs Considered, be it the show or a tiny desk concert or a live concert…I’m very proud of that. We don’t keep stats on any of that however.

This was a rewarding experience.  I was able to use my role as a Graduate Ambassador to complete a final project.  It feels like yesterday when I was experiencing butterflies as I walked to orientation.  Now it is off to the job world.  Please take a look at my online resume.  Please e-mail me at hartel.n@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like to set up an interview.