Magazine Apologises For Those Left-Behind Listen Out Notes

The editors of Melbourne magazine Blaire have issued a statement apologising to Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, real name Orlando Higginbottom, after the producer discovered notes left behind by their interviewer backstage at Listen Out, which described Higginbottom as “fucking boring to interview”.

After Higginbottom shared the note — which in addition to describing Higginbottom as a soccer fan and health nut, warned the interviewer not to be put off by the producer’s lack of eye contact or smiling — with fans on Facebook, the image quickly went viral. However, the source of the note remained unclear.

After copping to their “Totally Enormous fuck up” on Twitter, Blaire explained that the notes were written to help their interviewer, Ryan, who’d never interviewed anyone before. “The Blaire Magazine editorial team had written interview notes for Ryan to help him out,” writes Blaire editor Emily Eaton.

“To Orlando – we are extremely sorry for any embarrassment caused,” Eaton continues. “We are actually huge fans, and the whole Blaire Magazine team who attended Listen Out reported about how amazing your live set was… A huge thank you to the team behind Listen Out, and everyone we interviewed. We promise not to leave behind any more awkward notes.”

According to Ryan himself, who writes that he is in fact an engineer and not a journalist, his interview with Higginbottom went off without a hitch otherwise. “I’m a big fan, so it was a pretty surreal experience to be sitting there. I just asked him how he was and tried to go with what he was saying,” he writes.

“Some of his answers were pretty short compared to the others I had interviewed, so I had to think quickly about what to ask next,” he continues. As for the infamous notes, Ryan didn’t even end up using them, saying he “just tried to memorise what I had read, and think up questions on the spot.”

While he admits that nearly had conniption when Blaire‘s creative director sent him a screenshot of Higginbottom’s post, he was relieved when he saw how well the producer took the incident. “I’m pretty happy he took it so well and said ‘it’s all true’ on his post. He was an interesting character,” writes Ryan.

Watch: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – New Album Buzz, Festivals & Shows, New Remixes

http://youtu.be/JG8BPm3VoM8

Photos: Listen Out 2014 – Melbourne, Royal Botanic Gardens 04/10/14

Photos by Aleksandar Jason

Must Read