(As previously promised, here is my entry regarding the plethora of interviews Trevor conducted over the past year and which of them is worth reading, in my opinion not only as a fan, but also as a writer.)
2012 provided an incredible wealth of media coverage for Trevor, not the least because he had released his first solo record in 23 years, Jacaranda. But it also had the effect of reminding not only the target audience of fans but also any potential audience of his relevance to music history past and present, because the release itself is such a creatively audacious artistic statement.
The downside to a media blitz of this calibre is that fans will experience a kind of informational overload, or as I have coined it: interview fatigue. In my non-solicited opinion, Trevor gave about a dozen interviews too many, although I completely concede that for promotional purposes more is better. The number of people who just might happen to find one interview over another (or one out of many), read it and thus were moved to check out the album can only be a good thing for Trevor's career overall. Jacaranda certainly deserves to have the widest audience possible. However, as the promotional juggernaut took place almost entirely online (where - unlike traditional print media - there is a decided absence of gatekeepers), the Internet is world-wide and yet also incredibly small. Anyone looking for any press is likely to find all of it, unless - to utilize the lingua franca of the milieu - their Google-fu is made of fail. Most Rabid Rabinites have read every single article and review because that is what fans do. And sifting the dross can get depressing, one tends to think, "Trevor deserves better than this!" Also, many of them tend to suffer from the repetition of asking obvious questions (i.e. those same questions Trevor has been asked over and over, interview after interview, year after year). And I will say to any future interviewers: please remember that you are not the only one to be interviewing Trevor. Just go to the official site article archive and learn how many other people have had that privilege. And that's only a fraction of participants from a career which has lasted nearly 40 years. So please keep that in mind and ask him something interesting, I beg of you. Be innovative and show respect for your subject by not boring him with the same old inquiries.
So although I expect most readers of this blog will have also read all or nearly all of the interviews available from the promotional cycle, I desired to provide a guide to the best ones. I will list them in order of chronology (or as close as I can make it). To avoid at least one conflict of interest, I am omitting my own interview with Trevor ("Trevor Rabin: the cultivation of Jacaranda") from the list but of course it is available to read on the blog as well as at its' original publication site, Rocktopia (rocktopia.co.uk).
Classic Rock Revisited: "Movies Don't Count"
http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/show_interview.php?id=157
Although this interview covers a lot of familiar ground there are some interesting anecdotes and insight into Trevor's history contained therein.
Music Street Journal
http://www.musicstreetjournal.com/artists_interview_display.cfm?id=100544
Admittedly the best thing about this interview is the revelation regarding Trevor's spleen (and lack thereof), and sometimes, if an article gives me even one factoid I didn't know before, then it's got my vote.
Scott Holleran, Writer.
http://scottholleran.com/writings/music/interview-trevor-rabin/
This article should have been published somewhere other than the author's blog; but I can sympathize with how difficult it is to find an venue these days, even online. But unlike some of the people who interviewed Trevor in this promotional cycle there's no question that Holleran is a true professional and his acumen is wholly apparent in this article as he gets Trevor to open up in an insightful fashion.
ASCAP.com: "Move Yourself: Trevor Rabin's Evolving Career"
http://www.ascap.com/Playback/2012/06/radar-report/trevor-rabin-interview.aspx
Conducted primarily to promote Trevor as the recipient of the 2012 Henry Mancini Award, although this interview could also be said to cover a lot of familiar ground it is nicely comprehensive.
Crescent City Jewish News: "Grouplove's Ryan Rabin: strings, sticks and synergy"
http://www.crescentcityjewishnews.com/grouploves-ryan-rabin-strings-sticks-and-synergy/
Elyse has interviewed Trevor several times over the course of his career and is a fan, so even though this article is primarily about Ryan's career, there is also a good amount of interesting content from Trevor in regards to their relationship as both father-and-son and fellow musicians.
Blogdegezou
http://bondegezou.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/interview-with-trevor-rabin.html
I'm going to say that as interesting as what Trevor has to say in this interview is also what he doesn't say, the questions he obviously doesn't answer in any direct fashion.
All About Jazz:
"Take Five with Trevor Rabin"
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=42704#.Uap759I-bVG
"Trevor Rabin: All Colors Considered"
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=43306&pg=6#.Uap7O9I-bVG
Two different interviews (one just a quick Q&A and the other a long-form narrative article) with both containing interesting and insightful content; this publication did provide the best coverage for Trevor in regards to the promotional cycle, so they get a big "Good On Ya!" from me.
