Screech
For those that don't know, I'm a freelance writer. For some time, I actually was fulltime. However, the need to eat food and have shelter overcame my desire to write for a living. However, I still write on a near daily basis and manage to land a few cool projects.
Tunneling through a bit of networking, I was able to land a celebrity interview. Remember that goofy kid from Saved by the Bell? You know, Screech Powers. Yours truly was granted 30 minutes of his time for a telephone interview while he was in Philadelphia promoting his band's first album.
That's right, you heard me right. Screech is now a rock star.
Below is an article I wrote based on some of the transcript of the phone interview. While we spoke at length about chess, comedy, and music, I slanted the article for the musician's market. Enjoy.
******
Every reminiscent image of Dustin Diamond dispelled while listening to him one afternoon from his hotel room in Pittsburgh. No longer is he the fidgety character of Screech, as best remembered him from his days on Saved by the Bell. But the end of the series was far from the end of his career.
Today the 26 year old Diamond holds a trifecta of career options. In addition to acting, he also is a comedian, and has taken to the stage as a bassist. His band, Salty the Pocketknife, is currently on tour after the release of their debut album October 21, 2003.
It would be interesting to know that Dustin thinks more of himself as a musician, than an actor. Music has been a part of him is entire life. While he has been acting for the last 19 years, he has been a student of music for 22 years. Filled with pursuit he assures, “Music is always going to be there.”
Shawn Cannon: How do you feel about the fact that you are best remembered for playing the character Screech from Saved by the Bell?
Dustin Diamond: I feel great. The show was the number one sitcom for kids around the world. Off the stage is where the proving grounds are. People see me off the stage they don’t know whether I’m in character or not. So when they actually see me doing my standup or traveling with my band they see the real me. Obviously I’m not doing the Screech character away from the show.
SC: You’re the bassist in the band Salty the Pocketknife. What’s the story behind the band?
DD: Evan [Stone] and I are the brains behind the operation. The way we set up our band is not the typical formula. We provide the canvas on which we allow people to come in and work with us to build our story. So in different albums you may have a different guitar or a different singer on every album. The guitar player and singer and color to that canvas. But we don’t play with people that don’t have the Salty feel. Obviously we play with people that are on the same page. For the first outing we are Salty the Pocketknife, but the next time we might be something else.
SC: The band’s music has been said to take “progressive/ new thing rock to the next level”. How so?
DD: It’s so well put together that it’s easy to follow and yet really confusing the first time you hear it. People that are hearing it get a complete assault on their senses. To have the CD, to listen to it and go through it a number of times, you start to learn the changes and the progressions; you really start to get more out of it, more depth out of it. There are still little things that we are learning about the music and we wrote it. It’s one of those things where we’re not your top 40 band. We’re not your Britney Spears. I’m not out there like Corey Feldman and these other guys who are trying to be rock stars, and pop stars. I don’t predict us being the band that is going to go Platinum a million times, but I do think that there are at least 100,000-200,000 people per album.
SC: What is the motivation behind your pursuit in music?
DD: Music I don’t do for fortune or fame. I have already received fame. And I already have made a small fortune. So music I do for me, because I have to do it. I don’t really care about people’s critiques of it. Of course I want people out there to hear my music and appreciate it.
To find out more about Dustin Diamond you can check him out at http://www.dustindiamond.net.
And be sure to check out his band at http://www.saltythepocketknife.com.
Tunneling through a bit of networking, I was able to land a celebrity interview. Remember that goofy kid from Saved by the Bell? You know, Screech Powers. Yours truly was granted 30 minutes of his time for a telephone interview while he was in Philadelphia promoting his band's first album.
That's right, you heard me right. Screech is now a rock star.
Below is an article I wrote based on some of the transcript of the phone interview. While we spoke at length about chess, comedy, and music, I slanted the article for the musician's market. Enjoy.
******
Every reminiscent image of Dustin Diamond dispelled while listening to him one afternoon from his hotel room in Pittsburgh. No longer is he the fidgety character of Screech, as best remembered him from his days on Saved by the Bell. But the end of the series was far from the end of his career.
Today the 26 year old Diamond holds a trifecta of career options. In addition to acting, he also is a comedian, and has taken to the stage as a bassist. His band, Salty the Pocketknife, is currently on tour after the release of their debut album October 21, 2003.
It would be interesting to know that Dustin thinks more of himself as a musician, than an actor. Music has been a part of him is entire life. While he has been acting for the last 19 years, he has been a student of music for 22 years. Filled with pursuit he assures, “Music is always going to be there.”
Shawn Cannon: How do you feel about the fact that you are best remembered for playing the character Screech from Saved by the Bell?
Dustin Diamond: I feel great. The show was the number one sitcom for kids around the world. Off the stage is where the proving grounds are. People see me off the stage they don’t know whether I’m in character or not. So when they actually see me doing my standup or traveling with my band they see the real me. Obviously I’m not doing the Screech character away from the show.
SC: You’re the bassist in the band Salty the Pocketknife. What’s the story behind the band?
DD: Evan [Stone] and I are the brains behind the operation. The way we set up our band is not the typical formula. We provide the canvas on which we allow people to come in and work with us to build our story. So in different albums you may have a different guitar or a different singer on every album. The guitar player and singer and color to that canvas. But we don’t play with people that don’t have the Salty feel. Obviously we play with people that are on the same page. For the first outing we are Salty the Pocketknife, but the next time we might be something else.
SC: The band’s music has been said to take “progressive/ new thing rock to the next level”. How so?
DD: It’s so well put together that it’s easy to follow and yet really confusing the first time you hear it. People that are hearing it get a complete assault on their senses. To have the CD, to listen to it and go through it a number of times, you start to learn the changes and the progressions; you really start to get more out of it, more depth out of it. There are still little things that we are learning about the music and we wrote it. It’s one of those things where we’re not your top 40 band. We’re not your Britney Spears. I’m not out there like Corey Feldman and these other guys who are trying to be rock stars, and pop stars. I don’t predict us being the band that is going to go Platinum a million times, but I do think that there are at least 100,000-200,000 people per album.
SC: What is the motivation behind your pursuit in music?
DD: Music I don’t do for fortune or fame. I have already received fame. And I already have made a small fortune. So music I do for me, because I have to do it. I don’t really care about people’s critiques of it. Of course I want people out there to hear my music and appreciate it.
To find out more about Dustin Diamond you can check him out at http://www.dustindiamond.net.
And be sure to check out his band at http://www.saltythepocketknife.com.
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