"The hardest and worst interview that I have ever done was with Frank Zappa"
About this Quote
The line’s intent is practical and reputational. Practically, it’s an insider anecdote that signals credibility: she has been in rooms with difficult geniuses, and this was the boss level. Reputationally, it’s careful. Blackwood doesn’t call Zappa “mean” or “brilliant”; she emphasizes the experience of interviewing him, shifting the focus to process. That subtext reads as: he didn’t play along, and the format couldn’t force him to.
Context does most of the work. Zappa was famously articulate and relentlessly skeptical about rock stardom, censorship, and the music business. Put that next to MTV’s glossy, sponsor-friendly vibe and you get friction that isn’t personal, exactly - it’s structural. Her sentence captures a cultural mismatch: a television system built for smooth access meeting an artist who weaponized discomfort as a form of truth-telling. The “worst” may even be grudging respect, the kind reserved for someone who won’t let you coast.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Blackwood, Nina. (2026, January 15). The hardest and worst interview that I have ever done was with Frank Zappa. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-hardest-and-worst-interview-that-i-have-ever-147366/
Chicago Style
Blackwood, Nina. "The hardest and worst interview that I have ever done was with Frank Zappa." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-hardest-and-worst-interview-that-i-have-ever-147366/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The hardest and worst interview that I have ever done was with Frank Zappa." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-hardest-and-worst-interview-that-i-have-ever-147366/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.





