With his tape recorder in hand, 13-year-old Liam McEwan bounced up to Auckland’s Spark Arena hoping to catch a quick interview with Lady Gaga. The soon-to-be superstar was in Aotearoa opening for the Pussycat Dolls, while Liam was a teen radio host with little experience – and no idea it would be 16 more years before he landed the chat.
“I’d just started volunteering in community radio and I stood by the gate she would have driven into,” recalls the 29-year-old entertainment journalist, talking to Woman’s Day from Los Angeles. “It didn’t happen, but ever since, I went, ‘I have to get Gaga.’
“I told her that story when I did the recent interview for Rolling Stone. I said, ‘I’ve been waiting for this’, and she goes, ‘We did it!’ It was a full-circle moment. It only took a decade or two.”
Gaga’s just one of many hitmakers Liam has now interviewed – from chatting to Bono and Ariana Grande to covering the Grammys, it’s a long way from the Splish Planet videos (his take on children’s series Studio 2) he began filming as a kid after deciding he wanted to work in media.
With a love for pop music, he was thrilled to land a weekly slot at a Devonport station at age 13. He grew his audience through social media and became the face of iHeartRadio NZ at 18.
That’s how US teen mag J-14 discovered and enlisted Liam, who was soon making waves interviewing rising singers like Olivia Rodrigo and K-pop royalty BTS. Eventually asked to relocate to the US full-time to work for J-14 and sister outlets like InTouch Weekly, it was a dream come true.
However, the following year, the company’s new owners wouldn’t renew his work visa. It was a “scary” time, but undeterred, Liam landed work with Associated Press. The role has since allowed him to go freelance and explore plenty of opportunities.
“Before, people knew me as a K-pop interviewer, so it’s awesome to show I can do more,” he enthuses. “I’ve done things I never would have imagined. One day, I could be with Jodie Foster; the next, it’s Jay-Z!”
He’s ticked off many bucket-list interviews, including Gaga, whose game-changing music “enamoured” him as a teen. Having been chatting to Rolling Stone about collaborating, he received a text asking if he was available for an assignment.
“They said, ‘It’s with Lady Gaga’, and I dropped my phone and ran to my girlfriend. I was going, ‘Babe, you won’t believe this!’ Within 30 minutes, I had two pages of questions written. I’d been waiting for this moment since 2009.”
Entering a Malibu studio, Liam was briefly starstruck. However, that waned as the pair simply became “two music lovers having a beautiful conversation”.
He was struck by Gaga’s excitement and pride for her new album Mayhem, and a 45-minute slot turned into a two-hour session, where he also hung with her fiancé Michael Polansky – who was “quite knowledgeable” about Aotearoa. Gaga even played Liam new songs.
“At one point, we were dancing together at the mixing desk, just vibing. It was surreal. I felt like the luckiest guy in the world. Mid-convo, she’d start singing lyrics and I’d think, ‘Oh, that’s right. You’re Gaga!’”
Liam’s also chatted with Jon Bon Jovi, Shania Twain, Kylie Minogue and “adorable” Sir Elton John. He conducted the late Joe Jackson’s final interview.
“Members of the Jackson family told me sometimes they rewatch that interview because I was able to get the Joe they knew and loved out of him.”
Meanwhile, he continues chronicling the rise of Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo, and has had memorable moments with Britney Spears and Taylor Swift – catching Taylor’s attention at last year’s Grammys.
“Every molecule of air changed the second she entered,” recalls Liam. “All eyes were on her and she loved it. I said, ‘Taylor, your movie was great’, and she thanked me. It’s the only thing she said on the red carpet.”
Liam laughs that his hair and accent have proved a “good recipe for red-carpet success”. However, he also credits community radio for helping develop his skills.
His parents’ support has also been key and while he misses them dearly, he has girlfriend Nora by his side in California, where he’s grateful the recent fires didn’t impact him. He met Nora, who works for an influencer, through a Kiwi pal. The couple spend weekends exploring LA flea markets or eateries. They’ve also adventured through Queenstown and Rotorua.
“She keeps me level-headed, grounded and humble,” he tells. “And we just adopted a dog!”
It’s a dream life, which has Liam pinching himself.
“If you’d told me when I moved here some of the stuff I’d do, I would’ve been like, ‘All that before I’m 30? Wow!’”
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