People talk a lot about being “authentic” these days, don't they?

I heard an unusual interview recently that changed the way I thought about it.

It was with Mark Ellen, a music journalist who worked on the NME in the 70s and who later edited various magazines and was one of the anchors at Live Aid.

He described a recent experience he'd had “interviewing” Lady Gaga.

What actually happened is that she and her huge entourage quizzed him to make sure he was the “right person” to do the interview and that the image presented to the world would be exactly the image they wanted to portray.

He contrasted that with when he'd interviewed Sting. This was back in the early 80s on the back of The Police's fourth number-one hit. They were the biggest band in the world, and Ellen had an interview with their lead singer.

The interview was in the house Sting had just bought in London. Ellen knocked on the door at the allotted time and Sting opened it himself. Inside, Sting was alone with only his young son to keep him company.

Ellen interviewed Sting without minders, PR men and spin doctors. He asked the questions he wanted to ask and which his readers would be interested in. And Sting answered candidly.

That was just the way they did things back then. It wasn't all about image and control.

I've previously lauded Lady Gaga for the way she interacts with her fans on social media. But although that kind of controlled interaction and managed image seems to work for many, I think a lot of us these days look for something more.

I suspect many of our clients do too.

At the risk of using what I think is becoming a cliché, they're often looking for authenticity.

Authenticity is different things to different people.

Personally I don't much go in for videos done in the back yard with your family. Or carefully scripted “outtakes”. Or telling everyone about your difficult childhood or your “rags to riches” story.

It all feels too pre-written and designed deliberately to create a certain impression. It's all still about image and control.

I like the kind of authenticity Sting showed. Here I am. What do you want to know? Here's what I really think.

I hope to be able to live up to that myself on occasions.