MM: How do you feel about skeptics? Smoller: I always think this is such an odd question. My own Father is a skeptic and it doesn't phase me one way or the other. Then again, he is a very well educated and sophisticated man, so when we speak about this topic, it's usually a very interesting conversation. He's never rude about it like the fanatical kind of skeptic - you know, the ones that don't want to discuss any actual findings or data but just want to take personal shots at you, for example, like that magician, James Randi. And, it always makes me laugh when I hear someone like that claim to be a "professional skeptic or debunker" - it's like, what kind of educational background does one need to be a "professional skeptic"? MM: When did you know you had abilities and how did you know? Smoller: I've had experiences throughout my lifetime that should have indicated to me that I had some abilities in different areas. But I never accepted that; I used to prefer my life to be in black and white terms. It wasn't until I was working on the ISPR Team for quite some time, before I began to kind of accept the possibility. It was then that I began having experiences with my own Mom, who had died in 1990, and she was good enough to show up when other people were around so I had others substantiate the experiences. It was with my Mom that I learned that I had mediumship abilities. My eyes always change color when she steps in. And then, after watching myself during videotaped ISPR investigations - that made my abilities a lot more difficult for me to dismiss. MM: How do your abilities work? Smoller: One of my functions as an ISPR Investigator is as an Empath. If an entity is present, I may experience physical and/or emotional changes that are indicative of the entity before he or she died or those physical or emotional states that the entity is projecting in real time. If the entity died of a heart attack, then there's the possibility that I will experience the symptoms of a heart attack. If an entity that is standing close by is laughing, I will begin laughing. It's pretty cool in my case as I usually don't see the entities. So there's no visual cue to provide some suggestion. But some of the other Investigators have the ability to see, so they can confirm my reactions. My other ability that is utilized during Investigations is mediumship. If I'm open enough and the entity knows how, they can actually step into my space. I'm usually fairly cognizant of what's going on. In my case, the entity usually steps in from behind on my left side, and it feels like my body is just a glove covering the entity. It's always an incredible event to me when I experience this kind of phenomena. And it's fantastic for investigations, for it provides another avenue of direct communication with an entity in real time. One night, we were in the middle of an investigation at a major Hollywood studio soundstage and I channeled two car accident victims; it was a mediumship episode. The female victim, who had had the top of her head ripped off in the accident, stepped in at one point. It took Dr. Montz more than six minutes to get me to muster enough energy to push the entity out. During that time, I did nothing but cry hysterically while screaming that "my head is open...it's so gross," over and over and over. After that investigation, I had difficulty moving for the next 24 hours, it actually felt that my own body had gone through a car accident; everything hurt. After 24 hours, I was absolutely fine again.
	MM: How do you apply your abilities? Smoller: Well actually, I don't try to apply my abilities, I just try to stay mentally open so that whatever takes place, can do so easily. So I never know for sure when I'm going to experience; an empathic or mediumship episode or maybe nothing at all. In order to prevent it, I have to keep myself pretty shut down by keeping a focus on my own energy. But for investigations, since my body is used as an additional instrument, I don?t think about it at all - I just remain open and whatever happens, happens. MM: What are your personal goals regarding paranormal research? Smoller: Growing up, I was always bummed by the concept of death. I've never been a particularly religious person, and the concepts of heaven and hell never rang true for me. I always suspected that when a person died, that was it. No more consciousness. I knew what happened to the matter (body) once a person died, but not certain about the energy. After joining the ISPR however, and seeing every single day that there is some kind of continuance of a person after death, I find that I am no longer plagued with the depressing theory that after one dies, that's it. And it is quite satisfying to be able to help others deal more effectively with what they know and what they don't know. But now, it's my personal goal to find out how the transition is made due to the death of a body and why do some people stay earthbound (as entities), while others do not. I also want to be instrumental in assisting in the development of more sophisticated equipment to document more qualitative data out in the field. MM: What do you think about other team member's abilities? Smoller: Well frankly, I'm usually in awe. The investigators that I work with are so secure in their abilities but they don't have an obnoxious ego about it. In the past, the investigators with incredible egos never lasted too long on the team. So the way the team stands today, there is a great wealth of sharing knowledge and experience which I feel is definitely beneficial to the work we do. MM: What gives you the most satisfaction about the work you do? Smoller: At first, I garnered the most satisfaction after seeing unrefutable evidence that there is life after death of the physical body. Now, I receive a great deal of satisfaction when we work with someone or a family that is absolutely panicked and leave them is a much calmer and more educated state. One of the most significant cases that exemplifies that is the case we worked on in Liverpool, England. The widower had just lost his wife to cancer five weeks prior to meeting him and he was left financially devastated, with no job and a four year old daughter to raise. His wife was still in the house and her activities were frightening her husband. Before we entered the house, Derek became very emotional in the car. He said that there were lives at stake - that he knew the man was contemplating committing suicide and taking his daughter with him. As it turned out, Derek was correct and in addition, we did find the wife still in the house. After the work we did, this man is now on more stable ground and is moving ahead with his life and his daughter's. I can't think of anything more satisfying than that.
	MM: Are you ever afraid? Smoller: Yes and No. I'm not afraid during investigations because I completely trust the people with whom I work. However, I do wonder if there are any long lasting effects on my body due to the work I perform, maybe something that I?m not yet aware of. For example, if I channel someone who died of cancer, will that have some negative effect on my body; does that increase my chance of developing cancer? I usually tell myself that's ridiculous, but the worry is there in the back of my mind. MM: What is your professional background? Smoller: Before I began working for ISPR full time, I was in radio and ad agency work for 16 years. I did almost everything and loved every minute of it. I began writing commercials and doing production, then, became a radio announcer, quite by accident actually. I jocked at a big band station, top 40 and then country. I worked for three ad agencies during that time period, including Wells, Rich, Greene, one of the top ten international ad agencies. When I was working for an ad agency, I would stay on-air in radio part time. And, I spent almost two years in radio sales. I never thought I'd go into any kind of outside sales, but radio was a piece of cake as it's my favorite medium and it was easy for me to come up with a spec commercial right in front of prospective clients. And the people that work in radio - well, they're just the greatest - so much fun! MM: Are there any times or situations that you feel you could be in danger? Smoller: Sure. I've stopped breathing a few times while channeling, that was pretty interesting. And you never know what can happen, especially in my case since I don't usually see what I'm dealing with. But it's part of job so it's of no real use in worrying about it. MM: Name some examples of fraud that you've seen. Smoller: Wow. I could go on for hours on this one. I know of a psychic medium here in the U.S. that's a fraud. He does an adequate job as a cold reader with the audience (which entails absolutely no abilities), and with the people that he supposedly deals with on stage - he gets all the pertinent information from the producers before the cameras roll. That's deplorable on both his part and the part of the producers. On the other end of the "fraud" spectrum, is a couple whose professional experience was taking off their clothes at parties. Now, since they've bought a camera and joined a ghost club, they claim to be"professional paranormal investigators." There are literally hundreds of frauds as far as psychic readers go as well. There's tons of them lined up around Jackson Square in New Orleans as well as along the beachfront at Venice Beach. They all claim to be "licensed" but what they don't tell you is that it's just a vendor's license - anyone can get that! Then, there was a movie production company that wanted us to consult on a rip off of the Blair Witch Project, where they send in four young people who know absolutely nothing about the paranormal, into a "violently haunted house," and gee, lock them up for a couple days and see what happens. My question to the V.P. of the company before declining the job, was "how much insurance are you going to carry on these people?" They ended up sending these people into a building that ISPR investigated in during it's six year research period in New Orleans, and it wasn't haunted! Guess that got them around the insurance question. But the four young people were actors - so it may look good on the silver screen, but it's all fabricated! MM: Do you feel your teammates are ever in danger? Smoller: I'd like to say no, but one never knows. I watched Derek get choked in England at this old haunted manor house. I saw another investigator in New Orleans get choked and thrown to the ground - she was out cold for almost a minute. You just never know but we never go into a situation holding on to that fear. We just can't and still do the job correctly.
	MM: Are there any aspects of the work you do that you feel or know poses health problems? Smoller: As I stated earlier, my only concern is the still unfounded worry that channeling an entity with particular health problems may have some negative effect on my own body. But other than that, I don't usually think about it. MM: Do you read books regarding paranormal matters and if so, what kinds? Smoller: I've been an avid reader most of my life - until I began working for the ISPR. If I read four books a year now, it's a major accomplishment. But I never read any factual books on paranormal matters; if I read anything paranormal in the past, it was in the sci-fi and horror genres. I adore Ray Bradbury, Clive Barker and Stephen King. Of course, I'll read anything by Jimmy Buffett too! But I don't read "paranormal" books now, since I actually work in the field professionally. I figure what I am learning, I'm learning by real experience and not through someone else's perception of what might be. MM: What are some inaccuracies that have been printed or broadcasted about you? Smoller: That's a good one! My name is almost never spelled correctly! Even when I provide a business card, or they film my name on the Vogue Theatre marquee, they must believe that I spell my own name incorrectly and take matters into their own hands! My name is spelled just like Jason Alexander's (Seinfeld) wife, Daena. I wonder if she has the same problems? I usually am very apprehensive about dealing with journalists. They quote me as saying things that I wouldn't say on my worst day. Or when they call me a 'ghostbuster.' Well, maybe it's because there was a character named Dana in that movie too! MM: Should an investigator clear a property without consultation or permission? Smoller: An ISPR Investigator shouldn't if it's a team case. Otherwise, it's an ethical question of which a person must use their own good common sense depending on the situation. MM: Have you ever been injured due to the work you perform? Smoller: Not permanently - that?s a good thing! MM: Any details about your life that may have shaped your decision to do this kind of work? Smoller: Throughout my life, I've had countless experiences that could fall in the paranormal category. So I've always been interested. But truthfully, because of my advertising and marketing background, I viewed different divisions of the ISPR, such as the Ghost Expeditions, as a potential client and that's what partly prompted my involvement originally. MM: How do you feel about people who make claims and/or copy you and why? Smoller: That's happened a lot and it could annoy me, but I don?t let it. Did Farrah Fawcett get all riled up because everyone wanted a "Farrah Fawcett" hairstyle? Instead, I sit back and think, okay, it's just because we're well known and there's nothing wrong with that. Hey, nobody copies someone they've never heard of, right? And as far as people making false claims - that can be annoying as well, but there's always the chance that they'll be exposed. You know what they say, you made the bed, you have to lie in it!