This is exactly how I would approach interviews too. I say "would" because I mostly do contract work and sometimes sit in on interviews when other companies are

This is exactly how I would approach interviews too. I say "would" because I mostly do contract work and sometimes sit in on interviews when other companies are trying to hire someone. I've always thought to myself almost exactly what you wrote. I think having a low pressure conversation with someone can get you almost everything you need to be comfortable hiring someone or at least trialing them out with contract work to begin with. You can absolutely get a good sense of their tech skills from just chatting and you can also get a decent feel for how they communicate in general which IMO is more important than tech skills once you reach a certain point.