Page 39 of Down Beat
I shrug. “We met Tabitha by chance, and I thought why the fuck not? It’s different, right?”
“Amazing,” she praises. “She really nailed her cover of ‘Pull Me Under.’ Toby, you were on stage with her for the song. Were you in on this?”
“I had no idea what was going down until seconds before I walked on,” he says with a laugh. “Totally threw me in the deep end.”
“Well, you did fantastic.” Valerie glances to her sheet, back straight as a rod as she perches on the front of her foldout seat. “My next question is for you, Emery.”
“Uh-oh.” He laughs.
“Tell us about the incident in LA.”
Bitch. Emery stiffens beside me before answering, “I don’t think we have time to cover that in enough detail, love.” He finishes with a wink.
Nice save.
“Maybe you and I could do a one-on-one later, huh?” She tilts her head to smirk at him.
He remains silent. Kris stares at the floor; Toby’s eyes remain front and center despite the fact he looks a thousand miles away. Smile and wave, boys.
“Now, this tour,” she carries on, unaffected by the fact she just derailed the mood of the interview by bringing up what was probably our worst PR nightmare to date, “you boys are playing things a little differently, aren’t you? Always one to surprise, you’ve decided to release your next album after the shows wrap up. Tell me why that is?”
“Well,” Toby answers, “in today’s day and age of instant access, we wanted to make sure people still had an incentive to come and see us live. Not only that, but it’s a reward for the people who do, getting to see us play the tracks before they’re uploaded for streaming.”
“Nice.” She shifts her gaze to Kris. “What’s your favorite from the album, Kris?”
He stalls at the mention of his name, glancing my way before swallowing away his anxiety and murmuring, “Cold Call.”
Valerie tips her head to the side. “I don’t believe you played that tonight.”
“No,” I say. “We didn’t.” The damn track fucks Kris up for days every time he plays it, so we’re strategically spacing it out across the tour.
We all have the songs that we’ve poured our very being into, and for him “Cold Call” is it.
“Could you give me a little preview?” Valerie looks to each of us expectantly.
I could whip out my phone and play it if I really wanted to, but instead I answer with “No instruments, sweetheart.” I pull my lips into a thin line and squint as I tip my hands palm up in the air.
Emery chuckles, Toby shifting from foot to foot.
“What’s on the agenda once the tour is over? Obviously the new album will release.” She looks down at her page, making a hum. “I don’t believe we have a title for it yet. Can you let the fans know what to look out for?”
“It’s a surprise,” I say with a sly wink.
More like, we can’t fucking decide. We have three options all drawn up, but the four of us can’t pick which one we all like better.
“Well, I certainly look forward to finding out.”
“You’ll be one the first to know,” Toby says.
“What is this?” Valerie asks sweetly. “The fourth time we’ve caught up now? I remember when you boys were starting out in the clubs with private gigs, and now look at you. In the short space of…”
“Five years,” I fill in.
“Five years,” she repeats with a nod. “It’s not the fastest rise to fame I’ve seen, but definitely one of the most impressive. You’ve done all this with no major sponsor, and you’ve also retained your style, refusing to conform to what’s more mainstream. Do you think that edge is what has helped you get where you are?”
“Nope.” I shake my head, crossing my arms high on my chest. “We work hard. We live and breathe our music, drawing inspiration anywhere, anytime. This is what we want to do, and so we give it all we’ve got.”
“An impressive work ethic, for sure.”