Sequel: Nothing's Ever Over ›
Before It's Over
I Can't Love You
As Warped Tour continued, so did my appearances at the Between The Trees' acoustic set, as well as my attendance at FTSK's Denny's All-Nighter parties. One by one, my boys starting attending the Warped after parties with me, and soon, Ross was taking the liberty of inviting our fans to the late-night diner as well. Kyle and the guys had no problem with this; however, the managers at Denny's were overwhelmed with the amount of over-excited teenagers infesting their restaurant.
With two sets a day and staying up for the all-nighters, I was already tired. To add to my exhaustion was Kyle, who insisted that we hang out everyday. My time in the tent was cut down by more than half and I hadn't seen Shane any other time except for our sets and the Denny's parties. Aiden noticed the scattering of our band members and was trying different way for us to keep tight-knit.
It was this goal that landed us our first day of press. We had three interviews, a photo shoot and were schedule to make an update video for our Myspace page. Our schedule was so busy that we had to ask FTSK if we could borrow Kevin to watch our tent. The boys lent us their drum tech, but Kyle was a bit upset that he wouldn't see me for a whole day. Ryan, too, was disappointed that we wouldn't be able to have our duet today. Aiden had no sympathies to any protests – even in they came from members of the band.
Kyle came to bus early in the morning to say good luck on the interviews and that he would miss me during the day. Kyle was a major reason my time spent on proving my independence had been lessening. His visits to the tent normally ended in pulling me away to a random set or video game tournament going on in his bus. Kyle came to the van only minuets before we had to leave, and I only had enough time to give him a short hug before Aiden was threatening me to get in the van.
As we trudged in the heat to our first official interview, I thought about how little I had been focusing on my initial plan for tour, and how I needed to fix that – quickly.
;;
The boys and I sat on an uncomfortable couch shoulder to shoulder while the young girl interviewing us sat comfortably on a plush chair across from us. Ross and Adam held microphones for us to share. A solitary camera man stood behind the interview with a digital video recorder in his hands. The room we were in was boring and held nothing in it besides what were sitting in, and a few lights that made me hot after awhile of sitting under them.
"So let's start off with names and what you do in the band," started the interviewer after she signaled the camera man to start recording.
Adam raised his microphone to his lips and the camera man pointed the camera in his direction.
"I'm Adam and I play guitar in The Forgetting Curve."
"I'm Ross. Vocals."
"I'm Avery. I play the drums."
"And I'm Shane. I play bass."
"Alright, so for the people who have never heard your music, how would you describe your sound?"
Ross raised his mic, signaling he would take the question. "I've always described our sound as haunted rock. There's a sort of theatric element to us as well, but its more eerie guitar and keys and stuff like that."
"Very good, very good. So this is your first stint on Warped Tour correct?" We all nodded collectively. "How's it been for you?"
"Hot," I said dramatically pulling Ross's mic towards my lips.
Ross laughed and pulled the microphone back to his own mouth. "It's been great. We've met so many amazing people and fans. It's amazing how many fans we've met on this tour."
"Speaking of fans, I've heard you guys are hanging out with fans after the venue gates close. Tell us about that."
Unsurprisingly, Adam took the initiative to answer the question and raised his mic to his lips.
"Well, we're kind of invading on our friend's idea. The guys from Forever the Sickest Kids participate in these Denny's All-Nighters after select dates and lately we've been tagging along. So now there's twice as many fans crammed into the restaurant."
As Adam paused, Shane commented, "The fans are so great. They cram into those small diners and wait around while we make our way around to talk to everyone. They eat awful waffles and they wait outside when we get kicked out of the restaurant."
The interviewer nodded and continued with the next question. "You guys mentioned a relationship with Forever the Sickest Kids. I guess you know how they got their start through the internet. How'd you guys start out and how do you think the band's developed since then?"
"I think our Avery tells the story the best," voiced Ross before handing his mic over to me.
"Thanks Rossy. You're appreciated," I said, patting my friend on the head before proceeding with our band's beginning.
"At the time the band formed my grandfather was showing signs of The Forgetting Curve, which is the medical term for the loss of memory retention that comes with old age. Eventually, it turned out to be Alzheimer's. I was really close to him. I kind of went into a really dark place because I was scared for my granddad. To make me a little happier, Adam, who's my brother's best friend and someone I really looked up to, asked if I wanted to play some music with him. I said yes and it pretty much grew from that. Ross asked to jam with us and then when we got serious about the music we found Shane. All four of us wrote some songs and posted them anywhere we could. So far we've gotten a lot of booking, but no label offers. I'd say we still have a bit of growing to do, maybe you should ask us this question again in, like, three years."
When I finished, the boys began clapping with mocking smiles on their faces.
"Next question?"
;;
"Okay, who thinks we did ah-mazing at our first interview!" Ross said excitedly as we all piled back into the van to make our set in time.
"You guys did great," Aiden said from the driver's seat. "I think you have a knack for press."
"I had fun," Adam chimed. "Did you have fun, Ave?"
"Yeah, I had fun, but now I'm really excited to play."
"Same here!" Shane's shout came out muffled from the back of the van where Shane was catching up on some sleep.
"Alright then," said Ross. "We gotta keep this going with best set of the tour!"
;;
And it was. The crowd was one of the largest we'd seen on the tour, as well as one of the most energetic. Ross sounded amazing and put on the best performance he'd ever given. Adam and Shane had obviously been working on some new stage tricks because they had pulled off loads of perfect jumps and stunts. I even noticed a new energy in myself. I broke three sets of sticks and the calluses on my hand had all been opened and were bleeding profusely when I walked of stage.
"Avery you need to fix up your hands before we leave for the next interview," Aiden instructed as he passed me to start packing up my drum set.
I looked at my hands and winced, before bumping into someone. I looked up in surprise at Kyle who was smiling. Then he saw my hands and his smile dropped into a frown of concern. He grabbed my right wrist and pulled my hand up so he could examine it.
"Jeeze, Avery. Get a little to into the set today?"
I pulled my hand back from Kyle's grasp and began to walk in the direction of the vans. Kyle followed.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Did you watch the set today? God, I feel like the band has this new – something – after our interview. It got us all really pumped for the show."
As I explained Kyle and I reached the bus parking and began weaving our way to the van, which was close to exit so we could get out of the venue easy. When we reached it, Kyle helped me nurse my hands. When we had finished we sat in the trailer and talked a bit. Kyle invited me to a showing of Transformers, apparently his favorite movie, in the FTSK bus tomorrow night. I agreed, but warned him that I might be exhausted from making up for my lost time in the tent. He made fun of me for treating the tour "like work" which was a regular taunt from Kyle. We talked and laughed for little while longer.
Eventually the boys showed up and we headed out to our next interview. The rest of the day went by extremely fast. Our interviews only seemed to last a few minutes and our dinner at Chick-fil-a with Between The Trees lasted what felt like only twenty minutes. We returned to the venue with only two hours before the last set. I spent the precious time in the tent with Kevin.
And as my excitement from the day faded and my thoughts weren't running through my mind at the speed of light, I realized that I really wanted to see Kyle.
With two sets a day and staying up for the all-nighters, I was already tired. To add to my exhaustion was Kyle, who insisted that we hang out everyday. My time in the tent was cut down by more than half and I hadn't seen Shane any other time except for our sets and the Denny's parties. Aiden noticed the scattering of our band members and was trying different way for us to keep tight-knit.
It was this goal that landed us our first day of press. We had three interviews, a photo shoot and were schedule to make an update video for our Myspace page. Our schedule was so busy that we had to ask FTSK if we could borrow Kevin to watch our tent. The boys lent us their drum tech, but Kyle was a bit upset that he wouldn't see me for a whole day. Ryan, too, was disappointed that we wouldn't be able to have our duet today. Aiden had no sympathies to any protests – even in they came from members of the band.
Kyle came to bus early in the morning to say good luck on the interviews and that he would miss me during the day. Kyle was a major reason my time spent on proving my independence had been lessening. His visits to the tent normally ended in pulling me away to a random set or video game tournament going on in his bus. Kyle came to the van only minuets before we had to leave, and I only had enough time to give him a short hug before Aiden was threatening me to get in the van.
As we trudged in the heat to our first official interview, I thought about how little I had been focusing on my initial plan for tour, and how I needed to fix that – quickly.
;;
The boys and I sat on an uncomfortable couch shoulder to shoulder while the young girl interviewing us sat comfortably on a plush chair across from us. Ross and Adam held microphones for us to share. A solitary camera man stood behind the interview with a digital video recorder in his hands. The room we were in was boring and held nothing in it besides what were sitting in, and a few lights that made me hot after awhile of sitting under them.
"So let's start off with names and what you do in the band," started the interviewer after she signaled the camera man to start recording.
Adam raised his microphone to his lips and the camera man pointed the camera in his direction.
"I'm Adam and I play guitar in The Forgetting Curve."
"I'm Ross. Vocals."
"I'm Avery. I play the drums."
"And I'm Shane. I play bass."
"Alright, so for the people who have never heard your music, how would you describe your sound?"
Ross raised his mic, signaling he would take the question. "I've always described our sound as haunted rock. There's a sort of theatric element to us as well, but its more eerie guitar and keys and stuff like that."
"Very good, very good. So this is your first stint on Warped Tour correct?" We all nodded collectively. "How's it been for you?"
"Hot," I said dramatically pulling Ross's mic towards my lips.
Ross laughed and pulled the microphone back to his own mouth. "It's been great. We've met so many amazing people and fans. It's amazing how many fans we've met on this tour."
"Speaking of fans, I've heard you guys are hanging out with fans after the venue gates close. Tell us about that."
Unsurprisingly, Adam took the initiative to answer the question and raised his mic to his lips.
"Well, we're kind of invading on our friend's idea. The guys from Forever the Sickest Kids participate in these Denny's All-Nighters after select dates and lately we've been tagging along. So now there's twice as many fans crammed into the restaurant."
As Adam paused, Shane commented, "The fans are so great. They cram into those small diners and wait around while we make our way around to talk to everyone. They eat awful waffles and they wait outside when we get kicked out of the restaurant."
The interviewer nodded and continued with the next question. "You guys mentioned a relationship with Forever the Sickest Kids. I guess you know how they got their start through the internet. How'd you guys start out and how do you think the band's developed since then?"
"I think our Avery tells the story the best," voiced Ross before handing his mic over to me.
"Thanks Rossy. You're appreciated," I said, patting my friend on the head before proceeding with our band's beginning.
"At the time the band formed my grandfather was showing signs of The Forgetting Curve, which is the medical term for the loss of memory retention that comes with old age. Eventually, it turned out to be Alzheimer's. I was really close to him. I kind of went into a really dark place because I was scared for my granddad. To make me a little happier, Adam, who's my brother's best friend and someone I really looked up to, asked if I wanted to play some music with him. I said yes and it pretty much grew from that. Ross asked to jam with us and then when we got serious about the music we found Shane. All four of us wrote some songs and posted them anywhere we could. So far we've gotten a lot of booking, but no label offers. I'd say we still have a bit of growing to do, maybe you should ask us this question again in, like, three years."
When I finished, the boys began clapping with mocking smiles on their faces.
"Next question?"
;;
"Okay, who thinks we did ah-mazing at our first interview!" Ross said excitedly as we all piled back into the van to make our set in time.
"You guys did great," Aiden said from the driver's seat. "I think you have a knack for press."
"I had fun," Adam chimed. "Did you have fun, Ave?"
"Yeah, I had fun, but now I'm really excited to play."
"Same here!" Shane's shout came out muffled from the back of the van where Shane was catching up on some sleep.
"Alright then," said Ross. "We gotta keep this going with best set of the tour!"
;;
And it was. The crowd was one of the largest we'd seen on the tour, as well as one of the most energetic. Ross sounded amazing and put on the best performance he'd ever given. Adam and Shane had obviously been working on some new stage tricks because they had pulled off loads of perfect jumps and stunts. I even noticed a new energy in myself. I broke three sets of sticks and the calluses on my hand had all been opened and were bleeding profusely when I walked of stage.
"Avery you need to fix up your hands before we leave for the next interview," Aiden instructed as he passed me to start packing up my drum set.
I looked at my hands and winced, before bumping into someone. I looked up in surprise at Kyle who was smiling. Then he saw my hands and his smile dropped into a frown of concern. He grabbed my right wrist and pulled my hand up so he could examine it.
"Jeeze, Avery. Get a little to into the set today?"
I pulled my hand back from Kyle's grasp and began to walk in the direction of the vans. Kyle followed.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Did you watch the set today? God, I feel like the band has this new – something – after our interview. It got us all really pumped for the show."
As I explained Kyle and I reached the bus parking and began weaving our way to the van, which was close to exit so we could get out of the venue easy. When we reached it, Kyle helped me nurse my hands. When we had finished we sat in the trailer and talked a bit. Kyle invited me to a showing of Transformers, apparently his favorite movie, in the FTSK bus tomorrow night. I agreed, but warned him that I might be exhausted from making up for my lost time in the tent. He made fun of me for treating the tour "like work" which was a regular taunt from Kyle. We talked and laughed for little while longer.
Eventually the boys showed up and we headed out to our next interview. The rest of the day went by extremely fast. Our interviews only seemed to last a few minutes and our dinner at Chick-fil-a with Between The Trees lasted what felt like only twenty minutes. We returned to the venue with only two hours before the last set. I spent the precious time in the tent with Kevin.
And as my excitement from the day faded and my thoughts weren't running through my mind at the speed of light, I realized that I really wanted to see Kyle.