Confessions of the Band P.A. (The Strypes)

ROSS

Sweet, sweet Ross. That’s what I call him now although he gets annoyed whenever I refer to him as ‘sweetie’ or ‘honey’ because he feels I’m treating him like a kid. Well, I’m just a couple of years older than him and those pet names have become a habit of mine. The rest of the lads are more annoyed because of the fact that Ross is the only one who I refer by using terms of endearment. They feel there’s some sort of favouritism because for them, they feel that Ross’ requests get prioritized and that I always treat him far calmer and sweeter than the other lads – the complainants being Pete and Josh, but mostly just Pete.

I just rolled my eyes and will smile sweetly to the youngest Strypes member whenever one of the lads makes a comment. Hmm…maybe I am a slightly doting PA towards Ross but I can’t help it. The lad is a sweetheart. With Ross, I just get the feeling that I want to take care of him. I’m calm when I’m with him, unlike with the other lads *cough*Pete*cough* who knew how to easily push my buttons and stress me out. Plus, he had never gotten me into major trouble before that’s why he’s my favourite.

He looks way older than his age, that I couldn’t believe he was only 15 going to 16 when I first met him. At first, he was the most awkward member and I was not really sure how to interact with him. At one of the small clubs in London, an hour before their gig, I accidentally saw him at the back door of the club trying to catch his breath over a brown bag.

I knew something weird was going on so I went up to him and learned that he was having an anxiety attack. I rubbed his back as he ended up throwing up on the pavement. Afterwards, he took heavy breaths before he said he’s ready to go in. No one knew about these anxiety attacks. He had been dealing with it on his own when they started properly gigging. Ross does appear quite shy when he’s up on stage and would rarely speak in interviews. But I wouldn’t even think he’s having these anxiety attacks, nervous yes, but not the heart-palpitations-extreme-panic-struggling-to-breathe kind of nerves. These anxiety attacks became our bonding moments and maybe that’s the reason why I have softer spot for him in the first place.

I guess after the non-stop touring and performing and the several television appearances in America, Ross had already gotten used to it. These recent months, during waiting period before a gig, I don’t see him giving me a look of distress anymore and go out of the dressing room to throw up or trying to ease his chest pains. Most of the time he would just sit on one corner of the couch with his Ipad and quietly listens to music or having small chats with the lads or with the Niall or Chris.

He looks way more confident on stage now, getting a bit cocky with the way he interacts with the audience and dancing his cute awkward way into songs. I guess I felt proud. He’s the lead singer anyway; he has the right to claim his sunshine on stage and there’s more balance to the band, now that Ross has become to be the composed yet charismatic front man of The Strypes.

Compared to the other lads, Ross is more subdued. I’ve never seen him got rowdy before. He plays sports with the lads sometimes but he was never loud or boisterous like Pete or Josh. His loud huge singing voice goes low and calm when he talks. However, he has his moments too, ranging from cute to embarrassing - but still cute - moments.                                    

While on the road, everyone in the tour bus can go batshit crazy because of lack of shower and when the next hotel check-in is in another 5-6 hours. Ever since I started being a P.A, I’ve gotten used to the smell of after-gig sweats and yeah, un-showered men. Apparently, men do get grumpy when they haven’t showered and only had cereals for brunch.   

“I’m beginning to stink…” I heard Josh miserably whispered after washing his cereal bowl and placed it on the dish rack. We were traveling somewhere in America. I should keep track of places but at this time of the day, I don’t know anymore.