Life, Love, & Lies

Fifteen

"Atlanta! Do I have a treat for you." The host of the local talk show, that the band is interviewing on, calls out excitedly. "Four handsome young men, one gorgeous young lady, together, a band that has stolen the hearts of the world, here today ahead of their sold out show at the Forbes Arena happening tonight, it's the band Pier 6!"

The small audience made up of about seventy percent young women cheers loudly as Chaz leads the band out onto the stage, all five waving at the crowd as they take their seats on the couch across from the woman, Reese taking the separate seat on a chair.

"Welcome to Atlanta guys, we are so excited to have you in town for this show, and glad you made time to join us this morning!"

"We are at least equally as excited to be here playing for the great city of Atlanta, and ready to connect with some of our fans here this morning as well." Matt had taken the seat closest to the host, answering for the band with the warm charismatic personality he's known for.

"A sold out show tonight, how does it feel to hear that? To know your band has created music that sells out arenas worldwide?"

"Honestly it's still surreal. We've opened tours, and we've played festivals, but to be on our own tour, where people are truly coming to see us, it's indescribable. This is the first time we've done this, we didn't know what to expect, and we had to put a lot of faith in our fans and them in us. Some of the shows were sold out before they'd even heard the album. We didn't know if they'd love it or not, and neither did they. We take every show so seriously, knowing how absolutely blessed we are to be on that stage hearing our lyrics sung back to us a thousand fold, it's truly the best feeling in the entire world." Chaz answers with a touch of emotion.

"Well you guys did not disappoint, the album is amazing, and the reviews of the shows you've completed thus far on the tour have been that it is phenomenal. Now, can we discuss this album for a minute? The singles have dropped through the last year and a half about, but the non-singles, and in particular the title track, people have been anticipating it for months. What can you guys tell us about that song?"

"Matt and I wrote that one together about a year ago now," Zach speaks up, "Matt had been open for a long time about his struggles with depression while I've chosen to fight my issues with both depression and anxiety much more privately, and this song actually goes along with one Chaz and I wrote called 'Who Do You Think You Are?'. Both songs stem, at least for me, from a place where I worry about the life I am living. And I don't mean that in a bad way, I am so grateful for this band, and I love being a part of it, but it was after Chaz and I met Milo and Matt that I decided I wanted to pursue music with them. And it was a hard choice. Our mom, she's a professor at the University of Memphis and I had always planned to follow a life more similar to hers. 'Sorry Mom' to me was a therapeutic way to apologize for the anxiety driven fears I create in my own head, fears that she thinks less of me because I strayed from the path we had discussed and the love for learning and education that we shared."

"To be clear, our mom definitely does not think less of Zach for choosing the band, and she has made that very clear to us. She is one of the band's biggest fans, and is happy because we are happy." Chaz adds quickly.

"Of course, my fears are quite literally driven from my own subconscious fears of taking the unknown path rather than the path I had planned out for my entire life prior to meeting these two." Zach reassures as well, motioning to Matt and Milo as he finishes.

"And why shouldn't she be proud? Look at how well you boys have done for yourselves already. And it's just the beginning. I feel as if I can speak for many if not all of your fans when I say we are all grateful you picked music over college."