Say You Want Me || Calum Hood

2.0

2.0

————

-INDY-

I woke the next morning after releasing my new song to a Twitter notification.

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@calum5SOS mentioned you in a tweet!
—

I raked through my brain trying to figure out who that was, but just as the app finished booting up, I immediately came to the realization. Calum, 5 Seconds of Summer. I had heard some of their songs before, especially the one about the underwear and the one about the blood. How did those go again?

The app finally finished loading and I clicked on the notification from the singer and read the tweet, a smile instantly making its way to my lips.

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@calum5SOS: if you haven't heard it yet, i recommend giving @indyalexander's newest single, seflish, a listen. been a fan for a while now, but this song is a game changer. written so intricately and sung so beautifully. can't wait to hear more.
—

I retweeted the tweet, and then sent a simple tweet back.

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@indyalexander: @calum5SOS thanks for the support!! i'll be on the lookout for any new music from you guys as well. hope all is good in 5sos land!
—

I don't like to be on my phone first thing in the morning, but this little interaction from this guy was all I could think about, so I found myself lounging in bed a little bit longer than I would prefer while doing my research.

Going over to Calum's twitter account, I saw that he'd already been following me, so I followed him back right away. As I did so, I got a lot of tweets from my fans and his fans about this simple interaction between the two of us. I read through a few fan tweets, which consisted of a lot of things like 'calum hood and indy alexander, a duo i never knew i needed' and 'our dreams of these two artists getting together are coming true!!!'.

Shaking my head as I laughed, I decided to pull myself out of bed to get my day started. I had a day full of promotions for Selfish, so I had to get a good breakfast in before any of that happened. As I walked into the kitchen of my downtown Los Angeles apartment, I decided to let 5 Seconds of Summer be the music I listened to while I prepared my breakfast.

Music has always been such an important part of my life, hence it being my career now. I've been a singer almost my entire life, but I really caught my big break about a year and a half ago when I was noticed by Halsey through social media and invited to go on a tour with her as her opening act in America last spring.

All kinds of 5 Seconds of Summer songs rang through the surround sound speakers of the kitchen as I cooked and found myself humming along to the beat. I found myself focusing on the lyrics and the melodies of their songs, just as I'm sure any other musician would. I had to admit, the songs that I listened to that morning were really good, each one unique and telling a story of its own.

——

-CALUM-

"So boys, you're just about to wrap up your tour. How does that feel?" the interviewer probed.

"It's always a bittersweet feeling, finishing up the last few shows of each tour," Michael explained. "We love touring and everything that comes with it for the most part, so it's a bit sad when it's all coming to an end."

Ashton nodded as Michael spoke and then chimed in afterwards. "Exactly. It's sad but at the same time, we can't help but feel a bit happy to just get some time off. You know, to take a breather and just relax for a while. Make some new music, visit family, all that."

Everything they were saying was completely true. I love touring and playing shows with all my heart, and this has been such an amazing tour for us. But as much fun as we've had, I'm definitely ready for it to be over. Traveling the world is one of those things that never gets old, but it can be exhausting when you do it as fast paced as we do. We've only got about a week left as we wrap up the tour with a few more shows here in New York City, and then we'll have the entire summer off in Los Angeles. I'm more than ready to just unwind, that's for sure.

I got lost in my thoughts for a little bit until the interviewer switched the topic of conversation.

"So what music are you guys listening to recently? Any artists in particular?"

The boys all gave their inputs, mentioning some new music we've been getting into lately, and then it was my turn to answer. "Yeah," I cleared my throat a little bit. "I've actually been listening to Indy Alexander a lot recently. Her album that came out last year has been like my go-to album for the majority of the tour."

The boys all started poking at me and laughing cheekily. "Yeah, Calum here... Big Indy fan," Luke said as he ruffled my hair.

"Oh yeah! I saw your tweet at her just the other day about her new song. Are you guys friends?" the interviewer asked.

I shook my head. "No, that was actually the first time we'd ever interacted. But yeah, Luke's right, I'm actually a big fan of hers. I have been for a while now."

Michael then said, "No one besides us sees it, but Calum has the biggest crush on her!"

My face instantly went red, which basically confirmed what Michael had said.

The interviewer laughed while clapping his hands together. "Is that true, Calum?"

"I mean, I'd be lying if I said I didn't think she's really pretty. I think we can all agree on that," I looked towards the boys and they all nodded in agreement. I shrugged then, fiddling with my fingers, "I don't know. She's really talented and has a real gift with music, which I really admire. But I don't know her personally, so I guess I'd say she's a celebrity crush if anything."

"Well, are you guys going to the VMA's in a few weeks?" the interviewer quirked an eyebrow at us. We all nodded and then he said, "I really don't mean to drag the topic of her on for too long, but I just read somewhere that she's gonna be performing."

What?! I really didn't know that. Not that it really mattered, it wasn't like we were just gonna meet up there or anything. Truly, I've never talked to her aside from tweeting at her the other day and getting a response. That was it. So it wasn't like we'd make some grand plan to hangout after the award show or sit together or anything along those lines. But man, could a guy dream. I've never been big on sitting through award shows; they make me feel claustrophobic and even a little lonely at times. I suppose, though, seeing her perform might make the award show just a little bit more bearable.

At least I'd get to see her perform live, that'll be really cool. I've been a fan of her for a few months now. It's a bit surprising, I think, that I like her music so much; Indy has a more pop-ish musical style, which is pretty different than the usual music I listen to. But there was just something about her music that fascinates me, something that makes me want to listen to her all day long. Maybe it's her voice that resembles that of an angel, or maybe it's the truthful lyrics that I often am able to find a relevance to in my own life. I don't know what it is exactly, but there really is just something about her music. There's something about her as a person, too. I've watched her from afar online for a few months now and the way she carries herself is something that I find to be so captivating. She just seems like such a complex, down to earth, and overall good person. Yeah, she's beautiful. But it's her personality and talent that stand out to me.