Party 'til you pass out / When the party's over

1.35

'Sure, that's what we're here for, right?,' I said with a smile, which was only a masquerade for hiding my sudden nervous again.

'Great! Mind if I record our conversation?' She held up her phone and I shook my head. At that, she sat down at a bar chair and started recording.

'So Oli - can I say Oli?'

'Please do, only my mother calls me Oliver when she's upset with me,' I chuckled.

'Okay. Oli. First of all, I want to say how pleasantly surprised I was by the new album.'

'Thank you.' I smiled again, a real smile this time. 'It's been hard work, and there's some very personal and intimate some songs on it, so I am glad you liked it.'

'You guys seem to have found a new sound. Can you tell me where that came from?'

'Eh... Yeah, well, it started with meeting Jordan -,' I started. I told her about making music with Jordan at the clinic, and how he just totally got along with the rest of the band when we invited him to write with us.

'So safe to say Jordan is a new member of the band?,' Penny asked, sipping a glas of wine. I nodded.

'Yeah, he just fits in, and his mind is so creative. He is really talented, and has given us new energy that we like to explore a little longer to see what we make from it.'

'Cool. If I can speak for myself, I think that this album can mean a big breakthrough to the bigger public for you guys. I mean, metalcore is such a niche genre, and although this album is still far from mainstream, I think it could be speaking to a lot more people than just your average fans.'

'Why do you think that?,' I asked her, honestly interested in her answer.

'Well, it's very personal, but because of that also very relatable. The sound is just a bit more... I don't want to say mainstream, but more accessible maybe, for other public.' Her eyes were eager and full of life, and I decided that I liked her. She seemed genuine and like she knew what she was talking about - I hated talking to so called critics and press that had no idea what they were going on about.

'Maybe you're right,' I said, emptying my glass and asking the bartender for another.

'I really hope I am, because I feel like Sempiternal deserves a lot of attention from a broader public.'

'Thanks.' I gave her a small smile while I looked her straight into her blue eyes, and watched her cheeks turn pink. She smiled too and looked away.

'Anyway -,' she said, scraping her throat. 'Eh...' She frowned and looked at her phone. 'I'm sorry, I have a few other questions...' She scrolled over the screen a bit. 'Ah, right - eh, do you mind talking about your time in rehab?' My teeth found the little loose piece of skin on my lip again, biting it a few times until it tore off. I frowned at the faint pain I felt, ran my tongue over the small wound and then shrugged.

'Depends on what you're gonna ask,' I then said.

'Just tell me if it gets too personal,' Penny said, putting some hair behind her ear.

'Oh, I sure will.' I took a sip of my new drink and quickly let my eyes wander through the room; the rest of the band and our management were talking to people too. Alison was busy with Tom, and she didn't notice me staring at her. She was wearing a new Drop Dead dress, and she looked gorgeous in it. Shame she really didn't want to model it at the shoot a few weeks ago.

'Oli?'

'Yeah?' My attention was drawn back to Penny. She smiled a bit and stared at me in amusement.