[Shane] Facing The Music

[Zack Derrick Grant]

Zack looked out on the set and winced slightly. “ There’s so many of them.. so up close..” he said, before he rubbed his sweaty palms against the side of his jeans. He still didn’t understand how he got so nervous for these things. If only he had his guitar, that would make him feel more comfortable. None of them even liked him anyways, everyone that came to their shows loved two people; Jack and Shane. He was just an afterthought, the backup to Shane. And that was completely fine by him. This interview was different than a lot of others that had happened lately, whereas they wouldn’t be interviewing each other, but were getting a chance for the fans to interview them directly. And just like that they’re names were called, Zack threw a knowing look at Shane before he stepped out onto the set, bringing his hand up awkwardly in a wave. He shook hands with the host, who was going to be pretty much non-existent now that Shane and himself were on the set and would be able to take over. “ Hi,” he said quietly into the microphone that was placed in his hands and walked over to the two stools in the center of the stage before he sat down, propping his foot up on the highest bar of the stool as he looked out at the crowd, shaking his head slightly at the girls screaming at Shane. He looked over his shoulder, knowing that Claire was off to the side and wondered what she thought about women screaming at him like that.

After the fans had calmed down a bit and Shane took his seat, Zack laughed as he looked over at Shane. Was he really looking forward to another tour? But it was so different. Interviews were so exposing. He took in a deep breath and gave an uncomfortable cough. It was clear that they needed to start the questions, and Zack was horrible with words, “ Okay so.. is someone ready?” he questioned before giving an apologetic grin and then relaxed as someone stood up. “ Shane,” she said, directing her question towards him which caused Zack to look in his direction. “ We all know about your girlfriend, it’s been on the fansites for like.. weeks now. But there’s a new rumor out there. Are you expecting a kid?” she said before taking a seat again quickly, maybe to get herself lost in the crowd. “ Oh man,” Zack said, wondering what kind of skeletons in his closet were about to get thrown out. Because apparently these guys had questions, and they were aiming for some hardcore answers.

[Shane Alexander Madden]

Shane stood beside Claire for as long as he was allowed to before he had to go on set. He was used to the screaming girls, had never phased him before. And they didn't phase him now. Thy were fans, that's it. A majority of the time they screamed things at him that he didn't understand anyways over all of the other screaming. Either way it didn't mean anything to him before, and it only meant less to him now if that was possible. Claire was the only important female in his life. Maybe. There was a 50/50 chance he might have room for one more. But no one is this studio really needed to know that. He knew fans knew about him and Claire dating, and he wasn't going to deny it. He wasn't embarrassed by her, wasn't going to tell people they weren't together. He was completely happy with Claire and everything they were, and he'd tell people that straight up. He just didn't think people needed to pry into their baby business. He knew someone was going to ask he just wasn't looking forward to it. Before he followed Zack out onto set, Shane leaned down and kissed Claire quickly and then headed out toward the screaming that was unfortunately not coming to an end yet. He sat down on his stool and it finally quieted down, and Zack asked for the first question.

Shane froze for a second as the first question was asked about expecting a kid. He looked at the girl briefly and then looked away, not wanting her to feel bad for asking a question that he so clearly didn't want to answer. But she should feel bad. First damn question? Seriously? Well. They did have some dedicated fans. They meant well, he was sure. Shane put on a good face and jokingly said, "Yes, I myself and pregnant. I beg of you all, not to ask me any more questions about it, I don't like to explain it. No one was supposed to know I have lady parts..." He looked at Zack, giving a small laugh. That was all they were getting, and that was his polite way of saying, no more baby questions. Another fan stood up and asked, "What new music can we expect from this upcoming tour?" Shane thought for a moment, "Well, we haven't recorded too much new stuff, we're booked pretty solid with tours, we might have a couple of new things coming out on tour. Maybe some acoustic sets. Something like that." He shrugged, looking to see if Zack had anything to add and then someone asked another question, "Who has the worst habits on the tour bus?"

[Zack Derrick Grant]

Zack did his best to avoid looking at Shane, realizing how uncomfortable this must have been when he realized that looking away from him, might inadvertently confirm that Shane and Claire were expecting a kid. Why ask now? In a few months they’d have evidence for themselves. Claire may have been tiny, but she was only three months right now. She wouldn’t be able to hide it in a few months, no matter how small she stayed. He nodded as Shane talked about his female parts. “ It’s true.” he said with a dismissive laugh as Shane looked over at him laughing. Thank god someone hadn’t asked him about Shane having a kid. He was quiet, easily deciphered he figured by the amount of uncomfort presented by a question. The only time he could ever see himself getting upset during an interview is if someone was talking smack about people he cared about. Then quiet Zack would have a whole plethora of things to say. The fans had laughed along with Shane but Zack had a feeling that though the questions might be over today, they’d probably stream in a hell of a lot more. And what kind of questions would they get once everyone knew their lead singer had knocked up his girlfriend.

Zack looked up as he realized that Shane couldn’t do the entire interview about himself and bit the inside of his lip, wondering who had the worst habits on the tour bus. “ Jack” he said simply, before one of the producers looked at him with a slightly annoyed look. Apparently he was supposed to talk more. “ Um.. because…” he said, trying to remember everything. “ Well he runs around naked a lot. And though he has a sexy body, it’s not one he spends a lot of time on. He likes to sleep in other peoples beds naked. He already ruined Shane’s new sheets. … And he has really bad gas, that he sort of embraces,” he said, nodding to himself that it was enough information. He raised his eyebrows expectantly as another fan stood up, “ Out of everyone in the band, who gets mobbed the most by fans?”. Zack looked over at Shane blurting out quickly, “ Shane. Well, and Jack. Probably a tie between them. Which is perfectly fine by me, if I got the attention they did I’d probably end up shaking in a corner and just…crying… and Rian could probably blend in anywhere without people noticing him because he’s just that guy.” he said, giving a small shake of his head. Seriously, the way women screamed at Shane and Jack, always wanting sex. It made him uncomfortable and he wasn’t even the one being screamed at. “ Out of everyone in the band, who is single?” Zack narrowed his eyebrows, looking at Shane. “ I think I’m the only one now, aren’t I?” he asked, thinking on everyone. Jack was dating Holly, Shane had Claire, and he was pretty sure Rian still had his girl back home.

[Shane Alexander Madden]

Shane nodded while Zack answered the question, adding, "If you can think up a bad habit, Jack probably either has it, does it, or at least someone on the bus does. That's just the kind of luck we have." Another fan stood and asked who got mobbed the most. Shane's immediate thought was Jack, by far, but Zack said both of them and Shane figured he did kind of down play his own mobbings quite a bit. Shane nodded,giving a small smile because the room had given a small bit of applause for that one, probably for Jack, and probably trying to stay tame so no one had to be taken out by security. "Yeah its weird, at home people kind of leave me alone unless I'm purposely trying to get noticed. The second we go on tour, its like, you're in an environment where you know people are looking for you. I guess I'm just easily recognizable?" he shrugged, not sure why so many girls were so obsessed with himself and his band mates. Shane laughed freely, looking at Zack with sympathy, "You're going to wish you hadn't mentioned that," he chuckled, knowing that Zack just gave himself a lot more future wives/lovers. "Yeah, you might be the only one, I wasn't sure about Rian, but sometimes I get the feeling he's dating my cousin. I never ask though, and he doesn't tell. It's a good system. He's not here so I don't feel guilty throwing him under the bus," he added thoughtfully, smiling.

Another fan took the mic and stood, asking, "It's been a couple of months since Nothing Personal was released, do you think your next album will go in the same direction or will the sound change yet again?" Shane thought for a moment, "You know I think our sound will probably vary, but I think all albums from any artist are going to vary from the last, All Time Low included. I mean, we change, we go through new things, we get older, we mature, somewhat. Our sound has, so far anyways, reflected us maturing over the years. Nothing Personal added a lot of synthetic sound because of outside influences, and that was fun for a change. Something different for us. Probably now we're all kind of ready to get back to the basics, just drums and guitars you know, and then maybe see what else we can find to spice it up that we haven't dabbled in yet." "Who writes the songs?" "Well we all write the songs, all four of us have some kind of input for all of them." "Yeah, but who writes the lyrics?" Shane paused, looking at Zack. Well, Shane wrote the lyrics, but he most definitely bounced them off his band mates and got their opinions. "I mean, I guess I generally write our lyrics. But nothing gets recorded definitely until we've all heard them, the guys have their input and their opinions, I take that seriously." Another fan leaned over with out even taking the mic from the last girl and said, "Where do you get your song inspiration from? Like, love songs?" Shane sighed, he wasn't sure he wanted to go into detail. These kids wanted to know exactly who inspired which song? Not gonna happen. Instead he answered simply, "Life. My life, my friend's lives, life in general. Life is a never ending inspiration for all artists I'm sure. I just write about experiences and its not always my own." Finally the mic got handed over and someone asked, "What do you guys do for fun when you're at home, or on tour, other then music?"

[Zack Derrick Grant]

Zack bit the edge of his lip, bouncing his leg anxiously as he listened to Shane talk to the audience. He was so much more smooth with this than Zack was. Which is why he kept pretty quiet during the performances. He wasn’t a mute, but he didn’t really speak unless he was spoken to. It just came natural to Shane. He laughed quietly as he said he suspected Rian of dating his cousin. He could see it. Why not? Shane’s cousin was pretty. It wasn’t really a secret that Shane wrote most of the stuff, and to hear him explain it he thought he did pretty well. Shane didn’t like to take a lot of credit, but he should. Zack nodded in agreement, “ Yeah, I try to write a lot of songs but it always comes out about…protein or.. some workout routine. No one wants to sing along to that,” he said , cracking his thumbs uncomfortably as he looked around. “ What do we do for fun..” he repeated, trying to think of things that the band does. “ Well I guess I’m kind of different from the rest of the guys in the band. I work out, do some photography, skateboard… and I do all of that when I am on tour and when I’m not so my hobbies don’t really change at all. Shane moonlights as a vigilante.. he’s a crime fighting hero,” he said, patting Shane gently on the back.

‘ Do you think that becoming a father in the next few months is going to change your music?” one of the girls asked from the audience, and Zack sat up straight without even looking at Shane at whom her question was directed. “ Look, we came here as members of All Time Low. There’s a reason we only do interviews as the band, in regards to our music. We don’t do interviews without the disclaimer that it’s about our music and our music only. If it’s about what we do on tour, what helps us create our music, or anything that helps with the process that’s fine. I can see how your question might direct towards that but the fact of the matter is, any life challenge we face is going to change our music. We’re evolving, every time we step into the studio. It’s clearly a subject that Shane has … more kindly than I would have, stepped aside from. You aren’t just asking about Shane’s personal life here. You’re asking about a girl who didn’t sign up for the spotlight and who none of you genuinely give a shit about aside from the fact that she is dating Shane Madden. …. Sorry, Shane. Her and Shane are just people. Let them live their lives. Or at least wait a decent amount of time before you ask questions like that. The only thing we need to answer to any of our fans about, … is our music. When we step off that stage, hell even when we’re on the stage, we’re just four dudes out there trying to give you something enjoyable. That doesn’t give you free license to interrogate our personal lives. We love making music more than anything in the world, and I would hate to see that tarnished by the fact that we start to resent things being expected of us. So I’m gonna go ahead and speak for Shane here when I give the caveat if there is one more question in that field of curiosity… we will walk out.” he said, offering a small cough as he retreated back to his normal posture of sitting. There was a small amount of silence before a young girl in braces stood up to ask her question. “ What is your favorite thing about tour, do you have a favorite city you like to stop at?”. Zack took in a deep breath and puffed out his cheeks. “ Baltimore.. I love doing shows in Baltimore, absolutely love it. New York comes a close second, then Dallas.. there’s just this great energy at each of those shows. And Detroit. Umm.. Favorite thing about tour… the tour bus. I really love the tour bus. It’s basically a camp road trip with my three best friends. We have the equivalent of a summer fling during our tours. The initial admiration, so happy to see each other. Over time our habits get annoying, we bicker over stupid things. Then we realize it’s coming to an end, and we all cuddle. No, I love tour. Everything about it. I think it especially helps us sort of.. determine where we want our sound to go the next time we come to those same cities,”

[Shane Alexander Madden]

Shane let Zack explain some of the things he did while they were on tour, laughing when he said that Shane was a vigilante. "Yeah, much like Batman, average dude by day, saving the world after dark," he said, shaking his head. "Yeah we have fun on tour. We play video games, cards, write music. Skype people back home," he paused looking over at Zack, "On our days off we get the whole crew together for a big game of football. I don't recommend playing in parking lots though," he laughed, holding up his arm so his scar was visible. Soft laughter rippled through the audience before another fan stood up and asked about becoming a father and it changing their music. Shane was not even going to confirm that, hadn't he already nicely gotten off of that subject? Even though it was true, he was going to be a dad, were these kids really that quick to make assumptions after he hadn't really confirmed otherwise? But Shane didn't even have to answer the question because Zack had taken the liberty of doing that. Zack was right, they were here because of the music, that's what they, (the band and the fans) had in common. And yes, over the years they'd come to be more like friends rather then a fan band relationship, they always treated the fans like old friends. But this was his personal life. And he was grateful to Zack for taking the reins on this one. He also knew Claire was probably watching backstage somewhere. he felt bad that they were asking so many personal questions about her.

Shane looked over at Zack when he'd finished, nodding his appreciation. Shane wondered how much longer he could really stay mum about Claire being pregnant. She'd be showing soon anyways and would be with them on tour. Fans would recognize her and see her belly. Pretty soon there was going to be no hiding it. Not that he wanted to hide, he was excited about it. He just didn't want Claire to deal with the negativity that was sure to follow. Fans would give her a hard time, the fans that were over the top. A younger fan stood and asked about tour, which was a relief. Zack answered that question too with ease. He was getting better and better as the interview went by. Shane only nodded in agreement, not having much else to add. Zack mentioned Detroit being a good place for shows. Their last Detroit show did have some significance to it, he thought to himself. Someone off stage indicated that their time was up and they had to say goodbye or whatever. "Alright, those were some... great questions." he smiled, "Unfortunately the time is up for you all to ruthlessly interrogate us, thanks for all the questions, and we hope to see you guys on tour." he said jokingly, giving a small wave and headed backstage with Zack in tow. As soon as they were off camera Shane let out a sigh of relief. Interviews were going to be hell from here on out it they were going to be like that all the time. He saw Claire nearby, walking up to her and offering a small smile, "Sorry they ask so many questions... guess we can't hide it much longer." He shrugged, placing a hand on her back and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. There were a lot of things he wanted to keep personal but there were only a few things he felt it was imperative he kept separated from his fans to a point. His and Claire's kid was one of them. He had a bad feeling about some of this, didn't trust the things some fans said, didn't like their obsessive feelings toward the band. They'd eat Claire alive if they could. Hell Dani hadn't even really been dating Joel and she'd been receiving death threats. Shane didn't want that for Claire.

[Claire Jayne Madden]

Claire looked around backstage , looking for anything that might have something to drink besides stuff that had caffeine in it. She tilted her head to the side as she looked through the iced beverages and finally pulled out a bottle of water. Shane and Zack were getting their last minute appearance checks done and were being combed over by set assistants. She went and stood back at his side as they waited for him and Zack to go on. The screaming girls… she wasn’t sure how he could stand it. Joel seemed to live off of it, thrive on it. Shane seemed pretty..well..oblivious to it. “ Weird to think I used to be one of those girls” she said quietly, not looking at Shane as she kept her eyes dully on the set in front of them. It was strange to think of how different things had turned out. She never thought she would fall for a rock star. She never though she would fall for someone who was so in the spotlight. But here she was. Girls screaming at the man she loved like he was going to drop everything to be with them. Subconciously she brought her hand to her stomach, wondering how Shane’s lifestyle would impact their kid. Surely there would be pros and cons, but that was expected of any profession. But the fan insanity? She bit the inside of her lip, wondering what necessarily she had gotten herself into. However, the moment Shane turned to her to kiss her, she smiled faintly against his lips, feeling any sense of fear or worry being lifted off of her shoulders. She could face anything, handle anything, as long as Shane was by her side. “ Love you..” she said quietly, knowing it would be drowned out by the countless girls screaming the same thing at him as he walked onto stage.

Claire smiled as she watched the pair of them. Shane so easy going and personable with fans. Zack uncomfortable and sort of stumbling along. If he could do the shows behind a curtain he probably would. She dropped her smile as the first question was about her and Shane and their little expected delivery. But she had to of known that they would ask. Of course they would. Fans became so dedicated to the people they idolized that they felt they were owed this information. Plus the guys of All Time Low had always been so buddy-buddy with their fans that they probably thought that it was a perfectly reasonable thing to ask. But here’s what bothered Claire…Shane answering that question didn’t just involve him answering about All Time Low anymore. She wasn’t famous. Her personal information wasn’t owed to anyone. All of that being said, Claire looked down at the floor. She could fight it all she wanted, but she knew that was one of the risks of dating Shane. Her information seemingly was owed to his fans. That was the difference between her and Ethan. He’d never really been a fan of someone to that point. He didn’t understand the need for information. But she got it, she understood. She could deal with the fact that it was just a part of Shane’s life, and she wanted all of him. The good and the bad. She waited for the rest of the interview, ignoring the looks from people backstage as the topic was brought up again but this time Zack took the reins. She smiled as Shane made his way backstage and wrapped her arms around him tightly as he kissed the top of her hair. “ No, it’s no problem.. I know what I signed up for. It’s not like dating me doesn’t come with its’ baggage, also” she said , standing on her toes to give him a quick kiss. She nodded, knowing that it was going to have to come out sooner or later. “ How about…” she said, taking in a deep breath as she lowered her hand to his and placed on a quick smile, “ We.. go to the grocery store and find as much ice cream as we can and sit around and watch whatever you want on tv, or whatever movie you want.. and we can order in anything unhealthy, greasy and high calorie filled. We’re leaving soon… this is more your home than it is mine, so we should do whatever you want. My home is with you anyways,” she said before she gave a smile suggesting she knew how cheesy she was being. “ Besides…” she said, leaning in to mockingly whisper, “ There’s a pretty good chance you’ll get laid tonight for how you answered those questions,” she said before she gave him a quick kiss on the lips and then turned to give Zack a quick hug so that her and Shane could leave to spend one of their last few nights in New York together before Shane headed out for tour and she joined him for as long as she could.