The Best Rock Band of Our Time

A short article by Ellen Young for Teen Stars Magazine

Hi, guys! It's so great to meet you and be able to take a few minutes of your packed agenda to just have a nice chat.

Quinn: It's really great to meet you as well.
Vera: Your articles are wonderful, we're so lucky you decided to choose us for a feature, really.

Thank you so much! It feels surreal to get praise from the #1 hard rock band of the year.

Ashton: It's not praise when it's pure facts, you know? We read your articles while we're on tour, it's humbling to read about people who are doing greater things for society.
Ellen: You're going to make me blush.

We've all followed your development from your early Youtube days, but how was it for you, personally, to be high school students and suddenly be propelled to international fame?

Madison: I always knew I was destined for greatness — ow, guys! Stop hitting me. I was just joking.
Link: What she means to say is that it was a roller coaster ride. One second we're wannabes, just teens playing at rockstars, and the next second we were being recognized in the streets. It was so weird and for a while it went to our heads too much. Especially this one here.
Madison: Hey!
Vera: For me it was terrifying. I was used to being a total wallflower, and it was embarrassing as hell to suddenly be in the public eye. I guess a lot of people dream of fame, but fame also means scrutiny and the loss of privacy. One wrong move, no matter how small, could even be the end of our dreams. I thought I was going to be freer by pursuing what I wanted to do instead of what society demanded of me, but instead I had to be even more careful.
Ellen: That makes sense. But what do you mean you were a total wallflower? I can't possibly believe that!
Ashton: She's a looker.
Madison: A total babe.
Quinn: I agree.
Link: She's alright.
Vera: Gee, stop y'all.

How was it like to sign with Fueled by Udon and be label mates with bands that you grew up admiring, and then beating them at awards in the same categories?

Ashton: Absolutely and unequivocally flabbergasting. Not even in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that happening. I think I cried the day we signed our contract with the label.
Link: You think? You wept like a babe.
Madison: And I have pictures to prove it.
Ellen: Can I see any?
Madison: Let me see if I have some on my phone... Hah, there we go. Look at him, all sorts of things running down his face.
Ellen: Aw, but that's the face of utter happiness right there.
Quinn: That's the face of someone who has worked harder than anybody else at making his dream come true, and the second when it does. I think Ash was by far the most affected of us that night.

Did you all have a dream of making it big in the music industry?

Quinn: To be honest, no. That was all Ashton and Lincoln's deal from the get go. I was seriously gunning for the MLB, actually.
Ellen: Really? One of my best friends is a junior coach in the MLB and her boyfriend is a pro baller.
Quinn: Oh yeah! I've seen them on your articles.
Ellen: What about you, ladies?
Vera: I was just determined to go to college. I didn't even know what to study. All I wanted was to get as far away from where I grew up as possible and what do you know, life gave me precisely that down a completely different path!
Madison: I was pretty adrift in my life back then. It's no secret that some of us come from families with large fortunes, but being the embodiment of a living porcelain doll and marrying a rich man was not really the life I wanted for myself. My parents and I got into a lot of fights about it and I almost got disowned when I dyed my hair black, and then again when I chopped it all off into a pixie cut. To them appearance really had been all that mattered. But then we started being successful commercially and suddenly they were proud of me. That was rough, and it still is, but I'm happy with my newfound purpose of being the best goddamn bassist in the industry, regardless of how feminine or not I may be perceived as.

That's incredible, I can't imagine how drastic the changes in your lives were like back then. Yet, you all seem so down to earth. Why do you think that is?

Ashton: My twin brother, Ayrton, and my aunt Jem probably take the credit for me not becoming a self entitled douchebag.
Ellen: Ayrton Winters, the movie director?
Ashton: The one and only. My family have been my rock ever since I graduated high school and begun the pursuit of this crazy career.
Vera: Ahem.
Ashton: Plus, Vera would probably smack me to death with her cute little hands if I let success get to my head.
Quinn: My parents for me. My mom can still reduce me to a small child with a single look.
Madison: The same look works wonders on me, too. It can be quite scary. I'm glad she mostly seems to like me.
Vera: For me it's my best friends Leticia Colón and Adele Holt. Leti's become a huge Youtube influencer with her makeup tutorials and Addy's working to be a fashion designer. The fact that we've all supported each other as we work toward our interests has been a gift. My little brother Victor deserves a shoutout, too. He buys our albums with his earnings from his part time job and will brag about us to anybody who cares to listen.
Ellen: That is so sweet.
Link: My parents are Korean, that explains everything.
Ellen: Oh, I get you.

I also heard that there are two couples in the band. How do you balance your romantic life with the work and the fame? Doesn't it get complicated?

Madison: It's certainly got complicated a couple of times, but we've dealt with it. We're adults.
Quinn: So you say now, but I do recall that you threw your shoe at my head once.
Madison: I learned the move from Vera. It's called the flying chancla, okay?
Vera: All latinos know about this, it's our biggest fear.
Ashton: I'm glad I've been the world's best boyfriend. I even have the mug that says so.

What about you, Link? Any special someone(s) in your life right now?

Link: Let's just say I'm single and ready to mingle but unlike my parents, I'm not in a hurry to get married or anything either.
Ellen: Interesting point. Are there any marriage talks for the two couples?
Madison: It's a mystery! Maybe we'll just elope in secret.

I see your entourage are starting to give me a definite stink eye, but just one last question before we have to part ways. Beyond your music lyrics, what message do you really want to give to your fans?

Link: Nothing's impossible. Hard work alone takes you halfway there.
Madison: It's not always wrong to rebel. Only you can define what your life should be, really.
Quinn: Practice makes perfect. No kidding. You need to have perseverance to get results.
Ashton: It sounds corny, but follow your dreams. You'll find your mission in them.
Vera: Don't be afraid to be yourself, don't be embarrassed of your roots and use your experiences for the greater good. That's the spice of life.

Well, that's it for today. I'd love to see you again, guys, it's been so incredible to meet you and I wish you all the best!

And to our readers, stay tuned for more news about your favorite band, Casual Friday Funeral! These guys have a lot of exciting things in store for us.

LAST SONG OF THE DAY: Joan Jett and The Blackhearts - I Love Rock N Roll

THE END

IT IS OVER, MY DEARS!

i have a confession to make to y'all. i'm not entirely sure how i feel about this story. for all intents and purposes it was a commercial failure. it did so abysmally bad in terms of attracting new readers and i felt so dismayed while posting it. the fact that i didn't feel super confident about it didn't help anyway (and come to think, surely that's linked to it not doing so well). i was also spoiled by how well HALL OF FAME did, considering it was a debut. i thought that kind of readership would carry over. alas.

this does NOT take away from the love and appreciation i feel for the readers of WE THE YOUNG <3 you guys are what kept me going. thank you for the taquitos and the enchiladas. and yes, Reader Awards will happen once more! stay tuned for those.

i also don't regret posting it! i'm proud of the fact that i finished it — and that i posted three days per week without fail as i said i would. it's been a good writing year for me and WE THE YOUNG was a big part of me getting my groove back. for that reason alone it has a soft spot in my writerly heart <3

in other news, in two days i'll post a teaser of my next story! i hope you guys will like it :)

some stats on WE THE YOUNG that might be interesting for you:

total amount of words: approx. 85k

time it took to write: two months

time it took to edit: uh, two days? lol, i'm a mess

time it took to post: three months

at its best it reached the ranking: who knows? i'm just glad it ranked at all