You can read the interview in full below, but before you do, make no mistake; these two women are complete opposites. With previous meetings between their two bands resulting in punch-ups and Lindberg, in particular, being quick to insult Evergreene’s music and image, it feels like nothing short of a miracle that the duet even happened. The fact that the song itself is technically good, surprisingly emotive and definitely memorable, it has many wondering what will happen when these two are forced to go on a press tour together.
CHAPTER 14
CASSIE
“It’s our most requested song at the moment. How does that make you feel, Cassie?” Levi Frasier pins me with his dark eyes across the console between us. Behind his head, the On Air sign is bright and red and a little distracting because it took me a second to figure out what it said, and now I keep checking I was right, even though I, of course, should know what it means just from context alone. But my brain’s been pretty distracted today, and I’m trying not to think about why.
“Oh, that’s great to hear,” I say, pasting a beam of a smile on my face. “It means a lot to me that your listeners love it.”
“I think they do,” Levi says. “And I hear you’re having a launch party tonight. Will Pia be there too?”
I swallow and turn my head to look through the glass at Kevin, who’s sitting in the adjoining room. He has a frown on his face, but offers me a tentative, singular thumbs up before putting his hands back on his hips. “Yes, I believe so.”
“Oh, you don’t know for certain?” Levi enquires, and now his warm smile feels a little more mischievous. “I have noticed she’s not doing as much of a press tour as yourself.”
Nothing, I think. She’s done nothing as part of the press tour. She’s left it all to me, and I don’t know how I feel about that.
Actually, that’s a lie. I know exactly how I feel about it.
Abandoned. Rejected. Alone.
“Pia is busy getting ready to go on Femme Fatale’s world tour,” I answer tactfully.
“Will the rest of your band be there tonight? At the launch party? The Femme Fatale boys too?”
I glance at Kevin again, but he’s rubbing his forehead with his hand and avoiding my eye contact.
“I … I think so…”
“Can we expect more fireworks like at the Grammys?”
“Tonight’s party is about the song. About ‘What I Want.’” I clarify. I wish Pia was here. She would shut down this nonsense in a heartbeat.
I wish Pia was here for lots of other reasons too, but I really am doing my best to not dwell on those.
“And you wrote the song together?”
“Yes, we did.” I lean closer to the mic and adjust the headphones on my ears. They’re hot and heavy. “Along with Theo Kalpiatis. But it was important to both Pia and me that we had some influence over the song’s … direction.”
“Tell me more,” Levi says while looking elsewhere and pressing a series of buttons, suggesting that he doesn’t really want to hear more. But I’m not going to turn down this opportunity.
“At its heart, ‘What I Want’ is a song about what women want. And it’s about women standing up for what they want, not being afraid to name it and claim it,” I say, recalling only too easily Pia’s monologue before she stormed out of the recording studio that day. “I don’t think women are encouraged to go after what they want enough. So our song will hopefully inspire that.”
This finally has Levi’s attention. “So it’s a feminist song?”
“No,” I say instinctively, and then I pause, and I can almost feel my brain recalibrate. “Well, yes, it is. But that’s not a bad thing.”
“Do we even need feminist anthems these days?” Levi says with a chuckle that feels a little condescending. “It’s almost 1980. Aren’t we supposed to be in a post-feminist era or something now? I mean, the fact that you and Pia Lindberg are the leading ladies of two of the most successful bands in the world should prove that point.”
I take a moment and very deliberately don’t look at Kevin as I cross my legs and consider my words. “I don’t think that proves anything. Pia and I are … easy on the eye, let’s say. I don’t think either of us is naïve enough to think that we would be where we are if we weren’t.”
“Are you saying that the only reason you’re where you are is because … sex sells?” Levi challenges.
I ignore the heat in my cheeks. “I’m saying we still need songs about women standing up for what they want and not being judged or only listened to because of their … physical or aesthetic merits.”
Levi takes his own moment to pause. He then levels another firm stare on me. “But surely, as arch-rivals, what a woman likeyouwants and what a woman like Pia Lindberg wants are very different things?”
It feels like an ice cube is sliding up my spine as I straighten in my chair. “I think you’d be surprised how much Pia and I have in common. How we both want many of the same things.”
