like a bursting sunrise from the deepest sleep

right away you can kind of see luke adjusting his extrovert calibration to take calum into consideration and he seems happy to do it. like it might take a little more energy from him, but he gets it back in the form of having calum with him and knowing he has calum's attention.

the way luke teases calum about not driving to the interview using his fond little voice and tapping calum on the arm and smiling at him so sweetly like literally just kill me now.

if you want to really overanalyze, in the part where calum gets asked what book he’s reading, luke makes a joke about checking eas! stats, but with that joke he’s also giving calum an opportunity to choose not to answer the question if it’s something he doesn’t want to share. not necessarily a conscious decision, but i think cake both do this kind of thing for each other naturally because they are very similar in the way they approach personal boundaries and also avoiding potential social awkwardness.

here we also get luke’s commentary about how calum can be the “mysterious reading hot guy in the band.” which is incredibly luke-ish behavior toward calum so cake cake cake etc but ALSO i think it’s kind of an interesting insight into how the band might actually talk about these kinds of things. their own fame, how their fans perceive them, what kind of message or image they want to put out, how they see themselves and each other both as human beings and as Band Members.

which relates to calum saying fame is the opposite of how he naturally is and how being in a band is sort of like living a separate life. this one intrigues me bc this is an area where cake are similar but it manifests in slightly different ways. neither of them are particularly comfortable with the attention of fame. luke likes attention, but he likes to have control over the context of it. he basically has an on-stage persona that’s an amplified version of certain parts of him. so in a way, they are both playing roles as Band Members that don’t necessarily reflect their “normal” way of being. and i think that’s a cake-specific phenomenon more than a mashton one, and a particular way of living that probably has some unique challenges that they can both relate to in a way very few others can.

throughout the interview, luke talks directly to calum a lot, like it’s a conversation between them rather than an interview. maybe a subtle way to draw calum into the conversation and encourage him to speak, but also a cute natural inclination of luke’s to want to share his answer or his story with calum specifically and to see his reaction.

similarly, there’s a part where luke is telling a story and he’s like “calum, remember when we…” which lines up with the way luke is always so eager to make sure everyone is aware calum is is friend. he’s just so proud to be calum’s friend and wants to show it off and that’s so so cute. and calum always indulges him on it bc he knows it makes luke happy. :(

on multiple questions, luke gives his answer then immediately invites calum to answer, like he’s trying to make sure we get calum’s perspective. like perhaps he knows calum might not pick the question up if he wasn’t directly asked, not because he doesn’t want to answer it, but because he’s not convinced it's worth saying. but luke wants to hear it and he makes sure calum knows that.

of course i have to mention the way luke stares lovingly at calum for like 90% of this interview. you can literally see the love in his eyes. the look on his face in certain parts of this remind me so much of the way he looks at sierra. don’t ask me how i feel about that.

the phone section is filled with treats, starting with cake being the most likely to leave a text on read - which is not remotely surprising, but nice to have confirmed. but then luke casually says the absolute most devastating thing in the world:

“me and calum leave each other on read and i’ll just understand,” and that they “don’t take it personally.” like. what am i supposed to do with that except rip my hair out? because it is so very THEM and also crazy relatable to me which is part of why i am so drawn to the cake dynamic.

that, along with calum being luke’s favorite person to text? and the question about who has the worst spelling and grammar that should probably point to ashton, but calum redirects it to talk about luke’s weird texts? luke sending calum random shit to see what he says? there’s so much to dissect in there.

the level of comfort to feel like you can send someone bizarre stuff and not only will they not judge, their reaction will bring you joy. the idea that maybe calum needs someone to reach out and initiate contact, and luke really wants to talk to him, and the best way he knows how to do that is to send random crazy stuff which A) doesn’t REQUIRE a response and B) is incredibly low stakes and light hearted. i just. i could actually cry thinking about it. 

to wrap up, we get luke’s story about calum being recognized in joshua tree which is framed in a somewhat self-deprecating way, but also really meant to gas calum up, and again - give him something to talk about. and then immediately after that, calum is so invested in luke being told he looks like jacob elordi and what a compliment that is. he won't let luke's story go unappreciated. the give and take. the balance. 

overall, i just love cake-specific interviews bc with a larger group they both tend to be quieter if they can get by with it, especially calum. but with this you get to hear from both of them and it feels very conversational and authentic bc that’s just kind of what happens when you leave them to their own devices in an interview, and it’s often how we get a lot of the best tidbits of information. stuff they might not normally say in a 4/4 interview but when it’s just the two of them the vibes are different and it comes out. their dynamic just feels so natural and comfortable and easy it's a delight to watch.