#video confessional

This was stupid. Scarlet had been on tour twice now, going on three times. Not even tour in general, just Warriors Tour and she was still expected to do some dumb video diary about it because of some documentary. She didn’t feel like she needed to talk about it for people to get that she was passionate about the tour as a whole. If she didn’t care, she wouldn’t have gone back even after leaving the label. But she got dressed and ready anyway with her signature bright makeup and bright hair and bright clothes because everything she did for the documentary was going to end up being seen and she was always reinforcing her image. She was used to cameras by now and this one was no different. Everything she said was always thought through, the right thing rather than the impulsive thing. It was what you learned to do when you did what she did. “Hey, I’m Scarlet Hayes. This is my post-tour diary.” She said when the camera turned on and she lit up with energy the same way she did on stage, but toned down enough notches for her to be sitting on the blue couch. “2013 was my second year on Warriors Tour, first year as a mentor. I loved competing, I loved mentoring. They’re really different. This year was fucking huge – sorry if I can’t swear.” Scarlet laughed because she tried not to swear too much in front of cameras, but it didn’t always work. “It was a huge thrill, I mean it changed so much for like, literally everyone. I can’t say I’d really change anything. Maybe I’d have rearranged the bus a little.” That sounded funny and she knew it, it was intentional. “Trust me, you don’t want to live on a bus with five guys and a dog unless you’re really organized, and I am not. The whole bus smelled like boy.”

Scarlet was basically gossiping, that was the point, but she wasn’t saying much of anything. It was the truth, at least. “For me the best part of being on Warriors Tour is always just the atmosphere. There’s drama, sure but everyone’s there for one reason: to make music. And if that isn’t why you’re there, it will be before you leave. It’s just totally energized. It makes you grow and feel and think.” Scarlet shrugged and moved to sit cross legged in the chair. “My favourite thing about Warriors Tour is standing on that stage with a crowd of people who love music in front of you, screaming your name and they all move at the same time and you can feel them, you know? A bunch of individuals become something right in front of you, and you know you’re touching everyone out there. I mean, how rad is that? And they touch you too.” Scarlet paused to think about her words for a second. “The fans, they remind you to always be your absolute best and give it literally everything you have. They make you feel things on stage and give them those emotions that the performance needs to be raw and emotional for them too. There’s a piece of all the Warriors Tour fans in every single thing Fallout and Fallout Records puts out.”  That might not have made sense, but she hoped it did. “The worst part is how exhausting that is. Seriously, you don’t know tired until you’re playing shows five nights a week and doing meet and greets before and after. I mean it’s fucking exhausting, you give that performance everything and you ride that high for a while because how can you not, but it’s physically stressful. And then the next day you want to do it again, even though moving is hard.”

That pretty much summed it up. By the end of the last leg Scarlet was so exhausted that she didn’t even want to be on tour anymore, and that was just standard. This wasn’t something new for her, but if it had been a Fallout tour they’d likely have had a longer break at some point so they didn’t burn out. “Since then we’ve been recording mostly. I mean, I’ve got a house, a dog, a boyfriend – Nate – and if any of that is news to anyone I’m so sorry, spoiler alert. It’s been all over the news though so I doubt it. I just feel really comfortable in my space. We’re in a good place, it’s great working with Brian now, he adds a whole new element to the band with the screams. Yeah no, I think everything’s pretty much the same as it was when the tour ended for me. Just settled down a lot, I’m well rested basically.” She laughed lightly, now it almost sounded like she’d put thought into this. Maybe. “Recording is really crazy different from touring though. I mean touring it’s like constant go go go and you have to find time to sleep between meet and greets and makeup and the actual stage time. Recording is a lot of work, but it’s different. You can screw up a note and fix it, although we like to get things on the first couple takes. Going in and resinging one or two notes isn’t a ton of fun. There’s a lot less energy involved and you get to go home and sleep. It’s nice to be home instead of in our home away from home, Bess the Bus. Touring is a lot more creative because you’re out there seeing everything and doing it all, this is more technical, you perfect everything and lay it down so that it’s perfect for touring and the album. But it’s great.”