Rise To Stardom - Chapter 79

Chapter 79: The Interview
Suzy Bridgerton had stumbled upon Kyle Kestis whilst watching an episode of Artistry Unleashed.

Although she had heard of him quite a number of times due to her job and her friends swooning whenever they talked about him excitedly, she never really bothered to find out more about him.

However, seeing him on the that talk show, enamored by his wittiness and charismatic nature as he conversed with Emma, Suzy became a bit… obsessed.

Ever since that moment, she had become the craziest about Kyle in her friend group, one that even her friends couldn’t help but be confused about considering her previous lack of interest.

So, yesterday, when Suzy had heard that she would be the one to interview Kyle for a full feature page in the next issue of their magazine, she practically had the giddies for almost the entire day.

Her friends too had been pestering her to ask the young star a certain few personal questions during the interview, especially since they all knew he maintained a pretty private life.

Suzy on the other hand refused, opting only to do her job.

Personal matters needed to be kept separate from professional matters… that’s what she had told herself.

Currently staring at him though, completely star-struck by just how exceptionally handsome he looked in person as he walked into the room, Suzy threw her previous plans into the bin.

Screw them!

She was definitely asking some personal questions!

Quickly comporting herself, Suzy donned her most welcoming professional smile as she extended a handshake.

“Hello Kyle. Welcome to StarSpotter Magazine! My name’s Suzy Bridgerton. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

Receiving the handshake from the pretty, black-haired lady with a light smile, Kyle responded;

“Did you know Suzy? Never in a million years would I have ever pictured myself here. So truly, it’s such an honor to be here. It’s a pleasure to meet you too!”

Already loving the enthusiasm from him, Suzy grinned as they both settled into the plush and comfortable couches present in the interview area.

‘He’s just as charismatic as the first day I saw him…’ she thought to herself before finally starting the interview.

A few cameramen were also present, filming the session, one which would also be uploaded onto their official ViewTube Channel of over 50M+ subscribers.

“To start things off Kyle, take us through a bit of your backstory. You’re from Minnesota?” Suzy curiously questioned.

“Yeah. Gem Lake, Minnesota. Very lovely, rustic, quiet place. About 500+ plus people lived there as at the time I was growing up. Not sure how much more the population’s increased by now though…” Kyle explained with a small smile.

“So, how’d you find yourself all the way here in Canada?” Suzy followed up with another question.

“Scholarships actually. After I graduated from high school, I applied for a bunch of them because, well, I figured, might as well give it a shot and see what comes out of it.” Kyle responded.

“What was high school like for you? Considering the way you carry yourself, at least from what we’ve seen, you must’ve been quite the lovable and fairly popular kid back then?”

Chuckling a bit at the question from Suzy, a nostalgic expression on his face, Kyle responded;

“No. Not at all. I was the quiet kid with messy, unruly hair and googly-eyed glasses. I was quite the bookworm too. Still am.”

Smiling a bit at his words, loving the confidence that naturally oozed out of him as he spoke and joked about the fact that he was and still is a nerd, Suzy listened as he continued;

“If I’m being honest, high school despite its ups and downs, and my apparent lack of interest in extracurricular activities, was quite fun, at least from my point of view…”

“I didn’t really have any friends growing up and maybe, a lot of my peers considered me a loner but, for me it was a peaceful existence, like air…” Kyle joked again, soliciting a chuckle from Suzy.

“I think the same happened for me through most of my college years but, down the line, I met some really lovely people so it’s all good!” he concluded with small grin.

“Your parents must be really proud of you then. You know, using literally next to nothing of their money to school.” Suzy said and this time, with the same casualness, Kyle replied;

“Oh. I… I don’t have any parents anymore. Never really got to know them too. I’ve being an orphan for as long as I can remember so I do hope they’re proud of me… wherever they might be.” he gave an honest smile as he said.

That really was the truth, at least according to the events of his time in this world.

That response however, definitely caught Suzy off-guard because she had never expected it.

Considering she had dug the internet and the other side of the internet thoroughly for anything she could glean about the young man a day before the interview, this news came as a real shocker.

One that would also come as an unexpected revelation to the media and a lot of people who were interested in his story.

But for now, Suzy needed to continue the interview.

“I’m sure they are.” the lady quickly recovered and said, a light smile on her face.

This time, Kyle simply nodded.

“So, what got you into making music?” Suzy inquired by switching topics.

Pursing his lips, thinking of how to go about this, Kyle opened his mouth to respond after a short while;

“I’d say, I kinda got enamored with it as I grew up. It was such an amazing experience to listen to songs that could evoke strong and varied emotions, one that could also transport you to another world entirely – if only for just a few seconds, minutes or hours…”

“I guess at some point, I just wanted to be in the shoes of the amazing people who created those worlds with their unparalleled passion and imagination. So, I decided to give it a shot too.”

“And it worked out.” Suzy said with a thin smile.

“That it did.” Kyle replied with a light grin.

Nodding her head at his response, jotting a few notes down, Suzy asked another question;

“How’d you end up making your most recent hit, [Strange Canvas]?”

“Well, the story behind that, is actually as whimsical as the song itself.” Kyle truthfully said.

“How so?” Suzy inquired further, curious

Kyle pursed his lips for a moment before continuing;

“Well the thing was, I’d been overdoing it a bit for a while…” Kyle began and Suzy listened, her curious black irises focused.

“Working, I mean. I should’ve taken a much longer break after filming [Epoch One] but, because I felt that I hadn’t given my music the love it deserved for over three months, I felt the need to try and balance out the gap between the two.” he continued.

“So, on one of those nights when I came back home from a gig, absolutely spent, I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. I guess I got way too tired to fall asleep and it made me feel like a bit of an insomniac.”

“So, instead of twisting and turning on the bed, I figured I’d rather mess around with my piano…”

“And before I knew it, I’d stumbled upon a peculiar tune, sang a bunch of lyrics mirroring my exact thoughts at the moment and before I knew it, it was 6am in the morning!” Kyle chuckled a bit while Suzy slowly widened her eyes.

“You worked on the song all night?!” she asked, her tone laced with a bit of awe.

“Yeah. Time flies by really fast when you’re so engrossed in what you’re doing. It’s kinda what also inspired a peculiar verse in the song.” Kyle simply replied.

Staring at him, her respect increasing by the minute, Kyle then added a few more words;

“As for the electronic tunes I incorporated into the song, that was something I worked on for over four days.”

“Since I already had a bit of previous knowledge with programming and sequencing apps to create tunes, it was a relatively easy and fun experience to incorporate a few unusual tunes into the song.”

“Tunes that could add a bit more to that whimsical, dreamy and ethereal touch of the song.” he concluded.

Nodding again, this time with even more respect, Suzy then asked a question that almost everyone on the internet had been curious about;

“Why exactly did you go for a stealth release Kyle? Were you that confident in the song or was it something else?”

“Well, the thing is, I wrote the song mostly because I was battling with some insomnia, obviously…” Kyle began in response.

“I’m definitely not clinically diagnosed for it or anything but, singing the song, made me realize that it really was just a whimsical song about Kyle Kestis trying to sleep.”

“There’s a lot of nostalgia to it too… thoughts I had when I tried to fall asleep as a kid heavily incorporated into its lyrics.” he continued.

“And so I thought; ‘Why would a song about some guy trying to sleep even be a thing? There’s no need to promote a song like that. Just let it find its own people. People that might resonate strongly with the song if they’d ever been in the same shoes as me’.”

“That was really just it.” Kyle gestured with wide arms.

“What I definitely didn’t expect though, was for such a staggering number of people to find the song so appealing…” he added.

“I’m definitely glad people like it, but still, I’m absolutely floored by the overwhelmingly positive response…”

“It just feels so surreal, you know. Seeing the song just take off on its own.” Kyle laughed a bit, his words genuine and a strong hint of awe present in his sapphire eyes.

Suzy also believed strongly in his words because, even if his words were presumably a lie, his eyes were definitely telling the truth.

“So, with [Strange Canvas] getting bigger and bigger by the day, how has that been affecting you and your interaction with people? You’re very popular right now, you know.”

Thinking for a few seconds, his hands placed on his chin, Kyle then replied;

“It’s been surreal like I previously said.”

“Just this morning, I heard my neighbor’s daughter passionately singing her lungs out loud to the song, every lyric perfected as she sang it.”

“She even knocked on my door to ask for an autograph and take a picture with me despite running late for her school bus. Something about bragging rights being more important than getting to school on time…”

Suzy chuckled a bit at that whilst Kyle continued;

“Really though, it’s so insane to me how viral it’s gotten. How it’s literally everywhere at the moment…”

“But at the same time, it’s further enforced my beliefs. One that’s ensured that I’ll continue to write songs that I want to share with the world, not songs that might be popular or simply appeal to the general public.” Kyle concluded with an amiable smile.

“That’s great. Your previous songs were also very well received so I’m sure you’re on the right track.” Suzy gave her input and Kyle appreciated her.

“Thank you. Thank you for saying that Suzy.”

“So, currently, do you have any other songs you’re working on?” the lady then asked.

“Not at all. At the moment, I’m simply planning to take a breather. Laze around for a while I guess.” Kyle had a thoughtful expression on his face.

“But, considering the growing popularity of [Strange Canvas], I doubt I’d be getting some free time, anytime soon.” he added with a gaze of acceptance.

“That’s to be expected.” Suzy smiled in response.

Now, there was only one question left for her to ask and the interview would end.

But, the voices inside Suzy’s head were unwilling to listen.

Thinking to herself for a split moment, the lady weighed the cons and pros of the question she herself had been curious about.

It was also the question her friends had wanted her to ask and Suzy was sure that that same question, extended to a lot of ladies around the world.

Believing that the worst that could happen was Kyle simply deciding to keep quiet about it, the lady fired away;

“So, with your growing popularity Kyle, your girlfriend must be really panicking no?” Suzy stealthily questioned in a joking tone.

Kyle who was pretty shrewd in his own right, understood what was happening here and with a mischievous glint in his eyes, gave his interviewer an answer.

“Sadly, there’s no panicking from any girlfriend of any sorts.” he nonchalantly said.

“But why?!” Suzy had already blurted out her inner thoughts before she could comport herself.

“Because I’m married!” he confidently replied, his expression serious and his arms folded across his chest.

Hearing those words, Suzy was shocked!

Even the cameramen in the room coughed at Kyle’s words.

That was definitely unexpected!

Married at 21 years of age in this day and time was simply unbelievable to all of them!

“I’m married to my fans.” Kyle casually added a few seconds after.

Processing his words for a few seconds, Suzy’s eye’s immediately brightened up in amusement when she realized he was messing with her!

“Kyle!” she exclaimed!

The young man in response, simply burst into a hearty wave of laughter, one that was contagious enough to make Suzy and the cameramen in the room do the same.

After that bout of laughter was over though, Suzy wiped the tears from her eyes and then proceeded to ask the final question.

This was definitely the best celebrity interview she had done in a very, very long time.

“So, can we-… Scratch that. Can your fans look forward to seeing you at GrooveList’s 10th anniversary event?”

“Yeah sure. I look forward to meeting them too.” Kyle gave a genuine smile as he replied, signaling the end of the interview.

No sooner had that happened, the young man exchanged another handshake with the lady.

But, before he could leave though, Suzy ensured the cameras weren’t rolling and then, requested for an autograph, a request Kyle was more than willing to oblige to.