Page 34 of Next Time I Fall (Excess All Areas 2)

Cerys smiled at him, a pretty one with a dimple on her cheek. “You let the wave pass through you.”

“That wave analogy might get old fast.”

“Faster you figure out how to stand in them, the sooner we can let it go.”

Jase rolled his eyes. “Carry on.”

“Dad loves your voice. So do I. But you’re here recording for a long time, singing more than you probably do in a normal month. That’ll continue when you go on stadium tours. There are habits, really good habits, that you need to put in place. They’ll all be helpful.”

“We’re touring now though, and I’m fine.”

“Yes, but as I understand it, you’ve been very much focusing on weekend gigs. Maybe one or two in a row, which is fine, but it gives you the whole week to rest your voice. Or a cluster of, say four or five gigs, over seven days with a break before and after. Do you rehearse as a band every day?”

Jase thought about all the rehearsals he’d missed. “No.”

“So this, being here every day, is a different kind of strain. And even when you’re not singing, you’re talking about the creative process.”

She knew he didn’t write any of the songs, that they were all Matt’s. Somehow, he suddenly felt embarrassed that he didn’t write his own songs to sing. That he had to sing the words his brother wrote.

“The lessons will also help build stamina.”

Jase looked down at her oversized hoodie covering what looked like a onesie. “Babe, there is nothing wrong with my stamina.”

Cerys shook her head. “And as most women would point out, there is a difference between stamina and skill.”

Jase pretended to stab a dagger through his heart. “You wound me, Cerys. Are you suggesting I lack in the staminaandskills department?”

Cerys blushed. “Stop it. I know what you’re doing here.”

“Stand in the wave, Cerys. Stand in the wave.”

She laughed. “I feel like we’re on this tangent because youdidn’tstand in a wave. We’ll work on increasing vocal stamina. We’ll work on your breathing. We’re going to work through loosening up muscles connected to singing and strengthen those that need it.”

“Loosen up the jaw and what not, got it.”

“It’s a lot more than your face, mouth, and jaw. It’s your throat. And your diaphragm, which means your intercostal and abdominal muscles.”

Jase lifted his T-shirt, revealing his abs. “Not sure they need strengthening.”

Cerys’s lips narrowed and she looked towards the drum kit, but not before she blushed. “They look exceedingly strengthened, but that does not get you out of weighted abdominal work to strengthen your diaphragm.”

“Fuck,” he muttered.

“You should also consider quitting smoking.”

Jase glared at her. “No.”

“It’s all very rock ’n’ roll and all that. But you’re an investment to the record label. All of this costs money.” She waved her hand around the recording studio. “You haven’t earned them a penny yet, and it will take a while for you to do that. So, they want to know their investment has longevity.”

Jase looked to the drum kit and wondered what it would feel like to kick the whole thing over.

Be the wave, Jase. Be the fucking wave.

“So, I’m just a fucking asset now to be optimised.”

“That’s one way to see it. Or you can reframe it. Protect the one part of you that enables you to be the world’s greatest lead singer and to have a decades-long career recording with your band. Your voice.”

“I feel like this is all remedial lessons for the guy who doesn’t understand his craft.”

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