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babiebom · 1 year ago

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Survive the Night (i)

A/N: i wrote two chapters of this a long time ago and never posted it anywhere. Hopefully someone likes it lmao now that my obsession has come back full force

Tw:child murder, panic attacks, mc witnesses her sisters murder, depression, more warnings tba.

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Walking into the brightly lit place, as if nothing happened was already almost proving to be too much for Wren, and she couldn’t bring herself to smile even though it was her godson’s birthday. Being there was too painful, though it was technically a different place, an entire decade and a half later. At the age of 27 she should have gotten over the untimely death of her younger sister, no matter how gruesome it was, no matter that she saw it happen with her own eyes and escaped death by an inch. She shouldn’t still be waking up with nightmares, seeing that damned bunny suit everytime she closed her eyelids.

Her eyes immediately landed on the gigantic golden statue of Freddy Fazbear himself in the middle of the entrance, it took her breath away at how utterly expensive it looked, as if it belonged somewhere fancier than a kids entertainment business. ‘Wow’ she thought, letting herself stare, ‘He looks so much different than he did when I was a kid’. It surprised her at the difference in style; she had avoided consuming any Fazbear Entertainment content since that day.

Taking in a deep breath, she allowed herself to be dragged further into the building, which was more of a glorified Dave & Buster's. Her feet slowed the closer she got to the small party room, the place not big enough for any of the kids to run, but big enough for one or two of those stupid, monsterous animatronics to fit in and murder them all by trapping them within the walls. The screamed out bouts of laughter of children did nothing to compel her to feel as if the place was different, as if it was safer. She had heard about the children going missing recently, and though they obviously couldn’t tie it back to this place (like they couldn’t before) she knew that it had to be the same person that killed her sister. If only she had gotten to see his face. Somehow despite the rumors of children going missing and dying, the business never got closed down for long.

Forcing a smile on her face, Wren tried to pay attention to the words the newly turned six year old was saying, though looking at him made her sadder than she thought she would be. But still, barely holding it together is still holding it together nonetheless, at least she wasn’t sobbing in the bathroom after being inside the building for all of 10 minutes. His eyes were bright with excitement, and the gum where he lost his tooth was proudly on display as he quickly told Wren everywhere he wanted to play for his birthday. He gripped her hand and dragged her along to the party room, planting her in the chair to the left of his own grinning excitedly.

"I wanna go to Roxy Raceway!" He kicked his feet under him, eyes shining.

"Hun, ain't Roxy Raceway closed down still?"

The boy deflated with the news, his hopes dashed with the realization that he wouldn't be able to kick butt in a go-kart race. "It's fine though! We can go do other things, and whenever I babysit again we'll go gokarting somewhere else!"

"Really?"

"Sure thing bud, I promise."

"Okay, then I wanna go straight to Fazer Blast! I'm gonna kick everyone's butt!"

"Heck yeah!" She now smiled genuinely at the hyper six year old as he kept speaking about everything he was prepared to do before they had to leave. The place was like a kid's fever dream come to life.

"Okay kids, parents," Amanda clasped her hands together trying to get everyone's attention, "you are free to play until five! Then we meet back here so we can all go to the concert. After the concert there will be cake and food. So…go have fun!"

It took only two seconds for the children to disappear within the building, their parents chasing desperately after them. Amanda was already following after Joey, her being his actual mother and all, which meant Wren was left alone in the party room, still sitting in the same chair Joey had put her in. Now that the boy had stopped talking to her, she felt the calm that washed over her that her fondness and focus provided deflate, she no longer had the kid to keep her mind on him and his happiness only. Now she was free to wallow in her own regret and sadness.

Flashes of that night played in her mind and slowly they started to mix with the bright lights of the world around her, sanity was a very hard thing to keep in your grasp.

"Wren help me!" Cried the girl, her eyes slowly losing their light. Before she could move closer in any sort of effort, the head of the bunny suit slowly turned to stare at her. His mouth in a terrifyingly large grin, choking out an apology she took off, running for the closest exit.

There was nothing she could do.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?"

There was a boy in front of her, who couldn't be any older than 17. His uniform neatly tucked in, Ipad clutched in his hand. His eyes looked worried, and she could tell that she had probably been sitting there alone for much longer than she realized. Standing she nodded, wiping her cheeks and eyes before giving the worker a watery smile. "Just a little tired. Thanks "

He nodded and continued to work around the party room, setting up plates and cups for when the kids came back. The back of his shirt read Party Host, silently she hoped that he would be the only one even though she knew Amanda would have sprung to have all four robots singing Happy Birthday to Joey. She often overcompensated for his lack of a father in ways that made Wren's head spin. But what would she know? She didn't have any kids of her own.

"Aunt Wren! Come on, mom got tickets to play Fazer Blast!" Joey slowly came into view, his voice straining to be heard over the noise. Forcing her tears back down, she smacked her hands on the tops of her thighs, standing much too quickly.

"Alright! Let's play some laser tag!"

The game of laser tag went on for almost too long even if it was the most fun she had in years. Obviously she and Joey made the dream team and won king of the hill quite easily as she spun him around so he could shoot quickly. His laughs slowly eased her aching heart and racing mind.

She missed this.

The walk to the atrium to watch the concert was chaotic, the kids who were unhappy about being pulled away from the numerous attractions were simultaneously excited about getting to see the Glamrocks perform. It made getting them there difficult, and it made getting them settled even more so. Since Amanda had gone all out, their party was front and center for the concert, and being pressed up against the rails that separated them from the stage brought back memories of her and Amanda being teens at concerts of their favorite bands, God how times have changed.

Slowly the lights dimmed, and contrary to how Wren thought she would react, the child within her was simultaneously terrified at the thought of seeing the animatronics again, but also very excited at the thought that something in her childhood was returning, the good part of it before everything went to hell.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Fazbear Entertainment would like you to put your hands together for the one and only - Freddy Fazbear!”

Silently she applauded as the music boomed through the room, her heart picked up pace as the fog rolled in and the animatronic robots she hoped to never see again entered the stage. Her ears rang with the screams around her, it reminded her of her teenage years again.

After a couple minutes of standing through the concert, she hated to admit that the music was indeed pretty catchy. Her foot tapped in time to the beat as she felt herself genuinely enjoying watching the bots perform, they seemed more human than the old suits did, somehow this made her relieved and horrified. “Ugh, that bass player is hot,” she could feel Amanda’s breath fan over her ears as she tried to whisper yell loud enough for only Wren to hear.

With a grin and a quirked up eyebrow, Wren leaned into her friend, “the alligator?”

“He’s a robot, it's not weird!”

“Amanda!”

“What?”

“It’s definitely weird!”

“Whatever, I’m gonna see if he reacts to flirting.”

Laughing loudly, Wren struggled to keep herself upright. “You’re gonna flirt with a damn robot?”

“Might as well! You know they say the AI is, like, super advanced?”

“I heard. Still don’t think flirting with them is a good idea!” The two laughed hard, the sound of Amanda’s voice floating into her ears just under the music

After a pregnant beat, Amanda leaned in again, her eyes softer after the exchange. “You know I missed this?”

“What?”

“Us, hanging out. Granted it’s my kids birthday and we’re not slutting it up at some shady club, I’m happy you did decide to come here.”

“What else would I have done? Missed my godson’s birthday? He only turns six once, Manda.”

The woman nods and sends Wren a smile that she could tell was somewhat sad. A pang of guilt shoots through Wren’s heart as she thinks about the past few years, sure she had been depressed before, but nothing was the same after she heard the pizzaplex was being built and reopened. She fell into a pit of darkness and became an even worse friend to the only person she had, her only other one disappearing shortly after everything happened. She wondered for a short time if Micheal had heard that the pizzaplex was opened, and what he thought about it. It had been a while since she had heard anything about his family.

The concert ended much too soon as they were now being ushered out of the atrium and into their party room by the young party host. He seemed somewhat freaked out as they neared the room, sometimes looking behind him towards where the stage was. As the group sat down, his voice came out wavering, he wrung his hands together as best he could with an Ipad in between them. “Freddy and the gang will be in here in just a moment, they’re just charging up a bit before the party. The concert took a little bit out of them.” After seeing the parents nod all around he went to stand in a corner silently, pressing things on the tablet.

It was still a couple of minutes after his announcement before the animatronics showed up, the ground shaking with their steps. Wren could feel her heart racing before she could see them, she could feel the bile and the fear crawling up her throat at the thought of being face to face with the thing that killed her sister. Maybe not the thing exactly, but grief and fear weren’t really logical like that.

The closer they got she could feel herself having to fight the urge to scream out as if she were in a horror movie being chased by a slow moving killer. She could see Amanda looking at her worriedly out of the corner of her eyes, and though she didn’t want to ruin the kid’s birthday, she felt as if she would make everything very bad if she didn’t leave and hide in the bathroom as soon as she could. So, that’s exactly what she planned to do, hide in the bathroom for the remainder of the time that the large robots had to be in the party room. It’s not as if he would miss her when his attention is on them, hopefully everyone would watch him and the rest of the kids closely so they didn’t wind up like the others.

It was almost too much for her to be in the same room, though he didn’t look anything close to the Freddy Fazbear that she knew before. Thankfully, like she noticed on stage there was no Bonnie, though Chica was still part of the group. She looked totally different, cuter. Two new animatronics had taken the places of Bonnie and Foxy, and while the alligator was hot like Amanda had said, Wren wasn’t jumping at the chance of being in the same room as him, just one look at his claws and teeth made her more nauseous than she’d like to admit. These things were made to be dangerous, and no one would be able to tell her otherwise.

Her mind slowed as the things started speaking, and silently, she got out her camera to record, she at least wanted to remember singing happy birthday before she had her breakdown. “Hey little guy, I heard it was your birthday!” the alligator spoke with a vaguely cajun accent. Breathing out through her nose, she silently watched as the other animatronics went through their lines, trying their best to make Joey feel special. She quietly sang along, hoping her voice wouldn’t sound as frightened and hostage-like on the video as it did echoing in her ears.

As soon as the stomach hatch of Freddy opened she couldn’t stop herself from gagging. In a hurry she averted her eyes to look to the floor, she hoped no one would notice her strange actions. As Joey leaned in to blow out the candles, she had to bite her lip in order to keep from yelling out to him, and as soon as the candles went out, she attempted to make a bee line for the bathroom.

She could hear someone calling out to her in confusion, but she ignored them and continued to the bathroom with a silent prayer that no one would be inside. Forcing the doors open she headed straight to the sinks, uncaring if the water would ruin her makeup, most of it was waterproofed anyway.

Looking into the mirror she flinched at her own appearance, she looked more like a hollow shell than an actual person, her eyes puffy and tired. Frowning she splashed water on her face to cover the tears, her breathing escalating with each passing second.

"You're going to be okay, it's all going to be okay."

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dreamofbecoming · 2 years ago

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ooh, this is a fun one! took me a bit, but i had a good time with this! tagged by the ever lovely @wren-of-the-woods

Rules: post the top 5 works you’re most proud of that you released in 2022 (not necessarily your most popular), your top 4 current WIPs that you’re excited to release in the new year, your top 3 biggest improvements in your writing over the past year, your top 2 resolutions (ways you wish to improve your writing/blog) for the new year, and your number 1 favorite line you’ve written this year!

Top 5 works:

pronounce my name aright definitely the shortest of all my posted works, but just as definitely the writing i’m most proud of. linking the tumblr version and not the ao3 because i think the original idea is one of the best things i’ve ever written, i still can’t find a single thing i dislike about it

pale shadows of forgotten names the piece that started it all! this one rotated angrily in my brain for weeks, buzzing like a hive full of hornets, until i caved and typed the whole thing out in the notes app of my phone in the middle of the night. it fell out of me nearly in one go, and the edits i’ve made to it since then are all pretty minor. it just sort of...sprung into being. considering i hadn’t written anything for this fandom, nor anything at all but a very short supernatural vent piece in over 15 years, it felt a little like being clubbed upside the head. but i was (and remain) deeply proud of it, and entirely flabbergasted by the reception. i probably wouldn’t be active in this fandom if i hadn’t written this one

sleep now, she pleads my first ever chaptered work, and one i am determined to finish if it’s the last thing i do, augh T_T it started off as a songfic, which i hadn’t done before, and it’s evolved well past its borders, and there’s a lot of character work and world-building involved that i’m pretty proud of. my brain is made of soup most days so it will continue to take time for me to finish it, but i have so much planned that i’m excited to share for this one!

this isn’t a breakup, dearheart, it’s a season finale this was the first non-canon au i ever wrote, and i had so much fucking fun with it. it’s so silly and i love it so much

our shadows that are bold sing this is not the best writing i’ve ever produced, but it was the first thing i wrote that had me giggling in delight the entire time. this is the dumbest, silliest, most absurd fun i’ve had writing anything in ages. this fic is my beloved idiot child and i would die for it

(listen i only have 6 posted witcher works, it seems cruel to leave bitten lips and broken hands off the list when i love it so much. i wrote this one all in one go overnight instead of sleeping, and i had to type the end on a screen blurry with tears because i made myself cry at 6am over these idiots, and i’m damn proud of it, ok???)

Top 4 current wips:

sleep now, for sure. i’m gonna finish this damn thing if it kills me

my potions 5+1, which involves competent!jaskier and everyone knowing they’re in love before they do

my banshee/siren hybrid au! this is the closest i’ve ever gotten to writing actual plot, and i have no idea if i’m going to be able to follow through, but i’m damn excited to try!

i’ve got a whole warren’s worth of plot bunnies, but a couple of dreamling fics i’m especially looking forward to, including one that involves dream’s biggest ptsd trigger being silence and hob getting to babble him to sleep

Top 3 biggest improvements:

learning to outline, rather than just flinging myself headlong off a cliff and hoping i land on some words that go mostly in order

brevity! i’m a wordy son of a bitch, part of the reason i’m so proud of pronounce my name aright is because i managed to cut it off without beating it to death. i have to keep relearning this one though lol

writing action- the banshee story is the first time i’ve really tried, but i know i wouldn’t have been able to write something like that a year ago, and i hope to keep improving

Top 2 resolutions:

fucking finish my wips dammit

i want to post at least 5 finished works this year. it might not sound like a lot but hopefully i’m going back to school, so i’ll be happy if i can manage 5.

Top 1 favourite line:

Geralt sighs again, but stops pulling away. “But there’s still so much shit in the world. There are so many humans who hate me, or fear me, or try to cheat me, or who end up being monsters worse than the ones they want me to kill, and the problem with having it smacked over my head that I do actually have feelings, is that it makes it so much harder to ignore them. And there’s so much anger in me, Jaskier, and grief, and loneliness. And I can’t ever show it to anyone, or it will confirm everything they think they know about me. It will make me a monster. It will make me the Butcher all over again.” He looks up again, his expression anguished. “You’re the only one who’s safe. You’re the only one I can be angry around, or sad, or scared, or just annoyed, without thinking the worst of me. You’re the only one who ever comes back.”

listen i know it’s more than a line, ok? but honestly this whole section is the thing i’m proudest of out of all my writing. it was one of those moments where you come up with a headcanon kind of on the fly and don’t realize until after you’ve worked the whole thing out that like, fuck. that seems like it could be like. objectively correct? anyway i am very rarely convinced of my own brilliance but this was one of those times.

allllllright tagging the usual suspects, i think, @dancingwiththefae @islenthatur @spilledbutter @podcastenthusiast @fangirleaconmigo and anyone who feels like jumping in!

#personal #my writing #tag games

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troutfishinginmusic · 4 years ago

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The story of Grass Records: From Brainiac to Wind-Up and Creed

Images via Grass of ’96 compilation

Everything isn’t available in the streaming era. There are notable gaps in the seemingly bottomless amount of music currently available. Some of the most noticeable exclusions are albums released on Grass Records.

If you’re a fan of ’90s indie music, this short-lived New York label mattered. Though sometimes dismissed as a sibling label to Homestead Records, Grass released over 60 full-length albums ranging from pop to punk to noise to experimental music. It raised the profile of influential bands like Brainiac, Toadies and the Wrens.

The amazing thing about the label is how consistent it is. Every time I thought I was done with this article, I would listen to a band like Baboon and be completely blown away. These are all fascinating, idiosyncratic bands. This is more incredible considering the label was only around for about four years.

Much of this music is hard to find. The odd song might be lingering on YouTube, but you’re almost better off looking at your local record store or ordering from Discogs.

Why are the albums in this weird limbo? Mostly because the monied interest who bought the label in 1996 thought it wasn’t yielding a big enough return on the investment. Grass was gutted and rebranded into post-grunge/nu metal giant Wind-Up. Money poured in and these wonderfully weird records were swept to the side.

The following interviews were conducted via email, Facebook messenger and phone over the last few months. Quotes from the interviews have been edited for style/clarity. I’m eternally grateful to everyone who got back to me. I am also willing to expand this story if more former Grass artists want to reach out. If you’re one of these artists, my email is at the bottom of this story.

Seedlings

“I started in the music business purely by chance,” said Camille Sciara, who founded Grass Records.

Sciara got her start working at Record World in New York as a second job and became friendly with the store’s buyer. After attending a manager training program, she moved on to become a manager of the store. Her second job became her first.

“Then, after two years there, I became bored managing a record store and my friend Mike, the buyer, told me about Dutch East India,” Sciara said. “I started there as a salesperson and, after a year of sales, became the buyer when that position opened up. I never envisioned starting a label.”

While working as a buyer at Dutch East India Trading a friend sent her a Toadies cassette. She “loved it” and started Grass in 1993 to release it.

Grass released the Toadies EP Pleather soon after, which contained an early version of the band’s inescapable alternative hit “Possum Kingdom.” After Pleather, the band scored a major label deal with Interscope. The platinum-selling Rubberneck arrived in 1994.

“They did really well on their first major release,” Sciara said in an email interview. “But then it appeared that Interscope just dropped the ball or lost interest. They were such a great band live, I never understood how they weren't huge stars. And super cool people.”

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Tall grass

Sciara would go on to sign unique and influential bands like Brainiac and The Wrens.

“Since I had never run a label before, I was going purely on how much I liked what they submitted,” Sciara said. “Obviously not the best business model for running a label, but for the money we offered it worked to some respect. The longer I ran the label, the more I understood what was needed from them [the bands] regarding can they tour etc.”

There were few bands of the 90s that radiated weirdo energy as brightly and brilliantly as Brainiac. The documentary Transmissions from Zero chronicles the significant impact the band had on the music scene at the time. It also shows a band on the brink of mainstream success. Brainiac released two albums on Grass, Smack Bunny Baby and Bonsai Superstar, before departing for Touch & Go. The band’s forward motion was sadly cut short by Tim Taylor’s death in 1997. Prior to this, Interscope was expressing interest in the band.

“If Tim hadn't passed I'm pretty sure they'd have been the biggest [band on the label],” Sciara said.

Original Brainiac guitarist Michelle Bodine said Grass’ association with Dutch East India made the label initially attractive.

“[Camille] was super excited about us and we had total creative freedom,” Bodine said. “We also liked the 2-record deal with the option of 3 contract.”

After leaving Brainiac, Bodine would go on to play guitar and sing in O-Matic. The band released its lone album Dog Years in 1996. The album is one of the overlooked gems of the ’90s.

The Wrens’ influence reverberated in more subtle ways. The band’s first two albums, Silver (1994) and Secaucus (1996), provided a blueprint for much of the post-Pixies landscape of ’90s indie rock. They could’ve been much bigger, but still made a significant impression.

“The depth of realization in this record is unparalleled: every angle is perfected,” Pitchfork founder Ryan Schreiber said about Secaucus. The band’s third long awaited album, Meadowlands, dropped in 2001 and received a “Best New Music” tag from the same publication.

Rumblings of a follow-up to Meadowlands have been thrown around for the last 10 years, but a record has yet to materialize.

The level of talent the label had was staggering. A few groups Sciara thought would be bigger ranged from the Irish dream-pop band Chimera to Georgia punk band Sunbrain. “There's more, it would be long list,” Sciara said.

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New shoots

Baltimore

Baltimore punk band Liquor Bike had released one album before signing a two-record deal with Grass. The band’s first release on the label was Neon Hoop Ride in 1993. Liquor Bike was excited to be on the label because of the Homestead Records connection.

“We loved being on Grass, we toured like crazy,” singer/guitarist David Koslowski said. “We had great booking with Creature Booking.”

Between the booking agency, which had done work with Nirvana, Helmet, the Lunachicks and Jesus Lizard; and the new label things were looking up for the band. The band would have posters up in whatever towns they were playing in and mentions in the local paper. The label would keep them up to date if they had to do things like impromptu radio interviews. When they got off the road, they entered the studio to record The Beauty of Falling Apart. During this time Alan Meltzer, who bought the label from Sciara in 1996, entered the picture.

“At the onset we were pretty psyched because this guy’s got major label distribution,” Koslowski said.

It also helped that Sciara stayed on after the transition.

“We could still work with Camille, who we love,” Koslowski said. “We slept at Camille’s house when we would play up in New York. She’s an amazingly nice, sweet person and very giving.”

Koslowski said the band was given significantly more to record the follow-up based on buzz the band was getting at the time. J Robbins, of Jawbox and Burning Airlines fame, did the cover art and Drew Mazurek produced the album. The band even hired John Lay, who had previously worked with Squeeze, to manage the band.

“By that point we were having decent guarantees,” Koslowski said. “Those two years when I was on Grass I barely worked a real job. I wasn’t making a rockstar living or anything, but I was certainly able to pay my rent and utilities.”

Liquor Bike went on tour with Gas Huffer to promote the forthcoming record. On the tour Koslowski noticed there weren’t posters out and the band didn’t receive write-ups in the local press. To make matters worse, they never received CDs of The Beauty of Falling Apart to sell at shows. Koslowski said Grass had promised this.

“We were pretty confused," Koslowski said. “I mean our record had been mastered already, everything had been sent to the factory.”

Lay soon informed the band Sciara had been fired and the band had been dropped. Koslowski said the band decided to stay on the tour even after being kicked off the label. The band had old records and T-shirts to sell. They had put a lot of work into the tour and didn’t want to waste it.

Liquor Bike eventually released its third album on Merkin after failed meetings with Amphetamine Reptile, Columbia and Interscope. It was the band’s last before the members went their separate ways.

Seade was another band on on Grass that was unfortunately overlooked. Their lone album (Perf) is an underrated ’90s classic.

Prior to Meltzer, Koslowski said that he didn’t think there was any favoritism toward any one band despite the label being so prolific.

“I just think the woman loved music and wanted to spread that out to people,” Koslowski said of Sciara. “I think she legitimately wanted to help people, you know, help these bands out. She was nothing but giving.”

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Omaha

Mousetrap, an Omaha-based punk band, hoped to initially get a deal with Homestead when it sent in two 7” singles.

“Camille really liked our singles and got in touch with us.” Patrick Buchanan, Mousetrap’s singer/guitarist said in an email interview. “We developed a great relationship with her, and eventually she offered to sign us — we were given the opportunity to sign either with Homestead OR with Grass, which was a brand-new label at the time.”

Buchanan said the band thought it would possibly get overlooked in Homestead’s large stable of well-established bands and decided to sign with Grass. He also said Sciara made a large difference.

“Camille was one of the coolest people we had ever met in ‘the business’ – she just seemed really genuine, straightforward and honest,” he said. “Those are the types of people we wanted to work with. So our relationship with Camille was probably the main thing that made us sign with Grass.”

Mousetrap would go on to release three albums on the label, starting with Cerebral Revolver in 1993. The band was a big influence on Commander Venus, an Omaha band featuring a young Connor Oberst.

“They were definitely a big deal in Omaha and everybody loved them,” Oberst said of Mousetrap in an episode of the Turned Out a Punk podcast earlier this year.

Commander Venus came in contact with Grass through Mousetrap. The band signed to the label when Oberst was only 14. The band also featured Rob Nansel, who would go on to co-found Saddle Creek Records. Oberst said the band recorded its first album, Do You Feel At Home, in 1995.

“That was a good experience and a learning experience,” Oberst said. “I also think it kind of made it more apparent that even if you do get an opportunity like that, you know, you’re a little fish in a big pond. And maybe people aren’t going to work as hard or care about it.”

He said that this was mitigated by having the support system of a local scene in Omaha. The band ended up releasing its 1995 debut on Lumberjack, which later became Saddle Creek. The band released one more album, The Uneventful Vacation, before Oberst formed Bright Eyes.

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Promoting growth

Alan Meltzer came into the picture with a retail background. He had previously owned Titus Oaks Records in Long Island. He went on to found CD One Stop in 1985, which was purchased by Alliance in 1993. Meltzer became Alliance’s president during this time but left the company in 1995. Meltzer acquired Grass in 1995 from Dutch East India Trading (the label’s owner/distributor), finalizing major label distribution through BMG in 1996.

“When I heard the Grass repertoire, I almost fell down,” Meltzer said in a 1996 Billboard Magazine article. “I heard so much good material.”

“Alan was shopping around looking to purchase an established label with an extensive catalog that he could pour endless money into,” Sciara said. “He originally wanted Homestead Records. A great label owned by Dutch East as well. But once he saw the contracts and issues with some of the ‘grey’ areas in them, he then moved on to Grass.”

Meltzer did have some legitimate interest in the label as an artistic venture.

“He absolutely was obsessed with the Wrens once he heard them and Commander Venus,” Sciara said. “He was sure with all his resources, money and big ass staff he could make them huge stars. He failed. Not the bands’ fault.”

Grass would have the name (and credibility) of an indie, but the corporate reach of a major. Meltzer looked at the new situation as the best of both worlds.

“We’re not a major label, but we’re not an undercapitalized, disorganized independent that’s out there on a wing and prayer,” Meltzer said. “We’re somewhere in the middle. We’re staffed, we have the organization, and we’ve got the know-how. I opted for major distribution because the majors are better at it.”

Grass kept Sciara on as a VP of A&R (artists and repertoire) and expanded Grass’ workforce to 20 in-house employees, according to the Billboard article. The label’s future looked bright. Bodine left Brainiac and formed O-Matic (also signed to Grass) when the change happened.

“…It seemed better – they had a nice office in Manhattan with an open stairwell area and glass walls,” Bodine said. “It was very modern and cool. The budget was much bigger. They hired more people and we felt like we had a good support system.”

“When we went there it felt like money,” Koslowski said.

Koslowski only met Meltzer once at a Grass Christmas party.

“He was a typical New York money guy when I met him,” Koslowski said. “I didn’t get a good vibe. He didn’t have that indie spirit that Camille had unfortunately.”

The meeting didn’t go well.

“I remember drinking a bit and messing with him,” Koslowski said. “I said ‘hey Alan I wanted to see if I could run this by you. You know that new Liquor Bike record we’re working on? We got the artwork but we just wanted to run the title by you and make sure it’s cool. We want to call it Eat My Fuck Asshole.’”

Meltzer and his wife were horrified, according to Koslowski.

Yellowing, patchy

In an oral history with Stereogum, Wrens bassist and singer Kevin Whelan said the band was picking up steam.

“So Secaucus came out and it started to do somewhat well and “Surprise Honeycomb” was starting to get recognized and played on different shows, and we thought that international fame was around the corner,” Whelan said.

And then the call came in.

“He [Meltzer] said, ‘Well, boys, I’m not going to give you any more money. If you don’t sign with me today, it’s over.’ So, I remember, we sat in the van, we looked at the empty gas tank and we were like, ‘Well, I guess we’re not signing, let’s get the credit cards out and see how we can get home.’”

According to the Wrens’ website bio, Meltzer wasn’t pleased.

“[Meltzer], infuriated, commences layoffs of involved record company personnel and vows that ‘the next band to walk through that door will be made famous – at any cost,’” the bio states. “The next band through the door is Creed. Grass Records becomes Wind-Up Records. Creed becomes famous at any cost.”

By the time of the Wind-Up transition, Moustrap had already fulfilled its contract when it released its third album The Dead Air Sound System.

“At that time, Mousetrap was not very active,” Buchanan said. “I think we had become rather disheartened by how much time and love we put into the band, while getting very little recognition on any type of national level. At that point we were physically and mentally exhausted by constant touring and recording, with very little in the way of tangible success to show for it. So we didn’t really have any relationship with the label by the time it became Wind-Up.”

When the label wasn’t as successful as Meltzer thought, he brought in Steve Lerner. This was effectively the end of Grass Records.

“I was let go along with 8 to 10 others when Meltzer brought in Steve Lerner to run the company,” Sciara said. “The new staff felt Grass was too much related to me so hence a name change.”

“With Lerner serving as his right-hand man, the duo transformed Wind-up into a $100 million-plus sales operation with multi-platinum acts like Evanescence and Creed,” a 2007 Billboard article said.

Death, new high-yield crops

Grass was rebranded as Wind-Up, a key player in the nu metal and post-grunge universe, in 1997. Many of the Grass bands were dropped to make room for the likes of Finger Eleven, Creed and Evanescence. Meltzer, who ran the label with his wife at the time Diana, finally found his cash machine.

“I was extremely happy because, although Creed was a mega-seller and saved his label, I wanted nothing to do with that and the direction the label was taking,” Sciara said. “Not knocking it. You need artists like that to sustain a label that had an enormous payroll and nice offices. I totally get it, it’s a business. But I was happy running a small label with smaller contacts and cooler bands that didn't have to compromise their sound to write a ‘hit.’ That’s what he was always looking for.”

The transition to Wind-Up in 1997 did have some overlap with former Grass artists. The second Commander Venus album was released by Wind-Up and Thick (with a later release on Saddle Creek). Pollen, a rough-edged pop-punk act that had released two albums on Grass, dropped Peach Tree on Wind-Up. Baboon’s sophomore album Secret Robot Control was also released in 1997 on the new label.

Slowpoke’s Virgin Stripes, the final vestige of Grass Records, was a co-release with DGC in 1998. The album didn’t break the band, but it’s not a stretch to imagine it could have (especially since it boasted a song as infectious as “Belladonna”). The album retains some of band’s outsider noisy energy, but delivers it in a package palatable enough for the post-grunge crowd. Past this point, Wind-Up focused mostly on its new sound.

Koslowski didn’t initially know Wind-Up was the successor to Grass. One day someone mentioned to him that he was labelmates with Creed.

“I was like ‘wow, OK I guess he got his hit,’” Koslowski said.

Meltzer died in 2011 at 67. He made headlines by leaving $1 to his chauffeur and $500,000 to his doorman. Bodine saw this as frustrating because of how he left things with other Grass bands.

“He owed lots of bands money so it’s just really fucked up that he didn’t pay them/us. Liquor Bike did get theirs before he died only because they were persistent,” said Bodine.

In 2013 Wind-Up was purchased by Bicycle Music Company with distribution by Concord Music Group. In 2015 the two companies merged to form Concord Bicycle Music. Craft Recordings manages the label’s reissues.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/wZBpr1tDktI

Rare strain

Aside from Brainiac and The Wrens, many of the bands on the label aren’t on streaming platforms. The physical releases on Grass are mostly out of print. A sea of fantastic experimental indie music remains in this gray area. This doesn’t seem to be changing.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t a clue about if there are plans of Wind-Up re-releasing any back catalog,” Sciara said. “It’s sad really. Holding peoples’ artistic work hostage or just ignoring it seems cruel. Hopefully Wind-Up did the right thing and gave them back their masters, rights etc. Or at least license it to someone else to release.”

The three Mousetrap albums are stuck in this place.

“I wish more people had the chance to hear our music, so yeah I wish it was easily available,” said Buchanan. “Sure, we wanted to be popular — but the most important thing for us was that we made the music we wanted to make. We always did things our way — for ourselves, with no regrets. So even if the albums are harder to get, we’ll always have the memories — and those who were there to witness it will, too.”

Liquor Bike’s lawyer was able to secure the master tapes and artwork for The Beauty of Falling Apart with no questions asked. The band also has the master tapes for Neon Hoop Ride.

“Crazily enough, Grass did not make us buy Beauty of Falling Apart from them,” Koslowski said. “I have heard from some of my fellow Grass artists that they wanted to charge an incredible amount of money.”

Neon Hoop Ride was remastered and briefly available on streaming services. The album was only available digitally and did not get a physical rerelease.

Greener pastures

Following her departure from Grass, Sciara started Ten23 (Oct. 23, 1996 was the day she was fired from Grass). The label released The Wren’s EP 1135 before folding.

“It seemed like a great idea,” she said. “Didn't put out anything else after that release. It was an expensive endeavor starting a label from scratch, so to speak, and at the time I was unemployed.”

From there she went on to work at the Knitting Factory label group and eventually Narnack Records. She uprooted from N.Y. to move to L.A. to work at the latter. She eventually ended up back in N.Y. where she was a manager at Petland Discounts for 12 years until it closed in 2019.

Buchanan has gone on to release music as Vicious Lovers. Mousetrap has plans to release new music for the first time in 20 years according to Buchanan. Some of Mousetrap’s music can be streamed here:

Michelle Bodine went on to play guitar in Shesus, which was signed to Narnack. The band released an album and an EP before splitting up. Bodine has since been participating in Brainiac reunion shows and was featured in the Brainiac documentary Transmissions from Zero.

David Koslowski went on to play in the post-rock band Vivid Low Sky and the power-pop band Gerty. He currently owns a coffee shop/record store in Baltimore called Baby’s on Fire.

“I loved every aspect of being on Grass, except for the very end,” Koslowski said. “I also loved how diverse Camille had the label. A lot of friends from that time from those bands, I’m still friends with them. It was like a really cool little group of people that all got to share in something for as brief of a time period as it was.”

If you have questions, information or concerns I can be reached at [email protected].

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article spelled David’s last name as Kozlowski. It’s actually Koslowski. Also, J. Robbins just did the cover art for the band’s third album. Drew Mazurek actually produced it. Godplow is a great band but they’re from Minneapolis, not Baltimore.

#grassrecords #indie #90s #brainiac #thewrens #mousetrap #liquorbike #baboon #toadies #omatic

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icariamusing · 4 years ago

Photo

CHARACTER BASICS

FACECLAIM: Phoebe Tonkin

NAME: Anya Venturi

AGE: Twenty Eight

BIRTHDAY: November 30th, 1992.

OCCUPATION: Freelance photographer

HOMETOWN: New York City, NY.

PETS: Kali (German Shepherd)

POWERS

Aerokinesis: ability to create, shape, and manipulate air particles.

Atmokinesis: ability to manipulate wind gusts to varying degrees and create low-grade storms

Deoxygenation: ability to remove oxygen from the surrounding environment.

Limitations: Her powers are intrinsically linked to her emotions. When she is in a heightened emotional state, she can lose basic control of her powers.

BIOGRAPHY

Anya Venturi was a breath of fresh air from the start. Anyone who has ever met her would know she’s the essence of a carefree, exuberant, and adventurous spirit who rarely ever fails to have a smile plastered across her face. Although, that may be viewing her from an overly optimistic lens. Conflicting accounts of Anya have stated she is obnoxiously loud, irritating, and an all-round pain in the ass. With her compulsive need to live life to the fullest and impulsive (bordering on insane) nature, many have also questioned whether Anya has a constant death wish or she’s simply an idiot. Whatever the case may be, there isn’t a day that goes by where Anya isn’t scheming, wreaking havoc somewhere, or making somebody regret being born by talking them to death.

Her childhood was any little girl’s dream. Even though she was an only child, Anya was apart of a huge family who all lived in the same vicinity so she rarely spent any time alone. She was always such a lively child, with contagious laughter and a mischievous grin. She would run wild with flowers woven in her hair and a dress flying behind her—a dress ripped and riddled with stains no doubt. She was born Anastasia Venturi, named after her great grandmother of Greek descent. However, the allure of her birth name did not last. Her entire family soon grew weary of screaming Anastasia at the top of their lungs whenever she got into trouble. As if that wasn’t enough, the poor girl was incapable of pronouncing her own name. So, the nickname Anya came to fruition.

For as long as anyone can remember, Anya could never be kept on a tight leash. She was a real piece of work as a child (although, nothing much has changed). At every waking moment, you could find her causing mayhem or just being A n y a for the sheer lack of a better expression. Luckily for her, she was adorable and could do no wrong in the eyes of her family. All she had to do was bat her eyelashes, flash that adorable smile, and her family would be bending to her will in a heartbeat. Anya had each of her family members wrapped around her finger and could practically get away with murder. Cue the discovery of her magical abilities which only seemed to heighten her mischievous nature. She inherited the power of aerokinesis (the ability to manifest energy and control air), which her mother ordered her to keep a secret. Her dabbling started off entirely innocent: creating small gusts of wind, making objects float. But as Anya grew, so did her abilities, which made them increasingly difficult to conceal.

What most people fail to notice is that Anya has a brokenness within her that does not prevail outwardly— one she contends with alone. Growing up in the Venturi family, there was no shortage of love or finances in Anya’s life. However, there was more to her family than what met the eye. Elaina Venturi was selfish and entitled, driven entirely by greed. Nothing was ever good enough for her, not even her own daughter. Over the years, Elaina developed close ties to a criminal organization. James had become increasingly suspicious of his wife’s elusive antics. Earlier, he had uncovered the truth that Anya was not his biological daughter. However, he kept this information to himself and stood by his wife and daughter regardless. For James, his wife’s deceit about her criminal lifestyle was the last straw. He tried to leave and take Anya with him. But Elaina threatened him and James had no choice but to leave without his daughter. Just like that, Anya’s picture-perfect life came crumbling down around her. Elaina manipulated her daughter to believe it was her own fault that her father left. The sad part was she actually believed it.

Her father’s absence made Elaina relentless; she brainwashed and manipulated Anya for her own ends by twisting her way into the darkest crevices of her mind, without any sign of remorse. Her powers were a valuable asset which Elaina encouraged her daughter to harness for all the wrong reasons. With her power of deoxygenation, she was able to endanger a person’s life by physically sucking the air out of their lungs. In Elaina’s eyes, this ability worked wonders for threatening purposes. Like a weapon in a forge, her mother moulded Anya to become cold and heartless; a sharp contrast to the naturally warm and vibrant demeanour the young girl possessed. Anya soon found herself following in her mother’s footsteps and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Her teenage years were a blur. Due to the nature of her mother’s ‘occupation’, Anya was condemned to secrecy. More often than not, her relationships suffered as a result. The one relationship she managed to maintain was with Deacon Locke. He was there for Anya through it all; they spilled their hearts out each other and shared every detail of their lives. Well, almost everything. That little detail about her mother’s unlawful antics was the one thing Anya never told him, in fear that Deacon would look at her differently if he knew the truth. What they had once forged as a friendship soon blossomed into a relationship. Despite everything the world had thrown at them, they found happiness in each other. To Anya, Deacon was her whole world and she never would’ve dreamed of hurting him. But fate had other plans.

DEATH TW: Anya only sunk deeper under the negative influence of her mother and fell in with the wrong crowd. With her inclination to overindulge in a party lifestyle, Anya’s friendship choices became increasingly questionable. Her best friend at the time was named Charlie. The pair were as thick as thieves, until he was killed in a car accident. Anya was a wreck and spiralled downward to the point where an altercation occurred— one which resulted in her taking somebody’s life with her abilities. It’s a memory that still haunts her to this day; when she lost control of her powers and killed someone. Just like that. All she could do was gaze into the ever-darkening eyes of the man as he verged even closer to death and eventually heaved his final breath. Shockingly, her mother actually expressed how proud she was which made Anya sick. The unforgiveable reality of her actions collapsed upon her. Anya couldn’t face anyone after what she had done, not even Deacon. So, she took off without a word.

Her newly-found freedom led to her becoming a wanderlust and she travelled all over the globe for the sheer thrill of it. However, Anya’s carefree lifestyle was cut short when she was acquainted with her biological father. Aeolus informed her of the imminent danger facing demigods and demanded her mandatory relocation to Icaria. Truthfully, she laughed in his face. Anya barely even took orders from the man who had raised her, let alone a man who had been absent for her entire life. Biologically related or not, Aeolus stood no chance. It soon became apparent who Anya had inherited her obstinance from. Aeolus enlisted the help of her adoptive father, James Venturi. Much to Anya’s dismay and to her horror, James sided with the god who knocked up his wife, rather than listening to own daughter. Several stellar re-enactments of Bruce Almighty yelling at the sky later, Anya soon realized she was fighting a losing battle. She eventually conceded and relocated to Icaria, making Aeolus regret ever having a child in the process.

Anya built an entirely new life for herself on Icaria and began to feel more at home than she ever dreamed imaginable. One of her many conditions for staying on the island and not causing a fuss was for her father to purchase her a house— to which he hesitantly obliged. Anya now resides in a lavish villa on the coast with her German Shepherd, Kali, and her frequent and unwelcome house guest (and cousin), Theo.

She finally felt as if she was getting her life back on track. That was until ghosts from her past decided to appear on Icaria, those of which included Deacon and her mother. To top it off, the same week her mother and the minotaur made their impromptu appearances, she accidentally manifested a wind gust which propelled the minotaur into Noel (her friend and best friend’s ex-boyfriend), which temporarily killed him. Anya’s mistrust for her abilities was heightened and she swore to never tap into them, purely out of the fear of history repeating itself again. Just when she was coming to terms with Noel’s death and subsequent resurrection, her best friend Millie went missing. The number of those missing accumulated, until Anya herself was kidnapped. She was snatched from her friends, family, and beloved dog, the week before she was due to travel to the States for her grandmother’s birthday. Needless to say, Anya was not a happy bunny. Throughout her time at Asphodel Meadows, she concluded that Icaria was more of a living hell and the furthest thing from the ‘safe haven’ Aeolus had pitched to her.

WREN | SHE/HER | 22 | GMT

#aeolus

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aphsatan · 8 years ago

Text

about me// took this from a textpost but i wanted to answer on here so my followers can see :)

Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora? Spotify

is your room messy or clean? Messy at my dad’s, clean at my mom’s

what color are your eyes? Hazel/green :)

do you like your name? why? Short answer: yes b/c I was named after a Celtic goddess!!

what is your relationship status? single and happy

describe your personality in 3 words or less. bubbly, intelligent, welcoming

what color hair do you have? dark brown

what kind of car do you drive? color? can’t drive yet!!

where do you shop? I like American Eagle, Lush, H&M, Pacsun, and Sephora mainly

how would you describe your style? quite a bit of everything

favorite social media account? instagram or tumblr

what size bed do you have? full at mom’s, twin at dad’s

any siblings? four younger ones

if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why? i’d want to live in nantucket or chatham, cape cod, b/c they are my happy places.

favorite snapchat filter? the angry bunny!!

favorite makeup brand(s)? too faced!!!! and I also really like tarte.

how many times a week do you shower? probably 5 or 6 times because i have sports 3 times a week and i work out a lot.

favorite tv show? presently, sherlock and yuri on ice, but i love OUAT so fckin much.

shoe size? 7 1/5 (v tiny)

how tall are you? a whopping 5′7 (I wish I was 5′9)

sandals or sneakers? sandals

do you go to the gym? yes

describe your dream date. on top of a tall building in new york, candlelit table with wine and CARBS. or those sappy museum picnic dates that only ever happen on tumblr.

how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment? 30$

what color socks are you wearing? white (boring)

how many pillows do you sleep with? about 4

do you have a job? what do you do? i am a high schooler right now, but i want to work at a shelter this summer

how many friends do you have? ohhhh wow well close friends i’d say 2 or 3 but friendly friends, a lot.

what’s the worst thing you have ever done? chip my sister’s tooth

what’s your favorite candle scent? holiday spruce

3 favorite boy names? will, viktor, george

3 favorite girl names? (bear with me, I want to name by children these one day) margaret wren, regina hazel, or anastasia

favorite actor? oh this is tough... probably chris pratt.

favorite actress? sophia vergara!!

who is your celebrity crush? again, chris pratt.

favorite movie? the sound of music.

do you read a lot? whats your favorite book? I read a ton. favorite book is either Lady Midnight or COHF. I love Cassandra Clare.

money or brains? Brains

do you have a nickname? what is it? Shan!! or my dad calls me Shenanigans sometimes, haha.

how many times have you been to the hospital? um, I think 4 times? maybe less?

top 10 favorite songs. Only Exception / I Will Follow You Into The Dark / Death of a Bachelor / Impossible Year / Take A Walk / We’ll Meet Again / Carry On / Pretty Hurts / XO / Black Mambo (Bonus: The Cave)

do you take any medications daily? yes

what is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc) oily and it sucksssss

what is your biggest fear? I am afraid of opening up to the wrong people

how many kids do you want? perhaps two or three

what’s your go to hair style? “I Smoothed Out My Bed Head and It’s Working????”

what type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc) smaller, but cozy

who is your role model? Cassandra Clare, McKenna Kaelin, or Carrie Fisher

what was the last compliment you received? “you’re always so cute and put together!!”

what was the last text you sent? “Okay” wow nice, shan

how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real? I figured it out in second grade but I kept trying to convince myself he was real

what is your dream car? right now, jeep wrangler

opinion on smoking? hate it

do you go to college? yes 100%

what is your dream job? I become a best-selling author

would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs? suburbs are p lit but rural areas are too. hm. draw.

do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels? noooo never

do you have freckles? yes

do you smile for pictures? yes

how many pictures do you have on your phone? 276??

have you ever peed in the woods? yes, it was necessary and it was traumatic

do you still watch cartoons? yes!!

do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds? Wendy’s

Favorite dipping sauce? honey mustard

what do you wear to bed? sweats and a tee shirt

have you ever won a spelling bee? yes but not a very big one

what are your hobbies? writing, playing ukulele, running, makeup, and caring for dogs

can you draw? ehhhhh

do you play an instrument? yes, ukulele

what was the last concert you saw? 5SOS

tea or coffee? tea

Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts? Starbucks

do you want to get married? yes

what is your crush’s first and last initial? I don’t have a crush!!

are you going to change your last name when you get married? depends

what color looks best on you? red

do you miss anyone right now? my mom :(

do you sleep with your door open or closed? closed

do you believe in ghosts? no

what is your biggest pet peeve? know-it-alls, and people arguing even after they’ve been proven wrong numerous times

last person you called? my mom-mom

favorite ice cream flavor? chocolate

regular oreos or golden oreos? golden!!!

chocolate or rainbow sprinkles? chocolate

what shirt are you wearing? I’m wearing a lax pinnie

what is your phone background? a boring still from the options settings gives you

are you outgoing or shy? ehhh a mix of both

do you like it when people play with your hair? Y E S

do you like your neighbors? sure!

do you wash your face? at night? in the morning? I wash my face in the shower

have you ever been high? no

have you ever been drunk? yes-ish

last thing you ate? bbq chicken

favorite lyrics right now? “Here comes a thought That might alarm you What someone said And how it harmed you Something you did That failed to be charming Things that you said are Suddenly swarming, and oh You're losing sight You're losing touch All these little things seem To matter so much That they confuse you That I might lose you.” - “Here Comes a Thought” from SU

summer or winter? winter (only if it snows)

day or night? hmmmm probably day

dark, milk, or white chocolate? dark

favorite month? January

what is your zodiac sign? Capricorn!

who was the last person you cried in front of? my dad

#me #about me #shannon speaks #hey look at this #me talking about myself. ignore #ignore

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