#from left to right they are: lead singer/rhythm guitar - drummer - lead guitar - bass

[journey-to-the-attic]

the rest of the cast got their new song covers, so i wanted to try putting the others in a band :>

i did want to make it look a bit like an album cover but i have no idea how those are designed so eh?? i also couldn't think of any band or album/song names so. if anyone has any ideas...

[boingfessions]

HAPPY OINGO BOINGO DAY EVERYNYAN!!!

I hope everyone has a great time today! Surely more than one person asked themselves a question: What the HELL is Oingo Boingo? Well, the name itself is complete absurdity! But what makes Oingo Boingo Oingo Boingo? Find out in this post under cut!

Our beloved crazy ginger man! Daniel Robert Elfman is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. Delusional, orange af, joker-like, face with a combination of slasher smile and Kubrick stare, perhaps even had prolonged non-fatal rabies in his time in Oingo Boingo that was only recently cured when the band broke, but unfortunately (or not) returned in recent years. Now his entire body is covered in tattoos and his hair is straight now because of dyeing it to hide his gray hair, ergo his old age. The truth is that he is actually a skeleton disguised as Danny Elfman to pass himself off as living human so that the Grim Reaper don't come after him, but SHHHH!!! I did not tell you anything!

Danny Elfman (lead vocals, rhythm guitar)

Steve Bartek (lead guitar, rhythm vocals)

Fluffy tall boy <3. Steve Bartek is an American guitarist, film composer, conductor, and orchestrator. Elfman's right-hand man and the one he trusts with his skeletons in his closet, oh and his film compositions too of course! One of the few members of the band who was not consumed by it and therefore did not become a feral creature in the process. He plays little guitars because he's a big man, y'know! He usually wore ridiculously short ties along with baggy t-shirts. His guitar solos drove Danny so crazy that he was spinning around and caused him to have back pain to this day, so you know how to blame. Nowadays unfortunately his beautiful dark curls have become gray, but luckily he now looks like an adorable grandpa now! (just like the others)

Kerry Hatch (bass guitar, backing vocals)

A marvelous human being! Kerry Hatch is an American musician... and that's it. Walking diva and Zoolander wannabe, this lad was the band's bassist until 1984, when he decided to join the band "Zuma II" (what the HELL is that band? I have no idea!). A pretty lad who likes to be handsome and play bass guitars that don't even look like bass guitars, I don't know what else I could say about him! Maybe he thought the band wasn't good enough for him and decided to leave to pursue something better, but that's just a guess... if you can consider a landscaping business better!

Richard "Ribbs" Gibbs (keyboards, backing vocals)

Mister mistery~ Richard Gibbs is an American film composer and music producer. Like Kerry, he left the band in 1984 to join Zuma II, and to be honest I don't know what what that band had to make not one but TWO members of Oingo Boingo (the best band in the entire galaxy and even the sixth dimension) have left to be in that band. Anywho, all I have to say about him is that he did well in life, being a composer like Danny and that's it.

Johnny "Vatos" Hernández (drums, percussion)

THIS IS JOHNNY VATOS FROM OINGO BOINGO MAN!!!! He is a drummer with crazy hairstyles who likes to dum ba dum through life. Almost as crazy as Danny was, he stayed loyal to the band even after they broke up (yes, he was in another band called Food for Feet, but I don't give a DAMN!) Years after the band broke up he managed to reunite about four former members and form "Oingo Boingo Former Members", made up of him, Steve Bartek, John Avila, Carl Graves and Sam "Sluggo" Phipps, in addition to new members. Idk about you, but I would like to have him as my grandpa!

Sam "Sluggo" Phipps (saxophone, backing vocals)

Leon Schneiderman (saxophone, backing vocals)

Slam Bam "Sluggo" Phipps is an American saxophone player known for his signature bright, expressive smiles, where he shows off all his teeth and can light up an entire room. The tallest guy in the band and the one who likes to show off his instrument the most, rising it high in the air when attention is focused on him. Well, maybe not so much, but you understand what I mean! Maybe he can be too expressive and noisy, but we still love him ❤️

Dale Turner (trumpet, backing vocals)

Do you remember when I said that Sluggo had the brightest smile in the world? Well, I lied! That one goes to our dear Leon Schneiderman, the other saxophonist in the band. He could do anything in the whole world, even his own instruments! Being a childhood friend of Danny's, it can be said that he has been in the band every moment since it started, even longer than Danny himself! Don't you love him and his smiles?

John Avila (bass guitar, backing vocals)

Our beloved grandpa-mom. He is an American trumpet player who entered The Mystic Knights after they let him audition after seeing him practice in secret. He makes sure to keep an eye on the other guys in the band and can (if he hasn't already) spank them to make them behave (except for Sluggo; NOBODY spanks Sluggo). Even if he is the shortest member of the band along with John Avila, that doesn't make him any less authoritative, being around ten years older than the rest of the band. He is silent like a mouse and has never been heard to speak, perhaps because he is reserved or has nothing to say. He left the band and is currently enjoying his life privately, and I really hope he's okay!

HE IS MY BABY, MY CUTIE PIE, MY PUPPY, MY LOVE, MY LIFE, THE BEST BOY IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!!!!!! RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahem, sorry about that... John Avila is an American bassist and music producer. A literal human puppy and the shortest member of the band. He looks like you could pick him up in your arms and cradle him like a baby... Sorry, I'm off topic again! What do you want me to do? He's simply adorable! (At least for me). Anywho, Although he appears in the Gratitude MV, it was not until 6 months after the release of the album So-Lo that he joined the band along with Michael Bacich, being the new bassist and keyboardist respectively. He is usually hyperactive and you can see him at concerts jumping, spinning and playing his bass like a pro. The strange thing is that, even though the years go by and he obviously ages, he still seems to be the same mischievous and playful puppy-like guy... Okay, sorry again!

Michael Bacich (keyboards, backing vocals)

Quiet nerdy boy. He's was the keyboardist of the band since 1985 until 1988. Yes, he didn't stay for a long time, but his presence in the band is still important as he was present in the band's best era (Dead Man's Party). He looks like the typical nerd who would say "actually☝️🤓" and give you information that you didn't even ask for but still decided to give you to expand your zero knowledge. He also looks kinda shy and like someone who Danny would bully if the band were in a cliché teen movie. Like Dale, he decided to move on with his life after leaving the band, which it's okay after all.

I ran out of space for more images! Don't worry, I'll reblog this post right away talking about the rest of the band (which are only two members but still!). Thank you very much for reading this far and HAPPY BOINGO DAY TO ALL OF YOU AGAIN!!!

[amyyythestarry]

TOILET BAND HANAKO KUN!

——

CHAPTER 1: Band.

——

“… Have you heard?” She spoke softly into the microphone as soon as it was turned on along with the radio.

“There is a rule regarding that staircase that you must never break.” 

Slow, rhythmic melodies played when he strummed the strings of his ginger orange guitar with a guitar pick, decorated with random cat stickers, put on by another male, that just wouldn’t come off. He left them there until he was able to find a way to get them off of his precious instrument.

“You must never step foot on the fourth step. Why? Because… You will be taken to the other side.”

“Taken, to the otherrrr side~” Sung another person, standing right beside the green haired girl, holding another microphone. Violet and mauve, covered in various stickers and paint splatters on the bottom. His voice was smooth and calm, despite the words being deep.

Then drums started, still soft and faint, the person with the sticks trying to bang as light as possible to match the tone of the start of the song. Guitar still strumming, and now a keyboard is being used.

“Down, down belowww. To the darkest, deepest, path you’ll gooo.” He continued, eyes closed and head swaying with the flow. 

“Limb, from dangling limb. They’ll pull you apart, down to countless pieces.” 

The drumming tempo started picking up, so did the guitar, and now the drummer and guitarist were playing more fast and furious, creating a new rough and exciting rhythm.

“Now you’ve ruined the stairs.” The girl sang.

“It’s painted with crimson blood.” He continued. “Yasuraka ni o yasumi kudasai~”

“In piecesss~”

Now the instruments were louder than before. The drums are still banging with the occasional cymbals. The bass guitar’s volume was turned up, not enough to cover the singer's voice, because it was still so quiet. And the keyboards settled with matching the singer’s vocals, it wasn’t a noisy instrument anyways, especially since the player wasn’t an aggressive typist.

They continued playing like this.

Nobody expected the short, black haired, brown skinned boy, the one who was the most childish and reckless out of them all, to actually be a good singer. Because as they kept playing, kept up with the song, and the lyrics of the boy flowed throughout the room like lovely wind, they all figured this was the best outcome for them.

The boy did add unnecessary additions to the song that weren’t there before, but heck, it was still bada**.

As they got closer to the end of the song, the drummer decided to close their eyes as did the guitarist, the typist, and the lead singer. Wanting to just feel the atmosphere of the room, the melody of their instruments and his vocals clashing together in the best way.

The song was closer to ending. The guitar slowed down again after its solo, going with the rhythm it had when they first started playing. The singer's voice was higher.

“Taken to the other siiiide, to the bottom of the underworld, the top of the stairs will take you.” The green-ette sang, voice being in the background of the main singer.

“Have you heard? Number 2?”

The singer stopped singing, and the instruments had to keep going.

The drums continued to bang, harder and louder than throughout the whole song, now that it had the spotlight. Alongside the guitar, as it became more distorted on purpose.

But as the song was now about to end, and the drummer banged on the bass, planning to end it off with a ding from the hi-hats. The time was right, and the drummer hit two of the hi-hats with each cherry wooden stick, and the sound along with the dings of the cymbals was the sound of crunchy snapping.

The song finally ended. The guitarist and typist stopped playing, because of the ending of their strain, and cause of the sound they hear almost all the time while practicing. As well as a voice grumbling from the back of the room.

“D**nit! I broke them again!”

Everyone in the room turned to the drummer, looked at him, and then at the two broken parts of the drumsticks rolling on the floor on each side of the drum set.

Mitsuba Sousuke sighed, dropping the remains of the sticks onto the floor by his feet, and rubbed his face with both hands from embarrassment and frustration.

“… Jesus, Mitsuba-chan. This is like, the fifth time..” The guitarist sweatdropped.

“Oh shut up, airhead.” Mitsuba pulled his head up from his hands and rolled his pink eyes, the left one being hidden by his curly hair.

Hyuuga Natsuhiko put his hands up when Mitsuba glared at him, and the lead singer of the group spoke up.

“Mitsubaa, you need to stop breaking the sticks!”

“It’s not my fault!” He claimed, dropping his head down and looking into his lap when being faced with amber eyes.

Yugi Tsukasa walked over to the broken pieces of dark cherry wood, picking them up and inspecting the jagged edges of the sticks.

When looking up slightly, Mitsuba expects Tsukasa to be looking at him with downcasted eyebrows, shaking his head and tutting. But instead, he sees the smaller boy smiling down at the sticks in his hand.

“Y’know, maybe we don’t have to throw these away again? We could probably try fixing them!” He suggested, looking up at Mitsuba and giving him his usual wide toothed grin, the one Mitsuba couldn’t help but secretly admire.

The pink haired boy stilled, then slowly nodded while a small shy smile plastered on his face, along with the hotness of his cheeks coming to be.

“Um.. Yeah, maybe we could..?”

“And if that doesn’t work,” Tsukasa started again, pulling out his phone and starting to type. “I’m sure you could use broken wood for something else, right? Like, using them for some type of art pieces?”

Everyone internally questioned what kind of art piece the boy could possibly make with broken drumsticks, but they didn’t further think about that. Tsukasa could make something out of anything.

While Tsukasa was still on his phone, the green haired girl sighed.

“Well… I’m sure the song went well,” Nanamine Sakura said, pushing curly strands of hair out her face. “We’ll check it when we get back to the Broadcasting room.”

Currently, the band of pre-teens and second year teenagers are in a closed, deserted garage in the middle of nowhere where non-human beings are stranded. Nobody was in the area but them, though. So they found it a perfect place to try and finish their first song, named ‘Misaki Stairs’ in their fresh album ‘Rumor’. Since the club room they use to brainstorm and hang out in was too small for a whole band set up.

They decided they would use this garage for playing, and their club room for producing their music.

The band members agreed, and collected their belongings, getting ready to head out of the room.

Tsukasa walked over to a corner of the garage and picked up a long furry black thing, cooing at it saying, “Did you have a good nap?” The thing responded by purring into his arms.

“What is that?” Natsuhiko asked him, looking at him over his shoulder while he zipped his guitar shut in it’s black case.

Tsukasa turned to him, revealing an animal. His pet, that they didn’t even realize was here in the first place. The same pet Tsukasa let around them all the time. 

Miyu, the strange cat Tsukasa always carried in his backpack, and somehow always appeared around them no matter where they were, opened its eyes to look at the confused looking band members she knew were Tsukasa’s friends. She quickly snapped her eyes at Sakura, and jumped out of her owner's arms. Walking over to Sakura and meowing at her, close by her left foot.

The black and white cat watched Sakura’s face contort into a deadpan.

“Tsukasa, why.. Is your cat in here?” She asked the boy who was gathering his backpack and putting both his and Sakura’s microphones in their respective cases.

“Oh! Because she wanted to listen to our first official song!” 

They looked back down at the cat, who was bobbing its head like it was agreeing. Sakura shook the topic off, and started walking towards the button that opened the garage door.

When it opened all the way they all walked out of the garage, being faced with a scenery of mixed colors in the empty sky that belonged to the Far Shore, the realm of all supernaturals and non-human beings.

Mitsuba instantly pulled out his camera being hung around his neck, and snapped a picture of the sky above. He didn’t usually take pictures of pretty things like this, they couldn’t come close to the pretty-ness that was himself, but it was more odd than the sky of the realm of humans, and odd things deserved a snapshot.

There were also other weird things in the Far Shore too. And besides, Tsukasa was staring at it like the beautiful, strange thing it was, and he never planned on keeping the picture. As soon as it came out, and he shook it to get rid of the black, the picture showed the perfect shot and he gave it to Tsukasa.

Right inside Tsukasa's open right palm appeared a floating, misty black thing, with a small blue swirly dot in the middle. In an instant, the same black smoke clouded their vision and engulfed them with the intent of taking them somewhere else faster.

Natsuhiko spoke up, not seeing the person he wanted to speak to because of all the mist.

“Tsukasa, you also have to help me get these stickers off my guitar and case y’know! And stop tampering with them!” 

He heard a giggle from the boy he was talking to.

“I’ll try!”

Once their sight became clear again, they all were in another place, and a place they knew well. The Broadcasting club, taking place in the school they all attended.

And once they settled in, they got to work. Checking over their song, edited it, and once it was deemed perfect, contacted their album cover producer and started on releasing it to their oblivious human and random supernatural audiences.

Now this was the start of The Broadcasters.

——

NEW AU ONESHOT!

Next chapter is: Band. ( 2 )

[maditalksmusic]

An Interview with Kyra & the Chameleons

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Kyra, Harry, and Kevin of the band Kyra & the Chameleons, a four-piece indie rock group that started out here in New Brunswick. Kyra is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, primary songwriter, and occasional keyboardist. Harry is the lead guitarist, sings a bit, and helps write some songs. Kevin is the bassist. Their drummer, Calvin, was not present. I primarily spoke to Kyra and Harry, then Kevin joined in later.

(Left to right) Kevin, Kyra, and Harry of Kyra & the Chameleons performing at Sunday School on November 1, 2024. Shot by me. 

Give me the band’s origin story. How’d you guys meet? What made you guys start the band? How long have you been making music together?

Kyra: Our bass player that’s coming soon, Kevin, I’ve known since my freshman year of college, like first few weeks. We’d jam, like me on an acoustic and him on an acoustic, and we were always like “we should start a band”. Kevin lived with Harry and Calvin, and I was playing an acoustic show for the Core and asked Kevin and Calvin if they’d like to play in an ensemble sort of thing, then after that we were like we should do this more. 

Harry: That’s speeding the story along, a lot actually. There were a lot of times I’d try to weasel my way in… wander down into the basement with my guitar “Hey, can I join in??”

Kyra: We only played one show as a three piece then Harry joined in as an official member.

Harry: I like to make a big thing about not being in it from the get-go.

Kyra: First show as a four-piece was March or April of 2022, so about 2 and a half years ago. 

Harry: What is that, like three pregnancies? 

Kyra: Is it? Roughly? 

Harry: 9 months, 27, we’re premature.

Did any or all of you have a background in music or any other performing art? What got you all into music?

Harry: I ‘ve been playing guitar since I was 8 because I wanted an excuse to get out of class for my music lesson, which was fun. I wanted to learn more, I quit at some point and then picked it back up. My family’s not musical or anything, I just kinda picked it up.

Kyra: I started playing piano when I was 4, in my bedroom I have a folder of songs I wrote in 3rd grade. Picked up guitar somewhere along the way, and was in some bands in high school. I got kicked out of a band in high school actually, I was just bad at guitar. They wanted me to be lead guitarist and after one practice they kicked me out, and you know, I cried. So yeah, I’ve been doing music forever, I even did a little trumpet. I did classical and jazz piano, and was in jazz band. 

Who are your biggest musical influences and inspirations?

Kyra: I love Adrianne Lenker, Big Thief. Big Thief is my favorite band, every song she writes is gold. I’d be happy if my best song was as good as her worst song, which I guess she really doesn’t have a worst show. She’s on the level of Bob Dylan for me. 

Harry: We’ve also been listening to a lot of McGee, saw a 2 hour set of his. We love McGee and there’s a whole lot of influence in our songs. We play his songs to ourselves. Classic rock, psych rock, Pink Floyd, the Eagles, and anything with a guitar is something you can draw inspiration from. And songs without guitar! 

Kyra: You don’t know any of those. 

Harry: I know like three! And the Grateful Dead. Bassist Kevin has been a lifelong Grateful Dead fan as well. 

Kyra: It’s cool to think about the inspirations while you’re writing - a lot of times, song by song it differs. There’s a song I wrote this year, around my birthday, Jordan’s Year, that kind of sounds like a Soccer Mommy song. Or Snail Mail, we love Snail Mail, and Baby’s All Right. 

What are your personal favorite artists? Favorite songs?

Kyra: I would have to say one of my favorite songs of all time is “Cattails” by Big Thief off their 2019 junior album. There’s so many songs, I’d probably put a Beatles song up there. I mean, the Beatles inspire everyone, and I think about how good of a songwriter Paul McCartney is. I will say “Cathy’s Song” by Simon and Garfunkel, one of my favorite songs of all time. I cry like a baby every time I hear it, I’m sure there’s ones I’m forgetting, but yeah. 

Harry: “Here, There and Everywhere” by the Beatles is a favorite of mine, “Hello It’s Me” by Todd Rundgren too. Simon and Garfunkel’s definitely up there too, and they’re definitely a songwriting influence. Guitar wise and vibe wise, they’ve got a lot of cool finger picking stuff that I’ve tried to emulate.

Do you have any non-musical inspirations or influences? 

Kyra: Yes, I love that and I love that question. That’s a great question. There’s things in my life, and I think about things. When I recorded the solo album that I released called Creature of My Creation I was exclusively watching New Girl, it was really good for helping me stay in a flow state while writing. I watched this one movie called Eileen, Anne Hathaway was in it, I wrote one pretty good song after watching that, so that. I guess I’ll backtrack, I guess a lot of what I write is rooted in personal experiences. If I had a diary I probably wouldn’t write any songs. 

Harry: I also have inspirations as well, I think about things. I go entirely off vibes, and that’s when I get in trouble. I’m gonna try to think about an answer in a way, but it’s gonna be such bullshit if I’m being honest. I’d say everyday experiences, all the everyday life stuff, but you think about - I love really specific experiences that everyone has - it’s hard to explain. An image that everyone has seen but no one really thinks about. You know when you’re driving on the highway, and there’s strip mall everywhere and giant fast food signs around, like the 18 by Rutgers. Stuff that everyone’s seen but nobody really thinks about. It’s hard to put that into words in terms of a song - one of those is “You Don’t Know the Shape I’m In” by MJ Landerman, “stood by a half mast McDonald’s flag” everyones seen the arches but yeah. Also, fashion. It’s inspiring, it’s cool seeing multimedia and it influences how we function as a band and how we present ourselves, it influences your everyday style and life. Aesthetics in general, you know.

Tell me about your first gig. What was it like performing live together for the first time?

Kevin: Kinda like this (puts hand over Harry) because Harry was not in the band yet. You know he already brought that up. 

Harry: (reached back to show me the Polaroid photo in his phone case) Was this the first one? Yeah, I think so! 

Kyra: We played 2 shows without Harry. It’s like Fleetwood Mac. Our first show was at RockBottom, I don’t remember that much specifically. I remember being super sweaty and super hype and feeling really good about it after. Now when we play, we’re so tight, I feel like we could play the whole set with our eyes closed. I think we remember more so the rehearsals and stuff leading up to and after the show. When Harry popped in we all started to gel creatively and it started flowing, rather than just doing Creature of my Creation we started to go into our own stuff, putting a spin on it together. Everything that’s gonna be on the EP, which comes out Friday by the way! In reference to the Beatles set - we have never worked harder on one thing as a band. It was like ten songs that are nowhere near as easy as you’d think to play, and then it’s like, let’s add the harmonies, and that’s a whole other equation. Before, we did a Halloween cover set that was a Weezer cover set, MUCH easier. John Lennon was in my nightmares for a period of weeks. 

What have been your favorite and least favorite shows to play?

Kyra: I think we would all have very different answers. I think we’re usually on the same page with best shows, but other times we have different perspectives on how the show went. One time we played the church on College Ave, I think we’d agree that’s a top 3 worst show. I played alright, we sounded alright, but I know you, Harry, and Calvin weren’t fully happy with how we did. 

Kevin: Kyra almost kicked me out of the band after that. 

Kyra: I did not! The next time we played Arlene’s Grocery, that was better. I think that was a top 3 best. It’s interesting how it varies. 

Harry: I think we can all agree that that last show at Milky Mansion was fantastic. All due to the vibe they curated there, it’s so laid back, everyone’s so chill, we brought it, we closed it out, it was amazing, it was an honor. 

What are your favorite aspects of the vibrant underground/basement scene we’ve got here in New Brunswick? What’s it like being a part of that?

(Unfortunately, I did not space out who said what when I was writing this down, so this is a blended paragraph of things from different members of the band.) It’s fun. You meet a ton of cool people. It really is a community I’d say, everyone’s always down to help each other out, I feel like people in the scene really want to see each other succeed, and I love it. It’s great vibes, a lot of artistry can be pretty cutthroat in the world, but the New Brunswick scene is more about creating a comfy vibe where everyone’s kind and wants to be happy, it’s really cool. People actually dance at the shows. No, it’s been great. There’s been a lot of people saying we love your band, we love to have you, a lot of people want to open their doors to new creativity and new bands. That’s a great thing about New Brunswick, there’s always new bands coming, and good bands coming, there’s a lot of really good people running it and making some really good stuff happen. 

Where do you see the band going in the future?

Kyra: Straight to the top. Grammys, Billboard, yeah! I mean, I have no idea. I think we have a ton of potential. A lot of these things lock into being at the right place at the right time and meeting the right people to make things happen. I think there’s a lot of potential for this to really go somewhere, I think we have the capacity to do so. I think we make great music, sky’s the limit, theoretically based on that. As long as people are coming out to see us and enjoying what they see, we’ll keep putting it out. We wanna keep playing music because we’re buddies and it’s fun to play music together. The biggest thing for us as well is to continue to play shows that people want to come out to, we’ll play till everyone gets sick of us. Then we’ll keep doing it after that!!

Tell me more about the EP.

Kyra: It is called Of Honey, 3 songs have already come out, “Pagan Bluff”, “Mary”, and “Dizzy”, and one more song coming out Friday. We’re playing NYC on Friday at Arlene’s Grocery, yeah, on the Lower East Side, we’re very excited. I was actually listening to “Dizzy” today while I was at school and I was like yeah, this is good. I’m really excited for people to listen to this as a full project, I’m really proud of this and how it’s turned out. 

[heaveaux]

Maybe some pro rev era Gerard x m reader.

Like the readers in one of the other bands playing. Or you can just use your imagination. 😄

I’m actually not very good with eras and I’m not sure what you meant by pro rev era so I searched it up and all I found were pictures like this ^ so I’m hoping this is good :) if it isn’t and you wanted something more specific you can request again and I’ll try my best ^^ also tysm for the request :DD also sorry I made up names for the rest of the band myself I just didn’t know what else to put. The band you’re in in this is a punk rock kinda band and there’s a lot of screaming and stuff but yk that’s hot. Edit- ALSO I APOLOGISE FOR HOW SHORT THIS IS THIS IS HORRIBLE IM JUST SCARED OF IT DELETING ITSELF-

Pro rev era Gerard x male reader

pronouns- he/him

summary- y/n is on tour with my chemical romance, he’s in b/n (band name) as the bassist and singer. He messes up whilst playing one of their songs and runs off stage into a random room. Gerard finds him in a room that my chemical romance go in or something and tells him it’s okay and he borrows Mikey’s bass.

warnings- crying, a panic attack,

You walked onto the stage confidently, putting on your bass guitar. The rest of the band followed after.

‘Hi, we’re b/n, this is our first big tour’ the crowd cheered ‘this is our lead guitarist, Kyo (pronounced kye-oh. Male any pronouns), our rhythm guitarist, Lux (nonbinary they/them) , and our drummer, David (male he/they)’ They all waved after their name was said.

‘And finally, I’m y/n, the bassist and vocalist’ you winked at the crowd ‘This is our song, susurrus woods!’ (Yes I made that up myself and yes susurrus is a word, it means something like a rustling or whispering sound, so whispering or rustling woods basically). You began the song and the crowd went wild. None of you messed up at all, you and Lux were crazy on stage kind of like Gerard and Frank but you were just more violent, and so was your music, no one got hurt fortunately, you just acted very aggressive although usually being a quite introverted and quite in public. You felt like you could be free when you performed, it was amazing.

time skip to your last song-

‘This is our second to last song! “Focus on the heartthrob not the reject!”’ (I also made that one up you’re welcome also this is less screaming, it’s a bit like 1985 by bowling for soup) You began singing ‘Everyone loves him! Everyone loves him!’ You jumped around the stage trying to get the crowd to join in and it was working. ‘Why date an introvert when there’s the rich kid? He has everything from a bass guitar to a lambo-’ suddenly one of your strings broke and your guitar made an unusual noise, you looked down and took off the guitar, throwing it on the ground and running backstage. Your band continued playing and you found an empty place to sit and cry into your knees. Someone in all black walked over to you, he had pale makeup on and greasy, shoulder length black hair. ‘Hey are you okay?’ You noticed it was Gerard from the band you were on tour with, my chemical romance, he came over to you and sat by your side. ‘What happened?’

‘My bass guitar broke…’ you looked up at him and he put his arm around your shoulders.

‘My brother has a spare one you can use, I’ll ask him’ as if by magic, Mikey cant running into the room after Gerard. ‘Hey Mikes, can he borrow your spare bass guitar?’ ‘Uh yeah sure’

‘Your name was Y/n right?’ Gerard got up and held my hand to pull me up. You wiped your nose with your already dirty sleeve and nodded. ‘Y/n L/n’

‘I heard your music, it was really good, I liked susurrus woods. Now go play’ He smiled at you and handed you the bass which Mikey had just brought in. You and Gerard ran to backstage and you waved goodbye, walking on to play. ‘I’m sorry I left guys, now we can play our final song, “our time is up”’ you shouted, beginning the final song.

skip to after-

‘You were amazing y/n!’ Gerard hugged you and kissed your cheek. ‘I was wondering if you’d like to go on a date with me before the tour ends? And can I have your number if that’s alright…’

You smiled and blushed ‘of course’

‘Ooooooo someones got a little crush~’ Frank walked in between you two.

you both looked at each other and smiled.

I HOPE THIS WASN'T COMPLETE SHIT BECAUSE I THINK I DID HORRIBLE FOLLOWING THE REQUEST IN THIS IM SO SORRY, ILL WRITE YOU ANOTHER OF YOUR REQUESTS TO APOLOGISE JUST TELL ME WHEN YOU REQUEST THAT YOU'RE THE ONE WHO REQUESTED THIS SOMEHOW SO I CAN TRY AND DO BETTER FOR YOU <33333

ALSO TY GUYS FOR REQUESTING, KEEP REQUESTING PLEASE I LOVE ALL OF YOUR REQUESTS 💓💗

[bornofbloodandwater]

@niratias​ A Surprise for Thackery

        “I’ll be back in a bit, stay here.” Leaving him with a bright kiss, and a spark in her eye. She won’t lie to him. He is seeing a new band she thinks he’ll like, and she will be back...just not on his side of the stage.

Not three minutes after her dark coat swishes over in the direction of the bar, leaving him near enough the centre front, do the lights of the venue drop and the resonant chill of a reverb-cradled melody comes in through the misted dark.

“I’ve spent, in different beds

        Many moons

                And that’s the way I...”

The lights striking bright enough to stun all looking to the stage. In its wash, stand five women in creams and neutrals, ripped out of some Ivy League library. In the centre of them, dressed in a white silk negligee and six, ethereal, pale feather wings, stands Xiomara before the mic.

                            “Prefer it.”

Eyes steady on Thackery, a trickster smirk as her band launch into the weight of the song. Infernal-low bass, the lead dancing by Xio’s vocals and guided by the rhythm guitar, grounded by the wicked skill of their drummer.

Her presence on the stage is fluid, flirtatious, every movement guided by her instinct as a dancer. Weightless. As the song melds into another, the tone of the set sinking deeper and deeper into seduction, she reaches down towards him, pure lust and joy in her eyes, and catches the hand of the woman to his left. Casting a wink to the singer. Sit back and enjoy.

Hoisting the black-clad woman up onto the stage with ease to whisper in her ear. Her frantic approval caught in the mic. “Yeah. Sure. Yes.”

A gentle hand leading the woman deeper into the stage and placing the microphone in her hands right in front of her chest. “Hold that right there for me won’t you, Darling?” Swiftly kissing the neck of the brunette with all the passion of a lover. The fan swaying on her heels at the sensation, both hands on the stranger’s hips to guide her down into the seat at her back. Profile to the audience so they won’t miss a moment.

Both of the guitarists striking a three-part harmony of the first chorus with Xio. Her voice snaking to the microphone in the stranger’s grip. Straddling her thighs, a thumb caressing her jaw, fingers trailing down her neck. Beginning a performance only this woman will truly get to experience at its fullest, and most likely Thackery later tonight.

“Who taught you how to love like that?

        It's a one-way ticket to a heart attack.”

Taking the mic back and leading one of the woman’s hands down her chest. Standing just as her hands reach for Xio’s hips.

               “I wonder if she's coming back in my life?

                     Who taught you how to kiss this way?”

In a kick, her heel is caught on the back of the chair, bare thigh by the blushing face below, capturing her chin to force her to look up into Xio’s gaze.

                            “If you were born like this, baby, I will kneel and pray,”

Conducting the woman’s hands up her naked leg, as the song calls for the siren’s moans. Head tipped back in spectacular ecstasy, the woman’s eyes enraptured with the angel above, hair glowing in the stage lights.

                                    “And thank the lord below for what he made every night.”

                                                         ...

The woman stumbling off to the stage wings just as the third song begins. Now all her focus is back to Thackery, her soul, the very one who inspired her.

“Fraudulent, your existence

        Synthesis of a broken yes man

                I've been waiting for so long

                        To sacrifice the blood you've drawn.”

Head tipped back, arms spread wide in reverence. Thick, dark blood raining down upon her from the rafters and two full buckets tossed from below. Wings and silk dripping with red. A demon set to perform only for him, only for her soul, Thackery.

Hands roaming across slickened skin, leaving trails of golden hues in the wake of her fingertips. Her band members splattered with blood themselves, cashmere clinging with the sanguine. The bassist with a cigarette stuck to her lip like the womaniser she is. Xiomara singing with all her heart for only her darling, something she’d never have done without him. 

“Delicate nature

        Don't talk to strangers

                Leave my life in his hands

                        Correct my behaviour

                                Lucid in danger

                                        Don't talk to strangers

                                                Is who I am melted erasure?”

A single trailing echo of the guitars filling the venue as she takes the mic, addressing the crowd one last time.

              “Enjoy the rest of your night, heathens. We’ve been Lagneía.”

Crooking a finger at Thackery in the front row, catching his brilliant green eyes with a stutter of her heart and the brightest grin, tempting him up onto the stage to follow her into the wings. A light in her eyes so fiery she’d burn him if she didn’t adore him so.

[darklightmiwxo]

MIW history

Hello I want to make a history and facts post of MIW. I been a fan for a few months so I may miss some stuff out. New fans can check this out to understand more of the band.

Motionless in white members:

[IMG=OAA]

Name: Chris motionless (cerulli)

Full name: Christopher Cerulli)

Age: 34

Birthday: October 17 1986

Zodiac: Libra

Birth place: Scranton Pennsylvania

Height: 6'1

Role: main singer

Relationship Status: single

Chris says he doesn't want to get married.

Fear: heights and flying

Personality: a really kind person who cares for his fans he's funny and has a dad humor. Everyone just see him as a dad to them.

Interest: Chris really loves dogs. He plays video games halo and call of duty he plays it all the time. His fave bands is slipknot,marlin manson,korn,HIM,and more rock bands.

[IMG=EOZ]

Name: Ricky Olson (horror)

Full name: Richard Alison Olson the third

Nick name: Rick

Age: 32

Birthday: September 1st 1988

Birth place: Seattle WA

Lives: Scranton Pennsylvania

Zodiac: Virgo

Height: 5'6

Uni: he studied film production in college but dropped out for the band.

Role: rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist

Relationship status: taken by Jamie L

Fear: dying alone,being hated,failing

Personality: he's a calm sweet person he's very smart and also really kind. He's a good caring friend. However he can be a troll sometimes and mess around with everyone because he loves doing it. He loves his fans so much. He's a shy boy.

Interest: he loves to write,draw,edit,take photos, record videos,run his YouTube channel,create a mini sketch video to post on his channel, being a director,he loves cats and reading books.

Ricky fave bands is: muse,HIM,afi,slipknot,BMTH,Ariana grande,Ellie goulding.

[IMG=NEP]

Name: Vinny Mauro

Full name: Vinchenzo Mauro

Nick name: vin,chenzo,sachetti

Nationality: Italian American

Age: 27

Birthday: Nov 22 1993

Birth place: jersey shore Pennsylvania

Zodiac: Sagittarius

(he's also a Sagittarius Scorpio cusp)

Height: 5'6

Uni: vinny study computer programming but he dropped out of college to join the band in 2014

Role: drummer

Bands: MIW,suffer club,trap demon

Relationship Status: single

Fear: being hated by people

Personality: in most of Ricky vlogs vinny seem extroverted he is loud around friends and has lots of fun being silly. But in reality there is a side to him that isn't easy to see you can see it in his twitch stream. He's actually really introverted he said this himself. He's calming and sweet he interact with fans a lot and making sure fans respect each other. He loves to be alone in his room for many days avoiding human contact. Vinny mention being too shy to go up to new people but he is fine if people go up to him. He doesn't feel comfortable talking to new people. He likes being alone.

Interest: creating rap beats,playing video games,making music,dogs and cats,playing drums.

Vinny fave artist are: Fall out boy,paramore,korn,panic! At the disco,HIM,my chemical romance,arch enemy,maroon 5,emeiem,Ariana grande,dua lipa,Mack millo,doji cat,bring me the horizon,pierce the veil,sleeping with sirens,all time low,black veil brides,Rihanna,linkin park,green day,evanescences.

[IMG=XHH]

Name: Ryan Sitkowski

Age: 30

Birthday: Jan 8,1991

Zodiac: Capricorn

Birth place: Pennsylvania

Height: 5'11?

Uni: he dropped out of college to join MIW

Role: lead guitarist

Relationship Status: taken

Fear: spiders

Personality: Ryan is a chill person he's shy and caring to fans. He's also a troll he loves to mess around with his friends.

Interest: guitar,video games,trading card games.

Bands: the same as the rest of miw probably.

[IMG=QFE]

Name: Justin morrow

Age: 32?

Birthday: May 11th

Birth place: Caledonia, New York

Zodiac: Taurus

Height: 6'1

Role: bassist

Relationship Status: married

Fear: ?

Personality: Justin is a kind chill person who cares for his fans and his friends. He left ice nine kills to right away help MIW on tour. Justin is also a troll he loves trolling his friends.

Interest: videos games but not a nerd like the others,bass,cosplaying,putting makeup on.

Bands: the same as MIW

Motionless in white history:

The band started in high school of 2005

Chris,Angelo,Frank p,Kyle white being the first members of the band. Later after college and the bands demo releases Josh joined the band. Frank moved to bass. Micheal and TJ join as guitarist. Later on micheal left the band and Chris met Ryan. Ryan then joined as guitarist of the band. Chris met Ricky in 2009. Frank left the band and Ricky was the new bassist for MIW.

MIW got more popular in 2009 when they tour around the state's in a van. Tj left the band a year later to join escape the fate (Ronnie radke of falling in reverse old band and bless the fall singer Craig band) Ricky then became the new rythmn guitarist of the band. Ghost (Devin) join as the bass player of the band. During the infamous album creation Angelo was feeling ill he couldn't play drums well anymore he gets tired easily and his drum skills wasn't good at all he was eating bad that it make him weak. He couldn't drum anymore so he left the band. The band had other drummers help record their albums. Brandon was the touring drummer for the band till the end of the reincarnated album. The band met vinny and he became the new drummer he was in the reincarnated music video playing drums but you can't see him much in the music video. Vinny then became a member of MIW not a tour drummer anymore but a actually member of MIW. Josh left the band around this time. In the graveyard shift era after the making of the album the whole band kicked ghost out of the band because the fans told the band what ghost did to fans which was very gross. The band kicked him out and Justin from ice nine kills join the band as bassist then he quit ice nine kills to be working full time for MIW. Disguise is the first album where the whole current members of the band created songs without other people doing it for them.

Chris history from high school to now:

Chris grew up in Pennsylvania. He met his friends who end up being the band members of the band he wanted to create he wasn't expecting to be the main singer. At a young age Chris started getting tattoos everywhere.

Chris cared about the band and just went for it.

Demos of the band was created. Chris is a perfectionist he wants the album to be perfect so he was judging everything in order to make a album he liked. Band members left but he didn't quit the band he try to find new band members and try to meet new bands. He worked hard for the band he carry the whole band and make sure the band was doing well. Chris thanks Ryan and Ricky for being the most loyal band members staying with him all these years and not leaving him. Chris had the fear of failing the band breaking up and Chris dreams crushing down but Chris didn't let that happen at all. And here we are today.

Ryan Sitkowski college to now:

Ryan dropped out of college to join MIW at age 17. He was new to the band and Josh didn't like him at all. Ryan was at a young age traveling all over the state with the band. Ryan haven't shared much of his life on the internet he kept it more private. Ryan got a girlfriend and then when the lockdown happen he started streaming on twitch to interact with fans and made a discord too.

Ricky Olson high school to now:

Ricky is the oldest of his siblings. When Ricky was young he was playing with his friends sports and something hit his tooth so half of Ricky teeth is fake. He mention he cry to his mom on the phone because of it. Ricky in middle school wanted to be in a band because his friends played instruments and he wanted to join them. Ricky in high school was a shy boy who had a few friends but they were mostly fake friends. Ricky Olson begin to play guitar and write stories because of the inspiration of Ville Valo from HIM. He became obsessed with HIM. Ricky was in a band in high school as the lead singer but was kicked out for sounding like Ville valo. One of Ricky dreams was to be in a band and also a film maker. In college he study film production. While also working in band merch booth selling band merch to people. But since Ricky was too shy he got yelled at for not speaking up and selling more. Ricky was in a bad time around 2008 and 2009. He share this in a blog years ago about this. He was in a lost place had a bad past and he was thinking of the past all the time and future worrying about failing the future he wanted to be in a band but he was so lost he had no idea what to do in his life. He would day dream about being in a band and then cry to sleep every night about his life. He had depression and gave up with everything in his life. He drank achoul every day. One day on his sister 16 birthday Ricky was drunk coming home from work to go to his parents house his sister was sleeping in her bed.

Tw// self harm and suicide attempt:

Ricky was laying in his sister's bed he cut his arm with a knife it was a lot Ricky was sobbing while watching the blood going down his arm to the floor his dad saw what happen and ask Ricky what happen. Ricky was sobbing and yelling he wanted to die many times. He passed out and went to the hospital he lost a lot of blood and the achoul level was really high he drank way too much. He almost died. He end up getting better and went to see a therapist. He went to see MIW with a friend. Ricky met Chris and the band thought Ricky was cool so he invited them to stay at his house. Chris text Ricky being like should join our band. Ricky would often say idk if I should he didn't know if he would be good enough for the band.

He later on join and quit college but Ricky mention still feeling depressed while in the band. Josh ballaz disliked Ricky when he joined too. 2 years later Ricky moved to rythmn guitarist but he wasn't used to playing guitar since he mostly did bass so he often made mistakes on guitar. He was still learning to play guitar. Things got better for Ricky. But his dream job was always filming he does some film stuff on tour and at home. Though he knew he probably won't be a film maker for movies like he dream of doing he makes whatever he can make. Ricky has stomach problems he often went to the doctor because of it.

Vinny Mauro childhood to now:

Vinny is one of the youngest children of his family. He has many siblings. Vinny mention on stream that he had a bad past. He mention that his dad would take achoul all the time and not give a fuck about vinny. Vinny mom would always go after Vinny. Vinny as a kid was a trouble maker he would disobey his parents and think it was funny. His mom would throw stuff at him and threaten him. His dad gave him a drum set so vinny end up learning to play drums he self taught himself to play drums. He listen to music and got into new types of music he likes all types of music. In middle school a girl that he liked asked him if he can play paramore on drums and vinny played it for her.

In high school vinny was a outcast and loner he made friends in his neighborhood but at school he had no friend. He didn't fit in with anyone. He mention in Ricky Olson podcast his high school life. Ricky ask him how he didn't find friends in high school. Vinny mention saying he didn't fit in with anyone he is also a shy person so he doesn't go up to new people. He was more a loner and was fine with it. Vinny went to uni to study computer programming but he didn't like it at all he was often bored he posted videos of him drumming on his YouTube channel. He knew a guy who knew MIW. MIW was looking for a drummer and they asked vinny to try out for drums in another country which was Australia. Vinny dropped out of college and told his parents what he was doing they weren't happy about that but he end up going over there trying out drums but he was very nervous. He met the band and then went to start drumming. Chris and Ricky were in the same room as vinny they were watching him play drums. Chris being very judgemental. He often scares Ricky when he's on guitar and Ricky fear to make a single mistake in front of Chris and vinny felt that fear. He even said I think I mess up a few times on drums. After he finish drumming. Ricky and Chris went to talk said not a single word and vinny was sweating so much thinking he made a mistake and he won't be part of the band. Later on Chris made vinny part of the band. Vinny became the tour member of the band then he became a member of MIW.

Years later vinny decided to interact more with fans since he had time to so he livestreams on twitch and has discord to interact with fans.

The lock down happen and vinny spend time interacting with fans. He lives with his friend in a house together. But something about vinny these few years mostly months to now that was starting to show. Vinny was suddenly showing signs of depression he often tweet depressing stuff but each year got worst for him. 2020 was the start of vinny's down fall. He had so much self hate he hated his hair,his body,his looks everything about himself he hate. He even tweeted saying I'm sad so I'm going to make a song. He release alone. Even he tweeted about something sad saying 2020 was a bad start for him and Ricky ask if he was ok and hoping vinny was just joking around. During December vinny had back pains because of a sneeze that hurt his nerves so vinny was in so much pain and he didn't see a doctor he thought he could fight it himself just taking pain meds to him. In Jan of 2021 the start of vinny down hill. He was in so much pain he couldn't leave his room or chair he couldn't even drum. He was very depressed. He hated life so much. A month later he got better and went back to streaming but still he was struggling there was some bad stuff happening anyway with him. The covid shot made him sick Saying he didnt eat anything for 4 days he felt like throwing up he even woke up in the middle of the night thinking he was going to do it and other stuff that made him depressed. Around April of this year small amount of fans notice something was going on with vinny he mention so much self hate about himself. In May he mention he was fine but a week later he said he was depressed and talking about what happen months ago and years ago. Sharing something about his family past and he stopped himself saying he doesn't want to get too into it. Vinny mention that he was eating food once a day because he felt like he is fat for over eating food all the time so he end up just eating dinner only everyday. He done it since the beginning of March and still is doing it. He wanted to loss weight. So he doesn't want breakfast and lunch but he eats dinner.

Around may vinny was in rock bottom he talk to no one at all even Ryan was 30 mins away from vinny and he ask him why he didn't go to see him and vinny said he didn't know why. Vinny mention saying he talked to no one for a week straight he also mention he isn't the kind of person to go up to people he said he's very introverted. he stopped streaming for weeks because he was doing bad. He said he felt burnt out and tired.

He took his break off social media for many weeks. Around this time many fans notice vinny was really not doing well.

Then he return to streaming around the 18th of June. Just to say hi he said he miss his fans but he plans to stream again a few weeks later. He mention that he have been avoiding all human contact and was staying in his room playing video games and drums all day still with the once a meal thing he does. Vinny said he's not depressed but people ask him about his depressing tweets and he said is it really depressing. Someone ask him why he is listening to sad music and he said am I not allowed to enjoy music. Now more fans are worried about him. Many more fans noticing that vinny isn't ok and he's hiding it.

That's basically all of MIW history I could give.

I will update and add more to the list later when something new happens. The vinny stuff is true I been watching his streams a lot and he mention those stuff so I just wanted to share what he said. I been a MIW fan for 8 months so I may not know Ryan and Justin as much as the others. Since they don't share much about themselves.

Hoping you enjoy this. Free feel to comment somethings I forgot to add.

Please don't argue about ghost ok. Ty

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Chapter 13 -- Perfect Harmony | Charlie Gillespie

Summary: Emily Fox is a talented 17-year-old with a passion for all things music. Her dream is to become a successful singer-songwriter one day. But to achieve that dream, she needs to get into one of the most prestigious music schools in her district – it’s all been part of her plan since she was six. Sadly enough, those schools cost a ton of money that her parents don’t want to invest. They don’t even want her to pursue her dream. So, now Emily’s hustling, working at the music store to save up to get into college. That’s until she meets Charlie, an annoying seventeen-year-old boy with the same dream as her. The only difference is, he’s just doing it. He doesn’t need a fancy college to pursue his dream to become famous with his band. He just writes his songs and books small gigs here, there and everywhere. Will meeting Charlie defer her from her dream college, or will he actually help her achieve the dream?

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x OC (Emily Fox)

Warnings: mentions of death, sexual assault

Important note: the characters of Charlie, Owen, Jeremy and Madison are based on the characters they play on the show and i do not own their names, only OC are mine. The songs aren’t mine either, they’re all from the show except for one.

Chapter thirteen 

~|Emily Fox|~

“Good morning, party girl!” Uncle Mitch shouts a little too loudly on a Sunday morning. “You look rough.” I sit down at the kitchen table on the opposite of him. “Gee thanks,” I rub my face harshly, then rest my head on my hand with my eyes shut. “You got in late last night. Didn’t think you’d stick around at a Brianna Holly party for so long. It surprised me you went in the first place, but you know, you do you.” My eyes shoot open at the reminder of last night. Jake’s eyes. Jake’s hands. On me. Jake’s lips. On me. “I shouldn’t have gone,” I tell him honestly which only earns me a worried look. “I mean, it was fun teasing Brianna a little and standing up for myself and playing a song with the boys but then Jake…” I trail off, not wanting to talk about it but Mitch and I are all about the open-book-policy. Talk about anything and everything with each other even if it might worry the other. Better to share the load than take all of it on one’s shoulders. “What did he do?” Uncle Mitch’s voice sounds darker, heavier. Almost villainous. “He was talking about how great we used to be and that he wanted it back, I think? I don’t really remember what we’d talked about, all I know for sure is that he’d tried to kiss me. The boys had to literally tear him off me.” Mitch’s eyes are intense, but at least he’s not trying to go and murder Jake. “We left pretty much straight after that and the boys took me to the Music Store. We stayed there, talking, pretty much all night.” I smile at the memory because even though what preceded that beautiful moment was literally the worst thing, it’s still a moment to cherish forever. “I’m glad those boys were there to help you out. They sound like great friends.” I smile a little and nod determinedly. “Wish I could hear you guys play.” “We’re having band practice later tonight, if you want to come and li—” I can’t even finish my sentence, because Mitch has already gotten up excitedly, dancing around the kitchen – though I wouldn’t call that dancing – and running up to me to hug me tightly. “But first!” He lifts a finger in the air. “Let’s grab all the snacks and watch some movies!” I nod excitedly and get up to gather up some snacks. With hot cocoas and all the chocolate in the world, we settle onto the sofa with blankets wrapped around us and Disney+ open to pick a movie since today is Disney day. We alternate between Disney+ and Netflix, one week Disney, the other non-Disney. “Can we watch Aladdin?” I suggest, mainly because it reminds me of mine and Charlie’s moment on the balcony, unbeknownst to my uncle. It’s been a little while since we’d made out on the balcony. Might have to suggest it soon. Mama needs her sugar. “Your uncle Bobby loved that movie,” Mitch comments as he presses play, “Do you remember you two singing A Whole New World together when you were really young, and he gave you a bath?” I nod my head at the far, but beautiful, memory. “That first weekend I came to stay at this house?” Mitch nods his head, “Yeah, I used to make a Sultan out of Bobby with the bubbles.” Uncle Mitch laughs at the memory. “The bathroom was such a mess after that!” I can’t help but laugh at the desperation in Mitch’s voice. “But you two were the cutest duetters alive. I loved having you around when you were really young too, you know? Still so innocent, not knowing how big and bad the world was. It made me forget about the big, bad world too.” I smile at him and rest my head on his shoulder. I don’t know what I’d do without Uncle Mitch. Live on a street, I guess? Probably? He might not be family by blood, but he sure does feel like it. I never knew anyone being with Uncle Bobby than Mitch. They were my one true pairing. I wanted someone to love me the same way they loved – and still love – each other. Their bond is unbreakable.

“Ready to go, Mitchy?” I ask when we’re both changed out of our pajama’s after dinner, ready to head to Jeremy’s garage for band practice. It’s the first time we’ll be rehearsing in his garage, but I’m excited to find out where Sunset Curve previously used to rehearse. Pre me. “Yes! I am ready to partaaaay!” I roll my eyes at him, an amused smile on my face. “Behave though? Don’t go and embarrass me on the first day meeting them, okay?” “Yes, mom.” Mitch can be such a child, but I love that about him. “Boys?” I knock on the wooden door that’s ajar. There’s some rummaging inside, but nothing else. I push it open to find all three boys inside already. Charlie’s sorting through his loose songbook papers, Jeremy is tuning his bass, and Owen just sitting on the couch, playing around with his drumsticks. “Hey! I brought my uncle; I hope you don’t mind?” “Oh, not at all!” Jeremy says, and gets up from his spot on the armchair. “Hey, I’m Jeremy,” he introduces himself with a smile, reaching his hand for my uncle to shake, which he does. My uncle has this look on his face that I recognize as his gaydar. He literally scans people to find out their sexuality. His gaydar is very accurate. “Mitch, nice to meet you.” Owen gets up next, shaking my uncle’s hand too. “I’m Owen, the drummer,” he shows the sticks in his hand. “I see,” Mitch replies with a smile, and then comes Charlie. “Hey, I’m Charlie, I’m—” he points at me, and I know what he’s going to say, but I can’t have him tell my uncle about us yet. “The lead singer!” I chime in and give him a knowing look. “Right, yeah, the lead singer,” Charlie looks kind of hurt, and it breaks my heart in two as well. Just an us-thing, for now. Then it can be an everyone-thing. I hope he understands. “Nice to meet you, guys!” Mitch then leans closer to me, “And which one of the two cute semi-straight boys is the Cutie from the Music Store?” he whispers with Charlie just a few feet away. His head turns slightly and his mouth curls upwards. He heard Mitch. “Semi-straight?” I ask for an explanation. “Jeremy is questionable.” “Right…” I trail off, still whispering, “Let’s get to work, guys,” I speak up now, so the band knows I’m talking to them. Uncle Mitch looks a little hurt at me ignoring his question, though I’m pretty sure he knows it’s Charlie. “What song first?” Charlie queries while my uncle takes a seat on the couch and we get ready. “Why don’t we let the guest choose?” Jeremy suggests, pointing at my uncle. “Me?” I nod my head, encouraging him. I’d told them all the songs we’d made or already sang together. Which are three, four if you count This Band Is Back. “I really liked Perfect Harmony when Ems showed it to me the other day.” Charlie and I exchange a glance, a shy smile plastered on his face, and I’m pretty sure mine mirrors his. He goes to grab his acoustic guitar for this one. “Perfect Harmony it is, then!” Owen says and counts us in. Where Charlie and I imagined the soft beat and melody, that’s where Owen and Jeremy come in with the drums and bass. We’d only practiced this one a couple of times before. It still has the same, electric vibe it did when Charlie and I sang it alone. I still feel the same sparks, the same tingles rushing over my body. “I feel your rhythm in my heart, yeah,” I sing without taking my eyes off of him. “You are my brightest, burning star, woah-woah” “I never knew a love so real” “So real,” he echoes. “We're heaven on earth, melody and words When we are together we're In perfect harmony Woah, woah Perfect harmony Woah, woah Perfect harmony” I glance at Uncle Mitch. He’s staring at us with so much pride and intensity. When he catches my glance, he mouths “Cutie from the Music Store”, which makes me smile like an idiot. He knows. “We say we're friends We play pretend You're more to me We create a perfect harmony” Uncle Mitch gets up off his seat, clapping and whooping like an intense fan. “My favorite song ever! So beautiful!” he shouts in between cheers. We play Now or Never, and, upon Jeremy’s request, This Band is Back before calling in a break. “I need a wee,” I say and patter towards the bathroom in the back. When I’m about to head back inside, I hear the boys playing a song I haven’t heard before. Or at least I don’t think I have. It intrigues me even more when I hear Mitch’s voice through the microphone. “Let me introduce myself We got some time to kill Consider me the pearly gates to your new favorite thrills We could go make history or you could rest in peace But here there ain't no misery Cause on the other side we live like kings” I find the boys in their regular spots, Uncle Mitch probably having told them what chord to play in or something. Either that or they’re just playing around, and Mitch’s song just matches. “Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do? Let your body loose, let your body loose Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do? Show you a thing or two 'Cause you ain't seen nothing” That’s when I recognize the song. It’s the one Uncle Bobby wrote for a Halloween musical at his school once. It was the villain song of the whole story and stuck in all our heads for months. I still know the words, and thus decide to sing along with my uncle, much to the boys’ surprise. “Life is good on the other side of Hollywood Life is good on the other side of Hollywood So welcome to the brotherhood Where you won't be misunderstood Life is good on the other side of Hollywood” I get behind the keyboard and play a couple of notes, leaving the verse for my uncle. “Everything has got a price but happiness is free Just so happens, you're in luck We've got a vacancy We can set the night on fire and break out of the scene Your soul print on the walk of fame On the boulevard of your wildest dreams” I now grab a mic too, properly wanting to join in now. “Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do boys? Let your body loose, let your body loose Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do boys? It ain't bragging if it's true Now you ain't seen nothing” I walk up to Jeremy whilst I sing along to the chorus and Jeremy’s shredding the bass. “Life is good on the other side of Hollywood Life is good on the other side of Hollywood” I walk over to the drumkit and jam out for a moment with Owen. “So welcome to the brotherhood Where you won't be misunderstood Life is good on the other side of Hollywood” I then move to Charlie while my uncle gets to the bridge. The boys stop playing and clap along with me. “The rain don't blind the rising souls They got too much to see I got your glamour, got your gold Got all you'll ever need Let me hear you now!” The boys have somehow remembered the lyrics my uncle just sang, and sing them with me now. “The rain don't blind the rising souls They got too much to see” “Yeah,” Mitch goes for a high note, chilling my spine. “I got your glamour, got your gold Got all you'll ever need,” the four of us continue. “Yeah,” Another high note from Mitch. The boys now pick up their instruments again. “I said watch me make a move, watch me make a move boys” “Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do?” the boys and I echo. “I said watch me make a move, no, I don't disappoint” “Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do?” “Watch me make a move I'm ya number one choice” “Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do?” “Watch me make a move Come one and give me that noise” The boys take a break. “A tomb with a view Ain't it something?” And pick it back up with a bit of bass before all three of them join in again, and even join me into singing the backing vocals for my uncle. “Life is good on the other side of Hollywood Life is good on the other side of Hollywood So welcome to the brotherhood Where you won't be misunderstood Life is good on the other side of Hollywood So welcome to the brotherhood Where you won't be misunderstood Life is good on the other side of Hollywood” Charlie and Jeremy stop playing and leave Owen a little drum solo.

“Ain't it the best? Long live the dead!” Mitch shouts out dramatically, and then Owen goes off again on his drums. “I thought your Uncle Robert was the musically talented one?” Charlie asks with an impressed smile on his face. “How do you think we met? It was musical night in our favorite bar, and we sang a song together. That first scene in High School Musical?” The boys nod, knowing what he’s talking about, “It’s based on our story… Just straight.” The boys laugh light-heartedly at his story. “That’s not true,” I whisper, making them laugh even more. “That was a fun song though! How did you know it?” Jeremy asks me. “Uncle Bobby wrote it. He is – was – the music teacher at this high school and he wanted a cool villain song for the villain in his Halloween musical, so he wrote himself one. The song used to be stuck in our heads for months on end. It surprised me I still knew it.” “The boys were playing around with their instruments and it reminded me of Bobby’s song,” Mitch tells me, “I couldn’t help but chime in and start singing.” He wraps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him. “It’s such a tune,” I say with a smile, “I think Bobby would’ve liked us singing it together.” “I think so too,” says Mitch and he presses a kiss to my hair. “Let’s get home now, yeah? Give your boyfriend a kiss and we’re off.” Charlie and I freeze, neither of us expecting Uncle Mitch to know about this since I never told him. “Oh, come on. You could not sing Perfect Harmony without staring at each other like that heart eyes emoji-thingy. I don’t only have amazing gaydar, I also have amazing love-dar.” He winks at me as I shake my head in disbelieve, but I can’t help the smile either. My uncle knows me well. “See you tomorrow, guys,” I say with the most awkward wave. I mean, I’m not going to kiss Charlie in front of my uncle. Especially when he specifically told me to do so. That’s just weird. Uncle Mitch gives me a look, which I shoot back. He then rolls his eyes. “I’ll meet you outside. Say goodbye properly.” He leaves the garage, and then it’s the four of us. Neither Charlie nor I move, still unsure of the public displays of affection in front of the boys. “Seriously?” Jeremy groans before leaving the garage with Owen. They’ll be able to entertain my uncle for a while. I don’t even know why it’s so hard for me to show PDA. It never used to be this way with Jake. But maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe us taking it slowly and not showing us off too much is healthy for us. “I’ll see you at the store tomorrow?” I ask whilst the two of us slowly walk up to each other, inching closer and closer by the second. “Definitely,” he replies with a smile. Once we’re inches away, he grabs my hands in his. “Isn’t your uncle going to be annoyed you didn’t tell him sooner?” I shrug. “I don’t think so. He knows how private I am about relationships. And besides, you heard him, he’s got amazing love-dar.” Charlie’s laughter intertwines with mine. “I think he knew before today already too. He’s all-knowing.” “As long as he doesn’t know about our sneaky dates on your balcony, I think we might be fine.” I chuckle at that comment, and then both of us fall silent. “He probably knows this’ll happen though.” The words come out just above a whisper as he inches closer and dips down. His lips meet mine in a sweet, somewhat long-lasting kiss. “I’m pretty sure they’re eavesdropping, though,” I say when we pull away. “No, we’re not!” Jeremy shouts from the other side of the door. “Yeah, definitely,” says Charlie, and he lets go of one hand, intertwining the fingers of his other hand with the one he’s still holding. He leads me out the door and then lets go of that hand too. “She’s all yours, Mitch,” he tells my uncle, and reaches out the hand he’d just held mine with for a handshake. “Hey!” I shout, “I’m no property!” Both Charlie and Mitch raise their hands in defense. “Yes, girl! Tell ‘em!” Owen preaches, holding his hand up and I slap mine on it in a high five. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” I kiss Charlie’s cheek quickly and then leave the boys with Uncle Mitch. “They’re really nice boys, Muffin. I’m glad you’ve found them.” I smile at that. “Me too, Mitchy, me too.”

Taglist: @parkeret​​ @lukeys-giggle​ @hannahhistorian92​ @gingerxarmy​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @lovesanimals​ @thequirkybookaholic​ @calamitykaty​ Lemme know if you want to be on my taglist for this story/any of my other works!

[1962dude420-blog]

Today we remember the passing of Peter Green who Died: July 25, 2020 in Canvey Island, Essex, England

Peter Allen Greenbaum (29 October 1946 – 25 July 2020), known professionally as Peter Green, was an English blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. As the founder of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Green's songs, such as "Albatross", "Black Magic Woman", "Oh Well", "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" and "Man of the World", appeared on singles charts, and several have been adapted by a variety of musicians.

Green was a major figure in the "second great epoch" of the British blues movement. Eric Clapton praised his guitar playing, and B.B. King commented, "He has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he was the only one who gave me the cold sweats." Green was interested in expressing emotion in his songs, rather than showing off how fast he could play. His trademark sound included string bending, vibrato, and economy of style.

In June 1996, Green was voted the third-best guitarist of all time in Mojo magazine. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked him at number 58 in its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Green's tone on the instrumental "The Super-Natural" was rated as one of the 50 greatest of all time by Guitar Player in 2004.

Peter Allen Greenbaum was born in Bethnal Green, London, on 29 October 1946, into a Jewish family, the youngest of Joe and Ann Greenbaum's four children. His brother, Michael, taught him his first guitar chords and by the age of 11 Green was teaching himself. He began playing professionally by the age of 15, while working for a number of East London shipping companies. He first played bass guitar in a band called Bobby Dennis and the Dominoes, which performed pop chart covers and rock 'n' roll standards, including Shadows covers. He later stated that Hank Marvin was his guitar hero and he played the Shadows' song "Midnight" on the 1996 tribute album Twang. He went on to join a rhythm and blues outfit, the Muskrats, then a band called the Tridents in which he played bass. By Christmas 1965 Green was playing lead guitar in Peter Bardens' band "Peter B's Looners", where he met drummer Mick Fleetwood. It was with Peter B's Looners that he made his recording début with the single "If You Wanna Be Happy" with "Jodrell Blues" as a B-side. His recording of "If You Wanna Be Happy" was an instrumental cover of a song by Jimmy Soul. In 1966, Green and some other members of Peter B's Looners formed another act, Shotgun Express, a Motown-style soul band which also included Rod Stewart, but Green left the group after a few months.

In October 1965, before joining Bardens' group, Green had the opportunity to fill in for Eric Clapton in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers for four gigs. Soon afterwards, when Clapton left the Bluesbreakers, Green became a full-time member of Mayall's band from July 1966. Green made his recording debut with the Bluesbreakers in 1966 on the album A Hard Road (1967), which featured two of his own compositions, "The Same Way" and "The Supernatural". The latter was one of Green's first instrumentals, which would soon become a trademark. So proficient was he that his musician friends bestowed upon him the nickname "The Green God". In 1967, Green decided to form his own blues band and left the Bluesbreakers.

Green's new band, with former Bluesbreaker Mick Fleetwood on drums and Jeremy Spencer on guitar, was initially called "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac featuring Jeremy Spencer". Bob Brunning was temporarily employed on bass guitar (Green's first choice, Bluesbreakers' bassist John McVie, was not yet ready to join the band). Within a month they played at the Windsor National Jazz and Blues Festival in August 1967, and were quickly signed to Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon label. Their repertoire consisted mainly of blues covers and originals, mostly written by Green, but some were written by slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer. The band's first single, Spencer's "I Believe My Time Ain't Long" with Green's "Rambling Pony" as a B-side, did not chart but their eponymous debut album made a significant impression, remaining in the British charts for 37 weeks. By September 1967, John McVie had replaced Brunning.

Although classic blues covers and blues-styled originals remained prominent in the band's repertoire through this period, Green rapidly blossomed as a songwriter and contributed many successful original compositions from 1968 onwards. The songs chosen for single release showed Green's style gradually moving away from the group's blues roots into new musical territory. Their second studio album Mr. Wonderful was released in 1968 and continued the formula of the first album. In the same year they scored a hit with Green's "Black Magic Woman" (later covered by Santana), followed by the guitar instrumental "Albatross" (1969), which reached number one in the British singles charts. More hits written by Green followed, including "Oh Well", "Man of the World" (both 1969) and the ominous "The Green Manalishi" (1970). The double album Blues Jam in Chicago (1969) was recorded at the Chess Records Ter-Mar Studio in Chicago. There, under the joint supervision of Vernon and Marshall Chess, they recorded with some of their American blues heroes including Otis Spann, Big Walter Horton, Willie Dixon, J. T. Brown and Buddy Guy.

While touring Europe in late March 1970, Green took LSD at a party at a commune in Munich, an incident cited by Fleetwood Mac manager Clifford Davis as the crucial point in his mental decline. Communard Rainer Langhans mentions in his autobiography that he and Uschi Obermaier met Green in Munich, where they invited him to their Highfisch-Kommune. Fleetwood Mac roadie Dinky Dawson remembers that Green went to the party with another roadie, Dennis Keane, and that when Keane returned to the band's hotel to explain that Green would not leave the commune, Keane, Dawson and Mick Fleetwood travelled there to fetch him. By contrast, Green stated that he had fond memories of jamming at the commune when speaking in 2009: "I had a good play there, it was great, someone recorded it, they gave me a tape. There were people playing along, a few of us just fooling around and it was... yeah it was great." He told Jeremy Spencer at the time "That's the most spiritual music I've ever recorded in my life." After a final performance on 20 May 1970, Green left Fleetwood Mac.

Green was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent time in psychiatric hospitals undergoing electroconvulsive therapy during the mid-1970s. Many sources attest to his lethargic, trancelike state during this period. In 1977, Green was arrested for threatening his accountant David Simmons with a shotgun. The exact circumstances are the subject of much speculation, the most famous being that Green wanted Simmons to stop sending money to him. In the 2011 BBC documentary Peter Green: Man of the World, Green stated that at the time he had just returned from Canada needing money and that, during a telephone conversation with his accounts manager, he alluded to the fact that he had brought back a gun from his travels. His accounts manager promptly called the police, who surrounded Green's house.

In 1979, Green began to re-emerge professionally. With the help of his brother Michael, he was signed to Peter Vernon-Kell's PVK label, and produced a string of solo albums starting with 1979's In the Skies. He also made an uncredited appearance on Fleetwood Mac's double album Tusk, on the song "Brown Eyes", released the same year.

In 1981, Green contributed to "Rattlesnake Shake" and "Super Brains" on Mick Fleetwood's solo album The Visitor. He recorded various sessions with a number of other musicians notably the Katmandu album A Case for the Blues with Ray Dorset of Mungo Jerry, Vincent Crane from The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Len Surtees of The Nashville Teens. Despite attempts by Gibson Guitar Corporation to start talks about producing a "Peter Green signature Les Paul" guitar, Green's instrument of choice at this time was a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion guitar. In 1986, Peter and his brother Micky contributed to the album A Touch of Sunburn by Lawrie 'The Raven' Gaines (under the group name 'The Enemy Within'). This album has been reissued many times under such titles as Post Modern Blues and Peter Green and Mick Green – Two Greens Make a Blues, often crediting Pirates guitarist Mick Green.

In 1988 Green was quoted as saying: "I'm at present recuperating from treatment for taking drugs. It was drugs that influenced me a lot. I took more than I intended to. I took LSD eight or nine times. The effect of that stuff lasts so long ... I wanted to give away all my money ... I went kind of holy – no, not holy, religious. I thought I could do it, I thought I was all right on drugs. My failing!"

Enduring periods of mental illness and destitution throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Green moved in with his older brother Len and Len's wife Gloria, and his mother in their house in Great Yarmouth, where a process of recovery began. He lived for a period on Canvey Island, Essex.

Green married Jane Samuels in January 1978; the couple divorced in 1979. They had a daughter, Rosebud(born 1978).

Green died on July 25, 2020 at the age of 73.

[disney8733]

finding our song book one

begging

The lights of the stage flashed on showing the band members on it. You could hear the hum of the lead starting the opening of the song “ Put your loving hand out, baby 'Cause I'm beggin'' The rest of the band starts to join in the song known as, Beggin’. From the right side of the stage, you could see him as the main bass of the band Daichi Sawamura, A five foot nine well-built dark-haired brown-eyed man with thighs so thick they could crush a watermelon in half. It was the beginning of the trash heap tour for Junkyard scrap. The alternate punk rock band that everyone knew. They were known for being an attractive upcoming popular All-Star Band. Their lead singer had an amazing voice that could go and reach the low notes of a song but sound smokey and sweet and loving. Their bass guitarist could play the strings of his bass like nobody else. Their lead guitarist could play any guitar ranging from electric to ukulele. And there was their drummer. He was the rhythm of their band and could make a beat out of a pencil tapping on a table. But that's not all the band had to offer oh no there is much more. At first glance, junkyard scrap looks like a normal band but that's not all they had. Each one of the band members could do more than just what they were known for. junkyard scrap was nicknamed The Multiverse band, their lead singer Kōtarō Bokuto Also known as the owl was a Bombastic, friendly, energetic guy. Also known as The Moody one tending to sometimes in the middle of an interview going into an “emo mode” because he was sad. Bokuto could also play the drums, guitar, and song right to a certain extent. Tetsurō Kuroo the lead guitarist, is also known as rooster head due to the way his hair looks. Although he looked laid-back, he always seemed to be scheming for something and liked to provoke others' well-dishing outside remarks to them. But the truth of reality is that true karoo is a kind of surprisingly genius man both in music and somehow chemistry. The man could not only play electric guitar but also the bass, the acoustic, the ukulele, the piano, the trumpet and is an absolute god at writing love songs. Daichi Sawamura The bass guitarist of the group. Known as the dad of the group he's responsible, caring, understanding, and patient. Except for when you piss him off then he becomes utterly terrifying and everybody seems to be attracted to that. He can also play the electric guitar. If and when he does sing it's a very low soft and sweet velvet voice. And lastly Hajime Iwaizumi on the drums. A stubborn yet reliable member of the band with a strong intimidating vibe. With a firm yet caring attitude towards the rest of his team everyone tends to respect him and all his fans see him as a bad boy. He can also sing very well. These four young men make up the group known as Junkyard scrap. Clear their fan base they were gods that can play music like nobody else the hottest things on Earth. But to the four of them, they were just a bunch of friends who decided to play at a concert one night with the rest is pretty much history. From the crowd, you can hear the girls screaming their heads off for Daichi. Indicating that they were playing the song ashes which was sung by the drummer Iwaizum. “I fell in love with a boy I met in hell”. As the concert continued The Stylist walked up to their manager Kiyok.

“Are we going to do an outfit change?” the stylist asked

“Not that I know of unless Bo has other plans” She replies with a heavy sigh. Bo had a habit of taking his shirt off in a particular song known as Glory and throwing it in the crowd because according to him the song had just such a “vibe” and “he was so pumped he didn't know what he was doing”. The entire band called them out for just wanting to take his shirt off for no reason. And he did not deny or confirm this action. As the two were talking at that very moment You could hear Kuroo starting to play his electric guitar to the notes of none other than the song Glory. Kiyoko Turn to The Stylist rolling her eyes towards the stage saying “ well the answer to your question is yes Suga, we will be an athlete change in which Bokuto will need another shirt”

“Noted” he replied back quickly leaving her at the side of the stage to go get him a new shirt. At this point, he wasn't surprised he had been with the band as their stylus for the past 6 months and he had gotten pretty much used to the clothes that he had either hand-picked or made himself for Bo, being thrown into the crowd. At first yeah totally annoying the crap out of him. But then the bass player of the band talked to him stating how typically they get the shirts back because most of the fans know but was not allowed to do that anymore even though he still does it. Daichi promised that he would talk to Bo after every concert and yell at him for doing so. Now it wasn't that Suga would say that he was in love with Daichi. But he loves the idea of having a strong Rockstar boyfriend. Though it was never going to happen, he knew that and that was fine. What he didn't know is that Daichi himself had fallen head-over-heels Suga from the day that they met. As the concert ended you could hear the loud roaring of the crowd. The band thanked everybody for coming out and giving them a chance to start a brand new tour.

As the band members came off the stage. They were talking and laughing in a way that made you feel at home.

“That was a good show” Kuroo stated “Even if Bo took his shirt off again” the Rooster continued

“ I told you guys every time you play the song. I just get this feeling that I just can't explain it I just got to be free it's glorious if you try it sometime” Bokuto responded well laughing

“ You know Bokuto. First of all, it's just weird and secondly, you throw away all of Suga's hard work. You jerk” Daichi replied looking at Suga

“Oh, it’s ok. There just close

“No, it’s not ok. It costs us money every time he does it. Right kiyoko” Iwaizumi said

“Sadly Iwaizumi is right,” she said without even looking up from her notes.

“IM SORRY SUGA” Bo bowed his head. Suga just smiled.

“Don't worry, let's go get the shirt back together this time ok” the beautiful silver hair boy stated. As they walked away Daichi couldn't help but stare at Sugawara. To him, Sugawara was a beautiful 5' 8.7" slender-built guy, with light grey hair, and hazel-brown eyes. Not to mention, a birthmark mole under his left eye that Daichi just wanted to kiss. Kōshi Sugawara had a soothing and gentle personality. he kind of acted as a pillar of support for the crew and the band. He was a kind and sweet man. Daichi was unsure of when he had fallen for the man, maybe it was when they first met. That was the start at least.

“You if you ask him out, no one would stop you and every owner would approve,” Kuroo said smiling as they walk to the dressing room.

“I can't I have to Maintain appearance for the band's image” he s simply replied

“ You're joking right, In case you forgot I'm dating Kenma. You know the guy who wright more then half our song” Kuroo Side as he sat down in the chair taking his shoes off

“That's different. You two were dating way before we came to fame” Daichi huffed out as he took his jacket off. Just then Kenma walked while playing on his Game Boy.

“Kuroo,” the short boy said not looking up

“Yes, kitten?” the roster replied

“I want cuddles and apple pie”

“Ok kitten, just let get changed” Kuroo hurried up getting out of the outfit he had on and into sweatpants and a sweatshirt then picked up his boyfriend, leaving the room to go get apple pie and cuddle. Leaving Daichi alone. “Maybe he’s right,” he sighed as took out his shirt.

“Knock knock Dai-” Suga said, opening the door just as Daichi’s pants groped. Leaving him in nothing but his boxer. “OH, MY GOD IM SO SORRY I- I’ll um” He stumbled to figure out what exactly should say.

“It’s fine, just give me a sec,” Daichi said as he grabbed his sweatpants, He had decided to leave his shirt off for a multitude of reasons, mainly because he wanted to make Suga blush. “So I'm guessing you need the outfits from the performance today,” He said as he smiled. “Um yes please… and thank you” Suga replied calmly. Daichi nodded, picking up the clothes in the room and heading them over to Suga. Just as Suga took them he ended up trying over his feet, falling on Daichi. When Suga opened his eyes he realized both of his hands were on Daichi's chest, his shirtless chest realizing. where his hands were he blushed training his face into the color of the Tomato he stood up to grab the clothes and ran to the door. “I'M SORRY...Again… AND THANK YOU… GOODBYE!” He said that he closed the door behind them running down the hallway away from the embarrassment that just happened. Leaving sitting on the floor as red as the color of a tomato. “Your welcome,” he said to no one but himself.

To be continued

[arthur-rex]

The Knights of Albion ( modern rock star verse plot/ideas )

NOTE: This is now a closed verse with @sorceress-queen​ (morgana) @thelegendofemrys​ (merlin) and @nobilitydefined​ (gwaine)

1500 years after the events of BBC’s Merlin, Arthur, Gwen, Morgana and the knights are reincarnated in the present day.

Arthur is an aspiring musician, singer and songwriter. While at college, he meets Gwaine, Percival, Leon and Elyan. Strangely drawn to each other, they begin to pitch music ideas back and forth and together, they eventually form the rock band: “The Knights of Albion.” 

Arthur is the singer/songwriter and lead guitarist. Gwaine is the drummer. Percival plays bass guitar. Leon plays keyboard and Elyan mixes the sounds and occasionally provides backing vocals.

Elyan’s younger sister, Gwen often comes to visit to see the band practicing and is a close friend of Arthur’s. In some versions of this verse they become lovers. 

Not long after the band’s formation, recent PR graduate Morgana joins the team as the band’s publicist/manager. She sees potential in Arthur’s music and thinks she knows how to make the band truly become famous.

A few years later, Arthur and his ‘knights’ secure a breakthrough: they are going to play as a supporting act at the world-famous Glastonbury music festival.

The performance goes off incredibly well. Live recordings of the concert mean that Arthur and his rock band become a musical sensation almost overnight and Morgana becomes extremely busy with bookings for future performances all over the world.

And Merlin was present at the Glastonbury concert. 

He’s been following the band in the newspapers for some time, but this is the first chance he gets to meet Arthur face-to-face. It’s been so long since he last saw his friends and to see all of them on that stage together is overwhelming.

So after the concert, Merlin lines up with all the other screaming/adoring fans for an autograph and photo with the group. Arthur sees Merlin and... hesitates. He’s been getting these weird hallucinations of his former life for a few months now and the sight of Merlin makes him start to have even more vivid episodes. Confused and alarmed, he walks away from Merlin and the rest of the waiting/disappointed fans.

Merlin knows he’s going to need to get close to Arthur again. The thing with reincarnation magic is it needs an anchor-point in order for the memories to be returned. The closer Merlin comes to Arthur, the more extreme Arthur’s memories become. But to Arthur, he just thinks he’s losing his mind, and that worries him as it’s not as if he and his bandmates haven’t taken a few hard drugs while playing music on the road from time to time.

The weeks that follow involve Merlin trying to get close to Arthur again, but unfortunately for Merlin it comes across as though Arthur has got himself a very creepy obsessive fan. Even Gwaine starts to joke/remark half-seriously whether this is an ex-boyfriend that Arthur’s neglected to tell his bandmates about.

Eventually Merlin gets his moment with Arthur (not sure if this is due to a breach in security or Arthur willingly goes to him) and Merlin gets extremely close and places his hands on Arthur’s head. He’s speaking in an very ancient language to tap into the old Arthur within the reincarnated one. The last thing he says to calm Arthur down is “stay with me” ( the last thing Arthur heard before he died in the BBC series ) and then he presses his forehead against Arthur’s and all the memories come back.

Needless to say, this is a head trip the likes of which no drugs can match. Arthur is back with all his old memories of who he was and is, and Merlin is right there with him. It’s a poignant moment.

They go back to join up with the others and Arthur repeats the trick that Merlin did with him. By fully integrating with his old self, Arthur is able to reawaken the memories in his reincarnated bandmates by touch alone. The ‘bond’ that drew them all together at the start is steeped in a magic that Arthur is now a part of. The Knights of Albion are back. Returning Morgana’s memories is a tricky case as it is not certain whether she will be volatile like she was before she died in her past life. She might also come back into her old powers which could make her a risk. But I think, eventually, Arthur takes the chance and brings her over too. 

What next? Arthur asks Merlin this question seriously. What can they do to restore magic, peace and prosperity to Albion/England, now Arthur is no longer a king and the world has moved on from the feudal system of the past. Merlin replies that they have their music, their fame, their global influence to make a difference.

The following albums the band produce therefore have songs with lyrics that are rather political: pro-peace, pro-LGBT rights, anti-war, anti-fascism, etc etc. 

Due to the enduring popularity of the band, these viewpoints eventually make headway with politicians and law-makers around the world. Maybe Arthur and the group are invited to play for special pro-bono concerts for charity causes (Band Aid?) and they are often featured in influential celebrity columns.

Of course, not everyone is happy/enamoured with Arthur and his rock band. The political opinions expressed in his music lead to the group getting the occasional death threats. Merlin (and Morgana?) continue to use their magic to keep Arthur and the band members safe... but it could be a matter of time before another tragedy occurs.

(I’m thinking of the popularity of John Lennon before he was assassinated). 

BONUS / EXTRA:

Lancelot is not part of the original line-up of the band, but becomes the replacement bassist / rhythm guitarist when Percival gets sick from taking too many ‘special’ pills and has to go into rehab for a while.

Mordred is a rival rock star and singer/songwriter to Arthur and they clash perhaps at a few gigs over the years. Arthur vaguely remembers Mordred from his early college days, but they were on good terms then. 

Uther (Arthur’s deadbeat dad who he refuses to restore the memories to) decides to show up at some point to ask his famous son for money. He’s had a drinking problem ever since his wife died giving birth to Arthur and Uther left the hospital, not wanting to have anything to do with his son. He’s never appreciated Arthur and is disgusted by his son’s bisexuality.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Doug Clifford Interview: Shuffle & Flow

Photo by Brent Clifford

BY JORDAN MAINZER

For All the Money in the World is a time capsule. The album, written by Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug Clifford and Greg Kihn Band bassist Steve Wright, was recorded in 1986 but won’t see the light of day until the end of the month. Since then, it’s been waiting in Cosmo’s Vault--the self-proclaimed storage area for Clifford’s unreleased music--until the right time. “There’s some good music on this album,” Clifford told me over the phone earlier this month. “Right now, more than ever, we need some good music that’s uplifting and makes you feel good.” Plus, for Clifford himself, the tunes have barely scratched the surface: “To me, it’s still new.” 

After Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up in 1972, Clifford released a solo album and later joined the Don Harrison Band, which also featured former CCR bassist Stu Cook. In 1995, he and Cook formed Creedence Clearwater Revisited to play CCR songs live without singer John Fogerty, who retained artistic control over CCR. Revisited’s last show was in February 2020 in Mexico, and based on what Clifford told me, that’s likely their last, at least in this version, as Clifford is suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. All in all, though, he’s ready to move on from those songs, instead choosing to look into different parts of the past. Last year, he unearthed his lost second solo album Magic Window. And now, with For All the Money in the World, released under the name Clifford/Wright, he’s beginning to revisit a series of recorded writing collaborations whose release never came to fruition.

Though Clifford/Wright was formed around the rhythm section, the rest of the band that plays on the album is nothing to sniff at: guitarists Greg Douglass (Steve Miller Band), Jimmy Lyon (Eddie Money) and Joe Satriani and keyboard players Tim Gorman (The Who) and Pat Mosca (Greg Kihn Band). The lead vocalist picked for the project was Keith England, whose emotive howl ties it all together on the title shuffle and stadium anthem “I Need Your Love”. While the first two songs sound like something you might expect to be recorded in 1986, other tracks operate under different styles and recording aesthetics. The rockabilly echo of “She Told Me So” lies in stark contrast to the ripping guitar jaunts of “Lost Pride Fever” and “Weekends” and the funk snap of “You Keep Runnin’ Away” and “Just In The Nick Of Time”. Indeed, some songs on here sound like they could be Steve Miller or Eddie Money jams, but for the most part, they sound like lost relics of rock radio, comfort food for troubling times.

Clifford hopes For All the Money in the World is more than nostalgia, though. For one, he’s “calling the shots,” releasing the album on his own label, Cliffsong Records, with a distribution deal through Bob Frank Entertainment. “It’s like a publisher’s outlet for the songwriters involved,” he said. “It’s really kind of exciting.” His hopes are that the songs do land on today’s rock radio or do well streaming so they can release it on vinyl. “I still get a kick out of it,” Clifford said about hearing his songs on the radio. Not bad for somebody who started playing in bands at age 13. And while it’s very much not a CCR album, he’s excited for CCR fans to hear it, okay with the long-disbanded legendary outfit as the connecting bridge for listeners. They might just come away with a new favorite song.

Pre-save/pre-order For All the Money in the World, out August 27th, here, and read my conversation below with Clifford, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: I was struck by the variety of styles on this album. You think to yourself, “What would music written around the 80′s sound like?” There’s some of that, but there are other sounds, too. Do you remember consciously trying to write in a number of styles?

Doug Clifford: Yes, because we were trying to get a record deal. We were the only writers in the group, and we wanted them to know we could write more than just “Bad Moon Rising”. There’s really not much in there that sounds like Creedence. With Steve Wright on bass, that changes a lot of things. It puts a different spin on it from the standpoint of the house the songs are built on, the rhythm section. It’s exciting. I listen to it as if it’s another band. [laughs] Normally, I don’t do that. Steve passed away in [2017], so we won’t do any more writing or playing, but this album is a chance to hear a great bass player and songwriter. I’ve got three terrific guitar players in there, too, Joe Satriani, Greg Douglass from Steve Miller Band, and Jimmy Lyon from Greg Kihn and Eddie Money. A guitar extravaganza. A lot of good stuff coming from this record.

SILY: Not only does the record sound different from CCR, but I heard a lot of the other projects the players were involved in, like Eddie Money and Steve Miller.

DC: Yeah, but when we were doing the writing, those guys weren’t in the band. Steve Miller is one of my best friends. He loves “She Told Me So” on this record. He sent me an email all excited that said, “I was dancin’ around my studio! You still got it!” [laughs] I love that guy.

SILY: I like songs like that, that have a little more of a shuffle.

DC: That would be [the title track], too. I love shuffles.

SILY: You’ve said people need songs like this at a time like now. When you wrote and recorded them, did you know you’d put them away for a while?

DC: Not really. If you’re a songwriter, you want to have versions of your songs that sound radio-ready instead of just [recorded on] an acoustic guitar. I produced everything that we wrote, so we had good versions of our work and presented it that way. The idea was not to put these things out as albums, but for record companies. Then you’d go out and play, and they’d send their A&R guy. Steve didn’t want to play in any of the clubs we’d have played in, and you need a band that plays, so that started the tailspin of this project. [After that,] I did a solo singer-songwriter album [Magic Window], and I did projects for areas that had overgrown forests and droughts. I had kids that were going to school. So I sort of slowed down on the music and slapped [these songs] in Cosmo’s Vault. That’s where they stayed till a year or so ago. I [finally released Magic Window], but nothing happened because...COVID hit, and it really changed everything. There’s been enough time that we’re all living through the virus that it’s time to hear [For All the Money] on the radio to make me feel good. It’s a labor of love that all songwriters have. Allowing people to hear the excellent musicianship of Steve Wright playing bass. There’s a little difference in my playing as well. It’s fun, really enjoyable.

SILY: When you were originally writing the lyrics and instrumentation, were you going for a feel-good, uplifting type thing?

DC: When you’re looking for someone to invest in you and put you on their label, you want them to like your music, too. I’ve never been a guy to write songs that make you feel bad. [laughs].

SILY: What were you looking for in a vocalist, and why did you end up going with Keith?

DC: We were so fortunate to have Keith in many ways. He was the youngest guy we were working with. I would be the guy to teach him the songs, as the writer of the words. He had to sing those words and get the idea of the song across, which is a big job for any singer. He took special care to get the essence of the song. It makes a big difference to learn the words and melody. I took extra time to write the melody, because I’m putting the words out there, and a lot of time, the melody would depend on what the words were. You have to give the singer places to breathe. I gave Keith liberty to let me know if something wasn’t working for him vocally, to sing it the way he was comfortable. He always came through. The idea of a song is like a chapter in a book. It has to have meaning and a certain ambiance and feel to it. That’s at least my approach to writing and performing, really. He nailed every song in a very professional approach. That’s not an easy thing to do, especially over 11 songs. 

There are other songs in the vault from the sessions that he did. He was the only singer we had. I’d like to see success, not just for myself and Steve, but for Keith. He was the only guy on the session that wasn’t in a band that had a Gold or Platinum album, and he’s very deserving of it. I’d love to see this thing be successful on that level because I’d love to walk up to his front door and knock on it and hand him a Platinum album. He’s still trying to do it. He has been for 30-some odd years. He can still hit most if not all of those notes. He doesn’t complain about it, he just stays at it, trying to get to that spot. I’d like to see that happen for him.

SILY: This album was recorded in a number of different studios, and some tracks do sound a bit lower-fi or raw. Did the difference in sounds among the tracks correspond to the different studios you recorded in?

DC: Not really for that reason. What’s really important is trying to get an attitude out of a certain song. It is rock and roll after all. The sound of the studio wasn’t something that dictated the direction.

SILY: At what point did you decide to name the album after the title track?

DC: That song, the first time I heard it, it was one of those that Steve said, “Listen to this!” He had the chorus and the lyrics. [sings] “For all the money in the world, girl / For all the kisses in the sea, baby...” I went, “That’s a hit.” Whenever I play that song for people, they all say, “That’s a natural hit.” Being a shuffle adds a lot to do with it. Shuffles have a magic to them. You just can’t help but tap your foot. Your body moves with it. The approach to have it be a shuffle is right up my alley. Creedence didn’t ever do one, and I always wanted to have a shuffle to record. There it was! It was a natural as the first song on the record. The second one that’s out now is a different type of song, to show the album’s versatility, but I had an inkling that it might be a good idea to name it after the first song on the album.

SILY: At what point did you come up with the order of the tracks?

DC: Listening. [laughs] That’s very important. Again, they’re like chapters in a book or story. I did a lot of shuffling around--there’s that shuffle again--seeing which order played best. It took a while, but that’s something worth spending time on. You want to get it right.

SILY: You’ve said any of these songs could be a single. Do you have a favorite?

DC: [The title track] is probably my favorite for that reason. It’s simplistic in its style, and usually, those are the best ones, the easiest ones to understand, though everybody has their own understanding of music. It is art; you can look at a painting, and 10 different people can have different opinions on it. It’s the same with music. Each song has a different meaning to a different person. That’s great; that way you can touch millions of people instead of 10.

SILY: What’s the story behind the album art?

DC: The story behind the album art is my son [Grady Clifford] did it and I needed a cover. That’s it! I didn’t tell him anything. When I saw it for the first time, I just went, “Wow!” He’s very talented. He did the Revisited cover. Whenever I need art, I don’t tell him what to do. He just does it. My wife [Laurie Clifford] is an artist, too. She did the artwork for [CCR]’s first album. Very recently, she got it in the de Young Museum. They had a show of album covers from the 60′s. The Clifford family has a drummer and artists. One of the things about going from vinyl to CDs is the art is a pretty good size. I miss a lot of aspects of the packaging. I have a couple of good album cover folks within the confines of the house here.

SILY: What’s next from the vault?

DC: A project I did with the same songwriting concept. Two of us did all the writing. The other guy was Bobby Whitlock. I’ve got a Bobby Whitlock album with a group we had for a short while. Bobby’s wife didn’t like living in the East Bay. She wanted to live in the Northeast. Happy wife, happy life, so we had to split when we were close to getting a deal. Another addition to Cosmo’s Vault!

[astrophysicist-guitar-god]

I was curious if Jimi Hendrix had ever played in Columbus, and it turns out that he did, one show in March 1968. 

I found two stories about it, one in the Columbus Dispatch marking the 50th anniversary of the show, and this one, about Hendrix hanging out with one of  the local support bands afterwards, and partying very wholesomely. 

I. Love. This.

The night Jimi Hendrix partied with the Dantes in Linden

By Eric Lyttle, Editor, Columbus Monthly

Posted Mar 3, 2018 at 1:45 PM

Fifty years ago tonight, Jimi Hendrix was sitting on the floor inside a small, nearly empty house in Linden enjoying a post-concert glass of red wine. No, not London. Linden. As in the working class neighborhood of northeast Columbus.

Lynn Wehr doesn’t remember much about the show itself. Neither does Barry Hayden. The two were members of the Dantes, arguably the most popular local band in Columbus at the time. The Dantes served as the warmup act for Hendrix that night, March 3, 1968, at Vets Memorial Auditorium on West Broad Street, just across the Scioto River from City Hall.

Wehr, now 71 and living in Delaware County as a retired T. Marzetti Co. executive, thinks he watched the flamboyant rock guitarist from the side of the stage. “I don’t even remember what he played,” says Wehr. “I remember there was a cover or two. I believe he did ‘Hang On Sloopy.’ ”

Hayden says he couldn’t even see Hendrix. “I was stage left, between the second or third curtain,” says Hayden, now 70 and retired in Powell after arranging guided tours of the Ohio Statehouse for nearly 20 years. “I had a straight-on shot of Mitch Mitchell’s kick-drum foot. It was the fastest kick-drum foot I’d ever seen,” Hayden says of the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s drummer. “I watched that all night and couldn’t believe how he did it.”

But before the show and after—that they both remember.

Before the show, all the bands on the bill—including Soft Machine, progenitors of England’s prog-rock scene, and Four O’Clock Balloon, another local Columbus favorite—shared the same dressing room. Hayden, the Dantes’ boyish, blond heartthrob of a lead singer, remembers that he wore a silk scarf around his neck that night. When Hendrix entered the dressing room, he, too, was wearing a scarf. “But it was tied differently,” Hayden says. “I kept looking at it, trying to figure it out. I finally went over to him and asked him about it. He says, ‘You’re tying it like an American ties it.’ I did the crossover thing, like a necktie. He says, ‘Let me show you how the British tie it.’ And he showed me. And I tied it like Jimi forever after that. What the hell? If Jimi Hendrix says this is the way you’re supposed to do it, that’s the way you do it. It’s not open debate.”

After the scarf-tying lesson, Wehr, the Dantes’ rhythm guitarist, remembers, “Barry said, ‘Hey, we’re having a party afterward. Would you guys like to come?’ Mitch Mitchell and [Hendrix bass player] Noel Redding immediately said, ‘No.’ But Hendrix said, ‘Yes.’ We were like, ‘Wow. OK.’ ”

After the show, Wehr arranged to pick up Hendrix at the Christopher Inn, the city’s iconic cylindrical hotel on Broad Street, where the Experience was staying, and take him back to the house on Howey Road, a couple of blocks south of Hudson Street, that the Dantes used as a party house and rehearsal space.

“We get to the Christopher Inn—I think Jack White, the drummer for Four O’Clock Balloon was with me—and it’s late, probably after midnight, and there’s one guy at the desk,” Wehr says. “We told him we were there to pick up Jimi Hendrix. Here we were, a couple of guys in polka-dot pants and long hair. I’m sure we looked like groupies. And the guy at the desk says, ‘He’s not staying here.’ But we were like, ‘Look, we just were on the show with him at Vets, we told him we’d pick him up.’ We must have been convincing enough, because the guy picks up the phone and makes a call. Then he turns around, kind of sheepish like, and tells us, ‘He’ll be right down.’ ”

“Not five minutes later, the elevator doors open and out steps Hendrix, colorful, flowing clothes, a big hat with a big feather in it, completely dressed the part,” says Wehr.

Hendrix climbed in the passenger seat of the Dantemobile, a blue Chevy Caprice station wagon with “Dantes” in letters down the side. “We started down High Street, and when we got to campus, students were still out doing their thing,” says Wehr. “Every time we’d stop at a stop light, they’d see the Dantes car, turn and look and see Hendrix sitting in the passenger seat, and start running. The light would change and I’d speed away before they could catch us, until the next light, and the same thing would happen. We were like the Pied Piper, with kids running after us down High Street.”

The Dantes’ Howey Street house wasn’t much—nothing but a few mattresses thrown on the floor, egg cartons stapled to the walls of the basement to help muffle the sound during rehearsals. “We basically had nothing to offer him,” says Wehr. “We asked what he’d like, and he said he’d enjoy a glass of red wine. We all kind of looked at each other and thought, ‘What do we do now?’ Fortunately, one of the girls there said she lived close and could get a bottle. In short order, she came back with a bottle that she probably took from her parents. We sat around on the floor and talked and drank the bottle.”

“There were no drugs of any kind, nothing crazy,” Wehr says. “He was really soft-spoken, nice, mild-mannered—nothing like the guitar-burning wild man you’d see on stage. I think we just talked about music. He wasn’t put out. I think he genuinely wanted to be there. It was a scene.”

“After about an hour or so, he says, ‘Hey, I’ve really enjoyed being with you guys but have to get up early,’ ” Wehr says. “I think he had a gig in New York the next day. So we got in the car and I drove him back to the Christopher Inn.”

Both Wehr and Hayden say there was no idol worship—no photos, no autographs. They weren’t starry-eyed teens. They were in their early 20s, only a couple of years younger than Hendrix. They’d opened for other big names, had toured the country and had enjoyed their share of success. Their first single, “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love,” had cracked the Billboard Top 40 nationally and had become the No. 1 song in the Columbus market in 1966, pushing ”(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration” by the Righteous Brothers off the mark.

“I looked at it like we were all peers,” says Hayden. “It was another gig. We were happy about it for sure, because we liked him. But we basically had the same clothes, the same gear.”

They thought it would last forever. It didn’t. Within two years, Hendrix was dead of an overdose, and the Dantes were done. “I realize now, in later years, it was a big deal. It’s cool. I’m glad I get to talk about it now,” says Hayden. “But I miss it. It’s not the same now as it was. I liked it better then. I feel bad for anybody who didn’t grow up when we did. Being a teenager was just about the best thing you could be. We ruled. To be truthful, if you brought a time machine to my house, I’d set it for 1964 and leave right now.”

I wanted to include a link to the venue, but the old Vet’s Memorial has since been demolished to make way for a brand new national Vet’s museum on the same spot, and that’s mostly what I’m finding. But! Here’s an interesting article (with a picture) about the politics behind tearing down what was a pretty major landmark in Columbus to make way for the new building.

And! To make a long post longer, the shows before and after Columbus on that tour; from setlist.fm:

March 2, 1968: Hunter College Assembly Hall, New York, NY (two shows)

March 3, 1968: Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Columbus, OH

March 4, 1968:  Paul's The Scene, New York, NY

March 5, 1968:  Paul's The Scene, New York, NY

Looking over his entire concert schedule, he must have been exhausted. I hope he enjoyed hanging out with a local band for a little while, just drinking a little wine and talking. He probably needed it. :-(

[afreesworn]

3: Muster

“Seriously? Her?”

Shael’s incredulous question was probably on everyone’s minds, they were just not giving voice to it. At least, that was what Nabi assumed. But as silence started to settle in rather awkwardly amongst them all, Nabi was starting to question her own idea.

It was a strange notion to begin with, that this extra credit club— it was a nice way of saying detention class — showcase their own talents with an act in the spring festival. It was teacher Batu’s idea, to draw more attention to their strategy based dice game that, surprisingly, had captured the interest of everyone in the group. While it was a learning curve for everyone, since they started this exercise, everyone who had rolled up a character began to attend the after school sessions faithfully. Even Ghoa, who feigned disinterest at the start, started to show up with her own personalized jeweled dice with a decorated case for it, that even had her own initials carved into it.

“What? If I am going to play, I am going to play in style,” the Mankhad purred. “I know these beauties will bring me luck.”

Shael rolled her eyes at her, but Nabi caught her arching her brows when Ghoa’s first few rolls were in the high teens. A few days later, Shael too showed up with her own set of steel etched dice, that she proudly told Nabi she won in a game.

Jude only snorted his disdain at the notion of spending any money on something they were forced to do for school credit, but when the game began, Nabi noticed his intense concentration and focus. He wanted to win, and was not shy about pointing out errors that others were making.

He was the first to scoff at Nabi when she consciously made a decision that didn’t favor the party. “But… my character likes animals! She wouldn’t want them hurt!” Nabi explained. Surprisingly, she expected more derision from him, but when their teacher gave her extra points for staying faithful to one of her character “traits”, everyone took note, reviewing their own character’s flaws and inclinations. Jude said nothing else on the matter, and Ghoa started to make extra effort in bringing to life her own character’s lively persona. 

Nabi couldn’t say the party’s quest went smoothly always; it was a mixed bag of mistakes, hard-earned lessons, and surprises. But when they achieved victory over an opponent while also learning more about each other’s characters, none could deny the air of satisfaction that lifted them all.

Except Pjel. The viera maintained her stoic silence. She made her moves on the board without any fanfare, and her character being mute, she stuck to that trait religiously. She never spoke a word, in character or out. But her rolls were impeccable and she was fearless in battle. There was no doubt that the group could not have succeeded without her.

Nabi was still unsure her reason for being in detention, whether she missed classes, had a failing grade, or if it was for other disciplinary reasons. Every time she tried to strike up a conversation with Pjel, she was just met with silence and a blank stare.

So when teacher Batu put on the group their next task, to put together an act at the spring festival, everyone stared at him dumbfounded. Ghoa laughed bemusedly, while Shael rolled her eyes again. Jude muttered and Pjel, as usual, said nothing on the matter.  But once the session was over and their teacher left them to their own devices, protests and gripes began to rumble amongst them.

That’s when Nabi injected the idea about performing a song. 

“What… like a band?” Shael snorted out loud. 

“Wh-why not?” Nabi blinked, eyes wide. “You play in a band, the bass guitar right?”

The Highlander immediately narrowed her eyes, as if warning not to share too much. “Yeah well… we broke up a few months back.”

“A ridiculous idea,” Ghoa hummed. “I can’t imagine doing death metal or whatever you call music.”

“You have a lovely singing voice, Ghoa!” Nabi quickly interjected before Shael retorted back at the Mankhad. “I heard you at the last Starlight festival.”

“Oh… that!” Ghoa waved her off with a chuckle, but her smile widened. “That wasn’t even my best. You should see some of my posts on--”

“Yer actually serious,” Shael cut her off, staring at Nabi. “Ya can’t just wave yer hand and put a band together. Okay so ya got a bass and singer. Ya need drums and lead guitar and--”

Shael was interrupted yet again when sounds of tapping drew all of their attention. Pjel was tapping her feet and gloved hands were percussing over the edge of the table. And as they all stared in disbelief, the viera proceeded to slap and bang on the wooden table, the plastic chair and the floor with her hands and feet. And the rhythm that was starting to fill the room, it made Nabi grin horn to horn.

“Seriously? Her?”

Nabi shrugged exaggeratedly at Shael, looking both surprised and delighted. “We have… our drummer!” She laughed with a sweep of her hand at Pjel. 

“Pfttt.” Shael threw her hands in the air. “Well, none o’ that be of any use unless ya got a lead guitar.” 

Nabi chewed her lips and started to look around the room. 

“Well, no way we can count on him,” Ghoa groaned, rolling her eyes at the door. Jude had already left, he never lingered long after these sessions were over. Nabi knew not where he had to go, but he always left in a hurry. “Besides, I doubt the likes of him knows a thing about carrying a tune or holding anything other than a knife or a bottle of booze.”

“The idea was ridiculous, anyroad,” Shael added, gathering her bag. “No way we can muster a band together.” She tutted with a frown. “It’s just one of teacher’s crazy ideas. Again.” She started out the door.

Nabi sighed, her shoulders sinking. And as everyone else started to leave the classroom, she hurriedly picked up her own books and followed. 

But the idea refused to leave her.

[dustedmagazine]

Slept Ons: The Best Records of 2020 That We Never Got Around To

Tattoos and shorts! How did we miss the Oily Boys?

It happens pretty much every year.  After much fussing and second-guessing, the year-end list gets finalized, set in stone really, encapsulating 12 months of enthusiastic listening, and surely these are the best ten records anyone could find, right? Right?  And then, a day or a week later, someone else puts up their list or records their year-end radio show, and there it is, the record you could have loved and pushed and written about…if only you’d known about it.  My self-kick in the shins came during Joe Belock’s 2020 round-up on WFMU when he played the Chats.  Others on our staff knew, earlier on, that they weren’t writing about records they loved for whatever reason — work, family, mp3 overload, etc. Except now they are.  Here.  Now. Enjoy.  

Contributors include me (Jennifer Kelly), Eric McDowell, Jonathan Shaw, Justin Cober-Lake, Bill Meyer, Bryon Hayes, Ian Mathers, Andrew Forell, Michael Rosenstein and Patrick Masterson. 

The Chats — High Risk Behavior (Bargain Bin)

High Risk Behaviour by The Chats

Cartoonishly primitive and gleefully out of luck, The Chats hurl Molotov cocktails of punk, bright and exploding even as they come. They’re from Australia, which totally makes sense; there’s a sunny, health-care-subsidized, devil-may-care vibe to their down-on-their luck stories. Musically, the songs are stripped down like Billy Childish, sped up like the Ramones, brute simple like Eddy Current Suppression Ring. Most of them are about alcohol: drinking, being drunk, getting arrested for being drunk, eating while drunk…etc. etc. But there’s an art to singing about getting hammered, and few manage the butt-headed conviction of “Drunk & Disorderly.” Its jungle rhythms, vicious, saw-toothed bass, quick knife jabs of guitar frame an all-hands drum-shocked chant: “Relaxation, mood alteration, boredom leads to intoxication.” Later singer Eamon Sandwith cuts right to the point about romance with the couplet, “I was cautious, double wrapped, but still I got the clap.” The album’s highlights include the most belligerently glorious song ever about cyber-fraud in “Identity Theft,” whose shout along chorus buoys you up, even as the dark web drains your savings account dry. The album strings together a laundry list of dead-end, unfortunate situations, one after another truly hopeless developments, but nonetheless it explodes with joy. Bandcamp says the guitar player has already left—so you’re too late to see the Chats live—but it must have been fun while it lasted.

Jennifer Kelly

Oliver Coates — skins n slime  (RVNG Intl)

skins n slime by Oliver Coates

2020 was a year of loss, of losing, of feeling lost. Whether weathering the despair of illness and death, the discomfort of displacement or the drift of temporal reverie, English cellist Oliver Coates creates music to reflect all this and more on skins n slime. Using modulators, loops and effects, Coates employs elements from drone, shoegaze and industrial to extend the range of the cello and conjure otherworldly sounds of crushing intensity and great beauty. Beneath the layering, distortion and dissonance, the human element remains strong. The tactility of fingers and bow on strings and the expressive essence of tone form the core of Coates composition and performance. If his experiments seem a willful swipe at the restrictions of the classical world from whence he came, the visceral power of a track like “Reunification 2018”, which hunkers in the same netherworld as anything by Deathprod or Lawrence English, the liminal, static bedecked ache of “Honey” and the unadorned minimalism of “Caretaker Part 1 (Breathing)” are works of a serious talent. skins n slime is an album to sit with and soak in; allow it to percolate and permeate and you’ll find yourself forgetting the outside world, if only for a while.  

Andrew Forell  

Bertrand Denzler / Antonin Gerbal — Sbatax (Umlaut Records)

Sbatax by Denzler - Gerbal

Tenor sax player Bertrand Denzler and drummer Antonin Gerbal released this duo recording last summer which slipped under the radar of many listeners. Denzler is as likely to be heard these days composing and performing pieces by others in the French ensemble ONCEIM, playing solo, or in settings for quiet improvisation. But he’s been burning it up as a free jazz player for years now as well. Gerbal also casts a broad net, as a member of ONCEIM, deconstructing free bop in the group Peeping Tom, or recontextualizing the music of Ahmed Abdul-Malik along with Pat Thomas, Joel Grip and Seymour Wright in the group Ahmed amongst many other projects. The two have worked together in a variety of contexts for a decade now, recording a fantastic duo back in 2014. Sbatax, recorded five years later at a live performance in Berlin is a worthy follow-up.  

Gerbal attacks his kit with ferocity out of the gate, with slashing cymbals and thundering kit, cascading along with drubbing momentum. Denzler charges in with a husky, jagged, repeated motif which he loops and teases apart, matching the caterwauling vigor of his partner straightaway. Over the course of this 40-minute outing, one can hear the two lock in, coursing forward with mounting intensity. Denzler increasingly peppers his playing with trenchant blasts and rasping salvos, riding along on Gerbal’s torrential fusillades. Throughout, one can hear the two dive deep in to free jazz traditions while shaping the arc of the improvisation with an acute ear toward the overall form of the piece. Midway through, Denzler steps back for a torrid drum solo, then jumps back in with renewed dynamism as the two ride waves of commanding potency and focus to a rousing conclusion, goaded on by the cheering audience. Anyone wondering whether there is still life in the tenor/drum duo format should dig this one up.  

Michael Rosenstein

Kaelin Ellis — After Thoughts (self-released)

After Thoughts by KAELIN ELLIS

To be sure, “slept on” hardly characterizes Kaelin Ellis in 2020. After a trickle of lone tracks in the first months of the year, a Twitter video posted by the 23-year-old producer and multi-instrumentalist caught the attention of Lupe Fiasco, quickly precipitating the joint EP House. It’s a catchy story from any number of angles — the star-powered “discovery” of a young talent, the interconnectedness of the digital age, the silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic — but it risks overshadowing Ellis’s two 2020 solo records: Moments, released in the lead-up to House, and After Thoughts, released in October. It doesn’t help that each album’s dozen tracks scarcely add up to as many minutes, or that the producer’s titles deliberately downplay the results. And some, of course, will judge these jazzy, deeply soulful beats only against their potential as platforms for some other, more extroverted artist. “I’d like to think I’m a jack of all trades,” Ellis told one interviewer, “but in all honesty my specialty is creating a space for others to stand out.”

Yet as with all small, good things, there’s reward in savoring these miniatures on their own terms, and After Thoughts in particular proved an unexpected retreat from last fall’s anxieties. Ellis has a poet’s gift for distillation and juxtaposition, a director’s knack for pathos and dramatic sequencing — powers that combine to somehow render a fully realized world. As fleeting as it is, Ellis’s work communicates a generosity of care and concentration, opening a space for others not just to stand out but also to settle in.

Eric McDowell   

Lloyd Miller with Ian Camp and Adam Michael Terry — At the Ends of the World

At the Ends of the World by Lloyd Miller with Ian Camp and Adam Michael Terry

Miller and company fuse the feel of a contemporary classical concert with eastern modalities and instrumentation. The recordings sound live off the floor, and give a welcome sense of space and detail to the sensitive playing. Miller has explored the intersection between Persian and other cultural traditions and jazz through the lens of academic scholarship and recorded output since the 1960s. With this release, the performances linger in a space where vibe is as important as compositional structure. The results revel in the beauty when seemingly unrelated musical ideas emerge together in the same moment, with startling results.

Arthur Krumins

 Oily Boys — Cro Memory Grin (Cool Death)

Cro Memory Grin by Oily Boys

The title of this 2020 LP by Australian punks Oily Boys sounds like a pun on “Cro-Magnon,” an outmoded scientific name for early humans. It’s apt: the music is smarter than knuckle-dragger beatdown or run-of-the-mill powerviolence, but still driven by a rancorous, id-bound savagery. The smarts are just perceptible enough to keep things pretty interesting. Some of the noisier, droning and semi-melodic stretches of Cro Memory Grin recall the records made by the Men (especially Leave Home) before they decided to try to make like Uncle Tupelo, or some lesser version of the Hold Steady. Oily Boys inhabit a darker sensibility, and their music is more profoundly bonkers than anything those other bands got up to. Aggro, discordant punk; flagellating hardcore burners; psych-rock-adjacent sonic exorcisms — you get it all, sometimes in a single five-minute passage of Cro Memory Grin (check out the sequence from “Lizard Scheme” to “Heat Harmony” to “Stick Him.” Yikes). A bunch of the tunes spill over into one another, feedback and sustain jumping the gap from one track to the next, which gives the record a live vibe. It feels volatile and sweaty. The ill intent and unmitigated nastiness accumulate into a palpable force, tainting the air and leaving stains on your tee shirt. Oily Boys have been kicking around Sydney’s punk scene since at least 2014, but this is their first full-length record. One hopes they can continue to play with this degree of possessed abandon without completing burning themselves to down to smoldering cinders. At least long enough to record some more music.

Jonathan Shaw

 Dougie Poole — The Freelancer's Blues (Wharf Cat)

The Freelancer's Blues by Dougie Poole

A cursory listen might misconstrue the heart of Dougie Poole's second album, The Freelancer's Blues. When he mixes his wobbly country sound with lyrics like those in “Vaping on the Job,” it sounds like genre play, a smirking look at millennial life through an urban cowboy's vintage sound. Poole does target a particular set of issues, but mapping them with his own slightly psychedelic country comes with very little of the postmodern itch. His characters feel just as troubled as anyone coming out of 1970s Nashville, and as Poole explores these lives with wit and empathy, the songs quickly find their resonance.

The album, though it wouldn't reach for pretentious terms, carries an existential problem at its center. Poole circles around the fundamental void: work deadens, relocation doesn't help, spiritual pursuits falter, intelligence burdens, and even the drugs don't help. When Poole finally gets the title track, the preceding album gives his confession extra weight, a mix of life's strictures and personal limitation combining for a crisis best avoided but wonderfully shared. The Freelancer's Blues comes rich in Nashville tradition but finds an ideal fit in its contemporary place, likely providing a soundtrack for a variety of times and spaces yet to come.

Justin Cober-Lake

 Schlippenbach Quartett — Three Nails Left (Corbett Vs. Dempsey)

You might say that this record has been slept on twice. The second recording to be released by the Alexander von Schlippenbach, Evan Parker and Paul Lovens (augmented this time by Peter Kowald) was released in 1975, and didn’t get a second pressing — on vinyl — until 2019. So, Corbett Vs. Dempsey stepped up last summer, it had never been on CD. But this writer was so stumped on how to relate how intense, startling, and unlike any other free improvisation it was and is, that he just… slept on it. Until now. Even if you know this band, if you don’t know this album, well, it’s time you got acquainted.

Bill Meyer 

Stonegrass — Stonegrass (Cosmic Range)

STONEGRASS by Stonegrass

Released on the cusp of a tentative re-opening for the city of Toronto after two months of lock-down, this slab of psychedelic funk-rock was the perfect antidote to the COVID blues when it arrived at the tail end of a Spring spent in near-isolation. The jam sessions that became Stonegrass were also a new beginning for multi-instrumentalist Matthew “Doc” Dunn and drummer Jay Anderson, who reignited a spirit of collaboration after a decade of sonic estrangement following the demise of their Spiritual Sky Blues Band project. Listening to these songs, you’d never know they spent any time apart. The tight, bottom-wagging jams on offer are evidence that these two are joined together at the third eye. Anderson’s grooves run deep, and Dunn — whether he’s traipsing along on guitar, keys or flutes — is right there with him. There’s enough fuzz here to satiate the heads, but the real treat here is the rhythmic interplay. Strap in and prepare to get down. 

Bryon Hayes 

 Bob Vylan — We Live Here EP (Venn Records)

Bob Vylan flew under the radar in 2020 successfully enough that when someone nominated them for the best of 2020 poll in Tom Ewing’s Peoples’ Pop Polls project on Twitter (each month a different year or category gets voted on in World Cup-style brackets, it’s great fun and only occasionally maddening), most of the reaction was “is that one a typo?” Nobody had that response after listening to “We Live Here” — my wife also participates in the poll, so we just play all the candidates in our apartment, and Bob Vylan was the first time both of our jaws dropped in amazement; the song got played about ten times in a row at that point. Bobby (vocals/guitar/production) and Bobbie (drums/“spiritual inspiration”) Vylan’s 18-minute EP lives up to that title track, fireball after fireball aimed directly at the corrupt, crumbling, racist state that seems utterly indifferent to human suffering unless there’s profit in it. Whether it’s the raging catharsis of the title track or the cool, precise hostility of “Lynch Your Leaders,” Bob Vylan have made something vital and essential here, that very much speaks to 2020 but sadly will stay relevant long past it.  

Ian Mathers

 Working Men’s Club — Working Men’s Club (Heavenly Recordings)

It’s been evident these past few years that I’ve retreated from music and committed myself to the slower world of books as a way of giving my mind a break from the accelerating madness outside, but I could never really leave my radio family the same way I could never really leave Dusted. Another great example why: A fellow CHIRP volunteer played “John Cooper Clarke” in a December Zoom social I actually managed to catch, and I’ve been addicted to Working Men’s Club’s debut LP from October ever since. The quartet hails from Todmodren, a market town you won’t be surprised upon listening to discover is roughly equidistant between Leeds and Manchester; the album screams Hacienda vibes in its seamless integration of post-punk signifiers and dancefloor style. It’s easy to bandy about names from Rip It Up and Start Again or even The Velvet Underground in 12-minute closer “Angel,” certainly one of the most arresting tracks of the year, but the thing that struck me immediately is that this was the record I’d always anticipated but never got from Factory Floor — smart, aloof and occasionally calculated, yet still fun enough to play for any crowd itching to move. Until the community of a dance party or Working Men’s Club live set is once again possible, patience and a fully formed first album will have to suffice. You’ll have to imagine the part where I corner you at the party to rave about it, I’m afraid.

Patrick Masterson

[quickspinner]

I’ll Give You the Stars - Ch 2 Rise to the Challenge

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Out of chaos comes creation. Or at least rock concerts. Still, there was a flow to the madness backstage, an order that defied observation but still worked towards a common goal. Penny somehow located an eddy in the swirl of people where Luka and Marinette could both sit in relative safety and have a clear view of the stage. She had tall stools relocated from somewhere for the two teens to use, and advised them to plant themselves and not move lest they cause some sort of mishap (Luka pretended not to notice that Penny looked at Marinette when she said this). 

While they waited, Luka took the opportunity to text Juleka to make sure she had connected with their bandmates and gotten in okay. He also gave her a brief account of everything that had happened so far and where he was now. Her response made him laugh so hard he nearly fell over. 

“What?” Marinette asked, giggling. 

“I think Jules is a little jealous,” he chuckled, turning his phone towards her so that she could see the stream of exclamation points and emojis Juleka had sent him. 

Marinette laughed with him then, covering her mouth. “Oh, poor thing. But it’ll be easier to bring her in once you’ve got your foot in the door, and I know she knows you wouldn’t forget about her.”

Luka smiled, because she was absolutely right. He teased Juleka for a few more messages before he admitted it to her though. Then he put his phone away.

The opening act was good, blending rock music and classical instruments in a really interesting way. When they left the stage he found himself tapping out a rhythm on his knee as he listened to a new melody unfold in his mind.

He didn’t know how long he’d been sitting there staring into space when Marinette nudged him, but when he looked at her she was holding her sketchbook and pencil out to him. She’d turned to a blank page and lined it for him. “I know that look,” she smirked. “Write it down before you lose it.”

“You’re the best,” he said, taking it from her. It was so nice to be with (next to, not with, they weren’t together no matter how comfortable they’d been today) someone who understood, he thought absently as he scribbled his thoughts into the staff she’d drawn for him. The lines weren’t perfect but they were much better than what he could’ve done freehand. 

“Just promise you’ll play it for me later.” She patted his arm and he glanced up with a smile.

“Deal.”

When Jagged Stone took the stage, Luka and Marinette were on their feet instantly. Jagged Stone might be eccentric and impulsive but no one could deny that he was more than a singer, he was an  entertainer . Luka spared a derisive thought for that spiritless, passionless “artist” XY. All his flash and special effects couldn’t rival Jagged Stone’s sheer charisma on stage.  Standing so close, Luka could feel the music all the way down to his bones. It was exhilarating, he loved it, he’d only ever felt this connected when he was playing himself. Conversation was impossible but he caught Marinette’s hand, lacing their fingers together so that his palm pressed hers and he could feel the music through her body as well as his own. He could feel she was cringing slightly, and he glanced at her. She mouthed the word “loud” at him and he could only grin back at her and mouth back “awesome.” She rolled her eyes at him and he turned back to the stage. 

When Jagged took a break, he leaned down to her. “Are you okay? We can find somewhere else to watch if you want.” 

She shook her head. “I know you want to stay here. I can see you’re loving every minute of this.”

“I am, but not if you’re uncomfortable.”

“I’ll be okay. I’m getting used to it.”

Suddenly Penny appeared at their shoulders. “Luka,” she said urgently, “Jagged wants you to play when he goes back on.”

“WHAT?” Luka stared at her, too shocked to be polite. 

“I tried to talk him out of it but he’s stuck on it. He’ll be out there announcing it any minute but I wanted to give you at least a little warning.” Even as she spoke the members of the small backup band were taking their places. Penny put her hand on Luka’s shoulder. “Miraculous is next up in the set list. I told him this was too much pressure but he said you could handle it. He believes in you.”

He felt Marinette's fingers dig into his arm. “Breathe, Luka!” she said urgently and he sucked in a breath, and then another one, too fast. “Are you okay?”

There was a chorus of screams and Luka looked up to see Jagged walking on stage screaming “Rock ‘n roll!”

Luka shot Penny a desperate look but there was no hope of reprieve in her expression. Apparently this was happening and he was going to have to find a way to deal with it. At least he knew Miraculous, it was one of the songs he’d played with Jagged back in the lounge. But he’d never rehearsed with these people before! It took time for a group to gel, you couldn’t just—but  Miraculous  was mostly guitar and vocals with a pretty basic bass and drum line, Jagged was a solo artist after all and his backup would be used to following the lead guitar, but still, he couldn’t seriously expect—

Luka saw Jagged look their way, and then turn back to the microphone, and the singer’s next words made his stomach drop through the floor.

“How about we have us a guest guitarist for this song? We’ve got one of Paris’ own young up and coming talents here with us today, let’s get him out here!”

Despite the warning Luka’s lips parted in surprise and his breath quickened again. He looked at Marinette, who stared back at him with eyes so wide they looked like they might fall out of her head. The crowd cheered mindlessly.

Luka looked back just in time to meet Jagged’s eyes across the stage. “Come on out here, Luka!” the star hollered into the microphone, waving him down.

His brain disconnected from his body.  He was only dimly aware of the pressure of Marinette’s hand on his bicep, the slide of her fingers as he pulled away, the thud of his combat boots on the wood of the stage, the roar of the crowd as he crossed the stage and took with numb hands the guitar that Jagged handed him.  “Whenever you’re ready, kid,” Jagged told him, yelling near his ear to be heard over the massive crowd in the stadium. “Don’t be nervous, show ‘em what you got.”

Don’t be nervous, are you serious? 

Luka put the guitar strap over his head and settled it comfortably, glancing back off stage as he dug in his pocket for a pick. He could just barely see Marinette standing in the wings with her hands over her mouth, eyes still wide as saucers.  He let his eyes skim once over the crowd, taking them in as best he could’ve with the blinding lights, and then he looked down at his feet again. His head shot back up as four voices (which shouldn’t have been nearly loud enough to reach him except that two of them were Ivan and Rose and one was Juleka, who seemed to hoard all her volume for special occasions like these) near the front screamed “KITTY SECTION” in unison and he grinned in their general direction, though he couldn’t see them because of the lights. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, feeling the stage beneath his feet and the energy of the crowd crawling up through his blood. This was insane but...awesome. The thrill of performing began to push back the fear. Oddly enough, even though this was a far bigger crowd than any he’d been in front of before, this was easier than performing one on one for the King of Rock. After all, he smirked, Luka Couffaine had never failed an audience and he would not start that night. He took one more breath, raising his fist to acknowledge the screaming crowd, and then he flipped his pick, placed his fingers on the fretboard, and nodded to Jagged Stone.

The drummer counted them off, Luka began to play...and he killed it. If this was his fifteen minutes of fame he would die happy. The crowd was roaring, Jagged’s energy was contagious, and it was the best Luka had played in his life.

Luka walked off the stage in a euphoric haze, barely aware of Marinette as she took his arm and guided him back to the lounge and sat him down on the couch. 

“Did that seriously just happen?” Luka asked her, putting his face in his hands. “Did I really just do that.”  He drew his hands down his face until they were just in front of his mouth as he stared at nothing. “Man, what a rush.”

Marinette let out a little squeal, wrapping both hands around his upper arm and bouncing in place. “Luka, that was awesome!!  You just played LIVE with JAGGED STONE and I can’t believe you just did that either, I would have DIED! I swear, I had no idea he was going to call you up there. He must have been so impressed with you.” She squealed again and threw her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him in a quick hug before leaning back again to clap her hands and bounce some more. 

The adrenaline was doing weird things to his body and she was doing weird things to his heart. Luka caught her face in his hands, cupping under her jaw, and had just enough self-control left to plant his kiss on her cheek and not her mouth. “You’re amazing, Marinette,” he whispered, face still pressed to hers. “Thank you so much.”

“All I did was introduce you,” she said, blushing hard. Her fingertips came to rest shyly on his wrists. “The rest of it was all you.” 

He grinned, kissed her cheek again and let her go. “Amazing,” he repeated, pulling his frantically vibrating phone out of his pocket to turn it off. 

“You’re the one who’s amazing,” Marinette insisted, recovering some of her composure. “You went out there with no warning and no rehearsal and you didn’t even look scared!”

Luka laughed breathlessly. “Terrified is more like it.”

“It didn’t show. You walked out on that stage like you owned it.” Marinette’s eyes shone and he was pretty sure if his heart beat any faster he would keel over and die. “You’re so brave, Luka!”

“Tell that to my hands,” he muttered, raising them to show her how they shook. “And I’m pretty sure I couldn’t stand right now if my life depended on it.” 

Marinette took his hand and laced her fingers through his. “That’s just the adrenaline reaction. That was a huge amount of pressure Luka and you pulled it off!” 

Luka let his head drop and closed his eyes, trying to focus on breathing, on trying to slow his heart and calm the blood still singing in his veins to the beat of Jagged’s music that they could still hear, even back here.  Marinette freed her hand from his and he felt her move away, but she was back moments later, pressing a cold bottle of water into his hands. He took it gratefully and threw his head back to drink it. He managed to keep himself from chugging, knowing that it would make him sick, and pressed the cool bottle to his forehead, focusing on the cold and the crinkle of the plastic in his fingers. 

When he looked back at Marinette she was staring at him with a slightly glazed expression and a healthy blush that did dangerous things to him.  Her blush darkened as he stared back at her, and—look away, look away now. Tearing his gaze away felt like ripping out his own heart.

Luka always felt high after performing but this was a whole other level of intensity. He really needed to be somewhere else—anywhere that was not alone with Marinette in a closed room while she was looking at him like that.

“I’m okay now,” he said roughly, standing and pulling her up with him. “Let’s go watch the rest of the show.” She squeaked as he threaded his fingers through hers and they made their way back to their place in the wings. 

The only thing he remembered from the rest of the show was the feel of their hands locked together.

He was still in some weird fugue state as they said goodbye to Penny and she let them out of the security door into the night. Luka’s phone was still off but Marinette had been texting to Rose, and she guided him to the rest of the group. 

As soon as he spotted them Luka broke into a run, catching up Juleka and swinging her around while she pounded his back. Rose threw herself on them both, and they were only saved from topping over by Marinette hitting them from the other side. Ivan wrapped his arms as far as he could around the whole group and nearly lifted them all off of the ground. 

“Okay, okay,” Luka laughed from the center of the pile. “You guys are crushing me here!”

They all peeled away, giggling, and Luka threw an arm each around Juleka and Marinette. “You guys are seriously the best, I mean it,” he said, addressing the whole group. “It was huge, knowing you were out there.”

“Oh, Luka, this is so exciting!” Rose squealed. “You’ll be famous and you’ll get to go on tour and see so many exciting places and meet so many wonderful new people and—“

“Whoa, whoa, slow down, Rose,” Luka laughed. “Let’s hold off on planning the world tour, okay?”

“You really were great,” Mylène said from where she was hanging back, clinging onto Ivan’s shirt tail. She looked a little shy, being the outsider of the group. Luka smiled at her.

“Thanks Mylène. I thought I was going to die once I got off that stage.”

“Did Marinette give you CPR?” Juleka mumbled beside him, and he immediately shifted his arm until he had her in a headlock. 

“Somebody better watch her mouth if she wants to meet Jagged Stone anytime soon,” he grumbled, and then immediately released Juleka when he felt her perfectly manicured nails digging threateningly into his arm. “Okay, okay, not the claws, ow!” He knocked into Marinette in his haste to get away from his sister, and only just managed to twist and catch her around the waist before they both tipped over. 

“You better come back to earth before someone gets hurt,” Ivan chuckled. “You’re seriously wired, Luka.”

“Sorry, Marinette.” Luka made sure she was steady and then drew away, hoping he wasn’t too red. He’d been kind of all over her all day, he knew, and while she was an affectionate person and hadn’t seemed to mind, he’d better get his act together. 

Fortunately Mylène diverted her attention just then with a question he didn’t quite catch and he had a moment to get ahold of himself. Luka stepped slightly away from the group, digging in his pocket for his pick, aware that Juleka immediately moved to block him slightly so he could have a little space.

When he’d calmed himself down a bit, he returned to the group, flashing a quick smile at Juleka. “Lila?” Marinette was saying, in a tone that surprised Luka. “No, we didn’t see her, why?”

Mylène shrugged. “We invited her to come with us, but she said Jagged had already called her and offered to let her watch the show from backstage. Since you were back there too I thought you would have seen her, but I guess it’s pretty crazy backstage.”

Marinette was clearly trying to keep a neutral face, but Luka could sense something negative going on with her. Her voice sounded all kinds of wrong to him, though all she said was, “It was pretty chaotic.”

“Weird, though,” Luka said with a shrug. “I mean there wasn’t all that much room on the sides, and we didn’t see anybody in the lounge before the show. You’d think Jagged would’ve said something if one of your classmates was there.”

There was gratitude he didn’t quite understand in Marinette’s eyes when she looked up at him, but he smiled back at her reassuringly.

“Guys, it’s been awesome, but we gotta go if we’re gonna be home by curfew.” Ivan put his arm around Mylène. 

“You’re staying with Rose tonight, right?” Luka asked Juleka, who nodded. “Text me when you get there, okay?” Juleka just gave him a deadpan stare, but Rose winked and nodded. He turned to Marinette. “Can I walk you home?”

“Oh, you don’t need to, I can take care of myself, it’s fine!”

“I know,” Luka smiled down at her as the others began to walk off. “Can I walk you home anyway?”

Marinette blushed prettily. “Sure.”

As soon as they got to the main sidewalk they were caught in the rest of the crowd leaving the venue. After seeing the petite girl nearly get knocked down twice, Luka pulled Marinette in front of him where he could shield her at least a little bit, keeping his hand on her shoulder.

“Sorry,” he muttered in her ear, pulling her a little closer to him. “I’m afraid you’ll get crushed if I let you go.” He steadied her as somebody knocked into them again. “Let’s walk down to the next metro station instead, it should be less crowded there.” Luka kept his head down, hoping no one would recognize him as the guy who’d been called on stage, but no one seemed to be thinking about anything other than getting ahead. 

Things did clear out considerably once they were passed the closest stop, and they both breathed a sigh of relief once the crowd had eased. Just as Luka thought they were free and clear, they passed under the light of a street lamp and suddenly he heard a chorus of “Luka!” from across the street. As soon as he looked in that direction he heard a squeal and a small cluster of people came running across the street, giggling as they stopped in front of him. 

“It is you, I knew it!” one of them practically cooed, reaching out to twirl one of his blue tips. Luka took a step back, automatically shifting his arm back to move Marinette behind him.

“Sorry, have we met?” he asked, glancing across the group of four girls. They looked close to his age, but he didn’t recognize any of them.

“We saw you on stage,” another one giggled. 

Ah, now he understood. He relaxed and smiled back at them. “Well, I’m glad you enjoyed the show.”

“You were awesome,” gushed the girl who had touched him. “Could you sign my program?” 

Luka blinked. “Sure,” he said, taking the booklet and sharpie she shoved at him. “Thanks for your support. What’s your name?”

“Veronique!” 

“That’s pretty.” He smiled at her and signed her program and then the ones the other two passed him.

The last girl, who looked a little older than the others, pouted and opened her eyes wide. “Gosh, I must have lost mine. I don’t have anything for you to sign. Hmmm...” she pressed a finger to her lips thoughtfully. Luka had a feeling he knew where this was going and he was not about to let it get there. Instead he smirked, took her hand and turned it up, and signed the inside of the girl’s wrist. She glanced up at him from beneath her lashes. “Can I get a phone number to go with it?”

“Ah, I’m keeping that top secret for now.” Luka winked. “But you can follow our band, Kitty Section, on Instagram.” He wrote their handle under his name and released her, stepping back. He reached blindly behind him and felt Marinette take his hand. “You ladies have a good night. I’m afraid I have somewhere to be, but I hope we’ll see you at Kitty Section’s next show.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, just waved and pulled Marinette down the sidewalk. “Well that was embarrassing,” Luka muttered, running his free hand through his hair. 

“The price of fame?” Marinette suggested, but her smile looked forced. 

“At least it was good publicity for the band,” sighed Luka. “They seemed harmless enough, except the one girl. She didn’t really have a creepy stalker vibe, at least.”

“You didn’t seem to mind,” Marinette replied stiffly, and Luka snorted.

“I’ve been playing in bands since I was thirteen, Marinette, mostly with guys older than me, and I’ve picked up a thing or two about how to deal with fans. Although it’s unsettling to be the focus.” He snickered. “Trust me, when it happens to someone else it’s hilarious. The second band I played with, the lead singer was seventeen and gorgeous, and watching him trying to play up his girl fans without getting molested was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.” He glanced at her and smiled to himself as she relaxed. “Besides, I knew you were there to rescue me,” he teased, squeezing her hand. “You always come up with something.” 

“Or maybe I would have left you there. I’m beginning to think you’re as bad a flirt as Chat Noir.”

Luka laughed heartily as they went down the metro steps. “I am so much smoother than Chat Noir. I mean, I have nothing but respect for the guy and what he does for the city, but he flirts like he learned all his lines from bad romcoms.”

“I didn’t realize you were such an expert,” Marinette sniffed as they reached the platform, pulling her hand away and folding her arms.

Luka stepped close to her, and then leaned in just a little. “Marinette. Are you going to make me say it? Again?”

She turned a highly satisfying shade of red. “N-now that I know you’re such a master flirt,” she stammered, “Maybe I shouldn’t believe anything you say.”

“Do you know what the difference is between good flirting and bad flirting really is?” He leaned the tiniest bit closer, and lightly tapped the guitar pick around her neck. “Sincerity. I meant every word I said to those girls, and every word I’ve ever said to you.”

She made a strangled, inarticulate noise, and he straightened, not even bothering to hide his smile. He stood next to her on the platform, and shoved his hands in his pockets, waiting for Marinette to regain her power of speech.

As they stood there, Luka remembered their earlier conversation, and glanced sidelong at Marinette. “So...who’s Lila?”

Marinette’s face twisted in distaste.

“Wow, that bad, huh?”

Marinette flushed. “No, I mean, well, she’s...uh…”

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” he told her. “But you don’t have to pretend, you’re allowed not to like someone. It doesn’t make you a bad person.”

“Popular opinion is against you on that one,” Marinette grumbled, and then she hesitated. “And...she’s Juleka’s friend…”

Luka smiled, and bumped his arm lightly against hers. “I’m not Juleka.”

Marinette sighed, and chewed her lip for a moment, and then her shoulders slumped and she gave him a tired smile. “Honestly, she’s a liar and a manipulator and I don’t really want to ruin this night talking about her. Some other time, okay?”

“Sure,” he said softly, motioning her ahead of him to board the train. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you earlier but you look really cute tonight,” Luka said as they settled in seats. 

Marinette made a face. “Jagged called me a punk wanna be.” 

Luka chuckled. “I think it’s perfect. It’s fun and still totally you. You should’ve called Juleka and let us do your hair, you’d have been adorable with pink tips.” He reached out and flicked her bangs.

Marinette giggled. “Maybe next time.” 

“That’s a cool bag.” 

Marinette brightened as she lifted it from her lap. “It’s hand embroidered! My Nonna Gina travels all over the world, and she brought me a shirt back from her last trip for my birthday, only it kinda didn’t fit, so I used it to make this! It doesn’t match my outfit but it’s bigger than my other one so I can fit my smaller sketchbook in it. Oh, I wish you could meet her, you’d love her. She wears a motorcycle and rides a leather jacket and—“ she stopped with a blush and a giggle, realizing she was rambling. “Anyway. She’s really cool.” 

“I’d love to meet her sometime,” Luka chuckled. He folded his hands together and leaned forward a little to rest his elbows on his knees.

The weight of the day was finally starting to settle on him. He came to the unsettling realization hat he no longer knew what tomorrow would look like. Marinette has opened this incredible door for him and now he had to figure out how to walk through and keep going—and he wasn’t even sure who would be with him as he did so. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. 

“Luka?” Marinette leaned into him a little, trying to see his face.

“I’m okay. It’s just...kind of all hitting me at once.” 

“Can I help?” Her fingers curled around his upper arm.

“There’s nothing wrong, it’s just...a lot. This whole thing has been like a dream,” he confessed. “It still doesn’t seem real. And I’m not really sure how I’m feeling, to be honest. It’s...scary, the idea that this big dream you have could actually happen, and…is it completely weird and ungrateful not to be sure that you want it? Or maybe I’m just scared of getting so close and then crashing and burning.”

Marinette squeezed his arm. “No, I think that’s totally natural. It’s easy to overlook all the downsides when it’s just a dream. You got a taste of the reality today, some of the bad along with the good, and it’ll probably be worse tomorrow when everyone sees it online or on the news or wherever. And I think that crashing and burning at the worst possible moment is something that every artist fears.”

“You’re an artist, Marinette.”

Her smile was sad. “And I’m a mess. I doubt myself all the time. How could I not, I’m such a disaster. Half the time I can’t even speak clearly. But then, there are moments...well, you remember Adrien, right? His dad is a super famous fashion designer, one of my idols. He sponsored a design contest at my school, and someone copied my design. So I had to stand there and defend my work to the Gabriel Agreste.” She shook her head, eyes going misty. “I killed it, Luka. I was clear and calm and I destroyed Chl-uh, the copycat designer and I won the competition. And those are the moments where I really believe it can happen. Just like when you were up on that stage today. You could have refused to go out there. You could have tried and choked. But you didn’t.” she squeezed his arm again. “You went out there and you slayed that crowd, and you loved every minute of it.”

Luka’s eyes were on his feet but a slow smile spread over his face. “Yeah,” he murmured. “I really did.”

“So hold onto that,” Marinette told him, and he lifted his gaze to hers, a tight feeling in his chest. “If this is what you want, you can totally do it. And if it turns out that it’s not what you want, that’s okay too. I didn't introduce you to Jagged to make you miserable. This is your dream, you get to decide what it looks like.”

What if it looks like you? he thought, mesmerized by her eyes, her earnestness, her kindness, and those perfect pink lips. It just wasn’t fair for her to have such a sweet little mouth. 

Marinette stood up quickly. “Oops, this is our stop.”

He spent the rest of the walk out of the metro and up to the bakery trying to talk sense into himself. Sure, she liked him, but she wanted someone else, and yeah, she wasn’t dating Adrien yet, but she didn’t want to date Luka either, and he’d be putting her in a tough spot but he wanted it so badly, and he liked her and she liked him and couldn’t that be good enough for just one minute, it wasn’t like he was proposing marriage—

He opened the side door of the bakery for her and followed her into the relative privacy of the stairwell, still balanced on a knife edge of indecision.

Then she smiled at him. “Thanks for walking me home, Luka.”

Screw it.

“Marinette, can I kiss you?” he asked. 

Marinette squeaked, blue eyes wide. 

“Listen, I know you’re not ready for anything to change between us,” he continued quickly, “and you might not ever be, and I’m cool with that, I really am. And you can say yes or you can say no and either way it won’t change a thing. I know I’m being selfish asking, but I’m feeling so much after everything today, and I just…” He swallowed, “I just really really want to,” he finished huskily. His whole being hummed with tension. He was too much, he was too intense, he was completely going to freak her out but he couldn’t look away. He reached out to grip the stair rail beside her because he needed to feel the cool metal and the way the edges cut into his palm, but he made sure not to lean into her space, leaving her plenty of room to get away from him if she was uncomfortable. 

And then she was looking at him with those soft eyes, the ones that sang to him of “really?” and “why me?” and that heart-stopping “maybe…”

“Okay,” she said quietly, cheeks perfectly pink and shoulders slightly hunched, but smiling. 

“You sure?” he couldn’t help asking as he brushed his thumb against the perfect bow of her lips, a thrill skittering through him when she didn’t pull away, only nodded shyly. 

He leaned down and kissed her, eyes closing as soon as he felt her plush lips under his. He kept it soft and slow, breath catching slightly when she curled her fingers in his shirt and kissed him back, following his lead easily. His free hand came up to rest against her neck, and Luka felt her shiver at the feel of his fingertips stroking lightly at her nape, his thumb just brushing her jaw. He guided her a little deeper, still slow, still tender and innocent. He was a little shocked at how good it felt. He’d kissed girls before and never really thought it was a big deal, but this…I am in so much trouble. Even caught up in her he could hear the music they made in the mingling of breath, the meeting and parting and meeting again of lips, the flutter of her pulse against his palm. He lingered, lips moving over hers until he felt her begin to pull away, and then straightened with a sigh, stroking her cheek once as he let his hand fall away.

“Wow,” she touched her lips. “Now that...that was a first kiss worth remembering.”

“Yeah,” Luka cleared his throat. “That was...really, really nice.” He raised his eyebrows slightly. “First kiss with me, or…”

Marinette blushed and looked at her feet. “First kiss at all. Um, sort of. It’s complicated? But, yes, if someone asked me about my first kiss, it would definitely be that.”

“I’m honored.” Luka took her hand, cradling it loosely in his, and waited until she looked back up at him. “Thank you for everything today, Marinette. I just...there’s no other words. Thank you.”

The smile she gave him was so full of affection that it hurt. “You deserve it, Luka. You’ve always been so supportive and so good to me, and—well, I’m happy I could do something for you.”

He smiled, and uncurled his white-knuckle grip on the stair rail to back towards the door, her hand sliding out of his as he moved away. “Goodnight Marinette.”

“Goodnight Luka.”

He had to lean against the wall for a moment once he was back outside.