#girl I was hooked from. Last August? when the demo came out

[the-peerless-cucumber]

this is ur sign to play ‘slay the princess’ if you haven’t

[unholyhelbig]

We Sold Our Souls | 001: Beca

Summary: A small-town rock band continues to play even smaller venues well past high school graduation. Aubrey, Beca, Emily, and Chloe struggle with newfound fame and the long bloody road to get there.

[Based off of "We Sold Our Souls" By Grady Hendrix"]

Read on AO3 | Dt to the amazing @ifionlyhadmorepaper

Beca’s fingers were split and callused where Chloe’s were warm and protected. They were covered in bandages of all shapes and sizes, little adhesive papers that browned at the edges from dirt or from blood that hadn’t been dabbed away. They were wrapped, lacerated where she had pressed too hard on the velvet cords of her guitar. Beca Mitchell would play until rustic oozing syrup covered the face of the instrument.

They stung, sometimes, but right now she leaned into the numbness that the temperature in the office provided. She wanted to spread them in an equal motion over the glass of the desk so each finger lined up with a toe in her Doc Martins. Instead, she placed them calmly in her lap and stared at the silver pen that rested next to the contract.

She picked silently at the ace bandage that she had strategically wrapped around her pinky finger. It had been the newest slice; a wound still fresh to the sterile room. She was sure it would drip one, maybe two drops of red on the white linoleum.

Beca glanced up from the writing utensil and saw nothing but a suit, a slate and dull grey that blended perfectly with the rest of the room. There were no photos on the wall, nothing but a bland black leather sofa and a glass coffee table that matched the same desk they sat at now. She wanted to look through the floor to ceiling windows but saw nothing but white. Everything was white.

She was the darkest thing in the room.

Her boot tapped against, a low and thumbed rhythm. She waited for him to say something, to say anything. But she realized quickly that he may be darker than her. She could stare into the abyss that was his face, into the shadow but it would mean nothing. There were no defining features other than a crisp, business-like smile.

She had switched from pulling at the dressing of her wounds to picking at the frayed edges of her black jean jacket, littered with patches and permanent marker. Beca traced a signature that Chloe had drawn on one drunken night.

They had popped a bottle of champagne and the bubbles made the cuts on her fingers burn something fierce. But she let the golden liquid slosh onto the carpet of the hotel room, and bubble up in her throat until she couldn’t quite hold it between her lips anymore. Chloe kissed her and she tasted like weed and cherry.

It was the first night that their song was played on the radio.

The four of them huddled around a radio, its antenna stretched to the ceiling of that dingy room. The lights buzzed as much as the static, and it was close to three am; too late for the bar handlers to be heading home, and too early for the suits to be warming up their cars. But they played it- they played it.

They could quite possibly be the only four people in the entire world to hear the first song from the DEMO that Beca slid under the studio door.

When she leaned forward, the leather her pants made an ungodly noise. She didn’t’ want to read through the stack bound with a thick black clip. The first page was highlighted where she needed to initial and bolded at the most important parts; the parts that distracted her from what really mattered.

Her father was a stockbroker before he was dead, and he would tell her every single time he brought home a new contract, that they make the glittery things darker. That’s not what she was supposed to read; she was supposed to look at the little pieces of text that had stars next to them. People liked to trick you with shiny things.

Beca moved her finger across the large stack; the paper was cool to the touch and caught on the adhesive of her ace bandage. “What exactly are you offering me here?”

Summer 1985

It took her four whole months to save up for the old white Charvel that sat at the back of Shawl's pawn shop. There were bars strapped across the windows and an ugly neon orange sign that let Beca know when they were closed and when they weren’t. She would cling to those bars when old man Shawl would tell her to buy something or get the fuck out.

He stared at her even harder when she emptied the shoebox of change and crumpled up bills stained with sweat and sticky substances onto the glass counter, but even he couldn’t turn down a profit. She waited for ages while his liver-spotted hands counted the money carefully. Then he pursed his lips and pulled the beat up guitar down from his perch above his shoulder.

In later years, Beca knew she didn’t have nearly enough, and she thanked him silently for taking pity on her and passing it over anyway. She was driving all of his customers, she reasoned, by sulking on the hot sidewalk in front of the shop, letting banana flavored popsicles drip onto her fingers until it was nothing but a stick left.

She had fastened the worn leather strap around her chest and straddled her jet red bicycle. Beca had never peddled so fast in her life. The Mid-August heat clung to every inch of her was humming with sweat by the time she skidded to a stop in front of her house. She let the bike drop and got an instant hit of relief when she crossed the threshold into the open garage.

Beca scooted past the dusty Monza that barely fit in front of the door leading into their kitchen. Her mother had bought it off a stranger that came into the diner back in 78’. There were questionable stains in the backseat and an odd scent of Clorox that they could never get rid of. But it ran back and forth, and that’s all they needed.

She pulled open the honey blossom fridge and grabbed the closest thing they had to a cool drink. Beca drank tang straight from the pitcher, letting it drip down her face and soak into the collar of her shirt. She was noisy when she drank, and oblivious to her mother watching her from the archway as she tied her apron around her waist.

“We have glasses, Bec’s”

Her mother didn’t’ comment on the guitar strapped to her back. She figured that her daughter had picked up another hobby. Last year it was basketball, and the year before that she begged and begged for a set of baseball cards from the local hobby shop. After they were shoved under her bed she was told to fund her ventures on her own.

Beca swallowed the last of the orange flavoring on her tongue and took a savoring breath to fill her burning lungs. She turned to the woman and smiled “That would just dirty two things instead of one. Besides, you don’t drink this anyway.”

She couldn’t argue with that. Her mother wrestled silently with the faux pearl earrings that matched the beaded necklace against her collarbone. The soft blue tone of her uniform washed out her skin and made her look pale despite the summer heat that lingered well into August.

Beca placed the glass decanter back into the bottom half of the fridge before she mock saluted her mother and wandered back out to the garage. Her skin instantly became slick with sweat. She pulled an empty milk crate a few inches from the line of the setting sun.

She finally pulled the old Charvel from her back and situated it in her arms. It was far from a perfect fit. She reached over the neck and felt the way the side dug into her ribs uncomfortably. The strings were frail and sounded rough as she dragged her thumb against them.

Beca had only learned the start of one song, the first few cords of Black Sabbath’s Tomorrows Dream. They had printed the cords on the back of the record sleeve, each specific note highlighted in a comically large dot. Beca would breathe in the dust of the garage and listen to the record on a constant loop, pressing her fingers down against the notes.

She took a deep breath and started to follow the instructions that she had completed a million times over. The strings were too tight and it sounded choppy, sharp, and thick all at once. She cringed at her half-hearted attempt and the way the cords cut so deeply into her fingertips they stung.

She ignored the old car pulling out of the garage, and the way she had to squint at the darkness after a while. There was still the sour taste of orange on her tongue and sweat dripped from her nose. But she played and played, and played until there was blood against the white face of the instrument and tears pinching at her eyes. It sounded somewhat like Black Sabbath.

“You like metal?”

Beca jerked her hand back quickly and drew in a sticky warm breath of air. She had been so wrapped up in her task that she hadn’t realized she wasn’t alone anymore. A girl stood in the dull light that leaked from the garage and into the pavement. She didn’t’ quite pass the threshold- instead, she lingered.

A certain chill had invaded the air and the girl folded into herself. Her wild mane of orange hair fell around her shoulders and ghostly blue eyes lit up optimistically at the sight of a guitar.

“Uh,”

“That’s a Charvel, right? I begged my parents for one last Christmas but they got me an acoustic instead. Hooked me up with lessons from Miss Jensen. I learned one country song and started pocketing the fifty bucks a week instead.”

“Yeah,” Beca swallowed hard “It’s a Charvel”

“That’s cool,” she rocked back and forth on the souls of her sneakers. The cold didn’t’ seem to get to her much anymore. Beca tried to place her. Her ears were ringing and her fingers hurt. The crickets were hissing their own song. “You go to Kennedy don’t you?”

“I’m second year”

“I’m third.” She beamed “I live right next door, I’ve seen you around.”

Beca lifted her chin; she had seen the girl around too. It usually followed loud screaming and slamming doors. She would sit on her stoop and stare at the way her cassette player would turn. Beca had seen her flip a tape four times once- still like a statue until the music stopped and hat to be reset.

“Listen, I uh- don’t want to intrude, but maybe we could play together sometime?”

“Yeah, I would like that.” She found herself saying, the orange drink in her system making her stomach churn. She nearly felt bad, felt a pang of sadness for the girl. “I’m Beca.”

“Hi, Beca. I’m Chloe.”

Winter 1994

Beca let the case fall shut a little too loudly. The acoustics on the small stage seemed to catch all the wrong things. She couldn’t get her voice to carry earlier in the night, but the fur-lined box that they housed their amp in bounced all the way to the entry of the little venue in Portland.

She blinked hard, trying to ignore the harsh red lights that covered every single inch of the place. There were bumper stickers covering the spotty paint of the walls and a bar that was more piss and peanut shells than anything. Emily gulped down warm beer and struggled to keep it down momentarily. She didn’t look up at the noise, her stare trained on a coaster, and the crumbs that lie next to it.

Beca leaned back on her heels and pulled in a thick breath. She smelled like sweat and blood and alcohol. Her little stunt had drawn the attention of Aubrey, the woman wrapping the cord to a different amp around her forearm and palm. She narrowed her unripe stare.

“This was fucking shit,”

“I’m doing my best”

They spoke at the same time. She knew that Aubrey’s anger was buzzing, it was festering until it finally burst. She looked pale under the red lights, the same tattoo they had all gotten two years ago stretched under her tank top and down to the gap between her jeans.

She knew what Aubrey was going to say. Her best wasn’t good enough, and it never was; they had been doing this for years, eight long years and they were still playing the shit-stink venues in even shittier towns. They barely had an audience tonight, and it had all been Beca’s fault. The whole room was thinking it, but no one had the balls to say it other than Aubrey.

Chloe moved from the corner of the room, “We’ll get a better place, Bree.”

“Yeah? When? I’m tired of giving my all to an audience that doesn’t’ fucking exist. We’re not kids anymore.”

“We’re shit broke.” Emily turned in the creaky barstool, swallowing the foam at the bottom of her glass. “I don’t even think we have gas in the van.”

“How much from this gig?” Chloe asked.

Her hair was matted with sweat and her thumb pulled at the chain around her neck. It was fastened with a marbled red pick, one from their first real venue ever. She had nervously wiped away the gold lettering and now the smooth plastic was all that was left. Beca hated disappointing her, and she did it often these days.

“Five hundred.”

“Five hundred? Beca that’s barely enough to cover the hotel rooms.” Aubrey let the wrapped cord fall back to the stage “We don’t break even on this. It’s not fucking worth it. It never was and it never is.”

They all knew what came next. Emily stared down a coaster she had begun to shred. The remaining foam on the glass culminated at the very bottom of the glass and she knew she couldn’t muster enough change to order another one. So she sat with the sour taste in her mouth and festered.

Aubrey would mention Julliard.

“I could have had everything.” She hissed instead.

Beca didn’t dignify it with a response. Instead, she leaned down and pulled the amp up with nothing more than a grunt. Instead, she walked out into the cold Portland air and let it make her skin tighter. She blinked away the red light and searched for the keys in her pockets. She had left them inside.

[houstonlocalus-blog]

The Way It Should Be: An Interview with Spiral Stairs

Scott Kannberg. Photo: Steven Simko

  Spiral Stairs, the brainchild of Scott Kannberg, is best known for his role as guitarist of the band Pavement. But since the band’s separation in 1999, he has shown that he’s here to stay, whether that be with the group Preston School of Industry or his solo work. Doris and the Daggers, his latest release, is a 10-track record that sounds like everything you’d want to hear from him, and it’s his first in almost a decade. My first time getting to see him perform was at SXSW where the interview was originally planned to occur, but due to our busy schedules, it didn’t happen. I was bummed. Luckily, however, he announced that he was going to play Houston, and I knew I had to set up something. Trying to hide, or at least limit, the fact that Pavement is my favorite band — maybe the world’s greatest band that has ever existed — I decided the best way to go about this chat was to refrain from working on questions beforehand and instead have an impromptu chat. Free Press Houston was honored to chat with Kannberg about his new music, traveling the world, and the likelihood of another reunion with Pavement somewhere down the road.

  Free Press Houston: Well, first off, I heard your new record back in August and I was hooked on the first listen. It sounds so true to what we’ve heard from you in your other works. Is this actually your first release in eight years?

Spiral Stairs: Basically, yeah. The last one was released back in 2009, and I’ve been working on this one for almost two years now.

FPH: One thing that I like about it, or perhaps all of your work that you’ve done, is how you reference a lot of cities, for example Edinburgh and Tel Aviv. Were you traveling around a lot during those two years working on it? I understand you made the move from the United States to Australia, but now reside in Mexico?

SS: No, not really. I mean, I’ve travelled a lot in my life, but I’ve never been to Tel Aviv. Pavement was supposed to go there for the reunion tour we did in 2010, but it got cancelled because of some bombing or something. But I’ve been to Edinburgh a lot. I also mention Aberdeen, but I’ve never been there. I like referencing cities and places. I was kind of a geography major in college — urban planning and geography. I like cities, I like traveling.

  FPH: I like to read your Twitter every now and then, and you have been a vocal critic of the president. Do you feel like you’ve moved out of the States at the right time?

SS: Well, [laughs] no one would have imagined what had happened, you know, so people could have said, “Well, why’d you leave?” But no, [the move] was all planned before. As you said, I’ve lived in Australia. My wife is Australian. I had my kid there. I really like Australia a lot. I have a lot of friends there. Down there is great. Oh, the golf courses are great there.

FPH: Oh, that’s right. I heard that your whole band really likes golfing!

SS: Yeah! My drummer is a golf pro, by the way.

FPH: You recently donated an unreleased song to a charity. Can you talk about what it was for and the song itself?

SS: Yes, it’s like a heart foundation up in Calgary. This is the second edition of a compilation the guy does. It’s a new song that we actually played in Houston for the first time. It’s like the demo version; we haven’t recorded it yet, the finished version. It’s a cool song for a good cause. My old drummer died from a heart attack.

FPH: At SXSW I heard that your new drummer joined the band in a special way?

SS: Larry, yes. He’s an old friend of mine from San Francisco. We played golf together for years and he always bugged me about playing drums in the band, so when I didn’t have anyone to play the tour I asked if he wanted to come on for five shows and see how it goes. Now he’s going to play them all!

FPH: Did all of this start off at the festival? I remember seeing that you played more shows than most other bands.

SS: Yeah, South By was the start of it. We did some shows on the West Coast in April. Now we’re doing this run, which goes for a couple of weeks. I think we go to Europe in September or October. Hopefully I’ll make a new record and do it all over again.

FPH: How far are you on some new material?

SS: I have most of it written already. I just have to find time to go back into the studio. I’m going to go back in with Kelley Stoltz in San Francisco and try to get something done in August, before the tour in Europe. But it takes so long to put out records these days.

FPH: Yeah, for sure. You went out and started your own label. Was it easier to do that than put it out via some other one?

SS: For this record, Matador was originally going to do it, but they ended up downsizing everything. They didn’t want to put out 30 records a year, they wanted to do five. So I got the axe. [laughs] After spending a bunch of money already, after they promised me some money! Oh well, whatever. Anyway, so I was like, “Shit, I’ll just put it out myself.” I had these friends in Austin and they steered me towards Tim [Regan]. He was like, “Yeah, let’s do it!” It’s been cool. It’s like the way it should be.

FPH: Before it came out did you send it to the other members of the bands you’ve been in?

SS: Yeah, I sent it out to everybody. Steve West wrote back and said he liked it. Actually, he might join in on some songs when we play Chapel Hill in a couple of weeks. Mark Ibold might come do a show. [Stephen] Malkmus was out of town, Portland, or he would’ve come. Bob [Nastanovich], who knows where he is?

FPH: I find it pretty cool that he’s so into horse racing.

SS: Yes, it’s all he talked about. Joking. He loves it, though! If it wasn’t for horse racing, Pavement would’ve never gotten back together.

FPH: Oh, really?

SS: He lost some money on a horse, so we had to get back together so he could pay down his debts.

FPH: I’m sure if there was one question that you’re probably tired of hearing, it’d be this one, but do you see another reunion ever happening?

SS: Hopefully. It’s going to be our 30th anniversary in a couple of years, so we might as well do something. We’re getting old.

FPH: Of course people love to make up rumors about reunions for all defunct bands, but do you think it’s probable that something like that would happen before a group like Oasis?

SS: [laughs] Yeah. I hope we do. I mean, I don’t want them making any more money.

FPH: Your tour manager is a member of the band, and he also is the one who runs your record label. But he also has some connections with Texas; he was in a band named after the state and lives here?

SS: Texas Never Whispers – the Pavement song! I don’t think they’re together anymore, though. He’s got this story about how he broke up with a girl or something and the first song he heard on the radio was “Texas Never Whispers.” He wasn’t really a Pavement fan, but he just said that was going to be the name of his band. He became a fan of the band after that.

FPH: It was never going to be a cover band of sorts?

SS: No, it was always his own stuff. It was just — the song made sense to him. But I think he’s a Pavement fan.

FPH: So a few days ago you played a KEXP set in a new studio. Were you one of the first to play it?

SS: Yes! That place is great. I used to live in Seattle, so it was like I had done a bunch of things at their old studio, which was really small. This was amazing. It was state of the art and a beautiful setup. The guy who engineered it didn’t do the best job, though. There were a few levels that could have been better, but that’s our own fault, probably.

FPH: Was this show the first you’ve played Houston?

SS: No, Preston School of Industry played twice in the early 2000’s. We played Rudyard’s. Pavement’s played all over the place, but I’m not sure if we played Houston. But yea, PSOI did. It might’ve been with Wilco. It was fuzzy. I can’t remember some of those shows. I don’t know if it was because I was drunk, but my parts of my memory are gone, unfortunately.

The Way It Should Be: An Interview with Spiral Stairs this is a repost

[xoloveleonie-ss]

92 truths tag

I was tagged by @queencorgiiv , thanks a lot!

THE LAST…

1. Drink: Water? if that doesn’t count a huge Starbucks caramel macchiato

2. Phone Call: i don’t remember but it probably was @queencorgiiv

3. Text: @queencorgiiv ( i guess you could say we’re friends....kind of :P )

4. Song you listened to: the demo version of the song from Sisters Slam Dunk season 2 ( don’t judge, that song and show is lit )

5. Time you cried: i guess in november when i first moved out and got homesick

HAVE YOU EVER…

6. Dated someone twice: No

7. Been cheated on: No

8. Kissed someone and regretted it: YES!

9. Lost someone special: Yes, but i wasn’t old enough to remember

10. Been depressed: No

11. Gotten drunk and threw up: Yes, 2 times and i’ve learned my lesson

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

Turquoise, Pink, Black/White

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU…

15. Made new friends: Yes

16. Fallen out of love: Nope...not possible if your not in love xD

17. Laughed until you cried: Yes

18. Found out someone was talking about you: Yes...shady friends, shady friends

19. Met someone who changed you: Not that i know

20. Found out who your true friends are: Yes

21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: No

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in really life?: I’m not really on Facebook anymore but i talked at least once to i would say about 98%

23. Do you have any pets: NO, but i want one!

24. Do you want to change your name?: Not really

25. What did you do for your last birthday?: Not much...i was back in my hometown and hung out with my parents and my sister who came just to see me <3

26. What time did you wake up?: 7am because i didn’t know class was canceled -.-

27: What were you doing at midnight last night: i was in my bed with my laptop and probably watching something kpop related

28. Name something you cannot wait for: SNSD 10TH ANNIVERSARY COMEBACK IN JULY/AUGUST!!!!!!

29. When was the last time you saw your mom:  Easter Monday when she droped me off at my place

30. What is one thing you wish you can change about your life: I don’t know. There are some little things but overall i’m pretty satisfied with my life right now.

31. What are you listening to right now: Nothing, I’m concentrating on what i should write here xD

32. Have you talked to a person named Tom: Yes, my professor last semester

33. Something that is getting on your nerves: Uni

34. Most visited website: Twitter and Youtube

35. Elementary: Finished

36: High School: Finished

37: College: I study agricultural science ata uni and i’m in my 2nd semester

38. Hair color: naturally dark blone, right now ginger/light brown

39. Long or short hair: long hair but i’m always tempted to just chop it all off

40. Do you have a crush on someone: Taeyeon No!

41. What do you like about yourself: I actually don’t know...i just generally like myself but i don’t know maybe my figure xD ( i know it sounds shallow but i have a naturally thin figure without having to do anything, it’s great ---> genes ftw )

42. Piercings: only if you count earrings

43. Blood type: O positive

44. Nickname: Leo

45. Relationship Status: singles unite!!

46. Zodiac sign: sagittarius

47. Pronouns: She/her

48. Favorite tv show: Supergirl, The100, The Originals, Sisters Slam Dunk, Produce101S2(guilty pleasure), Channel Soshi

49. Tattoos: Sadly no but i want some small ones. I’m just waiting for the right moment

50. Right or left hand: left

FIRST…

51. Surgery: I got some ?polypus? (i tihnk that’s what it’s called in english, i’m not sure) removed from my nose when i was a little kid so i could breath better but nothing major

52. Piercing: earrings if it counts

53. Word: Uuuuhhhh I don’t know....and i asked my parents a while ago and they don’t know either.....problems of a second born

54. Sport: dancing in like kindergarden but i don’t count that horseback riding

55. Vacation: France at the atlantic ocean

56. Pair of trainers: eeehhh no idea

RECENTLY…

57. Eating: joghurt with fresh strawberrys and pineapple from a little fruit stand

58. Drinking: water

59. I’m about to: decide wether i should shower now or in the morning

60. Listening to: Kard - Rumor (SO GOOOOOOOOD! EVERYBODY STAN THEM!!)

61. Waiting for: me getting a chance to see SNSD live which will never happen honestly rip europen sones

62. Want: To go on vacation with my best friend. Right. Now. ---> i’m not gonna chance @queencorgiiv s answer because i’m that best  friend and i want that too :P <3

DO YOU WANT TO…

63. Get married: Maybe

64. Have a career and if so what: Obviously but i don’t know what XD maybe in some research fasility

WHICH IS BETTER…

65. Hugs or kisses: haven’t had too many kisses so HUGS

66. Lips or eyes: Eyes

67. Shorter or taller: Taller

68. Older or younger: Older

69. Spontaneous or romantic: Spontaneous

70. Nice arms or nice stomach: BOTH but if i have to decide it’s stomach

71. Sensitive or loud: I’d say sensitive, I’m loud enough on my own. I’d say loud, I’m so sensitive on my own @queencorgiiv opposites attract

72. Hook up or relationship: Relationship

73. Troublemaker or hesitant: Neither but more Troublemaker than hesitant, i’m to hesitant myself

HAVE YOU EVER…

74. Kissed a stranger: Yes -.- see nr.8

75. Drank hard liquor:  nr.11 should answere that question

76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: Nope

77. Turned someone down: Jup but not directly...i just avoided them like the immature teen i was and still am at heart

78. Sex on first date: No

79. Broken someone’s heart: i guess with nr.77 i have...but it was just a crush not love...at least that i know of O.O

80. Had your heart broken: No

81. Been arrested: No

82. Cried when someone died: Yes, but it was a fictional character xD

83. Fallen for a friend: Nope

DO YOU BELIEVE…

84. In Yourself: Most of the time

85. Miracles: Yes, i’m always waiting for one to happen to me

86. Love at first sight: Nah

87. Santa Claus: No

88. Kiss on the first date: i guess....depends on the situation

89. Angels:i don’t know i j´guess not but..... “Ofcourse I believe in myself.” ----> LOL what answer is this?! @queencorgiiv

OTHER…

90. Current best friend: @queencorgiiv forever and always, quitting is not an option girl

91. Eye color: greenish/hazel

92. Favorite movie: There are to many to even list but i generally like scifi/fantasy movies

I’m tagging  one of my only few other mutuals @minatozakisanakea