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wisherbysharlight · 5 years ago

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I Wanna Get It, I Didn't Get It, Til Now

Word Count: 4084

Pairing: Analogical

The second in a series of different pairings being capital O Oblivious because that’s a trope I will never ever get tired of.

Virgil sits at the same library table every single day, alone, until one day, Logan needs a seat.

They are both kind of idiots.

Warnings: none that I can think of

AO3 Link

Virgil loved his library table. He would get there after his work study shift in the registrar’s office, around 7pm on weekdays and 1pm on weekends, and the section on the second floor would be mostly clear. Second floor was quiet but not silent, so it didn’t feel oppressive, and he didn’t feel insecure about whether his headphones were too loud or not. His favorite table was just to the left of the water fountain, had an outlet built into it, and the chairs were adjustable enough that he could lean back and press his knees against the side of the table while he typed. He loved his table so much that he’d come even if he didn’t have homework to do, just to scroll through endless Tumblr pages or work on his personal writing. He’d had his table for 3 months with no problem at all, which was why he was baffled when someone came up to him while he was reading and stood expectantly next to the table, overly full backpack hanging off his shoulder.

He recognized the other man immediately, he was another library regular who usually sat two tables away, always messing with his hair and adjusting his tie pushing his glasses up his nose and drawing Virgil’s eye with movement. He took his headphones down and put them around his neck, though he could still faintly hear his music, “Hi? Can I help you?”

“The outlet is broken on my table, and I was wondering if I could join you and utilize the other half of yours?” mystery-man asked, gesturing to where Virgil was only using two of the four outlets.

“Oh sure, of course, go ahead. Sorry about your table,” Virgil offered, brandishing his hand vaguely at the chair across from him.

“You have nothing to apologize for, of course. I appreciate your amenity. I submitted a work order request, hopefully it will be repaired soon,” the other man took the seat and set his things down before extending a hand across the table, “Logan Perry. I believe I’ve seen you here frequently so this is at least a good opportunity to get acquainted.”

Virgil blinked a bit, trying to process, then hurriedly pulled his hand out of the makeshift paw he’d made out of his sweatshirt sleeve and shook Logan’s hand so he wouldn’t think that Virgil didn’t want to, “Um. Yeah. I’ve seen you around too, I think. Virgil Storme. Nice to meet you.”

Logan tipped his head to the side curiously when Virgil leaned over, as though he was listening hard, then adjusted his glasses, “Hmm. Interesting melody. I appreciate the solid bass rhythm. Who is the artist, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“The... Artist? Oh, you mean the band I’m listening to?” he picked his headphones up but only put one ear on, “It’s Arctic Monkeys. They’re like, known, for solid bass lines, which is probably what you could hear.”

Logan hummed like he was intrigued, then began pulling books out of his bag and… wow. That was a lot of books, each one thicker than the last. Chemistry I, Physics II, Theory of Numbers, Discrete Mathematics… Virgil had a headache just looking at the titles, “Uh… Wow. That’s some collection you’ve got there. What year are you?”

“I am a first semester sophomore. I struggled choosing a major, so I opted to dual major in Math and Physics and minor in Philosophy and Conservation Studies. Also a minor in Astronomy, but that came with no extra courseload, just strategic choices in electives. I enjoy learning quite a bit, so I opt to stay during break semesters, and I am on track to graduate on schedule with no more than 18 credits a semester,” Logan rattled off, like he’d gone through the spiel before and was expecting certain questions and wanted to head them off, “And yes, before you ask, I do take breaks, I am not a hermit with no friends, and as far as I know I am not a robot.”

Virgil blinked dazedly again, trying to absorb the bucketful of information being thrown at him, “Cool. Sounds like you’ve got it under control then. I’m dual-major too, but creative writing and interactive media design have a bunch of overlap.”

Logan nodded, pulling out what must have been the notebook he was looking for with a triumphant noise, “You want to be a game designer then? Very lucrative career to choose, especially with the current market for such employs.”

“I wanna write books, actually, but like you said, markets good for game writers and I wanna have a fall back in case everything sucks, ya know?” Virgil admitted. He’d been told his stories were good, sure, but there was always a chance it would all go to shit, and the only way to account for that was to put 110% in and have a backup plan for his backup plan’s backup plan.

Logan gave him an indecipherable look that passed in a moment before he went back to his neutral expression, “Understandable, I suppose. If you would ever like a second opinion on a piece, please allow me to offer my aid. I may not be as fluent in creative ventures, but I am a fan of such works, and my roommate often uses me as a sounding board for his own ideas.”

Virgil tried not to let his surprise show, he didn’t want to offend his new… desk-mate? Acquaintance? Study partner? Whatever Logan was to him now. “Sure, uh, that’d be great. I don’t know if I can offer the same, since, ya know, science is really not my strong suit, but I can try?”

Logan pushed his hand through his hair and pulled a hairtie off his wrist to pull it up into a slightly messy bun that kept his hair out of his eyes. Virgil noticed it actually looked more red than brown as the light hit it, and was so distracted he almost didn’t notice Logan offer a genuine smile, green eyes sparkling and catching Virgil off guard yet again with just how attractive he actually was, and flipped his laptop open, “That would be much appreciated Virgil. Thank you.”

They worked together in silence for the next hour and a half, then both headed back to their dorms. Virgil felt even more productive with just Logan’s presence and aura of concentration, and he found himself hoping the work order took a while to be completed.

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The next day, Virgil arrived at his table to find Logan already there, two coffee cups in front of him, studying a tome of a textbook raptly. Still, he looked up when Virgil took his seat across from him and pushed one of the coffee cups his way, “I made myself a tea downstairs and figured I’d make a second in case you wanted one. It’s a vanilla flavored English black tea, not the garbage they serve in the dining halls.”

Virgil grabbed the cup greedily, “Oh shit this is perfect, I had an 8am and desperately needed caffeine.” He took an experimental sip and groaned a bit as it hit his tongue, closing his eyes as the warmth passed through him like a calming fire, “Thank you, Logan, it’s delicious.” He thought he heard a choking sound, but when he looked up, Logan was looking back down at his notebook. He thought he saw a slight flush to his face, “Hey, you alright?”

“Oh yes, I’m fine. I just needed to clear my throat,” Logan insisted, though he did not look up from his book and his cheeks got even brighter. Virgil supposed he was probably a little embarrassed since he was normally so poised and put together.

“Ok, if you’re sure!” He opened his laptop and checked his to-do list, and was thrilled to realize he didn’t have anything urgent in terms of schoolwork. He opened his novel document instead, and immediately remembered why he’d left off where he did as the frustration resurfaced. Well, he thought, now was as good a time as ever to see if Logan meant it when he said he was willing to help. “Hey, Lo, could you help me find a word for what I’m trying to say here?”

Logan finally looked up from his book, sticking a bookmark in and closing it before adjusting his glasses and giving Virgil his full attention, “Absolutely, I could do with a break from formulae. Go ahead.”

Virgil felt a little off balance with the full weight of Logan’s stare, and his brain suddenly chose this moment to remind him that he was very, very gay. He cleared his throat and looked back down at his laptop so he wouldn’t be distracted, “Oh. Um. Thanks. So this guy is looking at his friend who he hadn’t really noticed in a romantic sense before, but i need a word for ‘‘momentary gay panic at how pretty he is’ without saying it like that. Like more poetic? Or just less casual.”

Logan cleared his throat, face flushing again, and Virgil had a moment of alarm when he realized he didn’t even know if Logan was ok with LGBT stuff, and oh god, what if he was a homophobe and yelled at him or he just made him super uncomfortable or - “While romantic language is typically much more my roommate’s forte, I can certainly, er, relate, to the situation you are describing, and attempt to describe it as Roman would.”

Virgil let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding, relaxing once he realized the source of Logan’s hesitation was not derived from intolerance but instead from hitting a little too close to home. Then, in a moment of emotional whiplash, his breath caught again as he realized it hit a little too close to home and that meant Logan was likely attracted to men and that was nerve-wracking in an entirely different way. He forced himself to relax, knowing that Logan was likely waiting for an answer, and stammered out, “Y-Yeah, that would be good. Anything would help.”

“I believe a good way to phrase it would be ‘Suddenly caught unaware by the realization that he may be attracted to this man’. You could also describe side effects of the feeling itself, such as flushed skin or quickened heartbeat or what I believe my friend Patton calls butterflies?, rather than spelling it out explicitly.”

Virgil couldn’t hold back a grin as the inspiration hit him, “Oh! Duh! Show don’t tell would work perfect here, thank you Logan you rock!”

He didn’t miss the way Logan looked momentarily shell-shocked and made a mental note to be sure to give him more compliments in the future, if he was that maladjusted to them.

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Virgil hissed as his pencil broke again, clicking the end to get more lead a bit more aggressively than he probably needed to. Calculus was the devil, he’d decided. He was in hell and series and sequences were his instrument of torture.

Logan cleared his throat and Virgil’s head shot up in surprise. When had Logan gotten there? Oh good, tea, that was always welcome. He grabbed the cup Logan extended towards him and started chugging before Logan could even give him the usual background on what kind it was like he had every day for the past month. The other table was definitely fixed by now, but the two of them had gotten so used to the company that they’d just kept sitting together. “Virgil, are you… alright?” Logan asked tentatively, and Virgil looked up again, guilty and a bit crazy eyed.

“Fuck that was so rude. Yes. Yes, I’m fine, sorry, thanks for the tea Lo, I’m just stressed about this godforsaken calc II exam I have Monday. I don’t understand any of this stuff,” he gestured to the packets and notebook and textbook spread out on the table.

“That’s quite alright, I’m familiar with the stress of midterms. Though I may be able to help alleviate some of yours? I am a junior TA for Calc II, I could potentially provide assistance,” Logan offered.

Virgil let out a breath of relief, twisting one of his rings in an attempt to quell some of his nervous energy, “Oh that would be incredible. My Grad TA’s office hours are during when I have work, and he’s kinda a dick anyway.”

Logan exhaled heavily like he was trying not to laugh. “Chad, I assume?” he asked and Virgil nodded, “Well I can definitely be more helpful than that glorified orangutan.” It was Virgil’s turn to be startled into laughing, “Here, let me see what you’re working on....”

An hour and a half later, Logan was watching him work carefully and when he tentatively circled his final answer he gave him an encouraging nod and a smile, “You’ve got it now. See, it’s all about the rules and the patterns.”

“Oh Logan I could kiss you,” Virgil enthused, still looking in amazement at his own work, “You just saved my entire life, thank you.”

Logan cleared his throat and turned away, though when Virgil looked up he could see that the tips of his ears were red. Ugh, you’d think after a month he’d be used to being complimented by now. “Well, if that was all, I, er, I need to work on some of my own assignments.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course, I can do more practice myself,” Virgil told him, waving him away with a smile, “You’ve absolutely helped enough, I’ll get you that jam you like so much or something. I owe you so much.”

Logan mumbled something in return but when Virgil asked him to repeat it he stammered, “I’ll be right back!” and ran off to the bathroom. Virgil shrugged and went back to puzzling through the rest of his study guide.

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“-so, theoretically, there could in fact be another planet in this solar system, but it would need to be far enough away or small enough to not affect the gravitational pull of Pluto’s moons in a significant way or just in a way which is balanced by another gravitational pull which forced our equations to not identify any irregularity.”

“Well shit,” Virgil breathed, “So, theoretically, how possible are aliens?”

“Damn close to guaranteed,” Logan told him with a grin, “Intelligent life, that’s another story, but I still believe they are highly likely-”

Virgil set his head in his hands, pushing his work to the side so he could simply listen.

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“I’m going to head down to the cafeteria to make another cup of tea, would you like to join me?”

“Sure thing, Lo, I desperately need to not look at this anymore.” Virgil felt a teeny bit of pride when Logan choked on nothing in what Virgil assumed was shock as he stood up to stretch and revealed his outfit, his heels giving him the extra three inches he needed to be what Remy called scary tall, which was actually enough to effectively tower over Logan, and the confidence to leave his sweatshirt unzipped over a mesh crop top and ripped jeans that he knew looked good, as he had been assured so around 100 times before he agreed to go to the library in it in the first place, “Sorry, forgot you got here after me, my friend’s playing a show tonight after this and I told him I’d hang with his boyfriend and make sure no one gets obnoxious. So I got a little dressed up, cuz I didn’t wanna have to go back to my apartment in between. Besides, when I’m this tall no one fucks with me in general, not just in the mosh pit.”

“That is… certainly an outfit,” Logan wheezed, then took a sip of his water in an attempt to wash it down.

“You ok L? You’re all red, I don’t need you dying on me,” Virgil asked, concerned his friend was actually drowning on his own water bottle.

Logan waved him off, gulping water down like he’d been stuck in the desert for days. “Yes, yes, just a little, erm, parched. Got a bit too focused and forgot to drink and you startled me.”

“Whatever you say, Professor,” Virgil teased, stretching his arms up to try to roll his shoulders, “Just don’t get too enthusiastic there. Last thing we need is you to choke to death cuz you were thirsty.”

Logan seemed to make a concentrated effort not to choke again, adjusting his tie and turning on his heel quickly to head down to the cafe, and Virgil considered it a win.

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There was someone else at their table. The new man was broad shouldered, with dirty blonde hair that had just a bit of a beachy wave to it, skin tanned perfectly like he’d never spent a day out of the sun. How was that even possible? They went to school in Massachusetts and it was January. He was gesturing wildly while he spoke and Logan was doing that half-laugh he did when he thought something was funny but didn’t want to admit it and Virgil felt… something… pang deep in his stomach. Of course, Logan was ridiculously hot, Virgil had no chance at all, even if he’d been starting to feel like there was something between them. He definitely didn’t have a chance if Logan wanted someone that looked like that. He couldn’t help but be a little vindictive though as he plastered a smile onto his face and headed over, setting his bag down with a resounding thump, “Wow, this quiet corner just keeps getting more crowded, huh?”

Logan startled a bit, and Virgil could have been imagining it but he thought he saw a flash of hurt at Virgil’s tone, “I-I suppose. This is Roman, he needed some assistance with his screenplay and I suggested he come here, but we can go back to our apartment if it will be too much of a nuisance for you.”

Virgil would have eaten his own shoe to take back his original words, but he couldn’t, so he covered up as best he could, “R-Roman. Your roommate. Of course. Hi, I’m Virgil, you can definitely stay. Sorry, just had a long day at work, I’m a little - er- cranky, or whatever.”

Roman gave him a smirk that was just a tad too knowing for Virgil’s taste, “Don’t worry, Mr. Prince of Darkness. I’ll be out of your hair soon and you two can get back to doing whatever the hell it is you do every day. Just need the human thesaurus here to help me out a bit, and it’s not like he’s ever home anymore with how often he hangs around here for your little study-”

“Roman,” Logan hissed quickly, and Virgil saw Roman shoot him an unimpressed look.

“Study sessions.” Roman finished, “Now come on Pocket Protector, what’s another word for pining. I’ve already used it twice, and longing and yearning are both not quite a right fit.” Virgil had a momentary thought that Roman should be very glad looks couldn’t kill, with how Logan was glaring him down. “Nothing? How about some flowery language for black hair or blue eyes, hmm? Think you can help me there?”

“Roman Michaels.” Logan bit out, and Roman gave him a bright, shit-eating grin.

“No? How about helping me with a sweatshirt sharing scene, how about that? I mean, it’s a cliche, sure, but I’m sure we can put a spin on it, like make it clearly well used and important...”

“I will dye your hair fluorescent orange in your sleep Roman, I swear,” Logan seethed, and Virgil was stock still, eyes wide as they darted between the two roommates.

”Maybe some music recommendations then? Those are slightly less cliche…”

“Destroy your conditioner and hide your blow dryer, add cheap hair gel to all your shampoo,” Logan continued, attempting to speak over him.

“I know you’ll suggest a height difference, I believe I can fit that in,” Roman’s voice was rising too, and the new occupants of Logan’s old table were firing dirty looks at them.

“Guys?” Virgil asked quietly and both of the roommates stopped immediately, turning to him with fire in their eyes, “Um. I guess this is like... a touchy subject? But people are staring cuz you guys are sorta… loud.”

Roman and Logan both flushed brightly, turning to give awkward waves to the other table while Virgil tried to comprehend what had just happened, “So like… Logan you’re pretty passionate about Roman’s screenplay, huh?”

Roman groaned dramatically and shoved his laptop in his bag, standing abruptly. “I can’t believe there’s two people as oblivious as you,” he muttered like a curse, then almost literally flounced off with a clearly meaningful look shot at Logan that Virgil couldn’t quite figure out but made Logan flush brighter.

It was silent for a couple minutes, just the taptaptap of Virgil’s pen against his notebook sounding out through the space between them, before Virgil couldn’t take it and spoke up, “You wanna talk about why that was a thing for you or nah?”

“Y-You don’t know? Seriously?” Logan looked incredulous, then laughed a little to himself, “Virgil. He was teasing me.”

“Teasing you? About what?” Virgil asked, trying to think through what it could possibly be, “You that against, like, cheesy romcom cliches?”

Logan shook his head, still looking like Virgil had amazed him in some way, “Virgil. Please. Think about it. Black hair, blue eyes, height difference, well-worn sweatshirts and music recommendations. You don’t have any idea what he could possibly be mocking me for?”

Virgil’s brow creased in thought, and suddenly it hit him and he audibly gasped, making Logan swallow nervously, and the word pining soared to the front of his mind, “Y-You. You mean?”

“I am… Interested in you Virgil. Romantically. I have been since far before I ever sat at your table, the broken outlet just provided a good excuse for me to finally attempt to talk to you. Roman was… blunt but he had informed me that he was, and I quote, ‘Coming to see what the fuss was about’ after I got, I admit, a bit too in depth in lamenting my inability to ask you out on a date. I had no idea he would be so infuriatingly obtuse about it, I hope he did not make you uncomfortable. Obviously, you do not share the sentiment-”

“Whoa whoa. Hold on there. Who said I didn’t?” Virgil cut in quickly before Logan could keep babbling, recognizing social anxiety when he saw it, “Cuz I sure didn’t.”

“...I’m sorry?”

“You should be. Can’t go assuming stuff about people, L. Now why don’t you ask me, straightforward, if I am interested. Because I can guarantee you will like the answer.”

Logan cleared his throat, then swallowed thickly, his cheeks lightly pink, “Well then, Virgil, I like you very much and would like to know if you would like to accompany me to dinner this Friday night? As a date?”

“I’ll do you one better, since I also very much like you back, and I don’t think my anxiety could take waiting that long. Let’s go get some food right now. I’m starving and I would very much like to kiss you and I want to get at least one date in before I totally ruin your opinion of me and do that right here in this library, and Friday can be our second date, deal?” Virgil offered, extending his hand across the table to Logan.

Logan grasped his hand and brought it up to his lips, pressing a kiss to his knuckles with a heady glance up through his glasses, “V, I think you will find that there is not much that you could do which I would not fully endorse at this moment. But I absolutely accept this proposal. Let’s go.”

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5 years later, almost exactly to the day, Roman is insufferable during his best man speech about the fact that he is the reason they even got together in the first place, and insists that if left to their own devices they would still be meeting at 7pm on weeknights and 1pm on weekends at a table in the corner of the library with the good chairs and never, ever confessing their love. Logan and Virgil are too busy clinging to each others’ hands and staring into each others’ eyes to dispute it at all.

#analogical #logan sanders #virgil sanders #my writing #sanders sides fic

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gayenerd · 4 years ago

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This interview was the cover story for the 17th issue of Jaded In Chicago. It was conducted in September of 2004, several weeks prior to the release of American Idiot. It was a fitting end to the fanzine that was named after the band, as “Jaded In Chicago” references Green Day’s 1994 MTV concert special. To come full circle by interviewing the band that inspired the zine’s moniker was somewhat surreal.

With the release of American Idiot, Green Day has transcended punk rock. By crafting the first punk rock opera and fashioning what is likely the first tasteful concept album of the new millennium, they’ve provided pop punk bands everywhere with a blueprint for how to mature gracefully. Additionally, as much as American Idiot is about innovation, it’s also a return to the fundamentals of punk rock. The album sears with dissent, takes aim between the eyes of the Bush administration and contains a dangerous sense of unpredictability. It’s been ten years since Green Day was the most popular band in the world and with any luck American Idiot will allow them to recapture that title in no time. (Interview with drummer Tré Cool).

Bill – Before we talk about American Idiot, I wanted to discuss the infamous “lost” album first. About a year and a half ago, you guys recorded what was to be the follow-up to Warning, but reportedly the master tapes were stolen. What can you tell me about what happened?

Tré – We just knew that if it ever came out, we couldn’t do any of those same songs on the actual record. If somebody puts it out, like crappier versions of the songs, it’s going to totally ruin it. Plus, it happened right around the same time that Billie wrote the song “American Idiot” and most of “Holiday.” We were in the middle of working on those songs, so we just decided not to look back and we kept going forward.

Bill – I’ve read that you feel American Idiot is “maximum Green Day.” Why exactly do you feel this way?

Tré – Well, because we’re firing on all cylinders, ya know? Everything about even just being in the band now feels so right. Everything from the recording process to the live shows to our ambitions. This might sound kind of dumb, but even the clothes we’re wearing during photo shoots. It’s more together like a band.

Bill – People are certainly expecting this record to be political, but I think they’re going to be surprised when they hear how you really go for the throat with some of the lyrics. Examples of this would of course be the title track and also the breakdown section of “Holiday.” What are some of the main reasons why you’re so pissed off with this country?

Tré – It’s more like confused and jaded, if you will, (laughs). The bombardment of bullshit, fake news, like Fox News and CNN. All the reality-based shit that’s on television, stuff like Fear Factor that the government is using to keep everybody like good little sheep and not asking too many questions. It’s like how if a cop hears you use the word “terror” it basically means he can take any normal American citizen’s rights away from them. A cop can do that at his or her discretion if they think you might be a terrorist or whatnot. The whole Patriot Act. It’s like do we actually have any rights after all? We don’t have the right to a proper election, we already found that out. The fabric of our government right now is basically just made out of one hundred dollar bills that are drenched in oil. As far as this upcoming election goes, I know that John Kerry is extremely conservative and he’s nowhere near the liberal we need in the White House to clean up the mess. However, he’s not George Bush. Kerry’s money is in ketchup. Bush’s money is in oil and blood. I’d choose ketchup over that, (laughs).

Bill – How do you hope people react to these songs?

Tré – I hope they can look past the strong language and go into the meaning of it. I hope they realize there’s a bit of sarcasm. I hope they don’t feel that we’re telling them what to do. We’re just sort of pointing the fingers at ourselves, saying like “I don’t want to be an American idiot or I don’t want to be a part of this bullshit.”

Bill – Talk about the character called “Jesus of Suburbia.” What sort of journey does he embark on throughout these songs and what made you choose this type of format for your songwriting?

Tré – The album is sort of like a timeline of his life. Depending on where you’re at with your life, you probably fit somewhere on that timeline yourself. Whether it’s the “Holiday” party stage, or the “Give Me Novacaine” drug stage or the “Extraordinary Girl” being in love stage; all these different stages in life show that what paths you choose will inevitably lead you somewhere. It’s not necessarily the happiest ending in the world, but it’s pretty realistic.

Bill – Are you at all worried about some of your fans possibly being alienated by the two nine-minute rock operas found on the album?

Tré – I don’t think they’ll even notice they’re nine-minute songs. They’ll think they’re a bunch of short songs put together. It’s definitely short attention span theater. It’s not like Wilco, where they have a ten-minute song with the same drumbeat and the same chord progression. Not saying anything bad about Wilco, they’re a fine band. They’re great to relax to and drink iced tea to, (laughs). I think we’d get bored doing that. We just sort of get to the point, say what we want to say and move on to the next part of the song. The way the energy flows in the songs is sort of like the way America is now too, just so scattered. There’s a big misrepresentation of how we feel in this bullshit climate right now.

Bill – One of the most important topics you address on this record is the American media. Specifically, how it perpetuates fear amongst the public and does little to question the President’s follow-through on his promises. Do you think the average American is aware of how the wool is being pulled over their eyes?

Tré – No, not at all. Say you see some guy driving down the street with a Bush/Cheney sticker on his Chevy S-10, beat-up truck with a pair of flip-flops hanging off the back. I want to ask him, “Why the fuck are you a Republican? What’s in it for you, dude?” Bush isn’t doing a thing for those people. He’s not helping them get a better truck or put food on the table. He’s not going to give them a tax break. Republicans don’t care about you. They’re not going to try and help you in any way. They just want to use you and get your dead peasants insurance once you’re gone.

Bill – Tell me about the upcoming club dates that you have scheduled where you plan to perform American Idiot in its entirety. Who came up with the idea and what are you looking forward to most about it?

Tré – I’d credit Pete Townshend with the idea. We’ve always admired The Who and their lack of inhibition as far as going for whatever crazy idea they had. As crazy as something like Tommy was when it was just a small idea, compared to what it’s become now, it’s pretty insane. They did A Quick One, where they played that live. That was a quick one, but ours is an hour. Basically, we just want to kick The Who’s ass. I listened to Who’s Next yesterday, which a lot of people are comparing American Idiot to. We totally got them beat. I’ve always aspired to be as good of a drummer as Keith Moon and I think I’ve fuckin’ passed by him on this record.

Bill – Roughly ten years ago, Dookie was released and went on to sell over ten million copies and become one of the most notable albums of the ‘90s. A decade later, I think you’ve constructed in American Idiot what is arguably your strongest record yet. Is there anything specific that you hope American Idiot accomplishes?

Tré – Yeah, I think it’s about time that people think of Green Day in a different light. We’re not snot-nosed kids anymore, we’re men now. I want people to think of us more as one of the mainstay supergroups of today. I’m not asking for too much, (laughs). We’re superheroes in our own minds. We think we’re really cool, why doesn’t everybody else?

Bill – What was the weirdest thing about being the biggest band in America in 1994?

Tré – I don’t think we really had time to enjoy it when it was happening. We were just trying to pay our rent and be able to make records for the rest of our lives. We didn’t know anything like that was ever going to happen. It sort of freaked us out a bit, but at the same time I was kind of busy just moving and doing it. We didn’t have time to look back since we were doing so much. By the time we had taken a break to make Insomniac it was like, “Do you guys know what you just did?” We were like, “Oh…shit.”

Bill – Earlier this year, Thick Records released the Out of Focus DVD, which featured live Green Day footage circa 1992. What are some of your favorite memories from playing at McGregor’s in Elmhurst, Illinois?

Tré – Demetri. Demetri was this male stripper that came onstage for some girl’s birthday at McGregor’s one night. They had her sit in this chair and the stripper did his thing for her. It was fuckin’ hilarious. In the middle of our show too. We took a timeout and let her get her strip on. I think that was the last time we played McGregor’s actually. I remember seeing State Street and I remember taking acid in Chicago. I remember going to the lake and wondering why all the fish were dead. I was inside Buckingham Fountain too. It was real hot out and I got in there during the Blues Fest. There were like a million people down there, but just one in the fountain. Of course this cop was like, “Get the fuck out of there! What are you thinking?” I was like, “I don’t know. I’m fried, dude.”

Bill – Do you have any comments regarding the rumors connecting members of Green Day to the mysterious band known as The Network?

Tré – The only connection is that their record was on Adeline, which is a label run by Billie Joe’s wife. That’s a few degrees of separation if you ask me. I think they’re getting a lot of mileage out of telling people they’re Green Day or pretending to be Green Day. The Network is not Green Day. Bastards.

Bill – Growing up I know that bands like the Ramones and The Who were very influential for you. What’s it like to now be one of the biggest influences on an entire generation of punk bands?

Tré – It’s kind of wild. Especially when younger bands meet you and they’re all nervous and stuff. You sort of get a little paternal with it, like “Ah…my children.” I feel like Michael Landon from Little House on the Prairie.

Bill – What has been the hardest part about achieving all the success you’ve attained?

Tré – I think you can pretty much choose what you want to deal with. You can choose for it to be difficult or you can enjoy it. It’s kind of up to the person.

Bill – After seven albums, what aspects of punk rock are still fresh and exciting to you?

Tré – I like seeing new bands. Bands that aren’t carbon-copied pop punk bands. Bands like Dillinger Four fuckin’ excite me. I think the Rock Against Bush compilation is a pretty damn good CD. There are some older bands on there that are still going strong and some younger bands that are real fresh and exciting too.

Bill – What does the future hold for Green Day?

Tré – I think whatever we put out next has got to be really fuckin’ good. After American Idiot we set the bar so high. It’s kind of like, “Now what are we going to do?”

#i've never heard of this zine before but i guess it ended in 2004 #article #articles #interview #tre cool

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years ago

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Survey #469

“i am hungry for some unrest / i wanna push it beyond a peaceful protest”

Do you have any goats? Can't say I do. Are you going to be getting any new pets soon? No. Would you rather be a panda or grizzly bear? As a protected species, I'd say a panda. Do you like BBQ sauce? I hate it. Can you do a twirl like a ballerina? No. Does your house have a pool? No. Do you own an iPad? No. What’s a topic you’ve drastically changed your opinion on? A LOT. Many years ago, I was very conservative, now I'm definitely more liberal. What’s an achievement you hope to see humanity accomplish in your lifetime? I'd really love to see great improvements in nature and wildlife conservation. Are you and your SO Facebook official? We're like... half official? He never checks his notifications, EVER, so he hasn't verified our relationship status. Instead, it just says on my profile "in a relationship with ____ (pending)." I don't mind, though. "Facebook official" doesn't mean much to me at all. What matters is that we know. Have you ever bathed in a river or a lake? I've swum in them, but I most certainly haven't bathed in one. Have you bought a bag of potato chips in the past week? No. I avoid chips because I'll eat too many. What was your first job? And how long did you work there? I was a sales associate at GameStop for like two months, but keep in mind I was VERY rarely on the schedule, so I probably didn't even work for a week's time in total. Can you drive? I can, but I don't do it well and don't have my license. My permit's even long expired. I plan on forcing myself to practice and get licensed once I get new glasses, though (whenever I can afford that...). Right now I couldn't even pass the vision test. I just have to do it; public transport isn't big here AT ALL, and I can't keep relying on others to get me everywhere. Do you spend too much time online? Way, way too much. Extremely high odds are, if I'm conscious, I'm on the computer. I want to change that so badly and experience other things in life way more regularly, it's just an addiction that has been an issue since I was first exposed to the Internet. Do you like to travel? I barely ever get to do it, but yes, I love it. How did you first notice the last person you kissed? Well, it's kinda hard NOT to subconsciously notice the guy who played the fuckin' huge-ass tuba in band, ha ha. Why will/won’t you and your ex get back together? THE ex, because 1.) I'm sure he wants nothing to do with me, and 2.) because I'd be much too worried he'd leave again if I relapse with my depression badly enough. Do you use the words "I love you" too lightly? Definitely not. Do you like pizza? Legit, are there people who don't like pizza???? Do you use an alarm clock? I use my phone for that. Name something that is currently making you happy. Girt is making me really, really happy. I'm still not happy at my core, but, y'know. A person can't do that, anyway. What do you want for Christmas this year? Stiiiill a 40 gallon for Venus with proper equipment... I need a fucking job. That's going to be my answer possibly past Christmas because I just completely rely on my parents financially. Are you excited for the holidays? Very, except for Thanksgiving. I'm way more hyped for Halloween and Christmas and all it entails than usual. Name one tattoo you would like to get someday. I'll give ya one I don't think I've mentioned. On top of one of my hands, over some sort of fiery graphic, I want "Gefährlich ist wer Schmerzen kennt" (translated to "whoever knows pain is dangerous") written in fine text. It's a lyric from the song "Feuer frei!" by Rammstein that I just find very powerful, and not necessarily in an dark way. Are you afraid of stink bugs? Yes, because they're a form of beetle, which tend to scare me. Do you wear contact lenses? No, but I wish. :/ There are piercings I want that would look stupid with glasses. One of my eyes has such bad vision that I need a weighted contact in it (don't ask me exactly what the difference is), and I could feel it way too clearly in my eye, and it made it heavy. Wearing those contacts did NOT last long; I went back to my glasses. Have you ever danced in the rain? No. What was your last dream about? Astonishingly, I don't remember. Where was the last place you went besides your house? The doctor's office. Do you feel like you're judged for your looks? Being someone who is by definition obese, I'm certain some people do. Do you fight with your parents a lot? No. Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over. Why? I never have been. Do you like hot sauce? Yes. How bored are you right now? Very, very bored. As a side effect of depression, I experience severe anhedonia like... constantly, at least to some degree. No exaggeration. It makes my life a fucking drag. It's why I take surveys so much; the randomness of the questions is at least a momentary distraction. Do you think you would make a good model? Hell no. Even if I was in a physical shape for anyone to be interested in photographing me, I would feel WAY too awkward. Are you a good singer? No. Do the Emergency Alert System noises on TV freak you out? Yes, because I immediately assume it's a tornado warning. Describe your perfect date. Actually I'm planning something for Girt and me hopefully on Halloween (or if he has to work, at least close to) that is like absolutely effin' perfect for me. Carve some pumpkins together, make those Pillsbury Halloween cookies, and binge some spooky movies. :') Do your parents trust you? Yeah. Do you like pot roast? No. Have you ever thought about being a stripper? No. Are you flexible? No. Can you wiggle your nose? Nope. Have you ever played Mario Kart? Yes. My younger sister especially was sooo good at it; she doesn't even play video games and yet she was hooked on it for a while. How often do you go shopping for clothes? Almost never. I really, really need to for undergarments and pants now. Do you have a high IQ? I don't know my IQ, but I very much doubt it. Would you ride a motorcycle if you had the chance? No. They scare me. Have you ever been bitten by a dog? No. Do you like the smell of cinnamon? yessssss Do you like frogs? I love those lil bug-eyed cuties!!! :') Are you afraid of dying? Not massively. I mean yeah, I don't want to die and the fear of the unknown is there, but I really don't think I'm as scared of it as most people. Do you like bananas? Yeah. Where's the last place you've been to out of state? Lake Gaston in Virginia. What are you listening to right now? I'm watching another playthrough of Fatal Frame 3. Gotta say it's probably my favorite that I've seen/played of the franchise now. Would you rather use a trackpad or a mouse? Mouse, for sure. Do you like steak? Yes. What was the best gift you've ever received? My late dog. Tell me one of your pet peeves. Consistently trying to make conversation with me when I have headphones on. It's a bitchy pet peeve, but a pet peeve nonetheless. Do you like to keep your nails painted? I don't paint my nails or care to. Are you a Duck Dynasty fan? I was a long time ago when I actually watched it. I wouldn't watch it now because I don't support the overly-conservative cast, having followed a couple on Facebook for a time. Have you ever played with Silly Putty? As a kid, for sure. I loved that stuff. Do you take in a lot of caffeine daily? Yes. :x Do you know a lot about history? Definitely not. Are you allergic to pollen? Yes. Would you rather play Xbox or PlayStation? I'm a PlayStation gal. Have you ever worked at a fast food place? No, and I neeeeever would. Hungry people are the worst. Do you like hot tubs? Meh, I have to be in the right mood. Do you know anyone who is battling cancer? Not at this current moment. Are you good at doing fractions? NOOOOOOO, or doing ANY kind of math. Have you ever auditioned for a talent competition? No. Would you rather get high or get drunk? I've never experienced either, but probably high. Being drunk is usually synonymous with being sloppy. Do you like the Silent Hill movies? AYEEEEEEEEE I'm the chick to ask! I love the first one, it's brilliant and loyal to the idea of the series but still unique from the original story of the pilot game. The second one is objectively fucking awful story-wise and is SO all over the place, but I can still enjoy it as an obsessed fan of that franchise. Did you ever want to be a doctor? I wanted to be a vet for a long time, if that counts. [TW: SUICIDE] The last person you kissed, how many times have you cried in front of them? I probably cried some/was teared up to some degree when he visited me in the ER after my overdose. Do you think you can last in a relationship for 1 month? Is this written for a middle schooler? No shit I could, and have in the past on more than one occasion. Have you kissed someone with braces? No. Is this the best year of your life? Nooo sir. Can you have more than one best friend? Yeah. What do you like better: hot chocolate or hot apple cider? Hot chocolate. ooo: What are your full initials? BMD. Would you ever let your grandma set you up on a blind date? She's dead, but if she wasn't? HEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL NO. Do you ever wonder if you will get in a car accident and die? As someone who is terrified of driving, absolutely. I'm primarily more concerned about becoming paralyzed from the neck down, though. I'd rather die than that. So your ex comes to you and says “I want you back”, what do you say? I'd probably say, "I'm happy to finally be able to say 'no'" or something along those lines. Maybe even just a simple "no." Which was worse for you: freshman year of high school or of college? College. I was so fucking depressed and lost. What is the last language you spoke, other than your first? German. Would you ever consider moving to a different country? Canada, yes, if it didn't mean leaving my family and now boyfriend. What is your favourite food from your culture? Burgers. @_@ Other than your name, what was the last name someone called you? Britt. If you could find one long lost friend of the past, who would it be? Megan. I found her on Facebook before and sent her two messages over the past something years, but she never responded. It's frustrating, like I was so close to reuniting with her, but not close enough. Do you wash your hair or your body first when taking a shower? Hair. Have you ever been to a nursing home? Yes, with my mother to visit someone.

#survey #surveys #random questions #lyrics: ''unnatural selection'' by muse

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unibrowzz · 4 years ago

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Mod (finally) reviews all 67 winners of the Eurovision Song Contest Part VI: The 00s

So I gave the 2000s a lot of shit back when I was rewatching them, mainly because the contests became much longer now with the introductions of so many more participants that semi finals had to be introduced, and also because the song quality nosedived. With the televote now in full control of who won, all you really needed to do to get a good result was either send somebody well known in your geographical area, and/or send something weird that would stand out amongst 40+ participants.

This is where the illusion of “bloc voting” came from.

So song, quality for the most part, was compromised in favour of either sending an attention-grabbing vote trap or just somebody famous. But that’s enough about the contests overall, how’s about them winners?

2000- Fly on the Wings of Love

Country: Denmark

Artist: Olsen Brothers

Language: English

Thoughts: I wonder how it feels to wait nearly 40 years to win again only to win as a complete surprise with a song 100/1 in the odds. Must be weird. My feelings towards this song are… kinda mixed. It sounds like the kind of song you swear you’ve heard before over a million times, be it in advertisements, on the radio, being played by buskers or bored guitar kids at parties. But at the same time it feels so completely different compared to other winners and, Hell, even other Eurovision songs at the time. It’s a very striking and recognisable song when talking about Eurovision music, sure. It’s very chill, and relaxed, and the singer has a bizarre voice which somehow sounds heavily autotuned even when he’s performing live.

Is this my personal winner for this year? Not really

If no, what is? Sweden- Roger Pontare- “When Spirits are Calling my Name”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 46th

2001- Everybody

Country: Estonia

Artist: Tanel Padar & Dave Benton

Language: English

Thoughts: And this folks, is what you call a guilty pleasure. I avoided this song for a while because I just knew it was objectively terrible. I knew this barely qualified as a song, that most of it was just two mismatched dudes shouting at each other over a disco track, that the lyrics aren’t that great at all… Et cetera. And yet, trashy as it is, I still really like this song. I don’t really know why, maybe it’s my barely-hidden desire to be an obnoxious contrarian, maybe it’s because the chorus has some fairly decent lyrics (especially for an eastern European entry), maybe it’s because it’s catchy… Or maybe because it’s fun, I dunno.

Is this my personal winner for this year? 2001 really sucked tbh

If no, what is? Honestly yeah, this song shreds

Personal ranking (out of 67): 13th

2002: I Wanna

Country: Latvia

Artist: Marie N (Or, Maria Naumova)

Language: English (I think…?)

Thoughts: You want a song which hasn’t aged well? Well here you go. I’m sure this song was MUCH more bearable back in 2002, but listening to it now is just... What on Earth is she even saying?? I don’t think I’ve heard a song with such garbled lyrics before. On my first listen, I couldn’t even distinguish what language this song was in, and when I finally realised it was in English… good Lord, the lyrics are complete nonsense. And the rhyming? It’s non-existent. The funny thing is Marie herself speaks really good English, so why this song sounds like it was run through Google Translate five times and sung by someone who only started learning English 5 minutes ago is beyond me. But enough about the terrible singing, lyrics and butchery of the English language, does this song have anything else going for it? Not really. I’d put this song into the same category as “Diva”, in that it’s trying desperately to be the next big disco track of its decade, but it just never reaches the crescendo it sets out to achieve. It just drunkenly fumbles around until it ends. What a graceful entry.

Is this my personal winner for this year? No

If no, what is? United Kingdom- Jessica Garlick- "Come Back"

Personal ranking (out of 67): 59th

2003- Every Way that I Can

Country: Turkey

Artist: Sertab Erener

Language: English

Thoughts: Ah yes, the original ethnopop winner. I’m still not 100% sure what ethnopop is, but I’m guessing it’s just slang for the kind of music you’d hear in a gay bar whilst on your holidays. Not that I would know. This is yet another winner where it took me a good few listens to properly enjoy it since I thought the lyrics were a bit… bad. But unlike those other songs, I got into this one way back in (checks playlist) 2014, and I still haven’t managed to fall out of love with it, so to speak. I still really like this song, I’d go as far as to say it’s in my top ten favourite winners in fact. A statement which still hasn’t changed after I watched the 2003 contest recently in July of 2020, so hooray for that. And ethnopop isn’t really a genre I tend to gravitate towards, but I think what makes this song stand out to me at least is how heavy it is. This is a very slow song when you look at its BPM, and the beat just pounds loud and clear all throughout it. It’s not as obnoxious or in-your-face as other songs of its genre, it’s its own thing and that’s what makes it a cut above the rest for me.

Is this my personal winner for this year? Yes

If no, what is? N/A

Personal ranking (out of 67): 5th

2004- Wild Dances

Country: Ukraine

Artist: Ruslana

Language: English

Thoughts: Ah yes, the superior Ukrainian winner. This song is kind of similar to the one above, in that just like “Every Way that I Can” this is a big, stampy dance number, only this time with the distinction that the lyrics were written in 30 seconds rather than a few minutes. It doesn't get lazier than this folks. But I'm willing to forgive lazy lyrics if the song can distract me from them, and thankfully this song can. Plus it’s not like this song needs good lyrics anyway, I get the feeling the focus is more on the beat and instrumental more than anything. And luckily I’m a sucker for that.

Is this my personal winner for this year? Yes

If no, what is? N/A

Personal ranking (out of 67): 7th

2005- My Number One

Country: Greece

Artist: Helena Paparizou

Language: English

Thoughts: I’ll give you “My Number One crawled so Fuego could run”, more like My Number One won so Fuego could pull up the rear in second place behind a song full of chicken noises. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This song I feel is the one which really popularised that… certain brand of Eurovision song. The female-led, east Meditteranean origin, “Yas queen slay” brand of Eurovision song. Yanno. The true gay bar song. Which is, as I said earlier, not really a genre I like nor care for. Do I like this song? Eh. Kinda. I can’t really bring myself to hate it, since I have some good memories associated with it, but... … Well, I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to it, put it that way. It feels kind of aggressive, and not in a way I’m all that comfortable with. The way she snarls that she’ll “get vicious” if her love isn’t reciprocated especially doesn’t sit right with me. Like I don’t want to be a That Guy™ who says people would get offended if a man sang that line, but it still puts me off a bit.

Is this my personal winner for this year? No

If no, what is? Hungary- NOX- “Forogj, Viláj!”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 36th

2006- Hard Rock Hallelujah

Country: Finland

Artist: Lordi

Language: English

Thoughts: My mother always asks me “how did this win?” And I always tell her, “Well it’s been nearly 15 years since it won and you still remember it, so clearly it left an impact on people.” So, obviously, this is a gimmicky entry; without the giant monster costumes I highly doubt this would’ve even qualified, let alone won with what was then a record-breaking score. After all, rock/metal songs don’t tend to fare well at this contest. Even with the drunk European public in full control of the vote, most of them are lucky to even make it onto the left side of the scoreboard, and getting into the top ten? Forget it. It's too niche of a genre for it to have broad appeal, especially given how a lot of viewers (in my experience at least) DO tend to be older and more conservative, shall we say. Now, I'm not an expert on rock or metal myself, so I can't really say whether this is a good representation of the genre or whether this is what outsiders THINK it's like, but even to my untrained ear this does sound very tongue-in-cheek. Like I don’t want to go so far as to say this is a parody of metal music, but it definitely doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously. The song, I mean. Apparently the band is very serious about their monster aesthetic; but I digress. That said, I do have a soft spot for whatever sub-genre of metal this is, so I don’t mind this one in the slightest.

Is this my personal winner for this year? This or Croatia

If no, what is? Croatia- Séverina- “Moja Stikla”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 30th

2007: Molitva

Country: Serbia

Artist: Marija Serifovic

Language: Serbian (Translation: “Prayer”)

Thoughts: Ah, this one takes me back. This was one of the first Eurovision songs I remember truly falling in love with way back in 2013. I must’ve been about 16 or 17 at the time, heavily into dark, edgy music, and this song was just pure heaven for me. Ticked all the right boxes. It’s dark, it’s brooding, it’s sultry, the vocals are stellar, the lyrics are incredible; like, I wanted the title of this song tattooed on my wrist, I loved it so damn much, I just wanted to declare to the world that I loved this song. But that was then, how do I feel about it today? Obviously not the same, tastes evolve over time and after a while I wasn’t so easily suckered into this song’s spell like I used to be. But at the same time, I can’t deny that this is a fantastic song across the board, and one I still like despite it being my edgy favourite from back when my taste in music was terrible. Plus this is also the best-sung song of the 2000s, but that’s like being the tallest person in a room full of toddlers.

Is this my personal winner for this year? Yes

If no, what is? N/A

Personal Ranking (out of 67): 3rd

2008: Believe

Country: Russia

Artist: Dima Bilan

Language: English

Thoughts: Ah yes. The song that finally made Terry Wogan quit after 30 years of “commentating”. The song that proved to the people of the UK once and for all that the contest was rigged to favour certain countries and that countries in western Europe would never win again. Was it worth it? Not really, but I’m not complaining. Now, I don't like Wogan's commentary at all, but really? This song? This is the straw that broke the camel’s back? This song isn’t bad per se, it’s just… Very underwhelming. And outdated. Like I can smell the 2000s off this one and it smells like Lynx body spray and hair gel. It's stuck in that awkward phase where it's too old to be cool, but not old enough to be retro, and it’s forever doomed to be a product of its time. It’s just an average, generic, “I have a dream and I can achieve it” pseudo-ballad; nothing outstanding or special. The performance feels very stale and formulaic too. The only way to describe it is it’s what I imagine an American person would THINK a winning Eurovision song would be like based on what they get told by their European pen pals. Dated music, hot Russian men, over the top presentation, like this just reeks of what outsiders (or British people, for that matter) think Eurovision is made of. On a different note, mediocre and dated as this song may be, I can still kinda see how it won (and no, it has nothing to do with Russia’s international relationships). Dima himself is a very… unique performer; one who performs with the questionable energy of an overexcitable children’s YouTuber, and his dramatic and exaggerated movements make this whole performance a bit of a blast to watch. But that doesn’t really save how painfully bland the song is.

Is this my personal winner for this year? No

If no, what is? Latvia- Pirates- "Wolves of the Sea"

Personal ranking (out of 67): 48th

2009: Fairytale

Country: Norway

Artist: Alexander Rybak

Language: English

Thoughts: I’m not going to lie, my feelings towards this song are incredibly mixed. There’s a lot of appeal here, with wild violin solos, swooping vocals and a pounding beat, as well as a very singalongable chorus; like, this is a good, solid song. But… something here just doesn’t gel with me. This, to me, is one of those “good by default” songs that’s a solid ‘A’ across the board, but something’s just… missing for me. There’s not enough here for me to go out of my way to download and listen to this on a regular basis. It's in the same boat as “Waterloo” in that I don't dislike it, because it’s still a good song, but I can't say I like it either, because it’s such a default "best Eurovision song”, so I can’t sincerely say I like it. Am I making sense? Probably not. But basically my thoughts are “it’s good, but it’s not my kind of good.”

Is this my personal winner for this year? Ehhhhhh

If no, what is? Germany- Alex Swings, Oscar Sings- “Miss Kiss Kiss Bang”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 29th

#final round tomorrow ayyy #eurovision #mod's winner reviews #esc winners

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dragonshoard · 5 years ago

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Don’t Leave Me (With a Smile) Chapter 1

Charlastor 1920s AU AO3 Link

Summary: New Orleans, 1926. Charlie Magne was the daughter of old money. From the city to the stock market her family had their hands in every pot. In her parent’s ideal world, she was to marry into a wealthy family for connections and continue her mother’s work with the city’s richest, but Charlie never wanted that. Her father was a reasonable man, she could make him see things her way... maybe (though her time was ticking).

Alistair was a coincidence, a happy happenstance. And her way out. She shouldn’t have been surprised when she fell in love with him. Before, it had been enough to know that he had loved her.

(If you could call the dark, twisted thing in his chest love)

i’m sorry for any typos ahh

--x--x--x--x--

From the glittering skyline to the bustling streets, New Orleans was truly the place to be if you were anybody. Jazz was the city’s lifeblood and the nightlife was flooded with the clarinets and trumpets playing in tune, drawing in people from miles away.

Men and women dressed to the nines walked the streets, laughing and sometimes dancing their way to their destinations whether it be to another club or the coffee shop still open down the block.

Similarly, a small group consisting of one man and two women, just at the start of adulthood, barely squeezed their way past the door of a small cafe into the winter air, clutching onto their hats and fur coats respectively.

“I don’t know why we don’t do this more often!” The blonde with a brilliantly powdered face smiled through the cold, viciously happy to be surrounded by friends and free of the demands of her parents, however temporary it may have been.

Her clothing was, perhaps, slightly too conservative to have someone call her a “flapper”, but was well within the style. She was fitted in a gorgeous black dress with golden accents and embroidery in a geometric pattern that shimmered in the streetlight. It covered her arms with sheer golden lace and came up to cover her collar bone. The signature sequin tassels swayed at the cut off just below her knees. Covering it was a beige fur coat that screamed wealth.

Perhaps she was a bit sheltered, but it had yet to cause any issues. Well, besides the teasing from her friends that ranged from funny to rather ruthless at times.

“You want me to answer that or ya wanna keep walking, Charlie?” The laugh that followed was loud enough to turn heads.

The young man in question was visibly taller than most people, in general. He was roughly a head taller than his companions. White hairs artfully laced through his slicked back brown hair despite his obvious youth. His eyes were a warm brown, complementing the slightly tanned skin.

“I know I don’t get out a lot, but things are changin’, Angel! Daddy’s been getting more clients downtown, so he doesn’t come home as much as he used to… Mama’s been really busy too but she’s also willing to give me some leeway…” The girl directed her beaming smile at him as she hurried along down the sidewalk, nearly running into a pole when she turned back around.

“Careful! You don’t need a bump on the head to ruin your night! And, honestly, do we have to call you that Martin?”

‘Angel’ gave her a sharp smile, looking every bit the shark that many had claimed him to be. Charlie was, of course, aware but chose to redirect the two of them to other topics. Even if it meant drawing attention back to herself.

“I’m fine, Vaggie! You worry too much!” Charlie smiled down brightly at the dark haired woman who had pulled her away from what may have resulted in a very tedious evening. Vaggie had sun-kissed skin with dark eyes that looked nearly black in the low lighting. She had been her first (and at times her only) friend that her father had approved of.

“Says the one who tried to slip in past the broads that you know you couldn’t have fit a quarter in between the three they were so close together.” Angel smiled even wider, before looking over to the side and waving at a group of people across the street.

Charlie’s smile dimmed to a more mute, yet still appropriately impish, grin before she tucked into Vaggie’s side. “It’s just - I’m so excited! Can you blame me?”

The answer differed from the faces her two friends made at her. One entirely endearing while the other was more… over it, for lack of better words. Charlie frowned a bit, mostly for show.

She tried to justify herself. “Lights, crowds of dancers, and all the latest music.” She popped up, almost twirling in place. “It’s just so glamorous, and Daddy has been home for days now, and you know how he is,” she drawled, smirking almost innocently up at the tall “Angel”.

When “Lucifer” (as many of his business partners had taken to calling him) was home, he preferred older tunes that practically put Charlie to sleep. She could barely find moments where she could put in her records or turn on the radio to listen in without her Daddy hollering for her to turn that trash off.

Charlie’s father was a charming and charismatic man, when he wanted to be. He treated his daughter as if she was the most precious object in the entire universe. The amount of photos stuffed in nearly ten photo albums from ages zero to three showed the dedication he had towards his little girl.

And perhaps that was the reason it had become a problem, especially as of lately. The only good thing that came out of the attention these days was that it extended the time she spent in the house and not out finding a husband. Even now, he was hesitant about giving her away and having her no longer in his sights (perhaps that was why he was looking so meticulously, to find someone that may easily fit under his thumb).

“If you ask me, your pops has got a few screws loose up in his noggin. I mean, come on, you’re twenty-one! Practically an old maid, and he hasn’t even let you go out on a date!” He laughed, hand casually hooking her away from Vaggie and into his side, squashing her into his fashionably striped suit.

They were nearing the club, the music growing audibly louder from the sidewalk.

“I’ve been on dates before!”

“Honey, being chaperoned by Daddy dearest who makes it a point to play with the steak knife ain’t exactly what I would call a date.” He flipped his hair up, tilting his head down so Charlie could see the near mocking grin painted across his features.

“Lay off her, Angel. I don’t see anyone coming to ask to date you.” Vaggie put a protective hand on Charlie’s shoulder and practically yanked her away from him.

“Aw come on; don’t be such a tart, I didn’t mean any harm by it! I’m just saying that’s it’s not natural. She should be goin’ out! Having the time of her life! Not sitting home all day doin’ whatever her ‘daddy’ wants her doin’,” he made a derisive hand motion, rolling his eyes.

A sly grin took over and Charlie knew exactly what he was going to say.

“If you’d just let me introduce you to some of my friends - “

“You mean some of your family, Matra - “

“Shhush!” He nearly jumped over them to cover both of their mouths, regardless of the fact that Charlie wasn’t even saying anything to begin with. It drew a few lingering eyes to their party. “You want me to get ganked? You can’t say that type of shit in these parts.”

Vaggie didn’t look particularly apologetic and simply shrugged him off, opting to pull Charlie along with her. She gave him a smug look as they stepped up to doors that barely seemed to contain the music inside.

“‘K, but seriously toots. I got a cousin that goes by Arlo. He’s a bit of a sap, but he’d treat you right.”

“None of you would get Daddy’s money if he didn’t approve, and I’m not so sure he’d be happy getting involved with your family.”

New Orleans wasn’t as bad as, say, Chicago or New York when it came to gang or mafioso violence, but it wasn’t the cleanest either. A politician had been mysteriously “removed” when he’d attempted to go after one of the organized crime rings.

Angel pouted at that, “Come on, you’ve known me for ages! You think I’d set you up just for the money?”

They both looked at him with the most unimpressed face they could individually pull. Charlie was the first to let up and laughed as she waited for the entryway to clear.

A man smoking against the wall gave Charlie a second glance, confused but with a look of vague recognition crossing his features. He opened his mouth, likely to ask if they’d met before, only to be cut off by the tall mafioso whose eyes felt like daggers going into his skin.

The man quickly turned away and Angel seemed to do a one-eighty, once again smiling at his friends as they were finally able to push open the doors.

“Welcome to the Lodge! It’s been open for a few years but they added a few ah features that made it more popular over the last couple months.”

Charlie’s eyes seemed to glimmer as she took in the large space, absentmindedly taking off her coat and hanging it to the side. The Lodge was absolutely luxurious, from the wallpaper to the nearly reflective wood flooring. The band was booming, but not loud enough to drown out the laughter and chatter that was a testament to the hall’s popularity.

“Oh my - “ Charlie was practically hopping in place, excitement practically vibrating off of her.

“Hey! Careful, lets not get separated, okay?” Vaggie, being the voice of reason and caution, was quick to hook elbows with Charlie, the only thing that had kept the girl from shooting off into the crowd.

“Aw, come on, there’s a ton of people here! Not to mention the bulls in literally every corner.” Angel discreetly let his eyes wander around the room as he leaned against a pillar.

If anyone were to pay close attention, they would notice the men in unremarkable suits lingering near the bar and every little hideyhole you could think of. It made Charlie shift, unsure of how to feel about the knowledge and and slightly concerned. If any of them were in her father’s pockets she was so dead. She ducked her head at the thought, almost attempting to hide via Vaggie despite their height difference.

“Speaking of the ‘bulls’, should we be concerned,” Vaggie questioned. “I’d rather not get arrested or hauled away in a cab tonight.”

“Don’t worry about it! They’re the reason the club gets to keep their juice.” Angel was quick to get distracted by a handsome fellow on the other side of the club. “I hate to cut this gaggle short, but I got some tail to catch, if you get my drift. See ya ladies later!” And with that he was off in the other direction.

Vaggie was thoroughly unimpressed and neither of them looked surprised. Charlie couldn’t help but shake her head. It was a common trick he pulled after they’d all been to a few places; always looking for a guy to end the night with. Charlie admired his boldness; however, couldn’t imagine herself dating so many men, much less having sex with them.

And it wasn’t like she was there for any of that nonsense to begin with. She was there to dance.

“Come on, Vaggie!”

The look of sheer panic on her friends face was telling, but it didn’t stop Charlie from dragging her to the packed dance floor. Charlie knew that her dancing was a bit intense for her friend’s (most people, really) liking, which is why she usually ended up dancing solo, but it didn’t mean that she couldn’t make them try for a while before they wore out.

Charlie tapped her slight heels to the dance floor, tuning into the beat and began shimmying sideways until her hip bumped Vaggie’s. Her glittering smile almost effortlessly brought her friend out of the doom and gloom the thought of dancing with Charlie had put Vaggie in. There was some exasperation, but it was mostly fond. Charlie would take what she got.

Giggling, she did a small spin. Her feet followed the basic steps of the Charleston to warm up, surprisingly considerate of her reluctant dance partner. Charlie gave Vaggie a mischievous smile that Vaggie had come to know as the turning of the tide against her favor.

Heart pounding already as Charlie began to speed up, smiling so wide that her face was beginning to hurt: one foot to the side, back and forward. The music seemed louder like this, as if it had drowned out everything else: from the slight static of the stereo someone seemed to be playing in the background to the dancers who seemed to have begun to back away.

So engrossed in her own movements, she didn’t notice when Vaggie tapped out, unwilling to try and compete with her. And even had she been paying attention, she wouldn’t have noticed that she had caught someone’s eye in a unique way.

A man, who had taken the invitation for a night on the town by a fellow colleague and had been regretting it deeply, was watching her with the hungriest gaze anyone on that side of New Orleans had ever seen. A tall man with slicked back dark brown hair in a fairly tailored pinstripe suit with a burgundy tie to match similarly colored dress pants. His eyes looked nearly red in a certain light, pulling the look together flawlessly.

A few years ago, no one would have noticed him, but these days he was too public for at least a few people to recognize the voice of the Alistair Trahan.

He watched as she pulled up her dress every now and then to perform a kick or jump. His grin grew in glee as she practically leaped across the dance floor, feigning falling a few times only to skip and tap away unscathed. The grace in her movements was uncanny.

She teetered in between stages of nearly falling and stability so often, he wondered how she hadn’t become dizzy from the whiplash. Perhaps it was the danger that bid her to prefer the dance style (or maybe she just enjoyed it).

Her energy was something he had rarely seen before. What made it even more energizing was how she never stopped smiling no matter how her dress clung from the sweat that must have been pouring off her in waves or how those heels must have been a pain to dance in.

She caught his gaze for a split second and those eyes. Dark and piercing as they were compared to his own dreadful gaze. He imagined what it would be like to have those eyes on him and only him.

He raised a hand to his face, surprising himself when he noticed how flushed he was. He was brought back to reality when he noticed that the band had stopped playing. She was practically glowing as she panted, looking victorious in her stance (and a part of him imagined it as a form of armor, and he wondered what she would look like bound in steel).

It would be a pleasure to pull apart that cheerful manner and see what was underneath it; see if she was just as golden inside as she was out.

His mood dimmed slightly (though his smile didn’t show it) when he noticed that another woman had tucked herself into the personified sunshine’s side.

It seemed there were obstacles that needed to be removed.

#origin #charlastor #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel charlie #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin charlie #hazbin alastor #20sAU #its a little different from the au not much though #hazbin fic #1920sAU

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tariah23 · 5 years ago

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Did this dude just.... lmfaooo WHAT!? Black Supremacy isn’t REAL and it has always been a racist dog whistle used by conservatives to draw attention away from them being ya know, racist 😬. What is this............ lol... and he’s saying that Black people need White people to destroy racism? Like... Well, we need EVERYONE to band together in order to dismantle racism, not just White people. Racism and antiblackness is worldwide so obviously 🥺. But especially White people since they’re the only ones who benefit directly from it because of white supremacy and privilege. I don’t get this lol. He’s making it seem like Black people are against White people in this tweet, especially with the use of the word “supremacy.” Like, when have we ever had power and used it to build a system of racism that we could benefit from lmfaoooo. What is his point? Why are Black celebs embarrassing themselves like this just deletesjsjsjsj. I see more of them jumping to say stupid shit over just donating to the cause or anything. You got Mitt Romney’s ass out their marching with protestors 😭! What the fuck lmfao.

#this is so ugly and tone deaf #rambling #like...!?#they keep saying stuff like this every other day shut up and eat your food #its like... do you know why all of this happened in the first place and why people are marching and protesting or... 😑?#i hope hes getting dragged

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but-deans-back-tho · 6 years ago

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Ok Ok so I just had an idea for a Bucky fic but I’m not a writer so I’m just gonna lay it out because I brain dumped it into an Apple note so I don’t forget by the morning.

Here’s a soft Bucky for your troubles, brain dump under the cut.

Ok so soulmate AU where you have a tattoo inside your wrist that counts down to the moment you meet your soulmate. Enter Bucky Barnes, who is post-Winter Soldier and guarded. He doesn’t want to meet his soulmate because he doesn’t want to form attachments or put anyone in danger/bring them into his crazy life. Plus he probably thinks he’s not worthy because, ya know, self loathing.

So naturally when the clock is winding down, he tries to lock himself away somewhere where he couldn’t possibly meet a new person, but reader stumbles in somehow (I don’t have deets on how reader stumbles in or how he tries to “hide” yet).

Some other things about this AU- people can change their fate. The clocks have been known to change drastically (adding years, shaving off weeks) when people take a new job out of town, make big decisions, etc.

Also, people who are already matched are easily identified by their wrists reading 0y0d0hr0min0sec. This is the societal equivalent of a wedding band, but it means a lot more. In fact, society doesn’t really frown upon unmarried women getting pregnant if they are at zero. That clock says more about their forever than legal documentation ever could. If, however, a woman is pregnant by not-her-soulmate and her clock is still ticking, she is frowned upon by conservative types, and her parents are probably disappointed/embarrassed. In other words, outside-the-bond sex is much like our society sees premarital sex- it happens more often than people would think, but they don’t always talk about it because slut shaming is very real. Some use it as “practice” for the right person, others to blow off steam, others because alcohol, still more because it’s their damn body and they won’t let fate or genetics or whatever higher power inked their skin call the shots.

When one half of a bonded pair dies, the tattoo disappears. It has been known, in some cases, to come back after some time and begin a new countdown. After all, you could be perfectly matched with different people at different times in your life, depending on your experiences etc.

Lastly, Bucky’s clock has changed twice. Once when he fell off the train; it disappeared because the course of his life changed such that he was no longer destined to meet his then-soulmate. He became a weapon, and the blank slate on his arm made him Hydra’s ideal choice because he would be effective and free of distractions. They turned him into a killing machine with no capacity for love, so the tattoo never came back. You could even toy with the concept of his tat having been on his left wrist, which was ripped off. The hope of a happy life died that day.

The second time it changed was when he pulled Steve from the water and began to break free of the Winter Soldier (I’ll stop you right there... this is not a Stucky fic, that moment with Steve just brings back his humanity and hope at a loving connection with anyone.) Bucky is in complete shock to see the clock appear on his right wrist after everything and the shock turns to fear, anxiety, concern, when he realizes what this means.

So ~elsewhere~, reader’s tattoo snaps back to life as well. (Unsure if her OG match died after they were together or if he did something to change his fate and her tattoo had just disappeared one day out of the blue, a few weeks before the countdown was up, and she never knew why.) She is now a bit of a cynic after her previous experience, so doesn’t put weight on it any more. She simply goes about her life changing nothing, sure that the second match won’t take so she has nothing to worry about.

Bucky, however, has been actively trying to change his fate due to aforementioned concerns, and nothing wipes the tattoo. He thought for sure after Bucharest he’d be free of this nagging concern, but it simply added a few years to the clock. Perfect, more time to figure out a way to stall things without going “winter soldier” again. Shuri is amazed to see that when he goes into cryo (“don’t wake me up until the damn tattoo is gone,” he had insisted), the clock ticks along.

These are my 2:30AM hotel room thoughts while listening to my brother snore. Like I’m dying to know how they meet, how they react, and how their tentative relationship develops. But my brain won’t touch it. All it gave me is the universe and some small deets. Will someone PLEASE write this I will pay you in many reblogs. Tagging some Bucky writers, y’all feel free to write this if you feel inspired just plz tag me bc I want to read the shit out of it.

@kentuckybarnes @avengerscompound @greeneyedsuccubunny @bolontiku @bionic-buckyb @prettyyoungtragedy @cametobuyplums @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan @mywritingsblog @until-theend-oftheline @youngmoneymilla @tropicalcap @jamesbbarnes @fuxkingmarvel @cametobuyplums

#if your requests are closed plz ignore #i am too tired to check such things #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #the winter soldier #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #mcu #marvel fanfiction #soulmate!au #bucky x reader

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rainydawgradioblog · 5 years ago

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Rainy Dawg Radio’s Best of the 2010s!

ALBUMS

Palberta - Bye Bye Berta

Palberta is a band that somehow manages to scratch almost every musical itch I have. Nowhere else have I heard a band successfully hold three part harmonies over squeaky atonal guitar riffs and abstract drum thrashing. Although I wouldn’t categorize them as twee, noise rock, post-punk, indie pop, no-wave, or any other genre name for that matter, they distill everything I love from all these types of music and mush it into something beautifully stinky. In my eyes, their 2017 album Bye Bye Berta stands as the definitive statement of what Palberta’s all about. With 20 tracks clocking in at under half an hour, the album wastes no time on filler. Skronky punk riffs burst apart at the seams and a sweet little lo-fi love song comes out of the wreckage, only to be replaced by an abstract tape sample collage. The band also has an incomparable mastery over lyricism, as evidenced by such classics as Finish My Bread (Finish my finish my finish my bread, finish my finish my finish my bread, etc…) and Trick Ya (HEY! Don’t trick me, I’m gonna trick you! HEY! Don’t trick me, I’m gonna trick you!). Highlights include the endearingly ramshackle and stupid pretty “Honey, Baby” and their cover of “Stayin’ Alive” (Jenny’s eating burgers and everybody’s shakin’ and stayin’ alive!)

- Elliott Hansen

Alex G - DSU

Shit if you know me you know I live for that sad bastard indie music. That’s exactly what DSU does best. Probably my most played record of the 2010s, this album’s lo-fi indie rock overfloweth. The opener, After Ur Gone, is on the noisier side of the album’s spectrum along with the squealing guitar of Axesteel and Icehead (peep the scream vocals in his live performances), while songs like the instrumental Skipper exemplify why Frank Ocean tapped Alex for the Self Control riff on Blonde. The emotional core of the record, Sorry, gets right back to the Elliott Smith comparisons that we know and love: lyrics of trauma, drugs and apologies included. My favorite song is Harvey; it smacks me right in the younger brother emo spot, with “run my hands through his short black hair I say / ‘I love you Harvey I don’t care’”. While not as chaotic as House of Sugar, twangy as Rocket, or psychedelic as Beach Music, this record is Alex G comfort music at its finest.

- Max Bryla

Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

Picture this: J Dilla, Madlib, and Aphex Twin all come together to create an album with little more than some old Coltrane records and an original Xbox at their disposal. The end result is like a trip through the universe. Yet the album comes from the mind of a single individual, who sits in the cockpit with a mischievous grin on his face: Steven Ellison, known professionally as Flying Lotus. The opening track, ‘Clock Catcher’, feels like Ellison slamming his foot onto the ignition so hard that it snaps out of place, shooting into the heavens at the speed of light before the listener can even strap in. Whirling through the stars, the rest of the album is the journey home from the expanse, often melancholic, often wondrous, always changing. From the punchy, off-kilter rhythms of tracks like ‘Nose Art’ and ‘Computer Face//Pure Being’ to the fat synth melodies of ‘Dance of the Pseudo Nymph’, ‘Recoiled’, and ‘Do The Astral Plane’, Flylo is always striking the listener from a different sonic vantage point. You can tell he’s having the time of his life with each of these songs, wanting to share every bit of it with our eardrums. After countless listens, I’m still finding new things about this album to appreciate. A complete masterpiece of cosmic epiphany fuel.

- Trey Marez

Ott. - Fairchildren

People throw so much music at me. And I remember this album was recommended to me back in high school, and I listened to it for the first time in zero-th period -- I think it was someone who went by the name “phryk” on IRC. And dang, it’s still such a good album! In what sense? It’s so well-mixed; that’s the first part. Secondly, it is just a wonderful listening experience from start to finish. If you need a good album of reggae, dub, electronic, here it is. One thing you shouldn’t do with this album: use it to test out speakers at Goodwill. The bass of this album was so good that I bought home a pair of speakers that turned out to be so bad.

- Koi Nil

Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy

Bandcamp has been known for hosting some of our wildest dreams this decade, and when 2011 lobbed William Toledo’s first rendition of Twin Fantasy down my ears my life changed. Emotions are crushed to death in the back of parking lots, the lo-est of fi’s, and lyrics that trigger far and melancholy memories of the early 2010 zeitgeist swarmed with insecurity and Skype calls. The album is Toledo’s first cohesive piece, finally creating work with developed central themes, dedicating the first concept album of his life to falling in and consequently out of love. The album speaks as a mirror to itself, reflecting Will’s own joy and confusion towards falling conservatively and completely in love, until the sobering downward spiral back into isolation. I was only eleven when I let the album own me completely, and am only nineteen as I hold onto it for dear life. Twin Fantasy was never a perfect album, and Toledo recognized this as he re-released Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) in 2018, reinventing the album’s sound with a much higher fidelity, lyrical updates, and redone instrumentals that turn the original into an overture or prologue to be enjoyed separately for more context. Searing solos, cute doo-wop moments, sentimental lyrics, slap-happy drums, fish wearing business suits, dogs, coming out over Skype, smoking, not smoking, nice shoulders, waitresses, the Bible, the ghost of Mary Shelley’s frankenstein, cursive, they might be giant’s rip offs, not knowing SHIT about girls, stealing alcohol from our grandparents and grandparents, bruised shins, cults, fish, getting the spins, and being really really really sensitive to the sunlight. I’d fight for this album, listening to “Cute Thing” as I get RKO’d. Take the time to enjoy the ride, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. (It technically used to be a gay furry album, but now it’s techincally a straight trans furry album.)

- Cooper Houston

Sabaton - The Last Stand

Sabaton is every history teachers dream band. These Swedish power metallers educate the listener about the history of war by discussing various battles, conflicts, and figures. They do this through anthemic choruses, riffs that make your fist pump, and oddly enough synths that work surprisingly well. Since history interests me and I really like metal, Sabaton was pretty much made for me. This album will always have a soft spot in my heart and evoke fond memories as it was one of the first CDs I picked up after getting my license back in 2016. As I gained more independence and freedom as I approached adulthood, this was my soundtrack. This album lived in my CD player during this time as I listened to it over and over again, never once losing its replayability. Ranging from the American battalion that got lost in the Argonne Forest during WWI to Allied and Axis forces joining together to fight at the end of WWII, this album tells of various historical last stands. While this is certainly isn’t the best metal release of the decade, it’s still an extremely solid album. In this case, the sentimentality plays a larger role than anything. While it may not be found on any “Best Album of the Decade” lists, Sabaton’s The Last Stand will always hold a place in my heart and in my car’s CD player.

- Jack Irwin

CONCERTS

07/20/19: What the Heck? Fest @ Croatian Club, Anacortes, WA

Choosing a single favorite concert from the entire past decade seemed insurmountable until I decided to define it by the overall experience rather than exclusively the music. This past summer, I was lucky enough to be one out of barely over a hundred people at the first What the Heck? Fest in 8 years. The festival took place annually from 2001 to 2011, featuring PNW indie legends, K records icons, and all manner of dorky indie folk kids. WTH laid dormant until this past spring, when Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie) announced its return along with the revival of his long-dead initial moniker, the Microphones. I made the trip up from Seattle alone by train and bus, spent a little while wandering Anacortes (the Business was closed :( ) and made my way to the repurposed church which houses the Unknown and the Croatian Club. I ended up seated a few feet from Calvin Johnson in one direction and Kimya Dawson in another. I felt a little out of place at times, like a stranger in the middle of a 90s indie family reunion, but the atmosphere remained consistently welcoming. D+ opened the show, fronted by Bret Lunsford (formerly of Beat Happening), the founder and main organizer of WTH, and backed by Phil Elverum and Karl Blau, who played their own sets later in the night. K Records mainstays Lois and Mecca Normal were on next, delivering stripped down, socially-driven whisper punk/indie pop. Karl Blau led an outdoor sing-along and covered a Pounding Serfs song, who played the next set (their first in [a lot of?] years) for a total of two renditions of “Slightly Salted,” a song I could have listened to in every set that night. Phil hopped back onstage again alongside Lee Baggett to back Kyle Field from Little Wings, an indie-folk favorite of mine, with rambly half-nonsensical lyrics and plenty of soft strummed warm twangly guitars. Black Belt Eagle Scout delivered (comparatively) heavier sounds, coupling slow, soft sung melodies with fuzzed out shoegaze tones, building tension until the Microphones (Phil backed by Kyle, Karl, Lee and keyboardist Nicholas Krgovich) came out for the final set of the night. They opened with what I interpret as a 25-minute rendition of the then-unreleased Belief, which was later shortened to 7 and a half minutes as the opener to the new Mount Eerie record, Lost Wisdom pt. 2. Phil then played a handful of old Microphones tracks alone, including a version of The Glow pt. 2’s title track with reworked lyrics, as well as its closer, My Warm Blood, excerpts from the final Microphones album (confusingly titled Mount Eerie), and what I believe to be another unreleased song. I left with the most limited merch I’ve ever managed to snag: one of two Ziploc bags of lettuce with “the Microphones” and a small K records logo sharpied on the front. I felt bad eating my merch, but it sustained me through the cold Anacortes night as I wandered to and from poorly lit parks, killing time until my 4AM bus back to Seattle.

- Elliott Hansen

03/09/19: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Solo) @ Vermillion Gallery, Seattle WA

Was really not sure what to expect from this one going in, but CYHSY’s s/t from 2005 has always been one of my favorite records. I hadn’t ever been to Vermillion in Capitol Hill, but it was hosting CYHSY on a “living room tour”, where Alec Ournsworth (vox, guitar, harmonica[!]) hit tiny spaces around the country. Vermillion sat 40 at most, and I got to check out some cool local art in the space as well. Alec’s trademark voice that (according to p4k) sounds “as if someone were pressing his vocal cords to a fret board and bending them” which is pretty damn accurate. Amongst CYHSY’s greatest hits (In This Home On Ice and Cool Goddess in particular), he also covered Pixies and Tom Waits through lively and exciting banter. Great dude, great music, great venue. My favorite of the 2010’s for sure.

- Max Bryla

11/14/18: Milo @ Vera Project, Seattle, WA

Milo, and the ruby yacht house band are poetic alchemists that constantly dish out hefty servings of succulent syllables with each new release. Kenny Segal who does the beats for a few of Milo’s songs (and other hip hop artists) opened by transporting the crowd into the ethereal realm with a few classics from his album: happy little trees. Once Kenny Segal finished, Milo accompanied by the ruby yacht house band jumped on stage. I was close enough that I could make out Milo’s squirtle tattoo on his bicep and waited for his vivid and veracious vocabulary to leave me in a state of decapitation. Crispy, potato chip like static (a Milo-live signature) was consumed ferociously by the crowd as he hit us with one banger after another. About halfway through the set Milo dropped the mic and went off stage into the back room. The ruby yacht house band was left Milo-less; their beat lingering in the air, festering with each hit of the snare. Milo returned a while later, wielding a pair of tap dancing shoes in one hand and a ukulele in the other. He put on the tap dancing shoes on stage, everyone in the audience screaming with his return. Donned with the tap dancing shoes and positioning his ukulele on his chest; he began to dance. Holy shit he was good too. Strumming the uke and tap dancing away I was utterly mesmerized. My eyes glued to his performance. Suddenly, as if stricken by some divine intervention, Milo seized the ukulele by the neck and smashed it against the ground, splintering into a thousand pieces. After his destructive fit, he picked the microphone back up and whispered into it emotionlessly: “Think about that”. I did. The whole experience was transcendental and instantly triumphed as my greatest concert of the decade. You KNOW I snagged a sliver of uke on my way out.

- Rocky Schaefer

08/07/17: Metallica @ CenturyLink Field, Seattle, WA

While Metallica has had its ups and downs throughout their career, they do one thing well, and that is putting on a damn good live show. Metallica built the best line-up I have ever seen, given the popularity of the bands they chose. With them they took Avenged Sevenfold, who I greatly dislike but are still a huge band, and Gojira, one of the best modern death metal bands on the scene. The sheer size of this concert was absolutely and extremely inspiring as Metallica was able to fill up CenturyLink Field, a venue usually reserved for pop artists who draw in thousands of attendees. The amount of people that attended signaled to me that metal is far from dead. While this tour was in support of their newest album Hardwired to Self Destruct, Metallica made sure to incorporate classics into their setlist including “Seek and Destroy,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and “Battery.” James, Robert, Kirk, and Lars delivered a killer concert will tight playing and outstanding individual performances. Being able to see my music hero, James Hetfield, play live was truly a special experience. The one thing that stood out during the performance were the visuals. Each song had a unique and individual video effect on the large screens behind the band which made each song special and memorable it its own way. While I wasn’t close to the stage by any means, the crowd interaction created a unique experience that made me feel much closer than I really was. This concert wasn’t just a concert, but also a life-changing experience. Seeing the band that truly got me into metal, the thing that I rest my individuality on, is something that defined the decade for me and will live with me forever.

- Jack Irwin

SONGS

“You Are Here” - Yo La Tengo

This one I don't think I can fully explain. By miles, this is my most played song of all time. It is the opener of Yo La Tengo’s 15th album, There’s A Riot Going On. The album, and song, starts with the meditative synth line that builds into a pulsing rhythm over the course of the first minute. The rhythm maintains through the rest of the song, as casual guitar strumming is added and another synth that doesn’t sound all that dissimilar to Jonny Greenwood’s Ondes Martenot. My favorite part of the song, though, are the drum fills of the latter half: they crash and roll like the ocean. With or without the title of the song, the audio conveys a degree of presentness and contentedness that I haven’t been able to find elsewhere quite yet. I’d recommend it.

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spideyyverse · 7 years ago

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Grease! AU

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3| Part 4

Chapter: 4/7

Characters: Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, Beverly Marsh, Ben Hanscom, Stan Uris, Mike Hanlon, Bill Denbrough, Audra Phillips

Pairings: Reddie, Stenbrough, Benverly, Madura (Audra x Mike)

Warnings: Homophobia, swearing, underage drinking and smoking

Word Count: 1,986

Author Notes: Chapters will be based on a song from the movie, I’m not sure I’ll do each song but if there’s a specific song you would like me to include, let me know in my ask box!

Also, the losers are very ooc. I understand they’re nothing like the way I’m portraying them in my story. Please do not get angry for the way I’m writing them, it’s solely apart of this au and this is not how I actually view them.

MAJOR NOTE: I’m so so sorry it’s taken me weeks to update, I recently just returned to school and things have been hectic. I’ll try my best to write more frequently but updates may be slow. I haven’t been too active on my account recently, I’m sorry, I’ll try to be better. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Tags: @universal-gay

This song was featured during the school dance scene. The original singer is Frank Sinatra but the band covered it.

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Blue moon You saw me standing alone Without a dream in my heart Without a love of my own

Eddie--Nor Richie-- didn’t intend for anything to happen that summer leading up to now. It wasn’t like Eddie wanted to visit Derry in the first place, but the constant “Eddie Bear you need to visit!” and “Your aunties miss you!” from his aunts irritated him to the point where he booked the flights to Derry himself. After a long and extremely worded lecture (and a lot of yelling) from Sonia Kaspbrak, both of them set off on a summer that would change everything.

Now don’t get Eddie wrong, he loved his aunts to death (and would much rather live with them than that momster), but he couldn’t take an entire summer of endless cheek pinches and sloppy kisses on the cheek. He knew he had to make the most of his time so he may as well explore the town--Not that there’s was much to explore anyway.

It wasn’t until he found himself walking through a forest that lead him to a quarry. He found himself not staring at the summer day in front of him, not the way water sparkled nor the way the soft summer breeze blew every now and then. No, he found himself staring the boy in front of him. He didn’t understand why, he only knew what the back of the boy looked liked. For all Eddie could know, this boy could be a serial killer. Maybe he was surprised that someone was here, someone was in this dead beat town.

After an awkward greeting--well mainly awkward for Eddie, Richie didn’t seem to ever stop talking once he uttered a noise--Eddie found himself falling easily for a boy he’d only known for what? An hour? Or could it have been six? Richie truly didn’t know when to stop talking, but Eddie loved it.

It was a shock to Eddie that Richie had a loud personality. He’s never one to judge so quickly but Eddie found the boy sitting by himself, listening to Africa by Toto, while smoking. He seemed like a loner.

“Says Eds, tell me something,” Richie spoke slightly lowering the radio.

“Yeah?” Eddie looked up, “Also, stop calling me Eds,” He quickly added.

“Cute! Cute! Cute!” Richie leaned over and pinched his cheeks, “Ever been in love?”

Eddie practically choked on air but it did get him thinking, has he ever been in love? Sure he’s had a couple of boys here and there, some relationships lasting longer than others, but he’s never actually been in love. Maybe some feelings towards his previous boyfriends had been stronger than others but nothing to ever consider being in love. Love was almost foreign to him.

“No,” Eddie broke the silence but continued, “My turn to ask you a question!”

“Hit me with it spageds,” Richie chuckled, taking a puff from his cigarette.

“Spageds? That’s the best you can do?”

“It’s a work in progress.”

Eddie took a deep breath but bit back a smile anyways, “As someone who’s only been visiting for two days, do you ever think about leaving this town? I mean, there’s nothing here.” Eddie looked around the quarry.

“No.” Richie simply replied.

“No?”

“I’ve never thought about it. Not until now anyways,” Eddie patiently waited for Richie to continue, “I’ve never thought about it because I didn’t need to. I’ve never had anything to run towards but now, today in this very moment, I know where I need to run to,”

“Where?”

“You.”

Blue moon You knew just what I was there for You heard me saying a prayer for Someone I really could care for

It was finally the day of the dance. Most high schools would get into the spirit, hanging posters and the constant PA reminders that ticket sales go up every week. However, Derry high had been nominated by a TV station to host a dance competition during the event. Eddie didn’t pay much attention to the eagerness from everyone at school, it was something about the two winners getting a pretty big money prize. But in all honesty, Eddie could care less. He was more worried about being outed to the entire school--and on national television to make matters worse.

Eddie was not--and will never--be ashamed for being gay. Richie neither will ever be ashamed to be bisexual but living in a conservative town where almost everyone will absolutely shit on you for being anything less than straight can be alarming--to say the least.

As much as both boys wanted to hold onto each other and dance together just like every other straight couple, it just wasn’t possible.

Both boys walked into the gym, their entire ensemble of the Pink Ladies and T-Birds following right behind them.

“Says Eds, how about I get us some punch?” Richie awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“As long as you don’t spike it Tozier,”

Richie smirked, “Can’t make any promises my love!” He walked away with a wink, giving Eddie the familiar feeling of butterflies in his tummy.

“Everything all right Bev?” Ben asked. Bev sticked out like a sore thumb, a hair wrap was around her head. Whatever she was trying to hide, wasn’t subtle at all.

“Peachy Benjamin,”

“Bev?” Eddie slowly asked.

“Eddie I’m fine! Everything is alright!” Bev tried to reassure the boys but failed. Bev ended up stomping away to the bathroom with a poor Ben following behind in her in hopes to cheer her up.

Eddie went ahead and found a table large enough to hold the nine leaving the remaining four at the entrance of the dance.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t sunshine and rainbows for the rest of the group.

While Audra and Mike were a happy couple, that still didn’t stop them from being racially discriminated against. It took Mike ages to convince his parents to let him go to public school once homeschooling for middle school ended. He didn’t realize exactly why his parents didn’t want him going to public school once he experienced how cruel kids can be. Being in the T-Birds gave him a place, but he still felt he could be much more than this.

Audra was Mexican (A/N: There’s not enough latinx representation nowadays so I’m making Audra Mexican-American. Also ya girl is Mexican so this is me trying to live through my stories.), both of her parents were immigrants, but Audra herself was born in America but being the daughter of the only two Mexicans living in an almost-all white conservative town was more than difficult.

Being something other than white or straight instantly made you a bad person. No one could look past your skin color or your sexuality, they define you because of that. They don’t define you because of who you are.

While Audra and Mike got nasty and dirty looks from practically the entire gym, they pushed it to aside and let themselves be together.

This wasn’t the case for Stan and Bill.

While most of the school suspected Stan liked boys, they couldn’t think the same for Bill. It was one thing to suspect but to completely out someone is another thing.

Stan was the rabbi’s son, he had to live up to expectations. If his father even heard a word about Stan being gay, it was over.

Bill was close with his parents, but he still hasn’t come out to them--thinking of the idea scares him. His little brother Georgie on the other hand, he knew. When Georgie was nine, he found a fourteen year old Bill crying in the middle of the night. After a long talk and explanation of what being pansexual meant, Georgie was quick to accept him. Now being twelve, Georgie still loved his older brother with everything inside of him.

Despite the rabbi’s son, Stan himself was never religious. Sure, he attended every ceremony at the temple and even read from the torah at his bar mitzfah, but he was required to do that. Stan wasn’t religious, but if there was just one thing he could pray for, he would pray for Bill. He would pray to find happiness with Bill.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Henry and his gang smirking at them. Bill seemed to notice this because he quickly made his way over to the table.

If a prayer truly worked, Stan was praying for a miracle.

And then there suddenly appeared before me The only one my arms will hold I heard somebody whisper please adore me And when I looked to the moon it turned to gold

The TV crew had been setting up for the big competition, people lining up at the restrooms to fix themselves up while others began to make their way towards the dance floor.

“Hey Eds! We should join!” Richie suggested.

“Sure if you want the entire country to find out we like dick,” Eddie remarked then continued, “And stop calling me Eds!”

“Aw yeah! Spaghetti man with the dick jokes!”

“Beep beep Tozier.”

“Hey! Hey!” Richie put his hands up in defense, “You’re technically not wrong but that’s not the point. We don’t need to get up in each others ass to win the competition--I’ve already got your mom for that--the teachers will be on us if we even try. It’s disco isn’t it? We don’t need to do anything couply we just need to do something entertaining.”

“I hate the fact that you actually have a brain in that head of yours.” Eddie sighed while Richie smiled.

“What should-”

“Richie!” A voice squeaked from behind.

Richie whipped around and saw his ex girlfriend heading towards him, her arm locked around the one and only Henry Bowers.

“Greta, hi.” Richie clenched his teeth together and took a deep breath.

“Who’s this?” Eddie whispered from behind Richie.

“Hi hun, I’m Greta,” She stuck her hand out in front of Eddie the continued, “I’m sure Richie has told you how great I am in bed?” She sneered.

“He would have told me if you really were,” Eddie muttered under his breath. Both Greta and Richie heard this, Greta bit back the urge to launch herself at Eddie while Richie tried to subtly hide his laugh with a cough.

“See you in the competition Richie-kins!” She blew a kiss towards his direction and dragged Henry away.

“Richie-kins?”

“Let’s not talk about it.”

“Ladies and gentlemen! Gather around! Our annual high school dance off is about to begin!”

Everyone gathered with their respective pair and waited until the principle stopped talking about the rules.

The principle finally walked off stage and the music began. Some couples were immediately eliminated while others tried to out-dance other couples. Some couples went for a simple attempt at the disco while others went for hand-jives.

The cameras were going around the dance floor, people tried to make their selves seen but were removed from the floor. Eddie could feel himself getting more and more nervous as the camera got closer. Richie didn’t seem to care, he was in his element. As the camera reached the two boys, Eddie instantly made a B-line for anywhere but the camera.

Richie’s face dropped, he tried to follow Eddie but was stopped when someone pushed him back. This ‘someone’ happened to be Greta herself.

“Where you doing handsome?” Greta whispered.

The pair were one of the only few standing left and it didn’t help that the host was encouraging them to dance while pointing the camera at them. Richie had no other choice but to finish the competition with a new partner. He seemed to forget about Eddie in that moment, but Eddie most certainly didn’t forget. He saw the whole ordeal go down.

Eddie ran out of the high school gym and ran all the way straight home.

#eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #bill denbrough #stan uris #beverly marsh #ben hanscom #mike hanlon #audra phillips #the losers club #losers club #losers club grease au #reddie #reddie au

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hismissharley13 · 7 years ago

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Blue Eyes, Cigarettes and Whiskey Chapter 8

One Two Three Four Five Six Seven

You wash at your vanity, tracing the slight bruises at the base of your neckline, a slight blush forming as you think of the lips that left them. Sighing, you dress conservatively knowing you have to go to the bakery today. You hated going there without Alfie, but you wanted to get the information prepared before he met you.

Walking through the large double doors, you cringe as they announce your arrival with a clang. You close your eyes as you walk through the rows of barrels, forcing yourself not to run. There were a couple of Alfie’s men who you liked, but on the whole you thought his workforce were animals. Especially your cousin, the prize fighter. He was more obnoxious than the others put together. You always found things to do in the office when Alfie attended to his boxing interests, that’s how you had become so involved in the business. By proving that you could be trusted, Alfie started trusting you with more. Now you knew almost as much as he did. He was happy to leave you to work, knowing you would always negotiate the best deals. Nobody seemed to be able to say no to you, hell, Alfie certainly couldn’t!

Lost in your thoughts, you had dropped your guard slightly. You jump as a gravelly voice speaks in your ear, making your skin crawl,

“Kept me waitin’ dincha?” you fully intend to hurry on to the office. Too late, though, your reactions betray you and you stop dead in your tracks. Cursing yourself internally, you feel a pair of arms snake round your waist. An unshaven chin grazes your jaw and the stench of stale beer and sweat hits you in a wave of revulsion. Swallowing the bile threatening to rise in your throat, you force politeness,

“Morning Jack, If you’ll excuse me, I really need to get on,” you make to twist out of his grip but his arms tighten into a steel band.

“Runnin’ off so soon?” he purrs

“Alfie’s expecting me, please let me go,” Jack chuckles at your request,

“Ahh, boss man ain’t here til later, so while the cat’s away…” he plants a wet kiss on your cheek.

“Get the fuck off me,” you snarl.

“Wooo, got a temper ‘ave we?”

“Not as much as I ‘ave, get your fuckin’ filthy paws off my niece, you fuckin’ shit eatin’ animal! I should fucking shoot you where you stand, mate!” Alfie’s voice booms as he grabs Jack by the collar, dangling him almost a full foot off the ground. You readjust your clothing and step into Ollie’s outstretched arms.

“In my ‘ouse? My niece? WELL?” Alfie demands.

“Whassamatter boss man? Scared you won’t measure up?” Jack retorts

Alfie sneers, you notice a chilling change in his voice, “Well, mate,” he says softly, “if that were actually the case, if I really were as fuckin’ depraved as you,” he looks pointedly at Jack’s crotch, “It’s not exactly a lot to measure up to now, is it dear?”

“So who else you wrappin’ those legs around then, (Y/N)? Gotta be someone,” Jack hollers after you as Ollie steers you towards the office. A sickening crunch behind you renders Jack mute. You figure he’ll be lucky to get out of this alive.

Ollie hands you a glass of rum and sits next to you on the sofa.

“So who’s the guy?” he asks conversationally. You snort into your glass in surprise,

“What guy?”

“Come off it (Y/N), we know eachother too well for this, you definitely didn’t have two nights worth of work, so somebody kept you,”

Of course, he was right. You and Ollie had practically grown up together, best of friends who told eachother everything. You had even been eachother’s clumsy first kiss-much to Alfie’s amusement. When your uncle had walked in on you, Ollie had been terrified for his life, but Alfie just chortled, “Ay come on, workplace this, innit,” Alfie had later asked you if it was anything serious. You had told him no but you loved Ollie anyway and he you. You were the one who comforted Ollie when his mother had fallen ill and passed away, patched him up after the beating from his drunk father and various fights he inevitably got himself into. You had no secrets from eachother. Sighing, you look down at your glass.

“(Y/N)?” Ollie places his hand on yours, “tell me what happened,”

“Ollie, I think I love him,” you whisper,

“Who, love?” You glance nervously at the door, but Alfie is still busy dealing with Jack.

“Tommy, Tommy Shelby,” you breathe, looking wide eyed into Ollie’s warm, brown gaze. He grins at your unexpectedly,

“Seriously? The guy you didn’t know to fall over three days ago?” he snickers

“Ollie, I mean it. I’ve never felt like this before. Look at me and tell me I’m joking,” you implore.

The smirk falls from his face as he sees the sincerity in yours.

“Fuck me, you ain’t, are ya? Well, he must be special,”

“He is Ollie, he was my first. I was attacked, on my way to meet them. I was grabbed and dragged into a warehouse. The guy’s hands were all over me, it was horrible. Tommy’s brother John interrupted. Tommy took me home that night,” like aloe on a burn, telling your best friend was like a balm to your painful memories. You pour your heart out, unable to stop now that the flood gates are opened.

“So what happens now?” Ollie asks.

“Now some poor fucker’s gonna have ter mop that son of a bitch up and I’ll have ter find a reaplcement. I do fink ‘e may’ve understood the error of ‘is ways now though,” Alfie saves you from the question that has been haunting you for the past 24 hours.

“You alright, my dear?” Alfie asks you tenderly,

“Yeah, Uncle Alf, I’m OK,” you say with a watery smile.

“’s long as you are,” he says with a searching gaze, “cos you’d tell me if there was somefink to worry about, wouldn’cha?”

“Course I would,” you assure him. Alfie definitely didn’t need to worry about your recent experiences.

“Ollie, go an fetch some lunch, lad. And some cake. Cake always improves the day,”

Ollie gives your hand a squeeze and heads out. Alfie casually wipes the blood from his knuckles as he looks over to you,

“So, how was your time away?”

“Yeah, it was good, I enjoyed it,”

“Didja now, see, I saw a look in your eye when I visited. That look made me wonder what kind of deal you made with Tommy Shelby,” your eyes widen at this accusation.

“I didn’t make any deal with Tommy Shelby,”

“You were in ‘is ‘ouse,”

“Because I needed somewhere to stay!” you begin to get exasperated-Alfie never normally takes such an interest.

“That ‘ad better be the only reason,” he grumbles, scowling. You hate when he is in this mood, rolling your eyes as he huffs. Snatching the papers from his desk, you drag a chair to your own and begin to work in silence.

Ollie returns shortly after, noticing the arctic chill in the air.

“Er, did I miss something?” he asks tentatively.

“Oh, just Alfie being an arse,” you reply. Alfie snorts.

“I, er, got a carrot cake?” Ollie half asks, unsure of what else to say.

“Give it ‘ere lad, I’ll divvy it up,” Alfie holds his hand out and Ollie gives him the wrapped parcel, returning to your desk shortly after with a plate.

“Thanks love,” you mutter, pushing the cake aside.

“Oh, we goin’ on fuckin’ hunger strike an’ all now?”

“Funny enough, I’ve lost my appetite!” shoving your chair back, you throw your pen down, “I’m going home,” you announce. Alfie looks up over his glasses, waving his arms in exasperation at Ollie as you walk out. Ollie hovers at the door, torn between you both.

“Honestly, I ain’t got a clue what’s got into her today, bratty little cow! Fuckin’ women! Oh, don’t hang around like a bloody spare part, go after her if you want!”

Ollie dashes out before Alfie can change his mind.

You stalk through the distillery and out into the rain. Damn it, you realise too late that you have left your coat in the office. You walk mindlessly down the roads, not feeling the rain soak through your clothes to your skin. You seethe at the way Alfie had spoken to you-who did he think he was? How the hell were you going to arrange to see Tommy again if Alfie was so suspicious? He certainly wasn’t going to let you go to Birmingham alone again. Tears stream down your face, mingling with the cold rain. Shaking the sodden tendrils of hair out of your eyes, you come to a stop at a park bench. Figuring you couldn’t get any wetter, you sit. A couple of short minutes later, somebody sits down next to you with a bump. You scoot along the bench.

“Thank god for that, I thought you were never going to run out of steam,” Ollie pants as if he’s run a marathon.

“I nearly told him, I was so mad at him that I nearly told him!”

“He’s going to find out at some point,” Ollie points out.

“Yeah, but me screaming how Tommy Shelby fucked me every which way is not going to be the best way to bring him round to the idea,” you sigh wearily, “I suppose he’s pissed at me now,”

“He wasn’t in the best of moods,” Ollie confirms, “but he did say I could come and find you,”

“Still love you, Ollie, thanks,” he pulls you into a hug.

“Daft bugger. Course you love me, I’m awesome,” he gasps as you press your frozen fingers into his chest, under his jacket, “bloody hell (Y/N) you’re freezing! Let’s get you home, yeah?” you nod in agreement. A nice hot bath and a relaxing evening will hopefully straighten out your head.

A knock on your door makes you drag your robe back onto your shoulders and tie the belt. You cast a longing look at the steaming bath as you go to answer the door. Of course. No rest for the wicked it would seem.

“Look love, we need to straighten this out,”

“Alfie, I’m tired. I’m cold. I don’t want to argue and I’ve just filled the bath. I just want to have my bath and go to bed.

“I ain’t come to argue. Look, I-can I come in please?”

You open the door wider to allow him access. He takes off his hat and stands fiddling with it awkwardly. Not his usual, confident demeanour, you notice.

“(Y/N), princess, you’re right. I was acting like an arse. It was just because I care about you. I just don’t want you getting hurt, do I?”

“Alfie Solomons, is that an apology?” you ask, incredulous.

“Well, yeah, I suppose it probably is, innit?” he concedes.

“In that case, I accept your apology. They don’t come along very often,”

“That’s ‘cos I don’t like lookin’ weak, do I?”

“Apologising for being an arse isn’t weak,” you curve an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, well, I’ve said it now. D’ya reckon we could get through tomorrow without any tantrums?”

“As long as you don’t decide to throw one, yeah,” you counter. He purses his lips, then grins.

“Well, that’s that, then. So, er, I’ll leave you in peace then, shall I? Yeah,” he glances at the bathtub.

Taking pity on the large, awkward man in your living room, you roll your eyes and throw your arms around his neck. He grunts in surprise and returns your embrace.

“I love you Uncle Alfie, even when you’re being an arse,” you say warmly.

“Well, you already know I love you the world over, (Y/N), always will. I just like to know you are safe,” he releases you and heads for the door.

“Goodnight, Alf,” you peck him on the cheek.

“See ya tomorra, queen,” he walks off and you close the door behind him and turn the key in the lock.

Removing your robe, you saunter over to the tub and sink into the -mercifully still hot-water, allowing it to burn away the stresses of the day.

As you wash the warm water over your limbs, you are struck with an idea. You run your fingers along your collarbone and across your breasts. You lay back and close your eyes, thinking about how Tommy’s hands had guided your own the previous day.

Climbing out of the bath, you wrap a sheet around you. Cheeks flushes from more than just the hot water, you pull on a nightgown and tumble into bed, sinking into a blissfully peaceful sleep.

#peaky blinder fanfic #peaky blinders #peaky #blinders #alfie solomons #tommy shelby

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thewestmeetingroom · 4 years ago

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Ep. 51 – Time Is On The Line: A Conversation with Cola H.

Broadcast Feb. 27, 2021 • 57:36

SPEAKERS

Cola H., Braeden, Marco

[Intro music – “Best Intentions” by Vic Adamo]

Marco

Peace, everyone. This is Marco Adamovic aka Vic Adamo and this is a Hart House Hip Hop Education Takeover of The West Meeting Room broadcasting live on CIUT 89.5 FM. We're on Dish with One Spoon Territory in Tkaronto and grateful for the opportunity to be here. Working with our campus partners and community Hip Hop practitioners, Hart House Hip Hop Education supports values of representation, collaboration, and social justice, as we explore the key principles of Hip Hop and its importance in our everyday culture. Google Hart House Hip Hop Education to learn more. Our first podcast led us to the homie Colanthony Humphrey aka Cola. H. Cola draws outside the lines and paints his own path in music and in business. The Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter enjoys the abnormal and adds his own color to punk rock as the drummer of the OBGMs, touring exclusively as the drummer for Sonreal, and Hip Hop collaborations with Clairmont the Second and DijahSB. We talked about how he got into music, connections between Hip Hop and Punk, the Oooh Baby Gimme Mores in 2020, who he's become by the risks he has taken, some of the best and worst advice he's heard in the industry, and a whole lot more. We also put together a Cola H. playlist from the tracks he dropped in our conversation, so make sure to go check that out on Spotify. And without further ado, let's get into my conversation with trailblazer, role redefiner and master collaborator Cola H.

Marco

I am joined by the one, the only Colanthony Humphrey aka Cola H., aka world conqueror, aka

airport loiterer, game spitter, show killer. Is there anything you don't do my man?

Cola H.

Man, I don't sleep properly anymore.

Marco

Okay, well, that makes sense. Welcome, man. Welcome to the podcast. We're blessed to have

you. How are you doing?

Cola H.

You know what? I'm doing, I'm doing good. I've had a good start in the morning. Started out,

you know, kissing my baby, of course, having a little coffee, and speaking to my therapist, and

now I'm speaking to you. This is great.

Marco

That's amazing, man. Yeah, ya know, I always I always love the chance to chat with you, man

for so many reasons. First of all, I want to say congrats on the Outsah tape man, you dropped

just yesterday.

Cola H.

Oh, thank you. Thank you. Yeah.

Marco

Can you tell us a little bit about the tape and what the past 24 hours has been like, since you

released it?

Cola H.

Oh, for sure. Um, so Outsah is a song like Outsah, like, just the spelling of it's supposed to be

outside. But it's kind of like a little bit more of a slang to it. Joey always used to say that to us,

like when we, he would be outside of the studio because you've got to be let in if you don't have the key, right. And the whole meet me outside comment, like the whole meet me outside, you know, catch these hands outside, like for anybody that's trying to overstep. That's one of the songs that Denz wrote. Like, in fact, I'd probably say one of the yeah, one of the first songs that he wrote for the album, The Ends. And, yeah, since making it we've like, since being in the

band, basically, we've always had a little, we've had, I mean, our roots are in Hip Hop, but we

just happened to make a punk rock band. And we wanted remixes to it, so the boys asked me to help chop it up and put it together. So I produced both of those remixes. And we asked, we

asked the homies Oxymorons. They're from New York, to hop on. And they were also

putting feelers out. And we got Femdot from Chicago. What we really wanted to do was we

wanted to unite city to city, like, you know what I mean. Let you know you could catch hands

anywhere, you know. And it didn't happen, but it didn't happen in the way we tried to make it

happen. But it's all good. You know, Chicago, New York, and what like, you know what I mean? Chicago, New York, and Toronto, like are represented. And we got my little brother Clairmont the Second on the remix with Femdot as well. So, yeah, it just feels good to collab with artists that you respect and that you dig. So especially when it comes out like this tape, you know?

Marco

I want to start at the beginning with you and I want like, I want to understand how you came to

music, when you started making music, and if you can just kind of take us back and let us

know kind of how you started your journey.

Cola H.

Alright, no doubt. Uh well long long ago - No I’m just joking. But my dad is a musician, and we

grew up in the church, like most Black families, especially here in Toronto, or like pretty much

anywhere in the States. So I grew up watching my dad sing and play piano and be, you know,

the choir director. And I remember, I must have been like three or four years old, and I hopped

on the drums, because I saw drummers before that and I was like, I know I can do that. And lo

and behold, I did it. My dad bought me a kiddie drum set, and I never looked back. And I've

been involved with music ever since. Mainly, you know, my formative years, I was playing in

church all the way up until like, I'd probably say, last year before the pandemic, I was playing in

church, whether it be drums or keys, which I learned a lot later in my teens. But that's how I

started my musical journey. My first paid gig that ever came to me, I was I was working at a

community health center. But my boss at the time, La Bomba, Paula Gonzalez, she was

throwing a show because she's actually known as a not only a graffiti writer, but as a bassist.

And she needed to put a band together. And she hired me and Denz for keyboards and

guitars, and that was our first paid gig ever. And I think I was, I think I was maybe 15 years old.

Yeah. And that's, that was my intro into like, being a professional musician.

Marco

So first of all, you and Denz go way back.

Cola H.

Oh, yeah.

Marco

Denz is a co-founder, right? You guys are co-founders of the OBGMs?

Cola H.

Yeah, I’d even credit him even more so than that. Like I basically say, it's the brainchild. Like

The Oooh Baby Gimme Mores, The OBGMs, that's the brainchild of Denz's. And I was right

there. Originally, we were trying to be like The Neptunes, right, like a production duo. But

we wanted to do something different. Because at that time, everybody and their mom was

rapping, like, you know, like its, like grandmas are rapping and this person rapping and that

person rapping. And like I'll even go as far as to say as we were still elite, like in terms of skill in the rap world, in terms of the people that we were up against. But it was just kind of like, what's a better way to gain attention in that way - Like, you know, you know, what, what was the Neptunes? The Neptunes was a band. They were N.E.R.D.. And that's what we did, we created a band, we leaned a lot harder, like we leaned a lot more into the harder side. And yeah, me and Denz started out as a two piece.

Marco

How did you come to developing that rougher sound, that more distorted sound, that more

intense, aggressive sound?

Cola H.

Yeah, that's a great question. So I think it's a number of things. So Denz wanted to introduce

me to Rock and Roll. And at that time, like, you know, living in York Square, like in Toronto,

which was like, very, very hood at that point. Like, you know, and you’d kind of get jumped, like

really in any hood, like at that time, you would get jumped if you were listening to rock music,

right? Like, and I feel like the only acceptable ones were like Billy Talent and Nirvana with

Smells Like Teen Spirit. Those were the only like two bands that were kind of accepted in the

rap world at the time with the people that we were around. So anyway, you know, Denz was

listening to all this stuff. I'd say a deeper catalog of rock. Like, you know, he introduced me to

the Arctic Monkeys, which like, they were hard as fuck at the time, excuse my language. And

then like DFA 1979. And like, the whole reason I got into Hip Hop was because of the danger.

Right? So like, I just began to start leaning into like, you know, even harder stuff. Like, you

know, So for an example. You know, Nirvana's In Utero is like probably one of their biggest

albums. But I was into Bleach more, just because it sounded rougher around the edges - it

sounded more dangerous. Like it was you know - and danger is kind of like the reason why I

leaned so far into like punk rock and rap in the first place, right. Like, and that's probably due

to the fact that I was raised in the church, a relatively conservative family. Like maybe trying

to separate myself from that is exactly what got me into the danger in music in the first

place, you know.

Marco

Favourite track on Bleach?

Cola H.

Man, like probably No Recess, man. That shit is [sings Noooo Recess!] It's so good. It's so

good. But, but there's so, there's so many good ones right? Like, with Nirvana you kind of can't

miss. Like you can literally touch any track and people will completely understand why you love

it. You know what I mean? But that's, that's probably my favorite track. Like, without a doubt I

was singing it just in the car the other day. I was blasting my stereo to 100 like, Oh, it's a mess

when I’m in my car, just enjoying tunes. Yeah, man

Marco

You know, I've seen you. I've seen you guys live a number of times. I remember actually the

first I saw you live was a, I forget, it was a bar on college. And that was when I

first saw the infamous mosh pit that y'all used to fuck with.

Cola H.

Yeah.

Marco

Where Denz would just take both sides and throw them together in this mosh pit. And I was struck by the energy that you had. And, you know, listening to The Ends, I'm also seeing a lot, lot of, well you guys say, you know, it’s Nirvana shit, it’s Jimi Hendrix shit, right? And it seems like you guys leaned into that a little bit more for The Ends, which dropped last year 2020. Y'all did a live stream from Horseshoe which was dope af.

Cola H.

Thank you. Thank you.

Marco

Yeah, it was. And especially at a time in the pandemic, right. Like, just walk us through the

process of like, how you came up with it, what it means to you. And obviously, it was

received, like it made a huge splash. So yeah, just walk us through The Ends man.

Cola H.

Well, The Ends has a number of different concepts. Like, I'd say a lot of them are probably like,

emotional anger. Like, you know - so The Ends, like, the end of bad relationships. The end of

not putting music out for a number of years since our last release. Like the end of like, you

know, people trying to walk all over us. The end of like, it's a number of those very, very, very different things, right? Like, that's why it's called The Ends. And The Ends, like, if you look at the back cover of the vinyl, or the front cover of the Outsah tape, right? That's where the OBGMs was started - in The Ends, that that building that’s atop like, that's where those are, The Ends. Those are The Ends that we’re from. Like, so it's a number of different concepts rolled up into one. The process of creating The Ends, I would say it took years, and it took years for a number of reasons. A lot of those lean on Denz and that's not blame. He went through what any artist goes through. Denz, like, a lot of times, because our art is on display, essentially what you're doing is you're leaving yourself on display. There's a reason why lyrics to a song gets used in court and scripts to a movie doesn’t right? When you're an artist, you bare your soul, essentially. It's your pulpit. But anyway, when you bare your soul, and it's not received in the way that you want people to receive it, like, you know, especially when you've been gunning as long as – I feel like we've been making music together for like 18 years. And I feel like the band has been together for about like - me and Denz - like this band's Inception was what 2008 / 2009. So we're in our 12th and a half year. Like, you know, and when you've been gunning for that long, and people like - you're not famous yet, like or maybe not even fame - but you're not respected yet. Like, you want to step away from it because you're just like, am I even writing good songs? Right? So Denz needed that time and I, you know what, after speaking countless

conversations about it with him, like I understand. I understand that he needed that time. That

time is very, very valuable. And then when he was back, we are back writing and we got

Dave Schiffman involved who's behind like countless records that the world knows. I feel

like he did like three or four of the Bronx’s records. Alanis Morissette, like a lot of

people don't even know that he worked on Jagged Little Pill and like, you know, Haim. Like, It

spans all across the board. And he's from the school of Rick Rubin you know, which

immediately perked up my ears for a number of reasons, right. Like the same guy who's behind Beastie Boys and LL Cool J at the same time, like will absolutely be able to understand us, right. Like especially if you’re from that school. So we got Schiffman on board, and he came here and we recorded for about a month, a month and a half, and we got The Ends.

Marco

You dropped your first, your first EP was Interchorus back in 2009. And that was just you and

Denz, which I, which I remember actually, I actually I have the physical CD of that.

Cola H.

Wow!

Marco

It's all love man. And I was listening, obviously listening to all the records just kind of, you know, in advance of chatting with you and I think fundamentally like, there are certain things that have changed. But the fundamental sound still sort of stays there, like the grime, the danger. The only difference, I think, and you also on each album, you kind of you went from two members to four members to now down to three. And you know, you're mentioning all this sort

of change, the changes and different ways that the band has sort of has ebbed and flowed. So it sounds like the essence is still there.

Cola H.

Yeah.

Marco

But with The Ends, y’all just like, you're just unapologetic.

Cola H.

Yeah.

Marco

At this point, you are unapologetic. And I think it comes through in a big, big way. What about

this current three piece made it so that The Ends made this kind of a splash and impact in this

unapologetic way?

Cola H.

Well, I think after a while, and this solely comes with time. With time, you begin to realize that

you can spend time trying to get the attention in different sort of ways, whether it's like

somebody's like, Oh, you gotta have this type of tune, or you gotta have that type of tune. And

then I don't know, somewhere along the line you turn 30. And then you're kind of just like, yo, I

don't care what anybody says, like this is how it's going down. And this is what we're going to

do. Now, even with like the writing, I can't ever say that in the writing process certain things

have solidified, because, like, as a writer of music, I feel like that process is always going to

change. Maybe the one thing that solidifies now is the fact that we never - at least, I mean, it

remains to be seen - but I don't ever want to go a year without, I don't ever want to go a month

without writing a song. You know what I mean? Like, I mean, we could probably talk about this

later, but like leaving a corporate job solely to work on music alone, right. The professional

doesn't have the time to be like, uh, you know, I'm not really feeling the vibe right now. It's like,

when you have to crank out work, you got to crank it out. Because like, your time is on the line,

money is on the line - even more so time, time is on the line. And when time is on the line, you can't sit down. And when you work for yourself, you cannot sit down. So when it comes down to that, like I think that's probably the only thing that has solidified. And to speak to going from two members to four members to three, the big change in that is - so we split amicably, like when we went from four to three, like we still got love for Jem. It's just that Jem’s sensibilities lean more towards the pop side. And that doesn't really benefit the sound of The OGBMs. So, it was an amicable split. Te's still doing crazy, wicked stuff. Like he releases his own solo music. And he was touring with Zaki Ibrahim before the pandemic. So it's just like, yeah, we still got nothing but love for him. And to come back to The OBGMs. When things go from four to three, like, the less numbers, the easier it is to crank out because you don't have to go through a number of people to sort of, you know what I mean, complete a song. Right? Whether it's an idea that somebody likes or somebody doesn't like or whatever.

Marco

Yeah, for sure. I want to get into the transition from full time work to full time musician for a

number of reasons. But I want to, I want to stay a bit on The Ends,

particularly because you dropped The Ends in 2020.

Cola H.

Yes.

Marco

And there was a lot going on in 2020. I would call it you know, I mean, sort of more of a global

racial reckoning. Right? And I think you also dropped a new podcast. Shout out OBGMs Band

Practice.

Cola H.

Oh, thank you so much.

Marco

And So the one thing I want to talk about is the - what you call lazy comparisons - that the

industry is making when it comes to The OBGMs and to The Ends. You've been called, you’ve

been called Bad Brains. And I know you've shared the stage with Bad Brains and your sound

couldn't be any different.

Cola H.

Yeah, exactly.

Marco

So do you want to talk to us a little bit about, about what that's been like, and what insights

you've had as a result of that?

Cola H.

Um, so, yeah, it's, it's really, really tough to be, you know, a person of color in - how do I

construct this best - it's really, really tough to be Black in a majority white space that is not

ready to see, like what we do. And when they're not ready to see what we do, they instantly try

to make comparisons to other Black people. And, you know, I can't blame, you know, a casual

fan for not having the breadth of knowledge, or even the catalogue of knowledge like to

be able to compare us properly, right? I realize what we do is extremely different than what a

lot of other people do. And because of that, like, they're just trying to look for something. And we do this just commonly with a bunch of things. Like, you know, we try to make comparisons to things that we recognize so that we're able to categorize them. So that when we refer to other

people, we can, like, we know what to expect. The problem with it being journalists is you

are paid to analyze, right? You are paid to analyze, and if it's music, you're paid to analyze the

sound, right? If it's how we look like, I mean, the only comparison that we have with Living

Colour, and that we have with Bad Brains is that we're Black. Soundwise, like the fact that we

do Rock like or are in the Rock space is the only comparison that you can make. If you listen

to the music and all you can pull is Bad Brains, then that means you haven't listened to it. So

that's the problem that we have. It does, it still makes it hard, right?

Marco

What inspires you in the current moment that we're in, because I know, for example, you've

you know, the launch of The Ends, you've been hosting a lot of conversations with other

artists. You know, Denz has been doing a lot of work on hosting conversations with artists

around issues of race, around issues of social justice. And what are you finding that is inspiring

in this moment, even though that there's a lot of work still to do?

Cola H.

I think what's inspiring is the fact that I think with everybody being home, people are finally

willing to listen. For a long time, I mean, there's this great joke where it's just like, have you

heard? Like, the police are beating up Black people again. I don't know if you've paid attention

in the past 400 years to the news! Like, you know what I mean? But it just feels like within the

last year with like George Floyd and all that, like, it feels like people are finally willing to admit

that there's a problem, and that it's a big problem. And it's a problem that has existed forever.

I'd say that's inspiring. The fact that people are willing to talk. And this goes beyond just, you

know, violence against communities of color. Like it's right up to tolerance, right? Like, I mean,

it feels only yesterday that like, you know, the amount of of slurs that we would throw around,

like, you know, pertaining to different communities, that that was acceptable. And now it's not

acceptable, right? The fact that in this day and age, where even like what's known as the

casting couch mentality is being destroyed. Change is what's inspiring, right? Like, all

these different things like the you know, the Me Too movement that's inspiring all these

different things that are inspiring. It shows that like, you know, life can change for the

better. That's what's inspiring me the most. I wouldn't think that it would be any different for

Denz or Joe.

Marco

The words, you know, in that context, music is so much more important, because you

mentioned that you're putting yourself out there and you can't separate yourself. And you can't

separate the music from who you are in that instance. And I think that's another strong

connection that exists within something like The OBGMs and specifically, you know, with you

having this background and medium of both Hip Hop and punk. And so you've got these

sort of two critical forms of expression. What do those two genres or words mean to you in the

context of music being more than just entertainment?

Cola H.

It meant, like, culture. Like, I mean, we say subculture like for these things, but it's culture. Like

these are the driving forces of culture, right? And even at that, like, I feel like, at least now, as

I'm growing older, I'm realizing that it means so much more than just these two words. Like Hip

Hop is more than just like, you know, graffiti, and breakdancing, and MCing. Like, it's, it's a way

of life, right? It's like, I don't walk around saying like, Oh, this is so Hip Hop like as much as I do, like saying, yo, this is punk rock as fuck. But it's just like, it becomes a way of life, like the way how you approach certain things, right? I feel like that's what those things mean to me, right? Like going completely DIY is so punk rock. Right? Not taking no for an answer, being completely in your face is so Hip Hop. Like, it becomes the way that you breathe, the way that you walk, the way that you talk, the way you consume information, the way you exert information, right, the way you express yourself. That's what those two words have meant, and like, continue to mean and it continues to evolve as like both those genres, both of those ways of life evolve. And as my mind continues to evolve, you know.

Marco

Facts, man, facts. So, you know, there's a piece there on risk that I think, you know,

putting yourself out there, but also everything that's wrapped up in both of those. I mean, to call

them genres is to really simplify what they mean. But when you're embodying something like

that in such a way, you're taking a risk. And so I want to go back to the risk that you took when

you jumped from full-time work to full-time musician and, you know, maybe some

insights that you could offer, you know, folks listening or things that you look back on and

you're like, I'm so glad that I did this. Or just the process of learning and learning more about

yourself as you took that risk.

Cola H.

Yeah, definitely, um, the risk. So I'll never forget it. So while I was at my desk working, I got

two offers. So first of all, I just started managing my baby brother, right? Well, he's not a baby

anymore.

Marco

Shout out Clairmont the Second.

Cola H.

Yeah, Clairmont the Second, shout out to Clairmont the Second. He's not a baby anymore. He's a full grown adult now. But at the time, he was still in his teens. And we had gotten offered, we had gotten offered a publishing deal for him. And because I was sending through my own music to this publishing company, I had gotten offered a publishing deal as well. And then not only that, but at the time the band, The OBGMs, we were in talks with a record label. And things were looking very, very good. And, you know, I was speaking to my dad, and then, you know, I had some time to think. And I said, you know what, I think if there was ever a time to make a jump, if God is telling me to jump now, it's right now. So I jumped. And I handed in my two-week resignation. And I went to work on the last day of work. I went in on a Monday, which people wouldn't normally do. But I said I'm working on the 15th. That's what it's gonna be. And I was going to be proposing to my wife on the Wednesday. All in the same day, when I got home, the publishing deal fell through because there was miscommunication, which turned into a little bit of a back and forth. So, both publishing deals fell through. And the record deal fell through all on the same day, on the Monday. And on the Wednesday, I was proposing to my wife, and my now wife, and you know, at first I was a little scared. I was like, oh, what did I just do? And I went, and I spoke to a mentor of mine. And you know, he basically said, you know what, give

it a year and a half. And if you come out, and you don't have money or like, you know, the

biggest loss that you can have is going back to work and say, man, that was a crazy, it was a

crazy, like year and a half that I had. Or you can be me. And him, at the time, like, if you see his production credits, biggest pop stars in the world. I'm not even gonna mention them. But it's just like biggest pop stars in the world. So that's the advice I rolled with. And two weeks after I

proposed to my wife, she said yes, obviously. And I was in an event. I was sitting

down, like looking at this film. And I was like, you know what, I'm gonna be okay. And here I am, I'm okay. And I'm still doing my thing, even in the midst of the pandemic. I'm a full-time artist. You know? Sometimes you just got to take the risk. It's never going to happen the way you want it to happen. I think that's the biggest takeaway that I've had from this whole process. It won't happen exactly how you see it, but it can still happen if you're motivated to push it

towards happening. So here I am - Professional Artist.

Marco

No doubt man, no doubt. And yeah, kudos to you man for pushing through.

Cola H.

Thank you.

Marco

In terms of, you know, the entertainment industry, the music industry. I want to float this, float

this question to you - What's the best piece of advice you've heard someone either give you or

give someone else? And what's the worst piece of advice you've heard someone give you or

somebody else?

Cola H.

The best piece of advice that I've ever been given was at the start, from that same mentor that I

was just telling you about. He said, you know, I had sat with him a week after like, you know, a

week after I quit. And I was just like, look man, I want to figure this out. He's like here's what

you need to know: nobody in this industry knows what they're talking about. We're not talking

about like administrative like duties and stuff like that. We're talking about what's hot and

what's not. Right? The executives, they'll try to convince you that they know everything. The

record labels will try to convince you that they know everything. They know what's hot. They

know how to make a record pop. They know what's poppin’ in the streets. The truth is, is that

they don't know. They have a formula. And that's what they're concerned in making big. Nobody saw, like at the height of his popularity, no one saw Tekashi 6ix9ine coming, right. I mean like, and I'm not promoting Tekashi 6ix9ine when I say it, but they didn't see it coming. No one saw

XXXTentacion coming, you know. And even right on top of it, no one saw Chance the Rapper

when he was at his height of heights, coming. And like look what they all did. They all changed

the game in some sort of way. And like, that's, that's just the reality. But record execs, industry

professionals, including myself, will try to convince you that they know. And they don't. That's

the best piece of advice I got. The worst piece of advice that I've heard was actually just

recently. An artist manager was talking to a panel. And you know, I don't want to smack them

down too much. But basically, what they said was sometimes you just want people to listen to

you and you want them to like be wearing your merch, right? So if you have to buy a shirt at $10 and sell it at $12 and you make a $2 profit, just do it. I personally think that's horrible advice. And the reason why I think it's horrible advice is because artists have been taught to demean their price and undervalue themselves in order to get seen for so long. And I think when it comes to the music business, you do not get successful by undervaluing your product. You want people to take you serious. There's a reason that when Nipsey Hussle was selling his album for I think it was either $100 or $1,000 a piece. There's a reason he sold out. It was

beyond good music. It was, it was the fact that he valued himself that much more. And I feel like it's a, it's in bad practice to teach artists to undervalue themselves to get a little bit further. Like to be real with you, and I don't want to get too far into this, but that's exactly why the casting couch mentality exists. Like it comes from undervaluing yourself, your person. Anytime you undervalue yourself, you will fall for the banana in the tailpipe. Like you will fall for the things that will eventually slow you down, for the things that will make you feel dirty about yourself. That's what's gonna happen, right? So you don't ever want to undervalue your craft. The thing that you think that you're better than others at, the thing that makes you you, if you ever shortchange that you will shortchange yourself all your life. Or you might get what you want. But you will always feel that and you won't be able to sleep at night. You know what I mean? And that's just how I feel about that.

Marco

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

Cola H.

You'll fall for anything, and how many people do we know have fallen for things that they

shouldn't have fallen for? It's countless, you know what I mean? And it's just like, we need

artists to value themselves otherwise, like, you know what I mean, everybody will be

undervaluing themselves. And it's just not worth it.

Marco

Facts, man. One question I have is around communities and being a part of a community.

Because I know, you know, particularly West End. I know you've been, you've been repping

West End since before it was cool to rep West End of Toronto.

Cola H.

Yep. Very, for a very long time. Yep.

Marco

And I know, you know, and you seem to, you seem to drop features that no one’s expecting and then all sudden, it's like, oh shit, Cola is up on this too, right? So, talk to me - a couple of things: One is just the importance of community when it comes to, you know, culture, when it comes to working in creative spaces. And the other is this dynamic in Canada and in Canadian music about, you know, not whether it's more important, but you know, everyone says, you need to get out of Canada, to become successful. And so, you know, how, what do you make of that?

Cola H.

Right. Well, on the community aspect. A community that you love and that loves you will always prop you up no matter what. It's, it's just inevitable. They will always prop you up. And if they truly love you, they will tell you when you're sidestepping. They will tell you when something was wack, because the incentive is to get better. Right? So for like, for the West End, right - so I grew up at Keele and Eglinton, York Square, right - We used to have rap battles all the time. And like those rap battles, it wasn't something where we were fighting each other. It was something like, yo if we really, really want to do this, we gotta be better than the next person. So I gotta be better than you. And your incentive is to be better than me. And essentially - actually, that's how me and Denz met. We met through our sisters, right. And, and we met through beat battles, right. To the point where we partnered with each other and just worked on becoming better producers. But the incentive is to be better than each other but for the betterment of the both of us, right. So that's the importance of community. And if it's making you guys better, that's the importance. It's kind of weird now though. Like, I feel like people rep certain hoods or whatnot, and it's not necessarily a thing where they're trying to make each other better, right. It's more so they're trying to, you know, battle with each other in a negative way. But, I mean, that's for another story. Now, to come to your second question, which was going to the States in order to make it. I completely still wholeheartedly agree with that statement. Like, the reality is this. Like, I'll just use Clairmont, for example. Clairmont the Second is a Juno nominated, three times in a row Polaris prize long-listed, a Prism prize award-winning director. Like Clairmont has all these accolades. For the past year, Clairmont has been featured on multiple United States playlists. The majority of his plays come from the United States. The thing is, is that Canada is far too small and like there's not enough Hip Hop fans here, right? And the biggest music market in the world is the United States. Maybe you don't need to be big in the United States. Maybe it's somewhere in Europe. But in terms of Canada, there is just not enough people here. Like maybe, like you know, a popular act can be a million-dollar band here, maybe. But like, you know, two black guys and a half-Iranian half-Irish guy like being a million-dollar Canadian band, like only operating in Canada? I don't think that's very much so possible here.

Marco

So what is, I mean, what is Toronto's place in the modern music industry then? Because I

mean, there's a lot of, I mean, Toronto has blown up for the past 10 years, right?

Cola H.

Yeah, for sure.

Marco

And everyone wants to say that it's Drake, it's because of Drake. But, you know, anyone that,

anyone that's been paying attention knows that the foundations had been built for a long time.

What makes Toronto so unique in terms of the music that's coming out of the city?

Cola H.

I think, I think it's a lot of things. And I would absolutely argue the fact that it is because of

Drake, to be honest with you. And like I would argue that, and I feel like there's a number of

things here that make Toronto that great. Drake didn't need to rep us like on top of that. Like

Drake repped us and I think it's because he truly loves this city. And I think this city has

something to be jealous of. For the fact that there are so many first-generation kids here, so

many immigrant families here. Like I feel like it's, and it's from all different places, like in the

world, right. Majid Jordan like is another example. I feel like every single Black artist that you

see from this city that has gone on to do amazing things, like, none of their parents are

Canadian. They're all from somewhere else. So I feel like the mixing of all those different

cultures to bring up these kids who grew up, all in the, in the same place, I think that's what

makes Toronto like a great breeding ground for talent. I mean, all my friends, like so many

of my friends are like, they're all talented, all first-generation, and all have interesting lives

beyond just making music. And that's what makes the music that much better. You know what

I'm saying? I think that's what makes Toronto unique and special. And I think that's why Drake

loves it. I feel like that's why, like, once again, I think Drake is instrumental to the economy of

Toronto. Like, beyond music, but definitely, like, when he said, "Weston Road flows," All my

Weston people were like, yo, we're taxing everybody at Caribana. ‘Cuz they're gonna want

tours of Weston. Like, not just the strip, but just the whole entire Weston community. You know, I mean, we’re gonna be taxing people out here. Like, if they come out here trying to, you know what I mean? And nobody would have known about Weston. They wouldn't have known about Weston if Drake didn't say it on his records. You know, it's just a fact.

Marco

No, and it's a great point. I mean, you know, leveraging that platform to really put a spotlight on

specific areas, specific issues. I mean, I think there's a lot that, you know, your work with

OBGMs and Drake have in common. I mean, you're leveraging that culture to rep a city, to rep

just to rep period, right?

Cola H.

Absolutely.

Marco

In terms of who's in your ears right now, who do we need to be listening to?

Cola H.

So in terms of - it's a bunch of people, right. Like, I'm listening to a ton of music right now. Yves

Tumor is probably like - Heaven for a Tortured Mind. Great album. I encourage everybody to go

listen to that album. That album, like was probably one of my most played albums of the whole

year. I'm listening to anything that comes from DijahSB, another artist from here, Toronto.

Clairmont the Second of course. And shameless plug, The OBGMs. Everything that is The

OBGMs you need to be listening to that. Other than that, like I'm finding new music every day. I

just took in Illuminati Hotties’ latest album and they're doing some really really cool musical stuff

there. In terms of rap, 1TakeJay. I'm really really enjoying the off-the-beat-type rap flow, where

it's kind of like, and it's really, really popular in the West Coast. And I think 1TakeJay is from out

there. And, like, I really, really enjoy that. Like you're kind of on the beat, but you're kind of

really not on the beat at all. And there's something about it that's just so swaggy about it that I

really really dig. And as a drummer, too, right, being able to drum within the pocket but off the

click, like oh, there's something so sick about that. And who else. I really really like G Perico's

voice. I think he sounds almost like a modern day DJ Quik. Larry June is also another one. And like to be real with you, I've been listening to like a ton of 80s R&B funk. Like a ton. Like

S.O.S. band. Like S.O.S. Band is probably my favorite. But like Mtume is another one. Cherelle, Alexander O'Neal, anything that Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have produced, I highly, highly

encourage everyone to go listen to it, because it's just filled with number ones, their entire

catalogue, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. They're my favorite producers in the whole world. And I hope one day meet them.

Marco

Wicked man. What are two songs and one album that are forever part of your life soundtrack?

Cola H.

I'll start off by giving this album that I love. It's not a rock album, but it kinda is – Funkadelic,

Let's Take it to the Stage. When I was 16 years old, and Denz was trying to convince me to be

in a rock band. And I said, hell no. I stumbled upon this documentary on PBS. With them

playing, or it was a, it was a documentary about Parliament Funkadelic. And, like, you know,

they transitioned from being just like an R&B band to a funk band to like moving into rock and

roll. Let's Take it to the Stage was a pivotal album that basically said we're here to stay and

we're here, meshing these, these two things together. And that's an album I can't live without.

In terms of songs. Hmm. S.O.S. Band, Tell Me if you Still Care. It helped me discover the

softer side of who I was. Not everything is about like, you know, loudness and you know, trying

to be seen. Tell Me if you Still Care by S.O.S. Band, produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Yeah. And Pull Out by Death From Above 1979. It’s just completely, like, offensive, completely

loud. And just like, the type of energy that I was just like rolling with in my early college years,

which made me want to get even harder with this music shit.

Marco

And then in terms of other tracks, what in your own, in your own catalogue? So music that

you've worked on or been a part of, what are some of the most meaningful tracks to you?

Cola H.

Triggered by the OBGMs. Like, that's a meaningful song because it's hard. And it's everything

that when I wanted to get harder with music, like it's everything that I thought we would sound

like. That's one track in my catalog that I'm like yes. Another one would probably have to be

Clockout. It's the song with me and Clairmont on his last, on his latest album. I produced that

song, and like I got the second verse on it. It's just, it just shows like that both of us got lyrical

skill and can still bounce off of each other, and let it be a family affair and still be like, just a

complete banger. And lastly, I'd probably say New Money, which is like a solo track of mine.

Marco

Ooh, la la.

Cola H.

Yeah, Ooh La La. Yes. New Money. Like, there's not a bar in there that's not true. And it's just,

it feels like what Toronto feels like to me. You know, that's my Ode to Toronto.

Marco

So like a lot of artists have sort of said that 2020 was a year for strategizing because of the

impact on the the arts community. You were obviously busy AF. And so what are some final

thoughts on music in 2021 and sort of where we find ourselves globally? Locally? Like, you

know, obviously, you're going to be releasing some music. So that's exciting. Anything else

you want to share about? Just final thoughts on music and either 2021 or beyond?

Cola H.

Yeah. So like, I think if 2020 showed us anything, it's that the world can be shut down for a

multitude of reasons. And I think if you're taking this time to strategize, good. But if you're not

taking this time to, to actively still maintain attention, or learn a new skill, you will suffer when

the world does come back, if it ever comes back. I think people that are waiting - like it

showed, it showed us this. If you wait, you will wait. Like period. There's never going to be a

right time for anything. The right time is right now. Right? What are you doing right now?

What's happening right now? What are people watching right now? What are people doing

right now? If you do not add more skills to your arsenal, and if you are only waiting for the right

time, you'll die out. Like there's just no way that you'll survive in this day and age. Because like

the reality is like, I'm not sure our normal world comes back. I'm definitely not sure. And I know

that sounds bleak. But like, I mean we booked a few things for 2021. But the reality is, is like it’ll

probably get canceled, you know. And I think anyone that thinks live music is coming back in

2021 is not paying attention to the signs that things are going horribly wrong right now. So the

thing is, is like, how are you going to survive this rat race next? And it's - you know what it's not

by doing? Waiting. So don't wait. Right now is the time. That's my final thought.

Braeden

Could I ask one question?

Marco

Sure!

Cola H.

Oh, please.

Braeden

It seems like behind your work is this like really intricate fabric of relationships and you

collaborate with a lot of people. You have band members. You're in the music business with

your brother. You're in a marriage with someone. Like, these relationships have so many

layers and so much depth and complexity. And so I just wonder, like, what do you think is

essential in moving through those relationships and sustaining those relationships in a good

way?

Cola H.

I’ll say it like this. Communication is essential in moving forward in a relationship. But not only

communication, it's understanding what the relationship is. So when I say understanding the

relationship, relationships start for different reasons. And they usually end because somebody

broke code as to what the relationship was. Like, I feel like a lot of us don't understand

relationships to the extent that we should. Relationships are basically – they’re social contracts

as to how you interact with somebody. And the moment that changes, the relationship can

either change or end. And, like, I think as long as you understand like why it started, and how it

started, and you're willing to make it evolve through communication, of course. A relationship

can sustain the worst, like the absolute worst of what life has to offer. You know, and I think

that's why I've been able to roll with Denz for so long. That's why I'm in business with my

brother. That's why essentially, my wife is like, she's not just like - she describes herself as my

biggest fan. But I think she's way more than that. She's my business partner, like, just in life,

you know what I mean? Like, you know, you know, we're new parents, right. And like, even the

things that we introduce our child to, or even right down to how we communicate in front of her.

Like, maintaining a relationship, all that is key, like, so it's knowing why you got together and

and communicating so that the relationship can continue to flourish.

Braeden

I guess if I could follow up with something personal?

Cola H.

Of course. Please.

Braeden

Like, well, just, you know, being so - and I guess I'm asking from a place of being in a similar

context - like, when, when you're married to someone and you’re business partners, and you’re

co-parenting, and maybe you have, I don't know, creative sides, or creative work that

intersects. But then you're also in a domestic partnership, and also a romantic partnership. It's

like you're wearing all these different hats. And sometimes it's hard to know which hat you're,

you're speaking from, like, and they have competing interests. And so I'm just like wondering if, like, do you, have you sort of acquired, are you learning like a new language, or bringing in a new set of tools into like, I guess, learning the interplay between all those different hats you have to wear?

Cola H.

I think, I think what it is, is we’re learning a new set of tools. So marriage is not for everyone, I

completely believe that. And it's for me, and it’s for my partner, like it's for both of us. Like we

chose each other. And like, that's why we're still happy today. The reason why we love each

other is because we love each other for who we are, right? But the reason why it works so

well, is because the way we communicate. We know that we'll be able to grow together. So

whether it's being business partners, whether it's buying property together, whether it's raising

a family together, like you know what I mean? Whether it's, or even right down to who's gonna

do the dishes, and who's in the living room. Like, you know, all those things, those all just

become tools. They become assets that you use, like, in order to accomplish whatever you

need to accomplish. But the thing is, is like, they're just tools, but they add on to our

relationship. We know we can continue to grow together. And that's why we continue to grow

together.

Braeden

Thank you for sharing.

Cola H.

Oh, no problem. No problem. By the way, great questions. Completely unexpected, but really,

really dope.

Braeden

Yeah, well, like it kind of, you know, what made me think of it is when you mentioned Dave

Schiffman, like earlier in the conversation. Like, there's kind of, there's like these invisible

relationships that happen behind the scenes that no one else sees.

Cola H.

Mm hmm.

Braeden

And, and I'm just like, I'm interested in that aspect of just yeah, people's sort of like, the

intimate realms of people's lives that lead to the work you never really see.

Cola H.

Can I expand on that actually?

Braeden

Yeah.

Cola H.

Now that, now that we're talking about it, like, I feel like a lot of times, especially as artists,

because it's a lonely road, and because a lot of the times you find yourself alone. You find

yourself being extremely introspective. I feel like great artists are very introspective. You forget

that you need people. But like, even with everything that we're seeing in this in this world, like

happening right now, where it kind of seems like everyone's mad at each other, right? You

know, whether it be for political reasons, racial reasons, whether it be class reasons. But the

reality is this. We need each other, we all need each other. Like, even right down to me talking

shit, like people need people. We can't go it alone. Like, I mean, if we try to go it alone, or

without particular communities, our minds don't expand. And right now there's a fight to keep

things the same, or the fight to change things. And like, you know, there's two people leaning

on on two different sides. But really, if we came together, and you know, we work together

towards a common goal and that's like, advancing humanity, you know, we would be so much

further than we are right now. People don't value each other as much as they should. And that’s

where the big problems lie, you know?

Braeden

Yeah, I feel like trust is really the only currency.

Cola H.

It really really is. It really is. Trust me. Yeah.

Marco

That's awesome Braeden. Just a quick plug - everything OGBMs, everything Cola H.,

everything Clairmont the Second, OBGMs Band Practice wherever you get podcasts.

Cola H.

Yup Yup

Marco

Cola man, as always, it's a pleasure. We appreciate you and just wish you so much more

success and a brighter fire that burns in 2021.

Cola H.

Oh, my bro, thank you so much. I really really really really appreciate you guys having me. And

like yeah, I said before, Cola H. on everything just look up "dieforcola". So dieforcola.com,

@dieforcola on everything and that will lead you to Cola H. and that is me. Thank you for

having me.

Marco

Peace

Cola H.

Peace

[outro music plays]

Marco

That was my conversation with Colanthony Humphrey aka Cola H. You can check him out on

social media @dieforcola. I want to give a big shout out to Braeden Doane for her support in

producing today's episode. Look out for another Hart House Hip Hop Education takeover

coming soon. In the meantime, check us out at harthouse.ca. I'm Marco Adamovic. Peace.

#harthousehiphopeducation #colah thewestmeetingroom harthousestories

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