Chapter 33
Our new manager is creating a massive buzz for us. Needless to say, she and Eden are getting on like two peas in a pod. The original person, whom the record label suggested, had already committed to another band but recommended their colleague Flavia Fratti. It’s not often you run into female music managers for rock bands, but she’s unique in having planted her feet in this industry for two decades and specializes in start-up bands.
Flavia says we’re a bit more unique than beginners because people are curious creatures and always want to know the “what happened” part of our story.
We’ve finished recording our first single and the label wants to release it fast on social media. So, not only do we need to get a video done, but we also need to start promos for it. Creating a buzz also means participating in interviews and sitting on chat show sofas with popular interview hosts.
And that’s precisely what we’re doing on The Earl Ridley Show, an online talk show that generates millions of regular weekly viewers. I”m not sure how Flavia managed it, but she tends to work her connections like a magic wand. She stirs the pot until she gets what she wants.
“So you’re all back,” Earl Ridley smiles at us. “Some of you have gone a one-eighty on your looks. Callum and Eden have had the biggest drastic changes of style,” he addresses my two bandmates, waiting for a reaction and probably a reply from them.
I watch Eden sitting on the sofa across from me. Flavia’s already coached her on all the questions she might be asked. It might not be obvious to the live audience, but she’s nervous. Only a week ago, we rescued Storm from Terra Sands. Rather than get slowed down by recent events, we’ve pushed through and practically lived in the recording studio until our production manager was satisfied we completed our first song.
With everything going on, Eden hasn’t had time to process what happened, and I’m afraid that if she stops moving, it might dawn on her how serious and risky her security currently is. Rick has started vetting all our staff, from the drivers who deliver us to venues such as this one in downtown LA, to screening the gardening and cleaning firm that passes through the gates of Haze’s home.
Eden’s given Catalina time off to recover from her attack, sent her to her sister in New York and is now taking Storm to his physio along with the bodyguard and an extra guy trailing them to be cautious.
Jagger mentioned we should all start a self-defense and firearms course. Haze has jumped to the opportunity and booked us all private instruction. But honestly, I’ve been using my fists in pubs for years, and they have never failed me. I think all of us lads can hold well in a fight.
But guns are a whole different matter for me.
First, I’m a musician, a drummer, not some gun-toting maniac. With all due respect to Jagger, who’s served and had to learn the brutal way, gun training was never in my top ten list of new things to try out.
Eden agrees with me but admits she owns several guns stored at Terra Sands that even Catalina doesn’t know about. She’s also already taken self-defense and firearms instruction in the past.
“It’s for protection,” she explained as I observed her remove a few firearms from the safe in her bedroom closet and pop them into a bag to take them with her to LA.
It was surprising to see her with something she advocated against in the past. But she’s been terrorized to the point where I can understand two women living a zillion miles from civilization might need some kind of security. But now, everywhere she goes here in LA, she carries one in her bag.
We’re not vigilantes; we”re musicians.
My gaze travels to Callum, sitting at the end of the sofa, seemingly withdrawn from this interview. I love the bastard, but I wouldn’t trust him with a gun, and the way he glares at the interviewer is precisely why. He’s naturally volatile. Usually calm as a button, sitting in the shadows, minding his own business, but rub him the wrong way, and without warning, you’ll meet his wrath with his fist in your face.
“You going somewhere with a question, Earl?” Eden asks. The audience chuckles, and she then leans in closer to the interviewer. “Do you disapprove of us branching out and discovering who we are?”
Good question. Despite the shite Eden’s been through, she isn’t a wallflower. She’s bold and can hold her own well, especially with notoriously brutal interviewers such as Earl Ridley, known for putting out questions that make his subjects look ridiculous and bringing out online trolls to massacre them.
“Is this who you discovered you are? Is this the real Eden?” Earl responds.
“If I told you that the person sitting on your couch talking to you right now is a holographic image of me and I’m really somewhere else, would you believe me?”
“Ughh, no, because you’re here in the flesh.”
“But the people watching behind the screen don’t know the truth. Maybe Eden Rivers from Sonic Revolution is dead. Maybe she died while still in the Sugar Vixens, and everyone’s just been getting a fake to feed into your screen desires. How do you know what’s real and what’s fake? That video of her with her bandmates that everyone saw could have been fake. Deep Fake, to be exact. Maybe Eden Rivers never existed, to begin with? She was too clean, too perfect.”
The guys are one step from cracking into a fit of laughter, and Earl is one step away from having a fit in front of his live audience.
“Do you currently have a relationship with any of your band members?”
Bastard has nothing better to ask? All of us stir uncomfortably.
“Is it possible to have a relationship with a holograph?”
I bite my lip to stop the laugh from escaping my mouth. Eden’s hilarious.
“But you’re not a holograph.”
“Says the guy whose show is featured behind a screen.”
“The audience here is live. They know you’re real.”
“Did you know the original Eden wasn’t real blonde?”
“I think many of us guessed that,” Earl chuckles.
“Yet, many were happy to go along with the fake Eden.”
She’s very cunning. This is the new Eden to the public, but we’ve known her like this forever.
“So let’s move on to Callum,” Earl realizes he’s going nowhere with Eden. “You’ve adopted this bad boy rocker image and spent time in rehab over the last ten years. Does it work for you?”
Callum gives him a side eye, and I can see how he’s ready to get up and leave.
“It’s a lifestyle,” I quickly interrupt before my bandmate takes out his metal box and starts rolling up a fag.
Earl turns to me.
“That’s interesting. So, you all adopted a lifestyle. How did that come about?”
“You can’t adopt something that’s been a part of you since you were born,” I explain. “Back when we were Sonic Revolution, we had a lot of fun, and we adored our fans, but it was a role we played, a persona that our manager at the time wanted us to emulate. It was a job we did well, but it didn’t define us. And I think this is where you missed Eden’s point in its entire form. You didn’t know who we were. You knew the character we played what you were given to believe. Fake news versus real news. Unfortunately, with so much digital technology, even online fact checks are manipulated by a mix of humans and AI.”
“So the public was lied to,” Earl wants to twist it against us.
“The public has a responsibility to decide for themselves,” Haze interjects. “They liked our sound when we were Sonics and bought into the brand. Today, we’re making our own music that’s no longer led and created by a music mogul manager or record label. We’re working with people who want to promote the music and style of what we create and not the other way around. So, in essence, you’re getting the raw music directly from us today. It’s not artificial. It’s music we wrote and produced with the new music label we’re recording with.”
“It’s a departure from our old selves,” Jagger adds. “Hence our new song titled Phoenix Rising. Listen carefully to the lyrics because everything you wanted to know about us, what happened to us, and where we’re going is right there.”
“We heard a teaser of the song which you promoted on the band’s online account. Eden leads the vocals, and Jagger joins her in the chorus. You both still maintain powerful vocals. Has there ever been a power struggle between you?”
Jagger chuckles and looks at Eden.
“We’ve got a lot of struggles, and anyone currently in a band will agree with that statement, but power struggle isn’t one of them,” he replies. “We each recognize our roles and build our strengths from them. As a band, we work well as a team, and we were keen to get back together to do something we always dreamed of but were too scared to do on our own. We’re older now and a lot braver. We’ve seen the world from different angles, but one thing that’s never changed is our love for music and ability to draw our strengths from each other.”
“So, is this permanent?” Earl looks at us skeptically.
Wow, that”s the million-dollar question.
“No doubt,” Haze quickly retorts.
“And what about relationships? Are any of you with someone? Haze, you are or were engaged?”
Oh boy.
Eden glances at him, and I’m not sure what she’s thinking. Her expression remains stoic.
“Was, Earl. It ended two years ago, and the news made so many headlines that it broke the internet.”
Earl laughs. “Well, so much was revealed.”
“Nothing was revealed. It was a one-sided view from which we all survived and moved on. Hence, me sitting on your sofa with my bandmates from Velocity Vortex talking about our future hit record Phoenix Rising.”
If anyone knows about online marketing, Haze is a genius.
Suddenly, I see Eden twitch; it’s like her body has glitched or something, and I follow her gaze to the audience, but there are so many lights facing us I’m not sure what it is that’s caused her to freeze. I try to catch Jagger’s attention and eye my direction towards Eden. He’s sitting next to her and leans in, whispering something in her ear.
Her smile is forced, nodding that she’s okay. But that fear in her eyes tells me something in the audience is affecting her current demeanor.
I watch her constantly gazing towards the audience, her eyes squinting from the lights. Finally, Jagger takes her hand in his and squeezes it to assure her he’s right here with her. If Earl noticed it, he hasn’t said anything.
Thankfully, this interview isn’t going to be long. The attention span of social media users is that of a goldfish, and Earl hasn’t managed to dig up much dirt except for Jagger’s hand on Eden.
He’s either going to keep rolling this interview, or he’s going to wrap this up. Seconds seem like hours, and he nods at his production manager and thanks us for coming to his show. As soon as the camera stops rolling, Eden breaks from Jagger”s grip and storms off the set towards Rick. I don’t make it fast enough, but she’s talking to him, and he’s nodding and talking into his earpiece.
“Stay with her,” Rick tells Jagger, and an understanding passes between them.
“Eddie, what’s going on?” I ask, and now Haze and Callum have caught up.
“I think he was here, in the audience. He was wearing one of those T-shirts like the man from the dive bar.”
Haze and Callum run off in Rick”s direction, leaving Jagger and me to bring Eden to the limo, waiting for us back in the service entrance. Usually, we would have stood around and maybe chatted with some of our fans in the audience, but not when Eden’s safety is compromised.
As soon as we reach the door, the other three catch up.
“We couldn’t find him,” Haze explains. “If anything, he escaped.”
“We’ll need to be fast. Fans are waiting for you. You cannot stand around for them,” Rick orders.
“No, you have to give the fans something, I’ll wait inside the limo.”
“Not a chance, Eddie,” I say, firmly decided on the topic. “We’re getting you the fuck out of here.
As soon as the door opens, we’re met by at least a dozen screaming fans wanting to get a glimpse of us and the additional security Rick hired to make sure the fans remain behind the metal barriers. Further down the street, we see two police cars approaching.
To my right, a fan breaks free and runs toward Eden, except Rick catches the person and throws him away from her. From the corner of my eye, I see something in the person’s hand and dive forward. The security personnel beat me to it, crashing them down to the floor.
Rick’s shouting for us to get in, but I’m curious to see what’s happening with the person they tackled. In the blink of an eye, they’re surrounding them and pushing them inside the building, and three policemen manage to get through the crowd and follow inside.
“I need you all in the vehicle now!” Rick urges.
Callum’s last, and he steps on the door frame and hangs out, waving at all the fans. They go absolutely bonkers. Then he takes the hairband from his hair and flings it towards a crowd. They all scramble for the black elastic band.
We haven’t even released a damn single, and it”s already started. I wouldn’t have minded so much, except we’ve got some psychotic villain on the loose with a sick obsession for Eden. I can’t help but wonder how long it’ll be until the arsehole makes his presence known.
I may not be partial to using a gun, and I might be the most empathic in the group, but there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Eden, including slaughtering the bastard who did whatever-the-fuck terrorizing ordeal they put her through.