Shade Me (Rock Stars on the Rise #4)

Prologue

The first time I interviewed Once Upon a Riot, I’d been a reporter with Ferocity magazine for a year, but I was still proving myself—which meant that I had to beg for a lot of interviews.

Oh, and my travel budget was non-existent.

But I managed to get a few really good interviews with bands by meeting them virtually.

It was those early articles that got me noticed by my editor.

One of the early pieces I wrote really stood out, one about the ongoing endurance of the Sunset Strip, where I took a deep dive into historic sites like Whisky a Go Go and The Troubadour.

Thanks to that puppy, my editor gave me the first crack at some of the newer, up-and-coming bands, and that was when I met the Riot crew via Zoom one morning for the first time.

They were somewhere in the Midwest and I was in L.A.

in my first apartment there, spending my first Thanksgiving alone.

Fortunately, the band had time to talk that Friday morning and I had an hour to get myself in the perfect frame of mind for what would be a very short interview.

I wanted to ask all the band members questions. Even though I didn’t want to single out the female drummer, I was excited to meet her too.

When I logged into my trusty laptop, I waited for a couple of minutes before they joined.

But Dani, the drummer, wasn’t there. The only people on my laptop screen were the three guys in the band and their tour manager off to the side.

They sat back far enough that I could see them all, and it didn’t take me long to realize that Zack had a tendency to dominate the conversation.

But he was the frontman. Of course, he would dominate. Wasn’t that the point?

I only had them for ten minutes, though, so I planned to get some responses from the other guys, not just Zack.

I turned my attention to Cy first, asking him a few questions about technique and how he was personally dealing with fame.

And, overall, I liked the first two men.

Cy was a bit reticent, seeming to not like talking about himself—or talking in general.

And Zack seemed a little full of himself, but his band had just broken big.

I imagined I’d be a little egotistical if my star had shot in the sky that quickly and intensely too.

So when I focused on Braden, I had expected more of the same—but the difference blew me away.

He was soft-spoken, but not reserved like Cy.

And, unlike Zack, he seemed to regard me as a person and not just another interviewer getting information for a story.

My first question seemed to take him by surprise.

“How do you approach locking in with your drummer?” The way he raised his brown eyebrows told me no one had ever asked this question before.

Because, of course, interviews usually focused on the loudest, most dynamic band members.

There was a reason why guys like Axl Rose and Gene Simmons were well-known even early in their careers, but people hardly knew who Duff McKagan or Peter Criss were.

The quiet guys rarely got the attention they deserved.

And, with a guy like Braden who wasn’t going to bully his way into being heard, he probably mostly listened during these kinds of interviews.

His smile, subtly turning up the apples of his cheeks, made my stomach twist into knots, and I could tell by his unassuming manner that he didn’t realize just how fucking hot he was. “That’s a great question. Roxy, right?”

That scored him another point. I wasn’t just the “chick interviewer.” He’d remembered my name. “Yes.”

Nodding, he repeated my name and then answered my question.

“Usually, I just try to pay attention to the kick drum so I can match my timing with it.” At first, I thought he wasn’t going to say anything else, but then he added, “A lot of people completely disregard the rhythm, but it’s important to making a song feel… whole, I guess you could say.”

“I totally agree.” For that moment, I was only focused on this man on the left side of my screen.

His brown eyes were warm and open and my breath caught for just a second.

Clearing my throat, I glanced down at my notes, suddenly feeling flustered and almost shaky.

“Um…without naming any names, of course, we know of certain artists dismissing just how important the bass guitar really is,” I began in response to what Braden had said.

Although I hadn’t said a name, I knew they knew exactly who I was talking about: Lars Ulrich from Metallica and how he pretty much made sure that Jason Newsted’s bass was all but inaudible in their album …

And Justice for All. Many times, I’d wondered how rich and full the music might have been on that album, one of my favorites of that band, had it been mixed with more bass.

But it was clear that Ulrich didn’t want a rhythm section at all, forgetting that bass does more than just provide rhythm.

I’d always thought of the bass guitar as the instrument that united the drums to the guitars, and my firm belief was that all metal bands should have bass.

Continuing my thought, I said, “But I think they’re overlooked and not given as much credit as they’re due. So, Braden, what do you do to make sure the sound of your bass isn’t drowned out by the guitars?”

Although it was hard to tell, I was pretty sure his cheeks turned a slight pink…

endearing him all the more to me. “I, um…I honestly don’t think about it.

I just go out and play as good as I can, trying to give the audience their money’s worth.

” I started to ask a follow up question, but he beat me to it.

“We’re a team, so I try to do my best for these guys too.

Because when we’re in sync, the audience gets a better show. ”

Sweet Jesus. This guy was speaking to my heart, and part of me wished I’d be able to communicate in my article just how rare a gem Braden was.

Although I knew he could be putting on an act, I’d already seen enough of the world to be pretty good at reading people.

I’d had plenty of experience of falling for guys who’d wear a mask until you were under their spell…

but there was something about Braden Mitchell that told me he was one of those what-you-see-is-what-you-get men.

Zack started to add to Braden’s comment, but I shut him down as if I hadn’t heard his first couple of words. I did not want Zack’s take on teamwork—and I suspected that Braden might not get many chances to talk about himself. So I steamrolled over Zack and asked, “Who are your biggest influences?”

“Like, as bass players or?”

“Or just in general. Who would you say are your biggest influences?”

“Well, honestly, Zack wrote all the material for this album, so I don’t know that I have any influences—but I could tell you some of my favorite bass players.”

“Yeah, that sounds great. Because I bet they influence your playing even if you don’t realize it.”

Braden’s expression suggested that he might have actually believed me.

“I love Fieldy.” I knew he was the bassist from Korn, so I just nodded.

“Then, um…Lemmy. Lemmy was huge for me back when I was first learning to play.” It took me a second, but I realized he was the bassist and frontman from the old band Motorhead. “Joe Goldman.”

Shit. I knew that name, but I couldn’t place it. But I’d look it up later. I didn’t want to look like a green reporter who didn’t know all the artists in a band.

But Braden might have registered that I wasn’t quite sure.

“He was the bassist for Code Orange. And I’m really impressed with guys who can play bass and sing, like Lemmy, and guys like Blackie Lawless, Davey Richmond, Kage Youngblood, and Roger Waters.

” I didn’t know any of those names, so I was really glad I was recording our interview so I could go back later and look them up.

It was a hazard of the business, but the good news was I was learning more every day in the job, discovering old bands I’d never listened to before—or just being forced to remember the names of every band member and not just the guys at the mic.

It really helped me appreciate the history of the genre. Braden added, “I could go on and on.”

But I knew I’d given him enough time as it was.

Still…he was now emblazoned in my mind, and I would be keeping an eye on him from here on out.

He was one of those quiet guys content to be in the background while letting his friends absorb all the admiration and limelight—but I’d watched the band ever since hearing their first single, and I suspected they’d be around for a long time.

Braden was definitely a guy to watch.

So I shifted into my next question, one for them all. “What is your favorite song to perform live? I’d love to hear from all of you.”

But, even while they answered, my mind was focused on the intriguing bassist on the left side of my laptop screen…and it would be hard to get him out of my head.

It wasn’t until Dani, the band’s drummer, and I became best friends—and then she started dating Braden—that I cooled my jets and sat back, letting Dani learn what love was supposed to feel like.

And I watched, trying to learn the same damn thing.