Chapter Seventeen #2
“Good morning, guys,” Greg said. “I hope you took advantage of resting up this past week, because we’ll be busting butts from here on out.”
Jesse shook Greg’s hand. “We’re ready. I’m sorry we’re late.”
“Don’t worry about it. Your prospective band members are here, but I’ll give you a quick tour before I introduce you.
” Greg turned, leading the way back down the hall.
He stopped and pointed to a small booth on their right.
“This is the vocal booth with its own control room. This is where we can listen to you solo, Jesse, and make sure that we’re optimizing your voice to its fullest potential. ”
Jesse looked in the room where a large microphone hung down from the ceiling.
Greg continued his march up the hall. “We have three full-sized live rooms with individual control rooms. We were pretty creative when we named them. They’re Studios A, B, and C.
We just passed Studio A, it was on the left.
We also have a drum room deeper in the studio.
” He turned into a control room on the right. “And this is Studio B.”
The large control room had a thick glass window above the control desk that overlooked the live room.
Jesse stared at all the equipment and recorders, his head spinning at the sight of the control desk.
He couldn’t even begin to count all the knobs and switches for adjusting volume, pitch, bass, tempo.
Huge speakers were set in the wall above the window and on the sidewalls.
“How can anyone know what all this stuff does?” he asked.
“That’s where he comes in,” Greg said, turning around.
A man in his early thirties with dark brown eyes and wavy black hair bound in a ponytail stood in the doorway of the control room.
He had a white coffee mug in his right hand with a yellow smiley face on it, but the smiley face had one eye closed, its tongue sticking out, and a little yellow hand flipping the bird.
“This is Jeremy Kane,” Greg said. “He’s an amazing sound engineer and will be one of a few people who will work with you on this album to make it flawless, but for now, he’s your main guy. He’ll help you get just the right sound you want.”
Jeremy shifted his coffee mug to his left hand and held his right out to Jesse. “I’m really looking forward to working with you, Jesse. I’ve listened to your demo a few times and your voice is freakin’ unbelievable, dude. We’re going to have a blast recording this.”
“Thanks. I’m really looking forward to it, too. This is Kenny Cooper, he plays guitar.”
Jeremy took Kenny’s hand. “You don’t need introductions. You got mad skills on a six string.”
“Thanks, man,” Kenny said.
Greg headed toward the door. “Well, I guess we should introduce you to your possible new bandmates. They’re down in the chill-out room.”
“The what?” Jesse asked.
“The chill-out room. Some studios call it the green room, we call it the chill-out room. It’s an area where you can escape the music, because let’s face it, there will be moments when you need to step back from it.”
Jesse and Kenny followed Greg down the hall and stepped in to what seemed like a mini apartment.
There were two light tan couches in the room, one against a wall opposite the door, another across from it with an oval wooden coffee table in between.
Four plush red chairs sat near the arms of the couches, two at each end.
To the right of the door was another sitting area with a TV, and to the left, a small kitchen.
Jesse briefly glanced around the room, but his attention was more on the people sitting on the couches.
One he already knew, Tim. He didn’t bother acknowledging him and looked away to the man and woman sitting on the couch by the wall.
He met the deep green eyes of the woman first, who he guessed to be in her early twenties.
She wore a pair of khaki Capri pants and a tight powder blue baby-doll T-shirt that hugged her curves and showed off her well toned biceps.
Her dark red hair was pulled up in a long braid.
Jesse shifted his gaze to the young guy sitting on the couch beside her.
He didn’t figure the guy could be over twenty-four, but he also didn’t look like a potential member of a rock band with how he wore his straight pale blond hair pulled back in a smooth, neat ponytail that ended at the top of his shoulders.
The guy’s clothes were immaculate; black dress pants perfectly pressed, a white shirt with a high button collar, and a black jacket without so much as a hint of lint.
He moved his eyes from the guy’s light blue ones when Greg spoke up.
“Well, introductions first. Guys, this is Trish O’Connell.
She’s been a studio drummer with Phoenix for nearly two years and is extremely skilled on the skins.
I think you’ll be very impressed when you hear her play.
” Greg motioned to the blond guy. “And this is Julian Forrester. He’s a Julliard trained classical pianist who’s guested with several orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, but now he’s looking to break into something a little more lively, and we were the fortunate ones who learned of him before anyone else snatched him up.
” He gestured to Jesse and Kenny. “Trish, Julian, this is Jesse Alexander, vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. And this is Kenny Cooper, lead guitar and co-songwriter.”
Both Trish and Julian rose and walked to greet them.
Trish smiled and extended her hand to Jesse. “I’m so happy to finally meet you. I almost died when I heard your voice on the demo. It’s so beautiful.”
“Thanks,” Jesse said, thinking he caught a flirtatious tinge in her voice. “I’m kind of surprised to see a woman drummer. If you’re so good, why aren’t you in a band?”
“Jesse!” Kenny scolded. He quickly offered his hand to Trish. “Sorry about him. His mouth and brain work on separate systems.”
Trish giggled. “I can see that.” She turned to Jesse.
“I don’t have a band because, as you have so astutely noticed, I have boobs instead of balls, and that can be an issue for some boys.
I’m good enough to give them the clean, solid beats they need for their albums, but when tour time comes around, my job is done.
When you play live the audience accepts mistakes and sloppy sounds a lot more readily than on a studio recorded album.
If this is an issue for you, it’s not a big deal.
I can drum on your album, and when you hit the road, you can find a boy to play with. ”
Jesse decided to keep the cocky comment that danced on his tongue in response to Trish’s end remark to himself.
“The only issue is what you expected when you got propositioned for this gig. If you’re expecting to only be our studio drummer, then this isn’t going to work.
If you drum on our album, then you’ll tour with us too, and do all the other stuff like videos and interviews.
You’ll be a full member of the band. I just want to let you know so you can decide what’s best for you. I’m not playing games here.”
Trish’s full lips parted with a soft gasp. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Of course, this all depends on if you can really play,” Jesse added, giving a nonchalant flip of his hand. “This is serious music, not Barbie Makes a Record.”
Trish laughed. “Why you little jerk.”
Jesse gave her a wink and a smile, then took a step toward Julian. He looked him up and down as he offered his hand, and decided to test a suspicion he had. “Julliard, huh? Impressive. Just so you know, because I want you to be comfortable in this band from the start, I’m gay.”
“Son of a bitch,” Kenny muttered in disbelief, turning away from Jesse.
One corner of Julian’s lips lifted as he shook Jesse’s hand. “And you won’t be the only one if I get this gig.”
“I hope I’m not your type. It could make things a bit awkward.”
“I think you’re probably about everyone’s type with that pretty face, though I normally go for more of the tall, rugged, athletic boys. And you?”
“I only have one type, and he’s the most breathtaking and talented man in the world.”
“That’s quite a reputation you give him to live up to, but since you’re in a relationship things should be perfect.
I absolutely loathe cheaters and have a personal vow to never become one.
” Julian’s eyes moved down Jesse’s body.
“Your taste in clothing is superb. Versace T-shirt, Gucci belt, Armani jeans…and the most beaten pair of Nikes I’ve ever seen. ”
Jesse laughed. “Actually, the Nikes are the only things that belong to me. All the rest are my boyfriend’s. I’ve been staying with him and he doesn’t care if I raid his closet.”
“He’s a true gentleman of sophistication then.”
Jesse nodded and glanced around the room.
His smile wavered at what he saw. Kenny stared at him, his mouth agape in a mortified expression.
He met Trish’s eyes, but she flicked them away as if pretending they hadn’t made eye contact.
Tim looked at Greg with a glory filled sneer that spoke of I-told-you-so, and Greg had an expression akin to someone who had bet their lifesavings on the favorite to win the Super Bowl and had just finished watching the team get pummeled.
Other than Julian, the only one who didn’t seem rattled was Jeremy, who stood leaning back against the wall sipping his coffee.
“I’m sorry if this is a shock to some of you,” Jesse said. “But it had to come out sooner or later if we’re all going to be working together. If it makes anyone uncomfortable, I guess the only thing I can say is to get the hell over it because it’s just the way things are.”
“Jesse!” Kenny yelled. “Subtlety, dude! Seriously!”
Jesse moved toward Greg, meeting his eyes with a steady stare. “Is this a problem?”