Rum and Coke

“Ok, people, I just had two Vaults, let’s get this fucking interview over with!” Ellie announced as she joined the group and walked into the building where they were going to have their first interview.

Mark shook his head and sighed. “Really? Ellie? Did you really need two?” he asked as he, Ryan, Bailey. And Kay trailed after her.

“If you want me conscious, then yes.” She replied simply as she marched up to the receptionist’s desk. “Hi, we’re Allison Cash’s 10 o’clock.”

The receptionist smiled at her. “Third floor. Her assistant will direct you from there.”

Ellie nodded. “Thanks,” she said politely before turning back to her band mates and ‘manager.’ “come on, bitches, you heard the lady!” she called over her shoulder as she walked to the elevator.

“Ok, I have to be upfront about this,” Allison Cash said from her overstuffed chair. “Normally, I listen to a band’s album before I interview them, but your label is really hush-hush about it. Would you mind telling me and the readers what we should expect?” She asked expectantly as she watched the young band squirm in their seats.

Ellie sighed, “Well, it’s entitled One Shot, One Chance and it should be hitting the shelves in the next few weeks, and I believe our first single, Rioter’s Anonymous, is scheduled to hit the airwaves in the next few days. This album will take the listeners back to a time when music was meaningful. It will take them back to a time where their voice and their opinions mattered, but, most of all, it will piss them off.”

Intrigued, Allison leaned forward. “Would you care elaborating?”

“Not at all,” Ellie smiled, happy to see that she sparked an interest in the middle-aged woman. “The sole purpose of this band is to piss off as many people as we can. We want to piss them off so much, that they’ll actually take a stand. We, as the band, aim to bring the government back to it’s foundings- an indirect republic, not the socialist regime it has become.”

“Very interesting, and how are you planning to do this?”

“By mixing the heavy-ass metal that died out in the beginning of the century with 1960s ideals,” Ryan jumped in.

Allison raised an eyebrow at his comment.

“All the tracks on album were recorded entirely in one shot. There are no mixings or recording-over going on here. The songs are all raw with intense energy and talk about a certain issue that we as the band find worthy to bring to light,” Ryan elaborated.

“Yea, there aren’t any love songs on here,” Bailey joked. “Unless if you count Pigs, but that’s more about love of money,” she laughed.

“The only slow song we have is Oh, Little Sister, and that’s so the listeners can take a breather,” Mark chimed.

Allison nodded, very impressed by the band in front of her. “Ok, sounds great. I can’t wait to hear it,” she smiled. “Now, onto how you started.”

Ryan laughed. “Well, it was a bit of a joke between Ellie and I when we were in the fifth grade. The both of us hated the music that played on the radio, and we opted to listen to the music our parents grew up on instead. Mark joined us about the time we were in middle school. We still joked about forming a band, and our “first songs” were parodies of whatever songs we were singing in musicals-”

“Musicals?” Allison questioned.

“Yea, we’re all theatre kids,” Ellie said nervously. “But can you please leave that part out? It’s a long, complicated story and we don’t want our fans digging too deep into it.”

Allison nodded in understanding. “It’s our little secret. I’ll just write that you were making fun of the songs on the radio.”

Ellie smiled in appreciation. “Thank you so much.”

“Anyways, like I was saying,” Ryan butted in, ending the awkward silence. “We all joked around, but nothing really became of it until we met Bailey…and even then we didn’t really form until our junior year in high school. After that, it just kind of took on a life of it’s own.”

“I see. How’s your fan-base back home?”

“Very, odd,” Ellie mused. “Our first gig was the school talent show. We were the weird kids before, but that night just made everything become clearer,” Ellie laughed, recalling the memory. “Anyways, with every gig we played, the more people started hating us. There was a time when no club would hire us, but suddenly, it all changed and the people who originally hated our music started demanding that we have more gigs. Like I said, it’s really odd, but we’re happy for it.”

“And how did you find out about the contest with Avenged Sevenfold? New York is a long way from California.”

“I was surfing on the internet one day and found it,” Bailey spoke up. “We all thought that we’d give it a shot. I mean, we had nothing to lose except for gas money.”

“Now onto the present, how are you liking touring so far? Are the avenged guys nice to you?”

“Touring’s great, well, for the little bit that we’ve had so far,” Ellie smiled. “The Avenged guys are amazing. They produced our album and are always willing to help us out. They even wanted to put us in a bus, but we politely declined. We’re not a band that takes hand-outs unless if we absolutely need it.”

Allison smiled. “Well, I can’t wait to hear you tonight. You’re playing at the Palms, right?”

Ellie nodded. “Yea, I’m really exciting. The acoustics in there are supposed to be phenomenal.”

“Are you playing just songs on your album, or do you have more.”

“Oh, we have a lot more, and you’ll hear them tonight.”

Allison nodded. “I can’t wait to hear. Well, it’s been a pleasure to interview you. The interview should be published within the next two days. I’ll send a copy to your label.”

“Thank you,” the band chorused as they stood up and shook Allison’s hand.

“And feel free to be completely honest with our set. You have our full permission to tear it to shreds, I know we will,” Mark said.

Allison let a chuckle escape her lips. “You’re your own worst critics?”

“Well, growing up in the theatre business, you learn quickly how to beat yourself up more than any other ruthless paid critic out there,” Ellie smiled.

Allison nodded again. “I wish you the best of luck.”