You Can't Spell Star Without A&R

Dark eyes hovered over the scene around her, surveying it as if it would give her an idea of what she was meant to be doing, though it wasn’t helping very much at all. The bass around her neck felt like a lead weight, dragging her small shoulders down to earth, straight though the ground and to hell. This was her idea of hell. She could already feel her stomach twisting and turning with nerves every which way it could, feeling physically sick she could feel her hands shaking as her thumb stroked the smooth pale maple wood of her bass guitar neck. They had never played a festival in America before, this was new everything was new, the sights the smells and the somewhat sense of excitement in the air was all so foreign to her. Of course this wasn’t the first gig they had played, oh no far from it, hundreds of nights in minivans and clubs and bars and shitty underground basements playing for their own fans but this time it was different. These people didn’t know them; oh they were going to be here all day waiting for the big acts, the headliners on tonight. A deep breath, it caught in her lungs and then she let it out again. She was starting to think that nothing was going to stop the nerves in her stomach. It was nearly time, that was what scared her the most, she knew when she got out on that stage, even if they booed and threw bottles at their heads then it didn’t matter. At least she was be too busy to be nervous but waiting around, the half hour before you went onstage was the worst, it was like being stuck in a dentists office forever…just at the moment the drill is about to start.

The drumstick holding waving hand in front of her face caught her attention though, a little jump her eyes landed on here bandmate. More than a foot taller then her (though most people were) he towered over her head, an enthusiastic arm draped across her shoulders she couldn’t help but want to punch him in the face. Oh she loved her bandmates, they were pretty much her family, they were her best friends brothers and sisters all rolled in to one van. However every so often they all needed a punch in the face, but she smiled. They all reacted differently to pressure and nerves, she went quit and didn’t want to talk to anyone at all and well…the drummer went mental, he turned in to a four year old on cocaine.
“You ok Waffle?” She rolled her eyes, that nick name was going to stick wasn’t it? Unfortunately so, fortunately for her it was kinda cute…
“I’m fine Matt.” It was her somewhat curt reply that made him raise an eyebrow and pull her in to a side hug, she was the baby of the band, the one they felt they needed to look after and unfortunately the only girl. Therefore automatically needed protecting from everyone and everything.
“We’re all nervous Jules…I know you when we get out there your gonna rock it. You’re kinda like a five foot high bass tornado. Just go out there attack this.” He gestured to her bass guitar with a nod of the head and a smile. “And throw yourself about and have a good time.” Matt went to pull her in to a full blown hug and warranted a sharp shove away, a grin crossed her face, that little mischievous glint in her eyes.
“Dude, we have discussed this. No chick flick moments in this band.”

Jules almost wished she had brought padding, that way the impact of the inevitable shower of bottles that were to be thrown their way. Hell it was almost customary to bottle the first band on stage of a festival, Jules almost felt a little bit of pride at that. Fuck yeah they were the first band on, they were gonna go up and be the first band to tear up that stage, and possibly the first band knocked out too…the latter sounded painful. Then it was their shot, the nerves made her feel like she was about to throw up right there and then, and it wouldn’t have been the first time Jules had thrown up before a gig from nerves. She remembered the first night of their first ever tour, she had spent half an hour throwing up lunch before they went on stage. Holding her bass in her hands they walked though the wings of the stage, passed sound equipment piled high, rhodies in black shirts with ‘crew’ stamped across them in bright white. Turning over the blue chalk coated pick in her hands she took shaking breaths as crew milled around them, lines were plugged in to guitars, the wireless transmitter box shoved in to her back pocket, the in ear feed back handed to her and then…there were the people. Slipping the earphone there was ten seconds to check tunings and before she knew it they were out on that stage.

The roar was defining, and Jules was glad it wasn’t her job to talk to the crowd, a smile broke across her face though as the three piece band broke in to a run across the stage. She threw herself every which way possible, returning to the mic stand ever so often when she had to throw in her harmonies otherwise she was a five foot high whirlwind. A few moments during their set that nausea kicked in, when you were on a roundabout for too long…her way of fixing that was to stop and start spinning the other way around! Despite the bottles that had been thrown their way, the few boos they had received it didn’t matter all that much, the majority of the crowed seemed to like it…she hoped that was a good sign at least. Half an hour passed faster than she though it would, they left the stage a few pounds lighter drenched in sweat, a broken bass string and intensely tired as the jet lag kicked in but the day was just starting. It was a glorious start to the day though, a day that was going to prove in itself to be, somewhat…strange…very strange.

It was strange hazy jet lagged days like today that Jules didn’t like, but that was the downside when you were in a band you work did not finish when you stepped off that stage. There was a certain air of silence around them, like someone had sucked the energy out the three piece band, though that could have been blamed on the jet lag and the lack of caffeine in their blood. Or was it the fact fifteen minutes after walking off the stage they were being buffeted from reporter to reporter to interview to camera. A hot coffee was placed in her hands by someone she didn’t know, everything rushed by the same questions; ‘who are you’ ‘what is your band called’ and that disbelieving look that gave her when she announced the fact that she was the bassist. There was something that people found hilarious Jules almost thought she could see the jokes in their eyes, that ‘hold on I have one’ look they shot the camera man. You lost time in that situation; you just kept answering questions, kept walking along lines and then eventually they managed to end up in an almost Zen zone.

It was a quite space, a few bands sitting at tables being interviewed drinking coffee in the last afternoon before they played and got wasted tonight. Jules had no intention of doing any of that tonight and neither did the rest of the band they were going to go sleep on their bus as soon as this was done, then get up tomorrow and kick the shit out of every other band playing the side stage that day. It was refreshing to come here though, to play somewhere they weren’t known, it was kind of like starting over again and being completely unknown. While in the UK they sold out four thousand person venues on their own, opened at UK arena and here they hadn’t even shifted a CD. Every so often in the UK they got recognised, someone in the street went ‘you in that band?’ and she got to say yes, which she kinda liked. It was nice to get someone telling you they liked your band, though the next person to come out and say it was gonna floor her.

A hand slipped in to her jeans pockets, sipping on the now luke warm coffee the band stood in silence almost, awkward glances between each other and around the room.
“This is weird isn’t it?” Matt finally spoke up breaking the silence, still holding his own coffee cup like it was a form of comfort close to him even though it was empty.
“It is…it’s kinda like we are in no way cool enough to be here ya know?” The guitarist Chase replied, nodding his head blue eyes cast downwards, his dirty blonde hair falling in front of his eyes as he swirled the cold coffee round the bottom of the cup. Jules had noticed that years ago when they first met, he always had a drink of some form in his hands when he felt a bit out of place. She watched him swirl the cup around, his eyes trained on the spinning liquid in the cup as a vortex appeared in the middle.
“Yeah, but you know, it’s kinda awesome at the same time, think about it, we’re just about on the other side of the world playing to a whole bunch of new people, it’s a challenge.” That was how Jules viewed it at least, it was a complete and utter challenge and she loved it. Jules didn’t do it because it was fucking easy, no it was hard but for the work they did, they got a hundred times the reward they deserved when they walked on stage. There were a few nods around their little three person bubble, it was a bubble especially at a festival like this, the big bands hung together and the little ones stuck together but they didn’t mix all that well. She guessed that was just the way it was.

“Shit! I’ve left my phone on the bus!” Jules almost jumped with the realisation that smacked in to her jet lagged and brain dead mind before she looked down at her watch and realised it was on the wrong time. “Cover for me, I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Run Jules run!” Matt insisted giving her a little shove with a smirk on his face, “but if someone asks me to marry them before you get back the bands done.” Jules just rolled her eyes, and waved him off with a hand. She wondered though the area, dumped the cup in a bin and then snuck under a barrier to get out and nearly decapitated herself as her artist pass got caught on the railings though she soon managed to fix that one. As she stood up she whacked in to someone, hard. Jules felt herself collide with the floor, she cringed and mentally told herself to watch where she was going before a voice and hand reached out.
“You ok?” She took the hand without noticing who it was, pilled herself up and dusted her self off before looking up. Holy. Shit.

She froze for a moment like a deer caught in the headlights before her hand snapped back beside her own body and she nodded, once, twice, three times then decided it would be best not to make a twat of herself.
“I’m fine…thanks…eh I’m sorry about that…” Jules stuttered a reply as she straightened herself up and pocketed her hands in her jeans, attempting to play it cool.
“Nah it’s cool, I caught the end of your bands set, you’re cool.” The colour drained from her face…she stood there slightly stunned and stuttered a bit. It was one thing to have a kid after a show come up and tell you that your band was cool…it was another thing completely to have Billie Joe Armstrong tell you your band was cool. Jules nodded...again.
“Yeah….your bands cool as well…well by that I mean pretty fucking awesome actually but thank you I mean…that means a lot, that’s cool that’s… I’m so shutting up now.” Jules had the tendency to ramble on and on and on. He just laughed though, bright eyes laughed with his face and not that hollow ‘haha’ that some people put on when they met you. It wasn’t fake. “Anyway….you must be like, super busy I’ll catch your set.” She assured him with a smile, like she was gonna miss Green Day playing!

Jules left with a grin on her face, a little bounce in her step. She couldn’t find her phone though. However she was pretty sure this place was the musical equivalent of the Twilight Zone. This should be an interesting summer in America.