You Can't Spell Star Without A&R

There was something about hung over interviews that the entire band detested with a passion, last nights plans of early nights had gone out the window. After half hour nap after press Jules had been woken up by her excited bandmates talking about some party with some people that they didn’t even know. Jules was thankful to meet some of the smaller bands here, it was a strange atmosphere it was like the little bands stuck to their own part of the backstage area and the big bands, well they had their bit as well. The backstage areas were just as pretentious, divided and douchbaggery as the United Kingdom which Jules took a great deal of comfort in. It mean that somethings stayed the same as you crossed the pond, even if was just the level of arseholes as a friend had once told her they crossed all boundaries. The music scene had as many of them as the church knitting circle, which was not how she had imagined it.

When Jules had got in to this, for lack of a better word, scene she thought she had found paradise. Here in this room were kids who thought like her, who had the same beliefs and morals as her, that wasn’t what she had found. Bands would screw over each other, they would bad mouth, insult and start shit, anything to get that lucrative record deal and it shocked most people find out that they hadn’t done that. Jules and co had always tried to stay clear of that, more because they didn’t’ feel comfortable with it. Fuck anyone who didn’t like them, they didn’t have to buy the CD and they didn’t have to go to shows, therefore she didn’t needed to deal with them. However that wasn’t the case either, Jules didn’t understand why people showed up at shows for the sole purpose of heckling them…she guessed some people had nothing better to do with their lives than out others down.

It wasn’t a thought for the moment however, letting her head drop on to her hands she figured she could at least grab five minutes sleep before the radio interview started. Her elbow was propped up against the wall, her head on her hand and eyes closed and very happily slipping in to sleep. There was something about this that was oddly satisfying for Jules, it was like those few moments of shut eye you got in class, she wasn’t meant to be sleeping she was meant to be working. That was the thing, people mistook being in a band as a laugh, it wasn’t it was hard fucking work, they were twenty hour days, twelve hours of press, four of promo then a gig then back on the bus and to the next town and it started all over again. She understood why some bands did so much cocaine it was the only way to get everything done in time. Jules preferred coffee though. She liked sleep more though. The noise however was the pone thing preventing her from going to sleep, there were people milling about back and forth with press passes dangling around their neck, tents set up the best they could to keep the rest of the universes noise out but it didn’t work that well. One they did ignore was a half asleep musician, she wouldn’t have been the first one they had seen this morning.

She curled up on the couch, waiting to be called well aware that the rest of her band were split off to different interviews, she was sure Mattie was doing some kind of interview for some armature drumming webzine and Chase was well doing something or other for another radio station. Of course it has been Jules who had drawn the short straw between them, Chase got the three minute interview and Jules had ended up with the big arsed segment on a station with a couple of other people and she had no idea who. Vaguely in her own thoughts she was aware of someone sitting down beside her, the couch dipped but she didn’t bother opening her eyes to see who it was, she didn’t want to know. However sleep was too long lived, a voice woke her up, she wanted to punch it in the face but she figured having a rockstar tantrum at this stage would be a bad idea.
“Hey studios ready,” finally she opened her eyes groggily and rubbed her left eye trying to wake herself up. Work called, as much as she disliked it Jules knew she had to do it, it wasn’t a choice.

It took her a few moments to wake up enough to stand up, it was then she realised who she had been sitting beside. Jules forced herself not to do a double take, she recognised him from the day before, the same man she had quite literally walked in to. He smiled at her, Jules wasn’t too sure what to do, she looked behind her as if to check it was her that he was smiling at…there wasn’t anyone else there. In reality he was smiling at the fact the girl was shorter than he was by quite a bit, standing beside a five foot one inch woman made him look almost normal…well until anyone else walked in to the picture that was.
“Hey didn’t we meet already?” He asked her that somewhat boyish grin as she let a hand ruffle her hair looking down at the ground.
“Yeah I think I em ran in to you yesterday.” Jules admitted her voice dropped in volume as a converse shoe pawed the ground trying to give off an air of nonchalance but that didn’t quite work. Following his steps into the make shift studio she felt a little nervous bite at her stomach; she hadn’t expected things to turn out like this.

She sat where she was invited, leaning back in the comfy seat she automatically found herself turning the ring on her right middle finger round and round, a nervous habit that did nothing for the situation at all never the less it was compulsive. Billie Joe leaned on to the table slightly, casting his glance at the girl – well at least compared to him – beside him a thoughtful expression for a split second before he spoke.
“I didn’t catch your name earlier.” Jules looked up, slowly the chair turned from side to side…Jules linked twisty chairs they amused her more now then they did when she was a child.
“Jules, Jules Skye.” There was a smile along with the name, she didn’t need to ask his name she already knew it, though she had to be polite right. Jules leaned forward automatically and unconsciously copying his body language.
“Jules…” he said, testing the name for a moment before nodding his head, Jules didn’t quite understand what was going though the mans head. She didn’t think she wanted to know in all honesty. Jules was about to reply when the interviewer butted in, they always got in the way but that was part of the charm about them…at least she tried to see it that way.

“We’re on air in three, just remember this is live so if you could watch your language.” His eyes met Jules, the comment obviously aimed at her well she did have a bad habit of dropping the fbomb on air when the interviewer pissed her off. She shrugged her shoulders grinned a little she may be hung over but she still had a sense of humour.
“Well only if you don’t act like a prick.” There was smile on her face, the comment coming out with as polite a South Scottish accent as she could before she saw back again and went back to playing with her ring. There was what sounded like a little snort from Billie Joe and a sideways smile, Jules just shrugged her shoulders, well she had a mouth on her that was what got them in trouble most of the time.
“Ok, we’re about to go live…” She wasn’t listing, Jules didn’t listen to interviewers much and Billie Joe didn’t appear to be paying much attention either. Her eyes glanced at the light on the table that went red indicating they were on air, and she should really stop herself from saying something that would get the band sued. Again. “Hey this is TJ here with Billie Joe of Green Day and Jules of Double Jeopardy. We have the opening and closing acts of See Festival in the studio so welcome guys how are you?”

Jules hated that part of the interview, when they gave you a fake smile and you tried not to punch their faces out. She let Billie Joe answer first, more because she didn’t want to outstep her place, there was an unspoken hierarchy between bands, the bigger you were the more clout and pissing one of them off could end your career before it started.
“I’m good.” He stated and Jules nodded her head, echoing the statement even though this was radio and no one could see it.
“Good good.” It was as she spoke Jules decided that nodding the head was just bad full stop, the handover didn’t like head nodding.
“Our questions have been coming in thick and fast for the both of you, but first the question that everyone has been itching to ask you Jules…what happened that night in Manchester?” She wanted to cry, this was the eighth time she had been asked the question in two days. Jules laughed nervously as she sat one elbow on a table that didn’t look too sturdy and down at the grass beneath her feet reminders that they were in a tent in the middle of a field.

“Um…basically, in a nut shell.” She started taking a deep breath, cringing slightly she noted the somewhat half interested look on Billies face before she committed herself to telling the story. “We were playing the Manchester leg of our UK tour, and there was this dude heckling me, and I was thinking like ‘yo dude whatever we’ll just play louder.’ We were leaving the venue and he started shouting at us language I can’t repeat on radio and went for Chase our guitarist…and dude. You can yell at me, you can throw a punch but don’t eff with my friends, so I hit the dude he hit me and everyone just got in on the action.” Jules shrugged her shoulders again and sat back, the seat a swayed side to side twice before she made another comment. “He shouldn’t have hit my friends, I’m not gonna take crap off people because they think they can get away with it. You can get to hell.”
“Fair enough,” the interviewer commented before going on to press the issue more. “What happened after that?”
“Police showed up, we got arrested and the changes were dropped and it made it much harder to an American visa.” The last comment was accompanied by a laugh and a hand though her own hair, a smile on her face. She heard the chuckle from Billie as well as she cast a smile at him and then a moments silence as the interviewer looked at her before deciding it was time to swiftly move on.

Most of the questions were directed towards Billie Joe which was what she expected, it was interesting none the less to hear him talk and once the serious but was over and a few songs had been played the “fun” questions came alone. “Fun” being a synonym for “boring.” Both of them had been asked them on multiple times and still they played along, there was almost a professionalism to the way you handled interviews. Unfortunately half the boring questions had embarrassing answers to unfortunately the most embarrassing one came up first.
“What was the first album you bought?” Instantly there was a blush on Jules’s cheeks as she looked down at the table, she couldn’t answer the question, she was giggling away as Billie answered between confused looks. All eyes turned to her, she shook her head and sunk a little in to the chair.
“Dookie.” The answer prompted loud laughs from both Billie Joe and the interviewer as Jules’s cheeks turned an ever darker red as she giggled to herself in embarrassment.
“Seriously?” Billie Joe asked, sounding almost impressed, Jules nodded she covered her face with her hands and nodded, forgetting yet again this was radio. “She’s nodding I think that’s a yes?”
“Yes.” Finally she managed to answer this question, she had shook her head and sat back up again as if shaking the entire incident off.
“You must have been what, four when Dookie came out?” The urge to hit the man surfaced as he grinned, he was teasing her she damn well knew it but Jules was easy to wind up.
“I think I was seven! I’m twenty two for jays sake!” There was a laugh in her voice, she was used to that joke though, being just taller then five foot people instantly thought she was twelve no matter that her cup size was. Where as Billie Joe, he couldn’t help but find her whole personality and attitude quite endearing not to mention he had heard a certain band was looking for a new label…and he was interested.

Having successfully made a fool of herself, even if Billie Joe found her oddly amusing rather than foolish at least the interview ended on a good positive note the pleasantries of hand shakes and thank you’s were exchanged and as they passed though the canvas flaps someone suddenly made a very goo suggestion.
“Coffee?” Billie Joe asked, looking down at the little brown haired, hung over and tired looking British girl. “You look like you have the hang over from hell,” he didn’t know the half of it.
“Coffee sounds amazing, I learnt the hard way not to play dirty pints and drinking games with American hard core bands…” Jules explained with a grin, last night had been amazing at least what she remembered of it. He grinned, shook his head a little at her, you did stupid shit when you were young god knows he had but at least she was going to have one hell of a story to tell her children.