Choke on Your Misery

Zack

Three weeks later, the four of us were sitting in the recording studio for the third week in a row. The Emerald Moon Records building doubled as a production studio, because Mr. Boylan had decided that it would be easier on him. We had gotten the money together and paid Mr. Boylan a few days after signing the contract. We had paid the set price for the four songs, so we owed him the other half of the money after we were finished in the studio. This was our third week in the studio, and we were working on recording our third song. We had been recording one song per weekend so far. That was a good thing, because less hours in the studio meant it would be cheaper.

We had been in the studio for about five hours each day for the past two weekends. It was pretty interesting, but also a lot more boring than we had realized. Mr. Boylan wasn’t working with us much, other than checking in on the production once a day. Another person in the company, Adam, was working with us. He was in his late twenties and didn’t really mind if we were messing around, as long as we didn’t break anything.

We had played at least ten concerts in the last three weeks, too. A few were at the Recher like they had been before, but we had been to a few more venues around Baltimore. Matt had told us that some venues might contact us to play shows, and I guess he was right. Word was starting to get out about the band now that we were playing in more places and playing our own songs, instead of just Blink-182 covers.

Today was June 4th, meaning our final exams began in two days. There were only three more days left of school; Monday through Wednesday. I had to admit, I was proud of myself for making it through the semester. It had passed by more quickly now that I had Alex, Rian, and Jack.

Alex was over by Adam, recording the lead guitar for Hit the Lights. We had recorded The Next Best Thing and Memories That Fade like Photographs the past two weekends, and next week we would be working on a new song that Alex had written. Adam was working with Alex, occasionally having him redo a guitar part or make a suggestion. Jack was sitting with them, trying to help but mostly just annoying Adam. Rian and I were sitting on the couch, studying for our exams. I was doing most of the studying; Rian was texting on his phone and talking to Jack and Alex. Every once in a while he would pick up a sheet of paper and start quizzing me. It was only two o’clock and we still had two more hours of recording until we were able to head home.

I was reading through my chemistry notes when I heard Jack and Adam bickering, startling me. “Jack, stop touching everything!” Adam said, sounding exasperated.

“I just wanted to play it back!” Jack insisted, taking a step back from them.

“But I asked you not to touch anything. You’re going to mess something up,” Adam said, rubbing his temples.

Jack frowned, “I wasn’t going to mess anything up.”

“Well if you keep screwing with everything, you’re going to end up erasing everything. Do you want to lose everything you’ve worked on in the past three weeks?” Adam demanded.

“I know how to work it! I wasn’t going to erase anything! What, do you think I’m stupid?” Jack asked.

“You’re acting like it!” Adam sighed, standing up and walking toward the door. “I’m going to get an aspirin and some food. I’ll be back in half an hour. Don’t touch anything, Barakat.”

Jack scowled as Adam walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. “I don’t like him.”

“Oh, relax, Jack. You’re both overreacting,” Alex rolled his eyes, setting his guitar down.

“He thinks I’m stupid!”

“He said you’re acting stupid. There’s a difference,” I pointed out, standing up.

“Whatever,” Jack said, crossing his arms and pouting as he walked past me to sit by Rian.

“Don’t come pouting to me, I’ll just ignore you,” Rian warned him.

I chuckled, rolling my eyes as I walked over to Alex. “Somebody’s PMSing.”

“Tell me about it,” Alex muttered, looking up at Jack. He was putting his headphones in to listen to music. “He wasn’t really messing with anything though. He was trying to press the playback button.”

“I believe you,” I said, standing behind him and putting my arms around his shoulders. He leaned back into me, looking up with a smile. “Did he finish recording his guitar parts for the day?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, no. He only recorded part of it. I was finishing up mine when Adam got pissed,” Alex sighed.

“So we’re going to have to listen to them bitch for the next two hours?” I groaned, and he laughed.

“I really hope not.” We were quiet for a moment, and my stomach rumbled. I blushed as Alex laughed, “Are you hungry, babe?”

“Kind of. I didn’t eat this morning because I wasn’t hungry.”

“C’mon, let’s go next door and get some Subway. Adam said he won’t be back for half an hour,” Alex said, linking our hands as he stood up.

“Rian, we’re going to Subway; do you want anything?” I asked.

“Sure; buy me a meatball sub, please,” Rian said, reaching into his pocket to pull out five dollars. I took the money from him, slipping it into my pocket as Alex poked Jack with his foot.

“Jack, we’re going to Subway,” Alex said. Jack didn’t look up, so Alex reached over to yank out the ear buds. “Jack! Do you want a sub?”

Jack whined in protest, snatching his ear buds back from Alex, “Get me a meatball sub.”

“Ask nicely and maybe I’ll get you one,” Alex teased.

“Get me a meatball sub or I’ll bust your guitar, bitch.”

Alex raised an eyebrow, “Damn. You really are PMSing today.”

••••••••••

The next day, everyone was in a much better mood. Adam had apologized to Jack for yelling at him, and Jack had stopped trying to piss him off. We had finished recording Jack’s guitar parts yesterday, and this morning we had recorded my bass and Rian’s drums. Alex was in the sound booth right now, recording his voice for the song. Rian and Jack were sitting cross-legged on the floor near Adam, playing some sort of card game. I was pretty sure that Jack was just making up rules as they went along, frustrating Rian. They were commenting on Alex’s singing and making suggestions to Adam. I was lying on my back on the couch, watching Alex sing in the booth. He was watching me as he sang, except for when Adam stopped him to make a comment or suggestion.

I must have dozed off while Alex was recording, because I was startled awake by the sound of his voice. “Zaaacky,” Alex said in a singsong voice, right near my head. I jumped, sitting up and hitting my head against his. “Ow,” Alex whined.

“Sorry babe,” I apologized, standing up to stretch. “Are you finished recording?”

“Yeah! Adam’s putting together the rest of the song,” Alex said, pointing over at Adam. Jack and Rian were standing over by him, listening. We walked over and Adam glanced up at us.

“It’s almost done; I just need to edit in the last bit of Alex’s singing,” Adam told us, looking back at his monitor. He clapped his hands together after a few minutes, “Done!” He played the song, and I grinned. It sounded great.

The door opened behind us, and we turned to see Mr. Boylan. “Is that the finished song?” Mr. Boylan asked, walking over to us.

“Yeah, we just finished it up,” Adam replied. Mr. Boylan listened to the song as it played, nodding his head.

“Sounds great,” he said with a smile. “You only have one more song to record, correct?”

Rian nodded, “We’re coming in on Thursday and Friday to record, because we finish up school on Wednesday.”

“Alright; after that’s recorded we’ll be able to put them together. We’ll have to come up with a title and some album artwork, but that can be chosen next time you come in. Start thinking of some ideas over the next few days,” Mr. Boylan motioned for Adam to turn the song off when it started to replay. “If you boys are done for the day, I’d like to speak with you about something.”

We grabbed our stuff and followed Mr. Boylan into his office, sitting down in the four chairs in front of his desk. “What do you need to talk to us about?” Jack asked.

“I know you boys have been playing a lot of shows lately – have you been enjoying them or has it been too stressful?” Mr. Boylan asked, looking at the four of us.

Alex shrugged, shaking his head as he looked around at us, “We’ve been having fun with it. Right, guys?” We nodded in agreement.

“Good. That leads me to ask the next question; would you boys be interested in doing a tour this summer?”

My eyes widened, and the others did the same. “Seriously? What kind of tour are you talking about?” Alex asked.

“There are two similar bands that plan to tour this summer, and they are looking for a few supporting bands to tour with them. One is Cobra Starship from New York, and the other is Mayday Parade from Florida,” Mr. Boylan explained.

“I’ve heard of Cobra Starship,” Alex mused with a nod.

Jack nodded, “Me too. And I think Matt mentioned something about Mayday Parade before.”

“Well, there are two legs to the tour. The first leg in the eastern part of the U.S. lasts from the end of June until the middle of July. There is a two week break then the tour starts again in Chicago, goes through most of the other states, and lasts until mid-August,” Mr. Boylan said. “I know it’s a long tour to put you boys on the first time out, but if you’re willing to take the challenge, it could be good publicity for the band.”

“It sounds like a fun way to spend the summer,” Alex shrugged, looking at us. I nodded; it would fill up our time and give us something to do. And the more publicity for the band, the better, right?

“It would be a van tour, and you’d have to provide transportation and most of the general equipment. If you do not have a van or trailer to hold everything, I will help pay for the rent of the vehicle, but there are a lot of expenses that you will have to cover yourselves,” Mr. Boylan said.

“What kind of expenses will you cover?” I questioned.

“I will pay for fuel, because obviously that’s what you need to get to each show. I will also pay for some of the equipment. However, I will not pay for accommodation expenses. Because you’re a new band, it isn’t a guarantee that you will make a profit at each show. If I pay for accommodation, it will come from the money you’ve earned. You will have to pay for accommodation yourselves or sleep in the van. If the van breaks down or something like that, I will reimburse you the money paid for a hotel room. A lot of this tour is on the shoulders of you and your parents. You do not need to have a parent or guardian with you, of course, but they may choose to come if they would like to.”

“So we’ll be paying for hotel rooms, food, and other stuff like that?” Rian asked.

“Exactly. Also, a crew might be valuable. There are local crews at each venue, but it is useful to have a few people to help you out. They will earn a small profit, also, if they decide to do the tour with you,” Mr. Boylan told us.

“I think we could find a few people,” Jack said.

“That’s good; a small crew will be useful to you. Also, if you choose to do this, I will be setting up some interviews with the local radio stations and things like that. They are always looking for new bands. Once we release your EP, we will be able to sell that at shows, too.” Mr. Boylan continued when we were quiet, “Any profit will be shared between us, as your contract says. It does not say the exact amount, so that means we can make a split deal.”

“What kind of split are you thinking of doing?” I questioned.

“Since it’s your first tour, I think 70% band profit and 30% promoter profit sounds fair. Especially since you’re going to be on such a long tour. If you make a good profit, we all benefit; if not, we both have lost some money. We share the risk. So, with that said, are you boys still interested in doing this?”

We looked at each other, quiet for a moment until Alex spoke up, “I’m interested in doing it; how about you guys?”

“Definitely!” Jack nodded eagerly, as did Rian.

“I suppose it sounds good; the deal seems fair,” I shrugged. “Count me in.”

“Excellent. Please talk to your parents about this before making a final decision. They had to sign the contract along with you, so they have a right to tell me that you cannot do this,” Mr. Boylan added. “Hopefully they will allow you to do it though. I’ll contact the bands tomorrow and tell them to tentatively add All Time Low to the tour lineup.”