The New Drummer

I had woken up to my phone ringing off the hook for the fourth time in a row and I groaned picking it up off the nightstand next to my bed. It was before nine o’clock and I was trying to sleep in for the first time in ages and growled when I answered it.

“This better be good fucking excuse Jeremy,” I growled and I heard laughter at the other end of the phone.

“Good morning to you too sunshine,” I heard my best friend’s voice on the other end of the line.

“Meghan this better be a fucking good reason to be waking me up before nine a.m. since I got home three days ago,” I groaned and again I heard the laugh again but on the other side of my bedroom door.

“Morning sunshine,” she said as I hung up my phone and put my pillow over my face, “Your brothers called and told me that you had a drumming audition for a band and you needed help with getting dressed.”

“I do not,” I said with the pillow over my face.

“What?” she asked laughing pulling the pillow off my face and smiling at me, “I can’t understand you.”

“I hate you all,” I groaned and she just laughed as I rolled out of bed and looked at her.

“You know for being married to the rhythm guitarist of Avenged Sevenfold you would think you would have learned by now that most people who tour enjoy sleeping,” I said and Meghan just laughed at me.

“Oh I know,” she said, “I leave Zack alone when he gets home from tour for like a day before I bug him. I gave you three days. I love you more obviously.”

I just chuckled at Meghan and watched her look through my closet. Meghan and I had become friends in high school. We were both had homeroom together and she saved me from being taken alive by some popular girl who thought wearing band tees with flannel was so disgusting. After that, we’ve always been attached at the hip and I knew I wouldn’t change it any other way. Meghan was one of the sisters I’ve never had and I was glad she was a part of my life.

“Where’s that cute kid of yours?” I asked as she was pulling things left and right out of the closet.

“At Zack’s parents’ house,” she said, “Zack said he had something to do with the band this morning. Said he was a bit pissed about it because he was going to recommend you for the job so they wouldn’t have to sit through hours of auditions.”

As soon as the words left Meghan’s mouth, my eyes widened and I figured out where I had seen Matt before. Matt was the lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold. Zack was going to be in auditions all day and I was going to be auditioning in front of them. I was kicking myself for not recognizing Matt because he was definitely in the wedding party when Meghan and Zack got married a few years ago.

“No fucking way,” I said in shock.

“What?” Meghan said stopping midsentence and looking at me like I had grown a third eye.

“That’s who I’m auditioning for Meg,” I said looking up at her, “I met Matt yesterday without even realizing it. How the fuck did I do that and not recognize him? He was in your fucking wedding for god sakes.”

I sat back down from where I was standing next to my bed and I slowly began feeling panicked to the point where I felt like my throat was closing. I watched as Meghan’s eyes got wide from the recognition of what she thought was an early panic attack for me and pulled me into a hug. We sat on my bed for a minute while Meghan tried to talk me down from my full blown panic attack.

“Calm down love,” she whispered, “Things are going to go great. You’re going to kick ass, shock Zack and all the guys, and get that spot as their new drummer. Breathe Evie, breathe.”

I let out a breath I was holding on and I looked up at her giving her a grateful glance and she nodded her head in a “your welcome” fashion. I took a deep breath and saw that Meghan was smiling widely at me.

“We’re going to make sure you look kick ass today,” she said and she went to work making sure I looked perfect for this audition.

After three hours of trying onoutfits and letting Meghan do my hair while I complained the entire time, I had managed to come downstairs to find my sister-in-laws and brothers waiting for me on my living room couch.

“How did you get. . .” I stated forgetting that I had given them extra keys for when I was on tour.

“We’re driving you,” Brad stated in a matter-of-fact tone and I just rolled my eyes.

“Fine,” I said grabbing my drumsticks, “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Meghan had come down from my bedroom and my brother’s thanked her for letting me not look like a hobo which made me roll my eyes. Meghan wished me luck once again and let herself out the front door while I went back to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water before we left. Sarah and Kaylie followed me into the kitchen and I smiled lightly at them as I grabbed them water as well.

“Are you nervous?” Sarah asked me.

“A little bit,” I said.

“You’re going to kick ass,” Kaylie said, “We all know it.”

I gave them a small smile while Brad and Jeremy were yelling saying we needed to get in the car. We pulled up to the record store and you could see the line wrap around the building and was clear down the sidewalk all the way to the boardwalk.

“Holy shit,” I said, “How come I never figured out that this was for Avenged Sevenfold? This would take way longer than just a day of tryouts. This is like a month of tryouts.”

“Wait you figured it out?” Jeremy asked shocked.

“This morning,” I replied honestly, “Meghan said Zack had to sit through auditions today.”

"Agreed,” Brad stated in awe joining in on the latter end of the conversation, “Word gets around pretty quickly if you ask me.”

“That’s an understatement,” I said as I slipped on my aviators and got out of the car with my drumsticks in my hand.

We headed towards the front of the line like I was told to last night on the phone with Matt and everyone was yelling at me.

“Get to the back of the line you amateur!” I heard some guy yell, “They don’t need some prissy girl drumming for them!”

“Fuck off,” I stated already annoyed and we hadn’t been in the parking lot for more than five minutes.

I saw Brad and Jeremy smirk to each other and I saw my sister-in-laws just giggle as we made it to the front of the door and we saw Kevin just smiling at me.

“We were wondering when you were going to show up,” he said smiling.

“I bet. Thought I’d let this band suffer for a few hours,” I said playing along that I had no clue who I was drumming for.

Kevin and Larry just laughed as we walked into the store as we heard everyone grumbling and yelling at us saying that wasn’t fair. I just rolled my eyes as we walked into the store and we just heard some terrible drumming.

“Thank you for your time,” I heard Matt’s voice, “We’ll be in touch if we choose you.”

“That was terrible,” I said standing next to some guy, “How many of those have you had to listen to?”

“More than I’ll ever tell you,” he said as I smirked and his eyes widened, “Holy shit your Evelyn Mathers.”

“In the flesh,” I said smiling lightly, “Nice to meet you. . .”

“Matt Berry,” the guy said shaking my hand, “Jason get over here you won’t believe who it is!”

“No fucking way,” a guy who I assumed was Matt’s twin said in awe, “You are roadie royalty.”

“Nice to meet you Jason,” I said shaking his hand, “And I wouldn’t consider myself royalty. I’ve spent plenty of years as a roadie to know royalty wouldn’t be able to do half the shit we can do.”

Matt and Jason both blushed and I then noticed that people were stopping and their eyes widening when they saw me.

“Why is everyone. . .” I heard Zack’s voice and I grinned when he spotted me and stood up from his chair and walked over and gave me a big hug.

“How’s it going Evie,” he said grinning, “Meghan talk you into this?”

“Wait are you. . .” a guy who I assumed to be Johnny Christ.

“Thanks for keeping a low profile Matt,” I said as I shook his hand, “It literally took me until this morning to place your voice and aviators.”

Matt smiled lightly and gave me one of his dimple smiles.

“Holy shit it’s Evelyn Mathers,” I heard from behind me and I felt my cheeks starting to heat up.

“Looks like we’re in presence of roadie royalty,” he replied and I rolled my eyes.

“Not royalty,” I said, “Do you guys want me to start since I think it’s my turn.”

“First fill this out really quick for me Evie,” Larry said handing me a clipboard with a pen and I started filling out paperwork.

I quickly fill out the paperwork and soon I was behind the drum kit they had set up. I introduced the song and quickly pulled out my iPod.

“Kill it Evie!” my brothers yelled and I just rolled my eyes as the guys from the band were grinning and then I didn’t recognize a couple of other faces but I really didn’t care.

“And what’s your name sweetheart?” one of the guys asked me.

“Evelyn Mathers and I’m going to play Beast and the Harlot,” I said.

“And what’s your age Evelyn?” the man asked.

“Call me Evie and I’m at the prime age of thirty-one,” I said.

“Alright show us what you got,” he said and I nodded my head.

I put my iPod earbuds in my ear and hit play and started playing. As I started banging on the drum set, I got lost in the music. Music was my escape from the world and I enjoyed playing it. I was always banging on something and trying to find new rhythms that I could put together and I think that’s why becoming a tour manager was so easy for me. I was constantly being stimulated by whatever band’s music I was touring with that my love for making music never really died. By the time I knew it, the song was over and I pulled out my earbuds and looked at everyone who was completely stunned

“So how did I do?” I asked.

When no one answered I looked over at my family who was just grinning widely which I took as I kicked ass.

“Can we do one more song?” the guy asked, “With everyone live?”

“Sure,” I said, “Pick the song and let me know.”

Everyone looked at each other and I rolled my eyes because they were going to make me play something they considered very difficult. However, I knew pretty much most of Avenged songs because I enjoyed the way Jimmy Sullivan drummed. I think most tours when we had down time, I learned their songs in an entire summer.

“A Little Piece of Heaven,” the man said, “We just want to know if you could sing Jimmy’s parts.”

“Okay,” I said, “Do I get a mic then?”

Everyone again was shocked which made me laugh. I feel like during this audition that they forgot that I was a tour manager and would have thought of that. One of the guys helping out brought me a mic and I helped him set it up while the guys were shocked I was helping out.

“You’re okay with playing the song do want to look. . .” Brian started and I just shook my head no.

“I don’t need to look it over,” I said sitting back down behind the kit, “Let’s be honest, some of you don’t think I can do this but I can so let’s do it so you can see if I can or not. Do you guys need to warm up?”

I then watched as Matt, Zack, and Johnny all smirk at my response and Brian just rolled his eyes.

“Then let’s do this,” Matt grinned, “I can’t wait to see what happens.”

I then helped Matt Berry and other people grab what they would need for this impromptu song and I could see Sarah pull her phone out to record when one of the men there was about to say something.

“I didn’t sign anything saying my family couldn’t record my performance or tryout,” I said, “I just agreed to not speak of making the band if I made it.”

The man then looked at me shocked that I actually read the piece of paper I signed. I then decided to state my opinion. I didn’t really care if I got the position or not. I had a good job that I enjoyed and I was doing this because I knew if I didn’t try this I would have regretted.

“Look I’m not some dumb girl who signs anything that’s put in front of her,” I stated, “I have been in the music industry as a tour manager for close to ten years I do understand big words and I can act normal around men. Now can we start?”

“Look here. . .” the man started and Matt cut him off.

“Cooper calm down,” Matt stated, “You’re pissed she called you out on your shit. Let’s just play and see how she does. Count us Evie.”

I started counting and the song started. We played the entire song and I didn’t make a mistake or miss a word of Jimmy’s part I even sang the backup girls part too just to make a point that I could do the job just a well as any guy could. As the song came to an end, I looked to see Johnny, Zack, Matt, as well as Brian all smiling at each other and back at me. I then looked at the man named Cooper and raised my eyebrow.

“Did I prove myself enough Cooper?” I asked with attitude.

“We’ll be in contact,” Cooper stated shortly and I got out from behind the drums and I was given hugs by everyone.

“You killed it Evie,” Zack whispered, “You definitely got the job. We’ll call you later on tonight.”

I just nodded my head and smiled at everyone.

“Thanks for the opportunity,” I said, “I look forward to hearing from you.”

I then walked back to where my family was smiled at them. I gave Kevin a hug and thanked Larry for letting me cut the line to try out for the band. We then headed out of the music store and I smiled as Jeremy and Brad were talking about how I kicked ass.

“Eve,” Brad said, “You literally just made me the proudest brother again today. The first time was graduating high school without getting pregnant, the second time was managing your first tour by yourself, and today when you kicked ass playing and shutting everyone up in there with your attitude.”

“You were you today Evie,” Jeremy said, “And that’s what they wanted to see. I think they want to see what you would do when they put you on the spot and how you would react to the asshole men that think you can’t play.”

“Well if I don’t get the position I’m not going to be mad about it,” I said, “It was something that I needed to do see if I could do it that’s all and I’m proud of it.”

Everyone then piled in the car and we went to go pick up my dad and we were going to barbecue for the entire day so we could celebrate the audition if I got the part or not.