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A Helping Hand
05
The three guitarists sat together in their corner, Brian’s guitars next to him, Indy’s placed on the floor to her right, each with a guitar in their lap as they brainstormed where the song was heading. As they were told to work on ‘Blinded in Chains’, they had an idea where the drum track was going, and the basic scaffold from their demo, but needed to create interesting hooks, rhythm sections and lead work.
“Where the fuck should we start?” Brian asked, being the first to speak. They had a lot of work ahead of them, and knew that once they began to play, sorting out the bits and pieces, that it would all come together, but were clueless what should be done first.
“Uh, tuning? Should we be in drop D again?” Indy asked, deciding the very basics should be agreed on before a single note was played. Tuning was a very simple issue, but ultimately was the core of each and every song.
“Yes,” both Zacky and Brian answered, making the group laugh at how well in sync they had become when it came to their music. Indy nodded, checking her tuning and looked up from her guitar to the boys.
“We are in D minor,” Brian also informed her, the key of the piece yet another simple, yet necessary, piece of information to have. She nodded, lightly playing the D minor scale to show she understood.
“Jimmy’s drums are the immediate intro, aren’t they?” Zacky asked, trying to remember how their demo started. The band wanted the song to have an overall military kind of vibe, the lyrical content displaying this while the backing music needed to mirror it.
“Yeah. What about a chugging kind of rhythm chord to accompany the drums? Something simple before the vocals come in?” Brian suggested, taking Zacky’s point about Jimmy’s drum line into account while trying to think what would complement it.
Hearing his suggestion, Indy took it upon herself to try the ‘chugging kind of rhythm’ that Brian was suggesting, using the open strings to try and demonstrate her idea. She played a simple 1 bar repeated motif, her rhythm using quick semiquavers and rests to keep it short and staccato.
“1,2 – 1,2,3 – 1,2,3 – 1,2,3,4,5,” she muttered, repeating the phrase to memorize it. She liked what she came up with, the simple notes not overriding the effect of the rhythm while giving it an almost marching-like quality.
“That is golden! It’s exactly what we need!” Zacky said, nodding fiercely as he listened to Indy’s playing, visualising the rhythm fitting in perfectly with the parts already created. The sound of the open chord wasn’t bad either, but needed something to spice it up.
“I agree, its good,” Brian agreed, nodding along to the rhythm. He couldn’t quite see it as the opening guitar line. It needed something else. “I think we need something between the drum intro and the guitar fill.”
“Why?” Zacky asked, Indy ceasing her playing while the two talked. She understood where Brian was coming from, the two not melding perfectly.
“I dunno, it just seems a little…” he trailed off, not sure how to finish. It was lacking something, but what?
“Copy – paste, but on a different instrument,” Indy provided, her suggestion exactly what Brian had been thinking, but unable to say. She felt the same, her idea stemming from the tracks she could so faintly hear, knowing the parts would fit together, but needed something else as well.
“What about a lead bit?” Zacky suggested, coming around to their way of thinking. He knew Brian wouldn’t rest until he found just what the song needed, and would go no further if it was missing something.
“That’s a good idea. Something harmonised before we break into the verse,” Brian said, agreeing with Zacky and working on the idea. He could almost hear it in his head as he thought it through. He could see a dual solo, small two bar break followed by a lead solo, chugging rhythm chords played alone before everybody comes in to start the verse.
“How long?” Indy asked, trying to set out a time frame for the intro. Songs that had incredibly long intro’s were never her favourite, and she hoped that this wouldn’t be one of those proggy, elongated, epic, winding journey songs.
“I’m thinking that rhythm open D chord played with the drums in the intro, an eight bar harmonised melody, then a 4 bar solo before rhythmic chords lead us into the verse,” Brian answered, closing his eyes to help visualise the song. He could almost see the sections, each leading flawlessly into the other while retaining interest due to the changes. He needed to get this out of his brain and into his guitar.
He began playing a melodic solo line, humming what he was thinking and trying to get it to play the same on his guitar. Whenever he hit the wrong note, which Indy noticed was quite rare, he would curse, starting over and adding, subtracting and changing notes here and there. It was all Indy could do not to watch and stare at the guitar genius as he worked, finding it fascinating the way his fingers were gliding up and down the neck, or how he changed from lead to harmony within a second while humming the other part to see if they would blend.
“Hey, Indy. Want to work on the chords?” Zacky asked her, breaking her focus on Brian and back to the job at hand. He couldn’t help a surprising pang of jealousy strike him, at both Brian’s abilities and the attention Indy was paying him. The latter caught him slightly off guard, and made him want to get to work to prove that he was still an asset to this process.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, definitely,” she answered, her attention breaking from Brian and back to the guitar in her lap and the man with the broken arm. She took a deep breath, clearing her mind to start fresh, ideas formulating in her head while awaiting Zacky’s instructions. “So, do we like the rhythm?”
“Yes. I think that’s a definite keeper. It fits well with the drums, similar enough, yet diverse enough to differentiate. We’ll work out the rhythm to the opening bit, keeping the open chord and echoing Jimmy’s drum line. For the second rhythm solo part, we need different chords,” Zacky said, thinking out loud while answering Indy’s questions. As he was talking, he realised that he liked having someone else to throw around ideas with, someone that would listen as he spoke his thoughts, the process extending from himself alone. There was always Brian to help him, but he always was more focused on the lead, and with Indy, there were two people to focus on the backbone of the rhythm sections. He liked it.
“Ok, so with that rhythm,” Indy started, playing said rhythm with the open D chord while she spoke, “what part do you want a chord change?”
“The end. Definitely the end.”
“Ok, so say 1,2 – 1,2,3 – 1,2,3 – 1,2,3,4,5. Do you want the whole of the 1,2,3,4,5 to change?” she clarified, playing the riff and explaining the parts she meant.
“I’m not sure. Most of it, I think. Can you play it with the 4th fret?” he asked, thinking what chords fit with the key signature. She did as she was told, playing the end of the riff on the 4th fret, Zacky nodding along and giving it approval. “I like it. Let’s keep playing with chords.”
For 5 minutes, the pair played with all the chords in the key signature to find the perfect combination that would suit the intro and verses of the song. With some tweaking here and there, they decided to stay primarily with the open chord Indy first played, ending the phrases in alternating 4th and 6th fret chords.
“I think we got it,” Indy said, replaying the 4 bar riff for the last time, including the last tweak. She and Zacky listened carefully, seeing if anything was out of place while Indy played before they showed Brian to get his sign of approval.
“Fucking brilliant!” Zacky agreed, clapping his hands together and sitting back in his chair now they had nailed the riff. For the first time working in depth with Indy to create, it went surprisingly smoothly, the pair feeding off each other’s ideas, Zacky having the majority of the ideas and conveying them to Indy who then played his suggestions, the pair deciding if it sounded right.
“Show Brian?” Indy asked, looking over her shoulder for the other guitarist. He sat on a computer chair, Andy next to him as Brian played his guitar, working on the intro solo. He seemed concentrated in his playing until he slumped forward, his head hitting the desk in front of him and he swore. Indy took this as a good time to interrupt his work and show him what she and Zacky had achieved. With a quick look at Zacky, seeing him follow behind her, she walked over, tapping the guitarist and getting his attention.
“I fucking suck!” Brian vented, turning his head to see Indy, guitar in hand, with Zacky trailing behind her. He had become frustrated at the solo, his fingers not doing what his brain wanted them to do, continuing to make mistakes and make him increasingly angry. “You done?”
“Yeah, we came up with a cool riff for the intro’s end and the verses,” she replied, motioning to the crippled man behind her as she told him of their success.
“Awesome. Let’s hear it,” he said, turning his full attention away from the irritating guitar on his lap and to the pair standing in front of him. Indy held out her hand for his lead, making him unplug it from his guitar and into hers so they could hear the chords through the computer speakers and attached amp rather than nothing at all.
When she was plugged in, Indy played the 4 bar riff for Brian, her fingers barring the chords on the 4th and 6th fret when needed, the end bar forgoing the higher pitched chords, ending half a bar early to give some variation. Once finished, she looked up, awaiting the lead guitarist’s feedback, hoping that what they had created was what they needed, and wasn’t a complete write-off.
“I like it. It’s fucking catchy, and I like the stop at the end,” he told them, nodding while he spoke, the others almost able to see the thoughts run through his head as he continued to critique. “But I think it needs a bit on the end. Play me one bar.”
Indy did as he requested, playing the 1,2 – 1,2,3 – 1,2,3 – 1,2,3,4,5 riff again, Brian pinpointing the section he wanted changed as she played.
“That end part with the five strums gets too predictable. Can you try it with continuing the open chord for the first strum, then changing?” he asked, thinking out loud before coming up with an idea to solve the dilemma. Indy did as requested once more, the sound of the altered riff adding an extra element of surprise to the section.
“Dude, that’s awesome. Well played, man. Well played,” Zacky said, clapping Brian on the back for the alteration. After hearing the same riff over and over, he knew that both he and Indy needed new ears to hear the section, and in doing so, more suggestions were added, the riff growing to suit the piece as a whole more and more with every pair of new ears.
“Thanks. Now I just got to get this starting solo right,” he grumbled, attention once more returning to his guitar as Indy handed him back his lead, sensing that their work with the section was done, now unsure what to move on to.
She let the guitarists chat for a bit, Brian venting about the solo that he couldn’t quite get out while Zacky sympathized and tried to help with ideas, and went to find her father, asking what needed to be done next to help the song move along. She still felt out of the loop, not quite knowing where the songs were heading and how she could help them progress as she still didn’t have their style down and didn’t know what they wanted the songs to sound like, so she couldn’t take any initiative to help speed up the process.
She found Mudrock sitting in the kitchen area, talking to Matt about his lyrics for the song, the pair going through melodic hooks and lines for the words, what parts needed changing and what parts were good to stay. Sighing, she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, turning and returning to the den are, not wanting to distract anyone else from their work.
As she was staring blankly at the wall ahead of her, she felt the couch she sat on sink beside her, jolting her attention from her thoughts. She turned to see Zacky sitting on the seat, broken arm between them both as they sat wordlessly, observing the others around them.
Brian was still by the computer, headphones on as he played his guitar, cursing and repeatedly starting over and over again as he tried to nail the intro. Johnny was sitting with Andy, who had moved from helping Brian to recording Johnny, the pair playing and listening back to recordings to have Johnny’s bass lines perfected so he could record the master versions tomorrow. Jimmy was once more in the drum studio, visible through a window to the left of the room, playing to the beats and rhythms he heard in his head, not stopping until he was completely satisfied with what he was creating. All together, the room was full of creativity, each member focusing in on their talents and roles to try to produce another brilliant song for their record.
Indy loved being in the midst of this creativity, usually thriving on it all, but she was finding it slightly difficult this time around. She didn’t know if it was due to the different arrangement she was filling in for, having another talented guitarist dictate what he wanted her to do, or if it was the calibre of the musicians surrounding her, but she was not yet connected to this vibe they were all synced to, and it was making her more stressed than she originally thought she would be. She almost laughed at herself, remembering that her stress from only this morning was about meeting two new people, and it had now paled in comparison to the thoughts and worries now floating through her brain.
“Fuck yes! I’ve got it!” Brian yelled out, his guitar falling into his lap as he leaned back in his chair and raised his hands triumphantly. His exclamation made everyone turn their head in his direction, Matt, Johnny, Zacky and Indy all awaiting to hear what he had produced.
“Well?” Zacky prodded, trying to get Brian to play his new solo. A grin took over Brian’s face, lighting up his eyes as he sat on the edge of his chair, unplugging his headphones and readying his hands to play for the group.
“Ok, so for the intro, after the drum bit, I was thinking this, but harmonised,” he told everyone, prefacing the riff before diving into it whole-heartedly, the crunch in his guitar smoothed beyond recognition.
The notes streamed from the amp and speakers, the simple melody divided into three parts; one fairly basic and full of longer quavers and rests, the second with two repeated semiquaver run downs and the third taking the semiquavers from the second and combining it with the moving melody line of the first. All together, it sounded very promising, Indy remembering to imagine a harmonised guitar playing parallel, giving it a rounder, fuller sound.
“That’s brilliant! Track the basic version so you don’t forget,” Andy said, ok-ing the solo while reminding him to record the hard copy. He, too, could see the potential in the creation, and together with the drums, bass and rhythm guitars, he could almost hear it sounding similar to their traditional style, obviously Avenged Sevenfold, yet new and almost grown up.
“What do you think, Zee?” Brian asked, his attention turning from the guitar tech to his friend, his opinion necessary for the life of the section. If Zacky thought it was shit, Brian would continue to work on it until they both thought it was perfect and good enough to label it as theirs. Both guitarists worked in this way, not afraid to tell the other of their true opinions, and Indy had found this out first hand only half an hour earlier.
“I really fucking like it. I can see it growing with the addition of instruments, and with a harmony, it will be mind blowing. I just think the pause between the second part and the third needs to be shortened, but apart from that, its perfect,” the rhythm guitarist said, his opinion honest as he thought back on Brian’s work. He knew the older man was a genius, his work hardly ever needed criticizing, and he was always fascinated with what he would come up with next.
“Ah yeah, I can see what you mean. Then it’s a smoother transition,” Brian replied, nodding as he thought out loud about the section Zacky was talking about. With that in his head, he plugged in his headphones once more, playing through the riff to make the change before he recorded a rough version.
“That guy’s a genius,” Indy said, mouth open as she replayed Brian’s creation in her head. She was stunned that it took him a little over an hour to come up with something as perfect as that, where it would have taken her at least half a day, on a good day. Again, the panging sensation of her lack of confidence hit her, making her frown.
“That he is, but I know you’ll be able to keep up with him,” Zacky replied, hearing her comment and seeing her frown, trying to cheer her up with knowing exactly where her thoughts had headed after hearing Brian play. God knows how many times he had felt a lack of self-belief in his own talents after listening to Brian play. “From what I’ve heard of you so far, you’re pretty amazing yourself.”
“Hardly compared to that,” she sighed, blushing at his kind words, yet not believing him. It was an incredibly kind thing for him to say, yet she still had her doubts. “I suppose it’s time to start figuring out that harmony.”
“Yeah, I spose so,” he agreed, watching Indy rise up from the couch to make her way over to her guitars, picking up her Schecter once more to attempt to find this harmonic role. Sighing, he stood as well, following her to Brian’s work station so they could all decipher the harmony to Brian’s newest creation.
The day drew to a close, Mudrock entering the den to see Brian, Indy and Zacky all hard at work, huddled together while Johnny and Matt restrung a bass each. Andy was busy starting the EQ a bass track, Jimmy and Jason recording similar sections the drum room. A smile spread across his face as he observed all his workers hard at work, creating and perfecting without too much supervision. After spending the afternoon with Matt to fix and alter lyrics, he had hoped that it would all run smoothly, and thus far, it had. He decided to call the day officially over, ready to resume again tomorrow morning and hopefully finish most parts of ’Blinded in Chains’ and get this album on its way to being completed.
“Guys. Guys!” he called, having to raise his voice to be heard over the small chatter between workers and to be heard in the drum room, signalling Jason and Jimmy to come out into the den. Once he had everyone’s attention, the drummer and tech opening the door, standing in the jamb to hear the producer’s words. “I just want to say that we had an amazing day today. So much got done, and I’m so relieved we have the complete track listing for the album down and locked in! Well done, everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
With that, they all started to chat again, this time a touch louder as they started to disperse, glad to be done for the day, not having to pull late nights and early mornings at this stage of the album’s creation. They were all content to leave where they were up to, happy to return to the same place tomorrow and all knowing where they were up to.
“Hey, I think I’ll work on that tonight, get it down and ready for your approval tomorrow. Is that ok?” Indy asked, not sure if she would be over stepping her boundaries for her job if she worked on it alone as opposed to working with Zacky. “I figure that if there’s bits you don’t like, you can just tell me to change it. Then it will be done quicker and out of the way.”
“Seriously? You want to do it at home? That’s totally fine. Go for it,” Zacky replied, more than happy to let her take the lead in this harmony. As it wasn’t a large creative job, he let her take it, grabbing the opportunity as a chance to see how she picked up on their style and how quickly she could work. As much as he did like her already, he still needed a capable guitarist who was happy to get their fingers dirty to complete this album.
“Really? Awesome,” she said, smiling as she clicked the locks shut on her guitar, deciding to take home the Schecter she had been playing all day to continue working on the harmony.
“You want to work on it at home?” Brian asked her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as to her request. She shrugged and nodded, picking up the guitar and her handbag, getting ready to leave. “Why?”
“Why not? I like to get it done while it’s all still fresh in my head,” she answered, once more shrugging and starting to walk out of the studio den with the other two guitarists. Matt, Jimmy and Johnny were now down the corridor, almost out of the building while her father, Matt, Andy and Jason were having a conversation, chatting together while starting to shut down all the equipment they had used that day.
“That actually makes sense,” he said, leading the small group out of the studio and out into the parking lot. “Well, good luck with it, and I’ll see you both tomorrow.”
“Thanks, and bye,” she responded, heading left to his right, feeling Zacky follow her direction.
“See ya, dude,” Zacky said, waving to the retreating guitarist. He turned his attention to Indy, seeing her head in the direction of his car. “Where are you parked?”
“Just there. The little blue Toyota,” she said, indicating her car. It was a second hand Toyota Corolla, nothing overly fancy, but suited her perfectly. It fit in 4 guitar cases without an issue, was easy to drive and park, and fairly cheap to run.
“I’m just a few spots over,” he told her, pointing out his black Mazda. His car also seemed second hand, yet immaculately clean and shined to perfection. It was only 5 spots from Indy’s parking space, the pair reaching her car first while his remained in the background.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, fishing her keys from her bag and putting them in the door to unlock her car, sliding the case across the back seats. She threw in her handbag, letting it fall in the foot well behind the driver’s seat and turned her attention back to Zacky.
“Yeah, I spose so. Good luck with the harmony,” he told her, grabbing his own set of keys from his pocket to ready himself for his drive home. He was lucky his car was an automatic and he was still able to drive, regardless of his condition, and was thankful for it every day.
“Yeah, thanks. Bye then,” she smiled, waving at him before hopping in the driver’s seat and starting up her car, ready to go home for some more concentrated work. Zacky waved back, watching as she drove out of the parking lot before he shook himself from his trance, walking to his own car and getting in.
“Where the fuck should we start?” Brian asked, being the first to speak. They had a lot of work ahead of them, and knew that once they began to play, sorting out the bits and pieces, that it would all come together, but were clueless what should be done first.
“Uh, tuning? Should we be in drop D again?” Indy asked, deciding the very basics should be agreed on before a single note was played. Tuning was a very simple issue, but ultimately was the core of each and every song.
“Yes,” both Zacky and Brian answered, making the group laugh at how well in sync they had become when it came to their music. Indy nodded, checking her tuning and looked up from her guitar to the boys.
“We are in D minor,” Brian also informed her, the key of the piece yet another simple, yet necessary, piece of information to have. She nodded, lightly playing the D minor scale to show she understood.
“Jimmy’s drums are the immediate intro, aren’t they?” Zacky asked, trying to remember how their demo started. The band wanted the song to have an overall military kind of vibe, the lyrical content displaying this while the backing music needed to mirror it.
“Yeah. What about a chugging kind of rhythm chord to accompany the drums? Something simple before the vocals come in?” Brian suggested, taking Zacky’s point about Jimmy’s drum line into account while trying to think what would complement it.
Hearing his suggestion, Indy took it upon herself to try the ‘chugging kind of rhythm’ that Brian was suggesting, using the open strings to try and demonstrate her idea. She played a simple 1 bar repeated motif, her rhythm using quick semiquavers and rests to keep it short and staccato.
“1,2 – 1,2,3 – 1,2,3 – 1,2,3,4,5,” she muttered, repeating the phrase to memorize it. She liked what she came up with, the simple notes not overriding the effect of the rhythm while giving it an almost marching-like quality.
“That is golden! It’s exactly what we need!” Zacky said, nodding fiercely as he listened to Indy’s playing, visualising the rhythm fitting in perfectly with the parts already created. The sound of the open chord wasn’t bad either, but needed something to spice it up.
“I agree, its good,” Brian agreed, nodding along to the rhythm. He couldn’t quite see it as the opening guitar line. It needed something else. “I think we need something between the drum intro and the guitar fill.”
“Why?” Zacky asked, Indy ceasing her playing while the two talked. She understood where Brian was coming from, the two not melding perfectly.
“I dunno, it just seems a little…” he trailed off, not sure how to finish. It was lacking something, but what?
“Copy – paste, but on a different instrument,” Indy provided, her suggestion exactly what Brian had been thinking, but unable to say. She felt the same, her idea stemming from the tracks she could so faintly hear, knowing the parts would fit together, but needed something else as well.
“What about a lead bit?” Zacky suggested, coming around to their way of thinking. He knew Brian wouldn’t rest until he found just what the song needed, and would go no further if it was missing something.
“That’s a good idea. Something harmonised before we break into the verse,” Brian said, agreeing with Zacky and working on the idea. He could almost hear it in his head as he thought it through. He could see a dual solo, small two bar break followed by a lead solo, chugging rhythm chords played alone before everybody comes in to start the verse.
“How long?” Indy asked, trying to set out a time frame for the intro. Songs that had incredibly long intro’s were never her favourite, and she hoped that this wouldn’t be one of those proggy, elongated, epic, winding journey songs.
“I’m thinking that rhythm open D chord played with the drums in the intro, an eight bar harmonised melody, then a 4 bar solo before rhythmic chords lead us into the verse,” Brian answered, closing his eyes to help visualise the song. He could almost see the sections, each leading flawlessly into the other while retaining interest due to the changes. He needed to get this out of his brain and into his guitar.
He began playing a melodic solo line, humming what he was thinking and trying to get it to play the same on his guitar. Whenever he hit the wrong note, which Indy noticed was quite rare, he would curse, starting over and adding, subtracting and changing notes here and there. It was all Indy could do not to watch and stare at the guitar genius as he worked, finding it fascinating the way his fingers were gliding up and down the neck, or how he changed from lead to harmony within a second while humming the other part to see if they would blend.
“Hey, Indy. Want to work on the chords?” Zacky asked her, breaking her focus on Brian and back to the job at hand. He couldn’t help a surprising pang of jealousy strike him, at both Brian’s abilities and the attention Indy was paying him. The latter caught him slightly off guard, and made him want to get to work to prove that he was still an asset to this process.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, definitely,” she answered, her attention breaking from Brian and back to the guitar in her lap and the man with the broken arm. She took a deep breath, clearing her mind to start fresh, ideas formulating in her head while awaiting Zacky’s instructions. “So, do we like the rhythm?”
“Yes. I think that’s a definite keeper. It fits well with the drums, similar enough, yet diverse enough to differentiate. We’ll work out the rhythm to the opening bit, keeping the open chord and echoing Jimmy’s drum line. For the second rhythm solo part, we need different chords,” Zacky said, thinking out loud while answering Indy’s questions. As he was talking, he realised that he liked having someone else to throw around ideas with, someone that would listen as he spoke his thoughts, the process extending from himself alone. There was always Brian to help him, but he always was more focused on the lead, and with Indy, there were two people to focus on the backbone of the rhythm sections. He liked it.
“Ok, so with that rhythm,” Indy started, playing said rhythm with the open D chord while she spoke, “what part do you want a chord change?”
“The end. Definitely the end.”
“Ok, so say 1,2 – 1,2,3 – 1,2,3 – 1,2,3,4,5. Do you want the whole of the 1,2,3,4,5 to change?” she clarified, playing the riff and explaining the parts she meant.
“I’m not sure. Most of it, I think. Can you play it with the 4th fret?” he asked, thinking what chords fit with the key signature. She did as she was told, playing the end of the riff on the 4th fret, Zacky nodding along and giving it approval. “I like it. Let’s keep playing with chords.”
For 5 minutes, the pair played with all the chords in the key signature to find the perfect combination that would suit the intro and verses of the song. With some tweaking here and there, they decided to stay primarily with the open chord Indy first played, ending the phrases in alternating 4th and 6th fret chords.
“I think we got it,” Indy said, replaying the 4 bar riff for the last time, including the last tweak. She and Zacky listened carefully, seeing if anything was out of place while Indy played before they showed Brian to get his sign of approval.
“Fucking brilliant!” Zacky agreed, clapping his hands together and sitting back in his chair now they had nailed the riff. For the first time working in depth with Indy to create, it went surprisingly smoothly, the pair feeding off each other’s ideas, Zacky having the majority of the ideas and conveying them to Indy who then played his suggestions, the pair deciding if it sounded right.
“Show Brian?” Indy asked, looking over her shoulder for the other guitarist. He sat on a computer chair, Andy next to him as Brian played his guitar, working on the intro solo. He seemed concentrated in his playing until he slumped forward, his head hitting the desk in front of him and he swore. Indy took this as a good time to interrupt his work and show him what she and Zacky had achieved. With a quick look at Zacky, seeing him follow behind her, she walked over, tapping the guitarist and getting his attention.
“I fucking suck!” Brian vented, turning his head to see Indy, guitar in hand, with Zacky trailing behind her. He had become frustrated at the solo, his fingers not doing what his brain wanted them to do, continuing to make mistakes and make him increasingly angry. “You done?”
“Yeah, we came up with a cool riff for the intro’s end and the verses,” she replied, motioning to the crippled man behind her as she told him of their success.
“Awesome. Let’s hear it,” he said, turning his full attention away from the irritating guitar on his lap and to the pair standing in front of him. Indy held out her hand for his lead, making him unplug it from his guitar and into hers so they could hear the chords through the computer speakers and attached amp rather than nothing at all.
When she was plugged in, Indy played the 4 bar riff for Brian, her fingers barring the chords on the 4th and 6th fret when needed, the end bar forgoing the higher pitched chords, ending half a bar early to give some variation. Once finished, she looked up, awaiting the lead guitarist’s feedback, hoping that what they had created was what they needed, and wasn’t a complete write-off.
“I like it. It’s fucking catchy, and I like the stop at the end,” he told them, nodding while he spoke, the others almost able to see the thoughts run through his head as he continued to critique. “But I think it needs a bit on the end. Play me one bar.”
Indy did as he requested, playing the 1,2 – 1,2,3 – 1,2,3 – 1,2,3,4,5 riff again, Brian pinpointing the section he wanted changed as she played.
“That end part with the five strums gets too predictable. Can you try it with continuing the open chord for the first strum, then changing?” he asked, thinking out loud before coming up with an idea to solve the dilemma. Indy did as requested once more, the sound of the altered riff adding an extra element of surprise to the section.
“Dude, that’s awesome. Well played, man. Well played,” Zacky said, clapping Brian on the back for the alteration. After hearing the same riff over and over, he knew that both he and Indy needed new ears to hear the section, and in doing so, more suggestions were added, the riff growing to suit the piece as a whole more and more with every pair of new ears.
“Thanks. Now I just got to get this starting solo right,” he grumbled, attention once more returning to his guitar as Indy handed him back his lead, sensing that their work with the section was done, now unsure what to move on to.
She let the guitarists chat for a bit, Brian venting about the solo that he couldn’t quite get out while Zacky sympathized and tried to help with ideas, and went to find her father, asking what needed to be done next to help the song move along. She still felt out of the loop, not quite knowing where the songs were heading and how she could help them progress as she still didn’t have their style down and didn’t know what they wanted the songs to sound like, so she couldn’t take any initiative to help speed up the process.
She found Mudrock sitting in the kitchen area, talking to Matt about his lyrics for the song, the pair going through melodic hooks and lines for the words, what parts needed changing and what parts were good to stay. Sighing, she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, turning and returning to the den are, not wanting to distract anyone else from their work.
As she was staring blankly at the wall ahead of her, she felt the couch she sat on sink beside her, jolting her attention from her thoughts. She turned to see Zacky sitting on the seat, broken arm between them both as they sat wordlessly, observing the others around them.
Brian was still by the computer, headphones on as he played his guitar, cursing and repeatedly starting over and over again as he tried to nail the intro. Johnny was sitting with Andy, who had moved from helping Brian to recording Johnny, the pair playing and listening back to recordings to have Johnny’s bass lines perfected so he could record the master versions tomorrow. Jimmy was once more in the drum studio, visible through a window to the left of the room, playing to the beats and rhythms he heard in his head, not stopping until he was completely satisfied with what he was creating. All together, the room was full of creativity, each member focusing in on their talents and roles to try to produce another brilliant song for their record.
Indy loved being in the midst of this creativity, usually thriving on it all, but she was finding it slightly difficult this time around. She didn’t know if it was due to the different arrangement she was filling in for, having another talented guitarist dictate what he wanted her to do, or if it was the calibre of the musicians surrounding her, but she was not yet connected to this vibe they were all synced to, and it was making her more stressed than she originally thought she would be. She almost laughed at herself, remembering that her stress from only this morning was about meeting two new people, and it had now paled in comparison to the thoughts and worries now floating through her brain.
“Fuck yes! I’ve got it!” Brian yelled out, his guitar falling into his lap as he leaned back in his chair and raised his hands triumphantly. His exclamation made everyone turn their head in his direction, Matt, Johnny, Zacky and Indy all awaiting to hear what he had produced.
“Well?” Zacky prodded, trying to get Brian to play his new solo. A grin took over Brian’s face, lighting up his eyes as he sat on the edge of his chair, unplugging his headphones and readying his hands to play for the group.
“Ok, so for the intro, after the drum bit, I was thinking this, but harmonised,” he told everyone, prefacing the riff before diving into it whole-heartedly, the crunch in his guitar smoothed beyond recognition.
The notes streamed from the amp and speakers, the simple melody divided into three parts; one fairly basic and full of longer quavers and rests, the second with two repeated semiquaver run downs and the third taking the semiquavers from the second and combining it with the moving melody line of the first. All together, it sounded very promising, Indy remembering to imagine a harmonised guitar playing parallel, giving it a rounder, fuller sound.
“That’s brilliant! Track the basic version so you don’t forget,” Andy said, ok-ing the solo while reminding him to record the hard copy. He, too, could see the potential in the creation, and together with the drums, bass and rhythm guitars, he could almost hear it sounding similar to their traditional style, obviously Avenged Sevenfold, yet new and almost grown up.
“What do you think, Zee?” Brian asked, his attention turning from the guitar tech to his friend, his opinion necessary for the life of the section. If Zacky thought it was shit, Brian would continue to work on it until they both thought it was perfect and good enough to label it as theirs. Both guitarists worked in this way, not afraid to tell the other of their true opinions, and Indy had found this out first hand only half an hour earlier.
“I really fucking like it. I can see it growing with the addition of instruments, and with a harmony, it will be mind blowing. I just think the pause between the second part and the third needs to be shortened, but apart from that, its perfect,” the rhythm guitarist said, his opinion honest as he thought back on Brian’s work. He knew the older man was a genius, his work hardly ever needed criticizing, and he was always fascinated with what he would come up with next.
“Ah yeah, I can see what you mean. Then it’s a smoother transition,” Brian replied, nodding as he thought out loud about the section Zacky was talking about. With that in his head, he plugged in his headphones once more, playing through the riff to make the change before he recorded a rough version.
“That guy’s a genius,” Indy said, mouth open as she replayed Brian’s creation in her head. She was stunned that it took him a little over an hour to come up with something as perfect as that, where it would have taken her at least half a day, on a good day. Again, the panging sensation of her lack of confidence hit her, making her frown.
“That he is, but I know you’ll be able to keep up with him,” Zacky replied, hearing her comment and seeing her frown, trying to cheer her up with knowing exactly where her thoughts had headed after hearing Brian play. God knows how many times he had felt a lack of self-belief in his own talents after listening to Brian play. “From what I’ve heard of you so far, you’re pretty amazing yourself.”
“Hardly compared to that,” she sighed, blushing at his kind words, yet not believing him. It was an incredibly kind thing for him to say, yet she still had her doubts. “I suppose it’s time to start figuring out that harmony.”
“Yeah, I spose so,” he agreed, watching Indy rise up from the couch to make her way over to her guitars, picking up her Schecter once more to attempt to find this harmonic role. Sighing, he stood as well, following her to Brian’s work station so they could all decipher the harmony to Brian’s newest creation.
The day drew to a close, Mudrock entering the den to see Brian, Indy and Zacky all hard at work, huddled together while Johnny and Matt restrung a bass each. Andy was busy starting the EQ a bass track, Jimmy and Jason recording similar sections the drum room. A smile spread across his face as he observed all his workers hard at work, creating and perfecting without too much supervision. After spending the afternoon with Matt to fix and alter lyrics, he had hoped that it would all run smoothly, and thus far, it had. He decided to call the day officially over, ready to resume again tomorrow morning and hopefully finish most parts of ’Blinded in Chains’ and get this album on its way to being completed.
“Guys. Guys!” he called, having to raise his voice to be heard over the small chatter between workers and to be heard in the drum room, signalling Jason and Jimmy to come out into the den. Once he had everyone’s attention, the drummer and tech opening the door, standing in the jamb to hear the producer’s words. “I just want to say that we had an amazing day today. So much got done, and I’m so relieved we have the complete track listing for the album down and locked in! Well done, everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
With that, they all started to chat again, this time a touch louder as they started to disperse, glad to be done for the day, not having to pull late nights and early mornings at this stage of the album’s creation. They were all content to leave where they were up to, happy to return to the same place tomorrow and all knowing where they were up to.
“Hey, I think I’ll work on that tonight, get it down and ready for your approval tomorrow. Is that ok?” Indy asked, not sure if she would be over stepping her boundaries for her job if she worked on it alone as opposed to working with Zacky. “I figure that if there’s bits you don’t like, you can just tell me to change it. Then it will be done quicker and out of the way.”
“Seriously? You want to do it at home? That’s totally fine. Go for it,” Zacky replied, more than happy to let her take the lead in this harmony. As it wasn’t a large creative job, he let her take it, grabbing the opportunity as a chance to see how she picked up on their style and how quickly she could work. As much as he did like her already, he still needed a capable guitarist who was happy to get their fingers dirty to complete this album.
“Really? Awesome,” she said, smiling as she clicked the locks shut on her guitar, deciding to take home the Schecter she had been playing all day to continue working on the harmony.
“You want to work on it at home?” Brian asked her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as to her request. She shrugged and nodded, picking up the guitar and her handbag, getting ready to leave. “Why?”
“Why not? I like to get it done while it’s all still fresh in my head,” she answered, once more shrugging and starting to walk out of the studio den with the other two guitarists. Matt, Jimmy and Johnny were now down the corridor, almost out of the building while her father, Matt, Andy and Jason were having a conversation, chatting together while starting to shut down all the equipment they had used that day.
“That actually makes sense,” he said, leading the small group out of the studio and out into the parking lot. “Well, good luck with it, and I’ll see you both tomorrow.”
“Thanks, and bye,” she responded, heading left to his right, feeling Zacky follow her direction.
“See ya, dude,” Zacky said, waving to the retreating guitarist. He turned his attention to Indy, seeing her head in the direction of his car. “Where are you parked?”
“Just there. The little blue Toyota,” she said, indicating her car. It was a second hand Toyota Corolla, nothing overly fancy, but suited her perfectly. It fit in 4 guitar cases without an issue, was easy to drive and park, and fairly cheap to run.
“I’m just a few spots over,” he told her, pointing out his black Mazda. His car also seemed second hand, yet immaculately clean and shined to perfection. It was only 5 spots from Indy’s parking space, the pair reaching her car first while his remained in the background.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, fishing her keys from her bag and putting them in the door to unlock her car, sliding the case across the back seats. She threw in her handbag, letting it fall in the foot well behind the driver’s seat and turned her attention back to Zacky.
“Yeah, I spose so. Good luck with the harmony,” he told her, grabbing his own set of keys from his pocket to ready himself for his drive home. He was lucky his car was an automatic and he was still able to drive, regardless of his condition, and was thankful for it every day.
“Yeah, thanks. Bye then,” she smiled, waving at him before hopping in the driver’s seat and starting up her car, ready to go home for some more concentrated work. Zacky waved back, watching as she drove out of the parking lot before he shook himself from his trance, walking to his own car and getting in.