Sunday, July 10, 2016, 1pm
We entered the studio, greeted by the Tony guy and a few of his workmates.
"Y'all could have eaten anywhere else? Why just Jollibee? " Tony asked.
"We were too embarrassed to use your credit card," Kita said, while trying not to stutter.
"So! This is the band! Brought your instruments? " he said.
"Y–yes, sir! ..." I said, trying to take initiative.
"By the way, like… what do we call you? " Ellie butted in.
"Hm, what? " the man asked.
"Like tito o–or ku—"
"Just call me kuya (meaning older brother); I'm not that old," Kuya Tony said, interrupting Ellie while laughing.
I looked around the room. Everything looked unbelievable. The control panel of the audio mixer was massive. Its width in length, if put vertically, might be taller than me. The studio monitors looked top-of-the-line. Just from its looks, it already feels like the audio coming out of it would be perfectly replicated from the recordings on the computer. Speaking of which, the PC looked so expensive and futuristic (though I don't own one). My tech knowledge on that completely comes from whatever I watch on YouTube.
"Uh, Tala? You're dozing off again," Kita said while poking my shoulder.
"So girls, what songs do you already have on the table? " Kuya Tony asked.
"Well… we have like… three," Nina said.
"Damn, I expected such a talented band to already have more… Speaking of which, you performed two of them in the pub last Friday, right? " Kuya Tony said and asked.
"Y–yeah, 'Until Dawn' and 'As You Are,'" Kita replied.
"Yeah, what's the other song? Y'know the one you didn't play? " Kuya Tony asked.
"Oh, the song's called Milestone. A song about how past experiences can shape who you are today," Kita explained.
"Interesting! Based on how much you know about these songs, I'm guessing that you're the one who wrote them, aren't you? "Kuya Tony remarked and asked.
"Well, yes! I just thought—..." Kita continued to explain her process and thoughts on writing the songs she made, while I continued watching and listening to the conversation in awe of what she was saying. Her words were simple, but she knew how to express what she wanted to say; it just makes me want to be more like her.
"Tala, is it true that you arranged the music? "Kuya Tony asked, snapping me out of my daydreaming.
"Oh—yeah! That's right," I said.
"Well, you are one talented fellow, I'd say," he said, flattering me. Kita told him that? Well, it is true, but… I don't know. Him saying that just makes me question how good I am at my craft.
"I—I…" I said, trying to find words I can use to respond.
"I'm serious! Look… this is exactly why I decided to take y'all in," He said while looking at me.
"Tala, the moment I heard the first note from the riff that you played on your Stratocaster, I knew that the band I was watching was going to be a special one," he said while I looked bamboozled, just staring at his eyes. He continued saying,
"Instead of going for a more pop-rock sound that the band I managed before played, you just went straight rockstar mode. That first note told me everything. OPM (Original Pinoy Music) today doesn't give the same vibe that the first rock-and-rollers gave in the mid-60s to early 90s. I want to start a revolution in music, one that takes us back to what music is SUPPOSED to sound like."
He sounded VERY narrow-minded with that last part.
"You girls are getting into something big, something you won't regret once we get this going! " he said as he pulled out a paper that looked like a contract.
"Your lives will never be the same," he said, urging us to sign.
We looked at each other one last time before we confirmed with ourselves that this is what we wanted. The three started signing, but I got stumped at a certain part. It said,
"Put your full legal name and signature here."
I started fighting with myself and asking,
"Should I put it? "
I decided to write down,
"Tala Bautista"
I looked to my left and saw Kita started smiling and gesturing a thumbs up, which I assume means she's asking me if I did alright. I replied with my own thumbs up and an awkward smile.
Kuya Tony grabbed our papers, checking if everything was alright.
"Wow! Tala's your real name? "He asked me
I nodded awkwardly as my reply.
"Damn,! Your parents must love you SOO much to give you such a unique name like that! "
I… Once again… nodded awkwardly as my reply.
"And you!!! Kita Diwata! You have such a beautiful last name! ," he said.
"Thank you…" she replied with a smile.
"You, Nina, and Ellie, you're sisters, right? " he asked.
"Yeah we're twins." The two replied.
"Now! Why won't y'all just go to the recording booth and start jamming for now? It's gonna be good background music while I sort these papers out! "
"Sure! We'll play the song you haven't heard yet so… well… you can hear it! " Kita said enthusiastically.
While bringing my guitar out of my bag, I examined the room around us. There were three brand new 100-watt Katana amplifiers. One for bass and two for electric guitars. Those would cost a fortune. In the middle was a vintage Steel drum kit, perfect for a classic rock sound. All of what I've mentioned is mic'd into the mixer that is linked to the monitors for the people outside the booth to hear. Heck, the mic stand looks fucking expensive as fuck.
Nina sat on the drum throne preparing to count us in. While I was positioning my mic, Kita approached me, asking,
"You alright? "
"Y—Yeah…" I replied.
"I thought you'd actually put your real name," she said.
Before Nina started counting us in, Kita teased me by whispering,
"You used to be bullied for the name you had. Good times weren't they L—"
1, 2, 3, and… CRASH!!!
We were launched straight into playing the song before I could even return a word to Kita. Though I usually like it when she teases me, what she said kinda pissed me off. After the intro part was some trem picking, so I had no time to think about that, and I had to focus.
Between each up and down strum I do on my guitar, slightly more violent than the last, I look at the window that leads to the mixing station, and I see Kuya Tony rocking his head to the beat. I guess he was being for real with the things he said, all about reviving classic rock and roll. He really wants this band to succeed, and we ARE going to do it.
After a little more playing, we ended on the last chord, which ushered in a round of applause from outside of the booth. Kuya Tony walked in, saying,
"Well done girls… So… Now that everything's all good, I got a plan for y'all."
We started to listen attentively.
"We will record all these three songs that you have presented. starting today. The goal is to finish all the songs by… Hmm… The end of this week! "
We looked at each other. Our eyes were asking the question, "Is that even possible? "
"Haha, I know what you're all thinking. Don't worry, I'm good at what I do. Leave the mixing and mastering to me; y'all just have to save your energy for recording," he said.
We all slightly nodded, basically saying, "sounds easy enough."
"And for you, Tala," he said my name, making me think about what he was going to say next.
"I have an assignment for you," he said.
"Wh—what is it…" I said, wondering what it could be about.
"I want to see what happens when YOU write a song," he said.
That made me shiver. I started shaking. It was obvious that I was nervous. Kita placed her hand on my shoulder. then she told me,
"Don't worry… I can help you with that! "She said while winking.
"When do you want it done? " I asked.
"Hmm, maybe not now, maybe after we've released the first three songs catch?" he replied.
"I—"
"We can definitely do it!!! " Kita butted in, before I could even reply.
"Good. I can't wait to see what you'd come up with! " he said, enthusiastically.
I looked at my fellow band members. They seem joyful that we're finally getting somewhere with this hobby of ours. I guess I started smiling a little bit in the joy that we were feeling.
"So, are you ready, girls? " He winked while saying. We wondered why he did for a short while, until we realized what our reply was supposed to be. In unison, we shout,
"Hell yeah!!! "