Page 13 of The Devil's Tattoo
Chapter3
The next sixmonths went by in a blur. I’d gotten past the first gig, but it was only thefirst.
Once Dee had me going, he went full tilt booking gigs and getting our name out there. He even got me to sing a few songs with him on the street. He told me it wasn’t a coincidence he earned more money on those days than the ones without me, and like the gentleman he was, we split the takings fifty-fifty.
The next thing on the list was to get something down in digital form. Frank knew a guy out in Footscray who’d set up a recording studio in his shed. Knowing the kind of people Frank knew, I was expecting soundproofing to be gaffer taped to the wall and the mower to be in the corner, but it was a tight outfit. The guy had helped some other local bands record some songs, and we had a great timewithit.
Everything we’d done up until then had been just for kicks. Dee had promised me black and blue. That was until he posted our EP online and went on a marketing binge in his spare time. I hadn’t realized what he’d done until I heard our song on the radio. On the bloodyradio. I was mad for two seconds until I heard what people were saying about it. Then the phone started ringing. People wanted to know what I thought, and people actuallylistened.
For the first time in what felt like forever, people actually wanted to know Zoe Granger. It wasatrip.
All the time we’d been playing, not once did I see one of my old friends, and not once did I think about them. From the moment I faced my fear at that first gig, it was straight ahead and no looking back. I felt more confident now than I had in my entire life, and that was sayingsomething.
Then Chris hooked us up with a guy he knew who was a film major at RMIT University. He needed a project for his finals, and we were it. We had an EP, a music video for ‘Walls,’ and then all we needed was the contract, which wasn’t long in following. With a label at our backs and royalties starting to come in, I quit my job in the mailroom and started busking with Dee for a little extra cash to put intosavings.
We played a lot of gigs around Melbourne and even went to a few regional towns where we came out breaking even, or sometimes, with a little more—which we promptly spent on McDonalds on the ride home. We did photo shoots and interviews, and people were downloading our self-released EP in droves, but we still didn’t have enough money between us to go further afield. The label was working on it, but these things took time, and until we had a full-length album ready to promote, it was just awaitinggame.
Dee’s dream was coming true, but deep down, mine was, as well. For the first time in two years, I washappy.
Truthfully, I was expecting to feel overwhelmed by all the attention, but I felt strangely calm. I felt like I finally fit in somewhere, and I owed it alltoDee.
Today was the first day our single ‘Walls’ was available for sale. It wasn’t on our EP, and it was the one thing people wanted to hear. Anything could happen now, and I was feeling a little sick about it. It was the make or break moment because if we sold well, then bigger things would start tohappen.
I was still asleep when the phone rang. It wasmymum.
“I bought your single on the computer just now,” she told me. I gathered she meant from iTunes. I gushed at how technological and modern she was, and I could tell she was proud she’d figured it out without having to call me first. “Are younervous?”
Of course, I was nervous. I told her as much. Our first single had released ten minutes ago according to the clock on my radio. “I’ve got to go, Mum. They want to interview Frank and me for the radiolater.”
I pressed the red phone button and made sure the line was disconnected before cursing aloud. The phone rang again—unknown number. I picked it upanyway.
“Hello?”
“‘Walls’ has gone to number fucking eight on iTunes!” It was Dee on theotherend.
Shit.
“Are youthere,Zoe?”
“Yeah. Shit. Already? Guess we’d better organize a show orsomething,huh?”
“That’s the other thing I was calling you about. Simone is about to call you. I just got off the line with her. We have been offered a co-headline tour. You’ll never guesswhowith!”
Simone had become our sort of manager. She came on with us a month ago when things started to take off and was happy to work for next to nothing. I guess we were her lucky break or at least her chance to get something decent on her resume. I’d gone from hanging out with Dee to hanging out with the guys to hanging out with Simone. She was the first genuine female friend I’d had in alongtime.
I wasn’t sure who the label would have chosen us to tour with and took a wild stab in the dark. “Prince. The Pixies.Powderfinger’s comeback tour. AC/DC.Kings of Leon.Don’t tell me there’s an Oasisreunion.”
“Not quite,” he said, laughing at my halfhearted attempt at a joke. “It’s The fuckingStabs.”
I sat up then, my heart hammering in my chest so hard I thought it was going to explode. “No way.” I hadn’t listened to them since the awkward eyebrow incident a few months ago, and I’d definitely done my darnedest to let go of my crush on Will Strickland since our first gig. I’d been way too busy to even think about him anyway…and now?Holyfuck.
“Remember when we went to see them that time? What did I say about being better than they were? I have dreams about showingthemup.”
“What? Thiswholetime?”
“No, just for the last tenminutes.”
“Oh, my God.” I paused.This was happening waytoofast.
