Page 5 of The Fire Walker
Jessie
It wasmy first time in LosAngeles.
The streets were wide, palm trees lined pretty much every boulevard there was, and it was flat. I mean, there were high rises and all but nothing like Manhattan, and the traffic was worse than bad. The gridlock of cars, trucks, and buses was far worse than anything New York couldconjure.
The sky always seemed to be blue here, and it had this haze like the desert had kicked up a dust storm and flung it over the city. It was still America, but it was a different version than I was usedto.
“Jessie?”
At the sound of my name, I sat up sharply in the back of the town car and flicked on my tablet. I sat next to Georgie, one of Galaxy Records’ public relations executives. She was the spitting image of Joan Jett—tall, leggy, and tough—while I was this tiny little mousy blonde…whatever.
“Is it too late to go to the studio?” she asked. “What is theirschedule?”
I looked down at the tablet and checked the recording schedule for the label’s newest signing, The Devil’s Tattoo. “They’ll still be there,” I reported. “They’re booked untilmidnight.”
“Good.” Georgie tapped the driver’s shoulder and barked the name of the recording studio into hisear.
Sinking back into the leather seat, I watched the city go past. It was so different here from where I grew up. Everything was soglitzy. I was from Montreal, Canada, but I’d moved to New York City the first chance I got. How could I not? Music was in my blood, and the city was the home of everything from Broadway to punk rock. People went there to follow their dreams of stardom, so it was only natural I went, too. Except I didn’t want to be a star. I wanted to help others become them.Way to turn stereotypes on theirheads.
Six days a week, I interned at Galaxy Records. Five nights a week, I worked at a café in Brooklyn. It was an alternative place that attracted artists, musicians, hipsters, and bohemians. We stayed open until ten thirty every night, and the atmosphere turned dark and dangerous when the sun went down. The decor consisted of old couches and armchairs crammed into every available space, complete with side tables and lamps. I’d made some good friends there, so I didn’t mind the minimum wage. Tips weren’t bad because we had a lot of regulars, and the boss didn’t mind my rotating schedule with my internship. I had it pretty good for a nobody inNY.
Galaxy had been around since the early seventies and was one of the biggest labels out there for rock, indie, and alternative guitar and electro bands. When I was in my teens, I’d been a bit of a rebellious punk rocker, so that kind of music was my life, but I had no skill for singing or playing. I tried with disastrous results and cringed every time I thought about how bad Iwas.
Now I wanted to get my foot in the door any way I could. If I couldn’t play, then I’d manage, market, scout, oranything. Galaxy Records had kind of fallen into my lap, and I’d scooped it up and sacrificed everything to hold onto it. A thousand people wanted in if I slipped and fell on my ass, and fucked if I was lettingthem.
I was placed in the marketing team and had been working hard ever since. Mostly, I ran around after Georgie. She was in charge of a band’s image, so it was all photo shoots, music videos, and album releases. All the juicy stuff. It didn’t matter that I went out to get her lunch. It mattered that I made the most of the inane phone calls and listened in on meetings. It mattered who I got to meet and the impression I made. I wanted to be better at Georgie’s job than Georgie so one day they’d offer it tome.
But all that schmoozing came with greatresponsibility…
Integrity.
The one thing I promised myself I wouldn’t do was to get involved personally with the bands. I got to meet a lot of musicians, and they were all the same. Smooth-talking assholes who only thought about their dicks. I guess I was pretty enough to warrant an attempt, but they never got anywhere. I’m sure Georgie slept with her fair share of rockers, but I wasn’tGeorgie.
So when we inevitably came out to LA to see this new band that had been blowing up the office, The Devil’s Tattoo, I was excited. I really dug their stuff. A girl and three guys from Australia. I’d always wanted to go there to check out the music scene and cuddle akoala.
I’d spoken with the band’s manager, Simone Glass, on a few occasions organizing some promo, and she was the sweetest thing. I hoped they were all like that. We’d worked out a short but full schedule for the next few days. Georgie and I would go to see their last day of recording depending on our flight. Then we had a dinner and the usual club outing that the label liked bands to endure in LA. Then there were a few interviews, and a one-off gig, which I was really looking forward to. Apparently, they were really good to see live, and I would get to experience it from the side of the stage. Watching recordings on YouTube didn’t give me the samebuzz.
It was still only around five p.m. when we got to the studio, and the guy on the front desk let us right in. This was nothing new for me, walking into the middle of a session with someone in the booth recording while the rest of the band lounged around bored out of their brains with all the waiting. But when we went in, three of the four members of The Devil’s Tattoo got straight up and cheerfully introducedthemselves.
The woman I knew to be the lead singer was first in line, and she was better looking in person than in the promoshots.
“I’m Zoe,” she said, shaking my hand. “Nice to meetyou.”
“I’m Jessie and likewise.” She seemed friendly enough, which was asurprise.
The guy with the shaved head stood forward. “I’m Frank.” He winked, and I knew he wastrouble.
“This is Chris,” Simone said, and he came forward to shake our hands. He seemed almost shy, but I knew he was withSimone.
Once everyone was done introducing themselves, I turned my attention back to Georgie, who was looking at the guy in the booth, and I saw a gleam in hereye.
“That’s Dee,” Zoe said, watching me watchGeorgie.
“We weren’t expecting you,” Simone began. “And we’ve got this last song to do before our time’s up. It was a last minute decision to add it into the album. We’re thinking it’ll be the firstsingle.”
“We want it to be,” Zoe said, glancing at the guy in thebooth.
I looked through the soundproof glass for the first time, and my gaze instantly locked with his. There was a horrible scratching sound as he messed up his take, and I covered my mouth with a hand to stifle a laugh, but everyone else was falling overthemselves.
