Page 60 of Love is a Drum Beat
“No. And that’s why I’m worried about you.”
Dax had been… distracted. There were about a thousand reasons the album wasn’t finished, but there was only one Mr. Snyder would care about. “I want it to be perfect.”
Mr. Snyder shook his head. “Perfect is the opposite of finished.”
“I don’t think that’s the saying.”
“It is now. Dax, these changes you’ve been demanding, do they change the listening experience?”
Dax tried to think back to some of the arguments he’d had with Marco. “I mean… I can hear the differences.”
“And the average person who hasn’t been playing every instrument they could get their hands on since they were a child?”
Dax sighed and slid from the arm onto the couch. “I get what you’re saying.”
“Finish the album, kid.”
Dax looked from Mr. Snyder to Marco and back again. “Yes, sir.”
“And Marco?” He turned to look at the producer. “Don’t argue so much with Dax. He’s the most talented artist we have, and I have no doubt he has a better ear than even you.”
Marco flashed him a grin. “Oh, we all know he does. But sometimes, that ego needs taken down a notch.”
“I don’t have a big ego.” At least he didn’t think he did. He was always the quiet one in a group, the man in the background.
“Not in the real world, Dax. But when you step into the booth, you shift. It’s a very different person looking back at me.” He shrugged. “That’s not a bad thing. You know your stuff.”
“Well, now that I’ve thoroughly chastised my number one artist, I need to call my daughter and Noah. Yelling at Noah is always more satisfying than yelling at you, and it’s about time they came home.”
As soon as he left, Dax looked to Marco. “He thinks that was yelling? I have a pregnant woman living with me who yells every time I make her eat healthy.”
“Are you sure you’re not an old man in a young man’s body?”
Dax swatted Marco. “You ready to start? I have an idea I want to try.”
“What are we starting with? Guitar or piano?”
“Lyrics.”
“We never start with lyrics. Dax, you need a track to sing to. Which song are we working on?”
“Something new.” Dax unzipped his lightweight jacket and threw it on the couch. He entered the booth and shut the door. “You’ve got the mics on?”
Marco nodded, holding up one finger as he fiddled with the controls in front of him. When he pointed to Dax, the words came flowing out of him, creating the song he already has a title for.
Let Me.
It was about a girl who thought she had to be tougher than everyone else. She thought needing help was a weakness.
But he knew differently.
He sang through two verses and a chorus before he stopped. “I know it’ll need some work… like two more verses and a bridge into the chorus.”
When Marco didn’t respond, Dax looked up. The man stared at him with his jaw hanging open. He leaned forward and hit the intercom button, pausing before speaking. “Dax Nelson, if you tell me you just wrote an entire song while recording it—”
“It wasn’t an entire song. I told you it needs—”
“Yes, yes, a couple more verses and a bridge. But Dax… you’re supposed to have the songs written before coming into the studio. That’s how the world works.”
