Vol 3: The Protestation - Ch 34: Joy

~
(David)

I text Finn. “Hey Finn, ready for live chat any time. Can you get on now?”

I instantly see Finn’s avatar pop up, waiting for me to connect.

“D-Man! See? I told you, man! I said it was a banger and he wants to remix it and I assume you’re ok with that right?”

“Remix? I’m not following you Finn, sorry.”

“Your track bro, he heard your track, remember I sent it, he likes it, he wants to produce it, like a remix where he makes it sound fucking sick. Ok?”

“Who, Finn? Who did you send it to?”

“Oh shit, I didn’t even tell you. It’s Gryffe. He used to do more underground stuff but now he does this cool poppy stuff, gets a ton of plays on the feed—“

All I’m thinking is wow. “Gryffe? Yes, yes I know him, I used to listen to his stuff! Back in the day, I know him from way back. Are you messing with me right now Finn?”

“No I’m not kidding D. I told you, man. You were all, like, wah-wah I’m a fraud or whatever, but I told you it’s good shit. You see, I know these things bro. You just needed some production help, help with structure. That’s what Gryffe said. So, you agree, right? you’ll let him do it, right?”

I’m sputtering like a fool. “Hell yeah, that would be…I’m just, like—“

Finn interrupts. “Ok. And I recommend that you release it as a co-production with his name first—it’ll get more plays. Ok?”

“Yes of course, no problem, no need to ask, I mean—“

“Great, because it’s already done. We needed your permission. Here it is, sending now. Hey, you have a good system, right? Like you have real speakers, right?”

“Yes, actually a pretty good system, full range.”

“Then play it loud bruh. Enjoy. And by the way there’s vocals on it by Vivienne. Get back to me. We’ll get on a call with Gryffe and Vivienne later. Gotta go.”

Finn signs off.

What the hell just happened.

So I press play. Audio only, no visuals to distract. What comes out of the speakers, I can’t even describe it. Pure joy. It comes in gently with the vocal, a beautiful subtle melody, with a quiet pad and little synth arps hinting at the melody. I can’t tell if those are actual words she’s singing, it doesn’t matter, it’s perfect, then the music starts to fade in under her, with a rising filter on the drums and I can hear it’s this bouncy, shuffling beat with these swirling pads and arps and it rises, rises, it’s slightly melancholy but hopeful sounding, and then she’s holding the last note while the drums and the pads are filtering in again, it’s getting really loud now but there’s no bass, and then right where I expect it, the bass and drums drop in and she’s improvising this melody with her last note and the sound turns euphoric, but it’s my melody and holy shit that’s my bass sound, he didn’t even change it, but the drums are massive, so sharp and crisp like a finished pop sound. Then she’s singing again and I’m just sitting with my hands over my face. A bouncy dark emotional euphoric banger of a pop tune with this cool underground vibe that I remember from Gryffe back in the day. And the vocal from Vivienne is absolutely beautiful. It’s perfect. I can’t believe it.

I hate it when people say “I’m crying” in the comments under a song, but I’m crying.

After a few minutes just sitting in silence, I listen again. I still can’t believe it. How did they even do that? I could never make it sound like that.

I notice that the music does not give me the impression of those letters, “FRA” from my original version called “Fractice”.

I text Finn. “Wow, just wow. I love it. They made it sound so perfect.”

Finn: “But you started this track, D. No joke, it’s yours and theirs too. Want to get on the chat with them?”

God, I’m feeling so fucking nervous about this. But just, who cares—just go with it.

So I say, “Yeah of course, when?”

“Just a couple minutes ok?”

Holy shit. Okay. They’re obviously going to know I’m faking it. Let’s just presume that. They know I’m fake. All I do is fool around with sounds, it’s like blind trial and error. It’s a fluke.

But I say as coolly as I can, “Ok sure, I’m waiting.”

My workstation chimes. I open the chat and it’s Finn along with Gryffe, and this must be Vivienne. I’m looking at Gryffe. I saw a picture of him years ago and for some reason I’m surprised that he’s aged. Then I remember: Of course, this guy is basically my age. Of course I never thought about that back in the day listening to the underground stuff.

I have no idea what to say, so I just say “Hi, how are you?”

Gryffe says “Hey David, how’s it going?”

Still not knowing what to say, I just say “Yeah, great, fine, going great, good. How are you?”

We all laugh at the awkwardness as I shake my head. Then I recognize her.

“Oh! You performed at the music showcase! I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you, you’re Vivienne!”

She says, “Oh that’s ok, yeah I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to say hi.”

Then she says tentatively: “So? Do you like it?” She and Gryffe both look slightly apprehensive.

Are they really asking me, seriously, whether I like the music they made? “Yes! Are you kidding? Of course! I love it!”

“Oh, good.” Vivienne exhales. “You just never know if someone’s gonna like something, you know?”

“Really?” I say, “Well it’s beautiful, I can’t even imagine how you pulled that off. Your vocals – just so perfect.”

Gryffe says “Well Viv and I really liked your sounds, so it was pretty easy to come up with it.”

I have to explain to Gryffe that I know him, I know his music. He probably knows already but I have to just straight up fanboy for a minute here. “Gryffe, oh man, I listened to all your stuff back the day, the underground 174 stuff, I love all that, I still pull it up and listen…”

We chat for a good 10 minutes about all the music that came out in those days, all that abstract stuff with the bass as heavy as possible and super intricate drums and effects, and how it evolved over the years. We’re naming all the old artists who have come and gone and just saying “Yes!”

Finn and Viv are possibly 20 years younger than us and they’re listening with amusement as Gryffe and I connect.

Finally Finn contributes by gesturing with his arms out, looking around, and he says “See? I told you! I know these things man!”

Everyone laughs.

We get back to discussing the current track. I feel the need to tell them I can’t take credit for this music. “You made it sound so amazing. I couldn’t have done that. I feel like, I don’t know.”

Gryffe says, “Well, we used your sounds and melodies, D. So anyway, we want to release this, and there’ll be the usual bit of promotion, you know, push it on the feeds a bit. So I feel good about this. What do you want your artist name to be?”

Artist name? So ridiculous. I’m a Senior Prophecy Analyst. I say, “Oh man, I don’t know. I have no idea. What do you think?”

Finn says, “It’s not super important what your name is. I call you D all the time, what about “Dee” with two e’s? Nice and simple.”

“Ok ‘Dee’ then, that’s my name.”

Gryffe says, “I wanted Viv to name the track if that’s ok, Dee. Viv?”

Viv, still sounding tentative, says “Perfect Sunrise?” with a distinct question mark on the end.

I reply instantly, “Yes, that fits, that sounds great.”

Gryffe re-names the audio file right in front of us. Gryffe, Dee, Vivienne – Perfect Sunrise. He says, “Ok, done. No more sharing the file until it’s released.”

I’m racked by a sudden painful current of electricity that burns in my chest and explodes through the face and out my eyes. I twitch and wince slightly, cough, give my head a little shake, and try to act natural.

Finn notices. “You okay D?”

“Oh yeah, I’m just tired, I get a little headache when I’m tired.”