by Palladian
The tall woman smiled and nodded. “That’s a great idea. I’ll start looking into it tomorrow.”
Over the next month, as they wrapped up the work on the warehouse, the three played much more music together and came up with a number of songs that they could reliably reproduce. Casey had busied herself with researching the music scenes all along the West Coast and at one point turned to the group to say, “Hey, everyone, before we hit the road, we should check out the scene here. You know, maybe meet some other bands and do a couple of shows to see how it goes.” Agreeing that it was a good idea, the four of them started going to shows in the area.
The music scene was small enough that it allowed them to meet and become familiar with a number of local bands fairly quickly. To Lex’s pleasure, she found the people involved to be friendly and non-pretentious on the whole. Generally, the bands seemed to have younger members than their band, but no one seemed to care, so all four of them began making friends with people in other bands, exchanging advice on gear, venues, and playing tips, and attending lots of shows.
After several weeks, they heard about a large outdoor show. A good number of bands— many that they’d become familiar with—were on the bill, and the ad promised music all day. Casey, Lou, Lex, and Riss had already been planning on attending, but a few days prior, Casey got a call and interrupted the other three as she got off the phone.
She told the others, “I just got a call from Cassandra, the lead singer and bass player from Blue House. She said that two of the people from Wandering Spirit got into a car accident the other day. It’s nothing too serious, but it means the band isn’t going to be able to play at the music festival this weekend, and Cassandra wanted to know if we could fill in for them. They only had a 45-minute slot, and figuring about 15 minutes for gear setup and break down, that would mean about a half-hour of playing time. I told her I’d see if you felt ready yet and let her know. What do you think?”
Lou shrugged. “We’re probably ready, but if we’re not all into it, we shouldn’t go. What do you think—Lex, Riss?”
Lex looked at Riss to see her friend looking back with wide eyes. “I think we could do it. I’m a little nervous since we’re still working on a couple of the songs, but I think we might as well start playing out. It’s not a long slot, and I figure I can talk to the crowd some if we’re afraid we won’t have enough music to fill the time. What do you think, Riss?”
Her friend sat for a moment more without speaking, then turned to the other three. “I don’t know if I’m ready, since I’ve never done this sort of thing before, but I’ll give it a try.”
Lex nodded and then turned to Casey. “Call Cassandra back and tell her we’ll be there.”
Later that afternoon when Cassandra called back for more information, they all realized that they’d forgotten an important detail—their band had no name yet. After staring at each other for a long moment, the four of them spent the rest of the afternoon brainstorming and discussing ideas.
After going through a number of potential band names and discarding most of them outright, the group began losing focus. Out of desperation, Lex started talking about something that had started in her mind as a thought tangent.
“Everyone loves to talk about someone who ‘led’ a team of people to do something. Like somehow they’re the ones who got everything done. I don’t mean to down people who work with others to try to get things done; I mean, that’s how lots of big things are completed. I do have a complaint when people talk about whoever the leader was, like they’re the only one who did the work, though. They weren’t. Whoever was out there, building the building and starting work at five in the morning, putting in drywall, testing software, or whatever else it is that the project calls for, are the ones that got the work done. It’s thanks to them that any big project actually got completed. Like wars, for example. You always hear everyone talk about how great Alexander was, but no one talks about how great his army must have been in order to do what they did. That’s who I’d like to start to see more credit given to: Alexander’s army.”
Everyone looked kind of thoughtful at that, and Riss nodded. “Yeah, I like that. Good idea. Alexander’s Army.”
Lou nodded as he looked down for a moment, his expression considering. A moment later he smiled as he glanced back up. “I second the idea. Alexander’s Army, I like it.”
Lex felt herself frown in confusion. “You want to call our band Alexander’s Army?”
Riss nodded, smiling now. “Yeah, good idea.”
“It was your idea. Do you really like it?” Lex asked, a little confused.
“I do. What do you think, Lou?” Riss asked, looking over at the man next to her.
Lou was nodding. “I think we’ve got it. Casey, could you call Cassandra back and let her know?”
Casey smiled and nodded in return as she picked up her cellphone.
The show day dawned fine, not even above the mid-80s as had been expected. A small stage had been set up in the empty lot behind a local club, and the sun shone bright with only a few clouds high up in the blue sky. Alexander’s Army was scheduled to go on second, so the four had arrived early to unload gear and get everything ready. While walking around backstage trying to mentally get ready, Lex noticed Riss over in a corner near the back of the club, leaning over. As she approached, Lex realized that Riss had become sick to her stomach, and felt her heart lurch in her chest. She stood slightly behind her friend, paralyzed with momentary indecision, but finally stepped forward to put her hand on Riss’ shoulder. The other woman jumped, but didn’t turn to face Lex, who kept her hand on her friend’s shoulder. After Riss calmed down a bit, Lex opened the bottle of water she’d been carrying and handed it over. As Riss drank and wiped at her face, back still turned, Lex started to speak.
“I can’t remember the first time I performed in front of an audience, probably because I was too young. There weren’t a lot of things that my dad bent to my mom on, but making me sing in the church choir was one of them. I probably peed in my pants that first time. I know it doesn’t make it any easier, but this is normal. I’m planning to make a fool out of myself out there so that people remember our band, but I promise that I’ll make even more noise than I’d intended so that I’m the center of attention. That way, you can pretend we’re back at home and we’re just jamming in the living room with Casey working on something in the kitchen. OK?”
After a long moment, Riss turned around to face Lex. “OK,” she replied with a nod. Then, after looking at the ground, she added, “Thanks.”
Lex just smiled as the two of them headed to where their instruments sat piled together. They ended up sitting on the ground on a blanket nearby and watching the rest of the first act from somewhat behind and beside the stage. Lex glanced over at Riss as they applauded when the first band finished.
“I don’t know,” Riss said, shaking her head. “They were pretty good.”
“We’ll be even better,” Lex replied, smiling. She could feel her own stomach clenching with the familiar feeling of getting ready to go on stage, but she just smiled wider.
The stage setup went by in a blur, and Lex focused on being sure that she’d connected all her cords properly and that she’d plugged into the power supply. She looked over at her two companions once she finished and waited until she’d gotten a glance back from each of them. Lou, as usual, seemed calm and grounded standing in front of his amp, the bass appearing toy-like in his huge hands. Riss had found a stool to perch on and sat with her laptop open on her knees, cords snaking in all directions. She nodded once and then Lex pulled the microphone down in front of her mouth, smiling from behind her sunglasses.
“Hello, Phoenix!” she bellowed into the mic, and the people in the audience, many of them members of other bands whom they knew well, all laughed. “This is the debut public performance of Alexander’s Army, and we’re thrilled to be here today! We’re going to be starting with a song called ‘Crazy Wind,’ and follow that up with
an instrumental piece called ‘Piriwick.’ We hope you like them.”
Lex shot another look at Lou and Riss, and listened as the two of them began the piece. She chimed in with the start of a simple sequence of chord changes and then began to sing.
The crazy wind whispered in my ear
As I set out upon the sea
It told me many lies and fears
But also of many roads open to me…
As she sang, Lex remembered how it had felt to leave her parents’ house. She thought about that final day in detail, hiding behind the bathroom door, holding the lock shut against her father, who was trying to pick it and break down the door at the same time. How he’d shouted and screamed just inches away from her, cursing everything about her and telling her to leave or he’d kill her with his bare hands. Lex had waited for what felt like forever, leaning on the lock, listening with her ear to the door. After a while, the pounding had stopped and the voices died away. She’d waited a while longer, and then when her tentative opening of the door and quick gaze down both directions of the hallway had shown her that no one remained, Lex had bolted to her room, gathered up a few things she had thought she’d need and her schoolbooks. She’d thrown it all into a small backpack before she had run out of the house, then walked to a nearby shopping center to call a friend to pick her up. They’d met up with some other friends, talked about it, and finally set her up renting a room from one of their families, Lex acting as their housekeeper as well as working almost full-time to get cash for her rent and to try to save for college. She could remember her uncertainty and fear, but also the occasional bubbles of giddy happiness in her chest as she had realized that no one was going to come into her room and beat her awake. Eventually she had decided that leaving her parents had left her much better off than staying there.
Then she heard the last few measures of music being played and Lex blinked, not exactly conscious of when she’d closed her eyes. She looked up at the crowd then, listening as the sound of the song faded away to an ominous silence. But then she noticed the number of people smiling, and watched as some jumped to their feet and began clapping. Darting a look over at Lou, Lex met his eyes for a moment and saw him lift his shoulder in a minute shrug before giving a small smile. When she looked at Riss, Lex saw her friend preparing for the next song, so Lex said some quick words of thanks into the mic as the applause subsided, and started up the next song.
Everyone had agreed that it sounded good enough to play for the show, even though it was an instrumental piece that the band still felt they were working on. The piece reminded Lex of visiting the ocean; her part had a rhythmic lull that almost sounded like waves washing in and out, and the slow beat that Riss had worked out also had a high sound in it that Lex always heard as a sandpiper. What Lou played just seemed to add to the mental picture—booming bass notes that sounded like big breakers thumping as they split apart against the rocks—and Lex felt herself calmed by it as the last beat of the song faded away like a wave washing back out to sea.
The applause rose over them then, and although it seemed the audience had liked the first song better, they still applauded enthusiastically. Lex spoke up again to let the crowd know about the remaining songs, and then the band started up the next one. Playing the last three songs ran together in Lex’s memory, but the crowd responded loudly to the two pieces with vocals, and seemed to like the other instrumental piece as well.
“Thanks so much for having us here!” Lex yelled as the applause died away after their final song. “This has been a lot of fun, and you’re a great crowd. Keep an eye out for us in the upcoming months, because we’re planning to play out a lot. We’re Alexander’s Army, and thanks for listening!”
This caused the crowd to applaud again, so much so that it surprised Lex. After having attended shows for friends’ bands in DC, the reception seemed much more positive than any she’d seen. Usually, it seemed the crowds who wanted to hear original music were small and that at least some of the people attending seemed to be more interested in hearing themselves talk than in listening to the band. She mentally shrugged as she stepped from behind her keyboard to bow low to the applauding audience. I guess it’s different in other places, Lex thought as she shot a tiny grin at Lou. When she looked in the other direction, she saw that even Riss had gotten off her stool to bow to the audience.
After the show, while struggling to transport all of their gear from backstage, the first people approached them.
“That was really great!” exclaimed one of the members of another band playing later in the day.
“When are you playing out again?” asked someone who’d come to the festival, a friend of yet another band, scheduled to go on in an hour. A little knot of people gathered around Riss and Lex, and a few followed Lou as he and Casey carried the rest of their gear back to the van.
Riss ended up quickly creating a list of people’s e-mail addresses on her laptop while Lex found out what they wanted to know. Most just wanted to know when the band would play out again, and whether they had a recording yet. The other band members who’d come up to congratulate them wondered why they didn’t have a web page yet to showcase some of their songs, and whether they had recorded anything. When they found out the band had none, they all started giving Lex information about their favorite types of recording gear.
After about an hour, the four friends gathered under a small, twisted tree at enough distance from the stage to hear but not to bother anyone as they tried to plan their next steps.
“I’ve started creating a website for us this afternoon,” Riss mentioned, “but there’s probably not much point in working on it too much until we have some music to add.”
Casey nodded. “One thing everyone’s been asking is whether we have anything recorded and how they can get it. So, we should probably put something together before we get on the road.”
Lou shrugged, saying, “We should probably wait to put an album out until we have a couple more strong songs ready. I think the expectation these days is at least 40 minutes. That wouldn’t stop us from beginning to record anything, though.”
“I did get a lot of recommendations from people from some of the other bands about what recording gear they like,” Lex said, gesturing with the pad of paper she’d scribbled some quick notes on. “A lot of them are doing recording on their computers, apparently.”
“I don’t know if we should go that way,” Riss said with a little frown. “The thing about computers is that they’re really meant for being multi-purpose machines, and recording programs and music files are really memory and processor intensive. Unless we want to get a really powerful machine just for recording, maybe we should look at some of the recording equipment out there that’s specifically designed for recording music. It’s not like we have to skimp because we’re short on cash.”
Their discussion went on for a while, mostly between bands playing since they gravitated back towards the stage for the music, and they ultimately decided to do research the following morning and then look at recording gear in the afternoon.
They finally got back home very early that morning, and Lex felt so sleepy that she had trouble carrying her equipment back inside. Casey seemed to sense that, because she shooed Lex away when she tried to pick her amp up.
“This isn’t very heavy for me, but you look tired. Don’t overdo it; we’ve already had a big day,” Casey said, turning towards Lex as they headed back inside.
Lex sighed but looked up at Casey with a smile. “OK, Mom.”
Casey laughed in response. “If you were my kid, I’d have raised you with more manners.”
Lex laughed too, then half-turned to her friend. “Thanks.”
Chapter 25: Preparations
The next morning, Lex woke later than she usually did, but when she went downstairs, she saw Lou in the kitchen eating breakfast. Lex prepared herself something to eat and then sat beside him.
“So how do you think it went yesterday?” she asked hi
m.
Lou paused for a moment and appeared to think about it, then fixed Lex with a look before he spoke.
“It went a lot better than most bands for the first gig out. There was something different about it, though.”
“What?” Lex asked with a frown of confusion.
“The crowd really liked all the songs you sang on. I’ve heard a lot of good singers, but I never felt anything like when you were singing yesterday.” After a pause, Lou added, “Have you figured out everything your voice can do yet?”
Lex glanced into the frankly curious gaze Lou shot at her and bit her lip. “I’m still figuring it out, really.”
He nodded then and fell silent for a moment while he took another sip of coffee. “Well,” he said finally, “with the reception we got, I don’t know if we’ll be able to escape attention while we’re on the road. We may end up with way more than we counted on.”
Shrugging, Lex replied, “I don’t know about that. It seems like a lot of people don’t care too much about music.”
“Maybe not where we come from,” Lou said in a considering tone, “but they might be more interested out here.”
Lex bit her lip again. “Do you think I should stop singing? Or maybe we should change plans?”
Lou shook his head. “No, just wanted to tell you I don’t think we’ll be as invisible as you hoped when we perform.”
They were both silent for several seconds, then Lex noticed Lou looking in her direction again. “Have you been working with what Riss gave you from Lily? She said she’d pass it along to you, but Casey and I didn’t hear any more about it.”
Lex felt uncomfortable but replied, “I’ve been trying to work through some of the stuff in it, but I can’t tell if anything’s happening.”
“Why don’t you practice with someone else?” Lou asked, quirking an eyebrow.