Prologue: Two Years Previously…
Hail Britannia Breaking Up
By: Toris Laurinaitis
After three years, punk rock band Hail Britannia has announced that they will be breaking up after their current tour of Europe. The band, which has garnered both a large mainstream as well as an expansive cult following in their years together, cited creative differences and a need to explore other options as the reason behind their sudden decision to disband.
"It's time," stated keyboardist Robin Kirkland in an interview, "We are all growing up, we never really thought Hail Britannia would get this big. It was originally just all of us goofing off in our parents' garage. We are incredibly grateful for the opportunities that Hail Britannia has brought us and we do truly love our fans, but Hail Britannia's time has passed."
When asked if his upcoming marriage to artist Scarlet O'Shaughnessy had anything to do with the band's dissolution, Robin denied any connection between his paramour and the end of Hail Britannia. "I would have married Scarlet anyway. Love is like that, but I am glad that we won't have to spend our honeymoon cooped up on a tour bus with my brothers and sister, that would have been awkward."
Guitarist Aedant Kirkland backed her brother's stance on the band's end, "We're not the teens we used to be, we grew and changed and Hail Britannia wouldn't be the same if we kept forcing it to continue. All things end, and HBrit is one of them."
When asked if family squabbles brought on the band's demise, Aedant responded surprisingly forcefully, "We're siblings, we fight all the time, but we still love and support each other. When you've got the pressure of the band and the fan's expectations, and the grueling road schedule, plus being stuck in tight quarters with people who are genetically engineered to drive you up the wall, tensions can run high. At this point in our lives it would be detrimental to our relationships and our music if we stayed together."
Neither Aedant nor Robin was willing to comment on rumors surrounding oldest brother, lead singer, and bassist Scott Kirkland's drinking problem. Scott's face has been a common sight in tabloids since he showed up to a show in Cardiff, apparently heavily intoxicated, last December. Images of this, plus leaked photos of Arthur Kirkland, lead guitarist and youngest band member, hospitalized after what appeared to be a violent fight, helped spur rumors of Scott's alcoholism and anger issues. Patrick Kirkland, drummer, was the only sibling willing to discuss the issue, if one did exist. "Scott has his problems and he knows it. We are working as a family to get our relationships back on track and our priorities straight. As important as our fans and our music is to us, we realize that family should come first. We've had some rough times and we plan on coming out of them stronger and better than ever."
This optimistic view does not appear to be shared by Art Kirkland, as he has refused to comment on either the rumors surrounding himself and his brother or the band's dissolution. The only statement he was willing to make was, as usual, sharp and to the point, "Hail Britannia may be over, but the music isn't dead," the seventeen-year-old star said, "Maybe it'll come back, maybe it won't. But I'm not leaving it alone. I'll be back."
Hail Britannia plan on performing a farewell show in London this March. Their official disbandment announcement can be found on their fansite, along with exclusive editions of their most popular songs. FryingPanFighter Records have not officially released a statement regarding rumors of a greatest hits album. However, the band's manager, Roderich Edelstien, has dropped a few hints regarding the possibility.
Top User Comments:
MeAndMyAWESOME: Dude! No freaking way! HBrit can't disband! That is so freaking WRONG and FREAKING UNAWESOME! Day. Ruined.
kickassmafiachick: Dammit, Scott you BASTARD! Get your drunk, violent ass in rehab and get back to making badass music!
MapleLover1867: Maybe it's for the best? Give these guys a break, they've had it rough. And who knows, Art might go solo…
tomato_turtle_king: ¿Por qué? Este es mi grupo de música favorita… Estoy muy triste ahora.
faucetpipessolveallproblems: If we do not get more good music we can hurt them, da?
myFABULOUSpinklife: Oh, like, this is absolutely, totally, not cool. I can't believe they're totally breaking up. I'm going to go cry in, like a corner or something. My life is over.
KoalaMan1931: Oh, this is bad, what the hell am I going to listen to now? All my country's got on the radio is this sappy pop crap, I want some PUNK ROCK, and here they are, taking it away from me. Not. Cool. Man. Men. Whatever. (and chick, too, cuz Aedant's a sheila…)
makePASTAnotwar: Aww, that's so sad. I really liked them. Aedant's voice on "Rose Colored Glass" always brings me to tears and the emotion in "I'm Not Bitter, Just Jaded" and "Love and Other Disasters" is just so powerful… I'm crying now. I've got to go make pasta, or something. I'm just too sad…
LiverwurstWarrior: It is good they are finding their own paths. I now have nothing to listen to. Damn. Art needs to go solo. I need decent music. I am now going to go play "Misery Loves Company (Now Go Away)" at top volume. Thank you, Hail Britannia for three good years and good music.
/goodbye
To Our Fans
Hi there, all you lot. It's been a great three years and we really wanted to thank you here on the fansite before the farewell concert. We wouldn't be here today if it weren't for your never-ending support. We love you all and want you to know that you all rock.
Thank you,
Hail Britannia
/publicfeed
I'm Sorry, Arthur
Art, this is Scott. I'm sober, I promise. My spelling'd be a lot worse if I were pissed. But Patrick's been keeping me clean the past few weeks. Yeah, I know this is a public feed and all, and an arse-load of fans are gonna see this before you do, but this is important, and, bugger it all I just don't care if fans see it.
I am so sorry Arthur. You have no idea how sorry I am for what happened, Artie. I had no right to hit you, and it's pretty much all my fault you ended up in the hospital. Yeah, I know you hit back and we were both pretty drunk, and I was really drunk, but I started it and I deserve the blame.
So, there it is, Art. Your big brother, who's been a pretty damn shoddy big brother the past few months, is apologizing. You don't have to accept. You don't have to read this. But I wanted you (and a few hundred others) to know about this. I wrote a song. It's pretty crappy, but I was emotionally moved and shit and there it is. The YouTube link's at the bottom of the page. Go watch it if you want.
Yeah, that's about it.
-Scott Kirkland
/publicfeed
This is Art
This is my response. The video link is at the bottom of the page.
/forum
Top Comments on "I'm Sorry, Arthur" and "This is Art"
makePASTAnotwar: I'm crying. Mi sorella is staring at me and I'm crying like a baby. Scott's apology song and Art's song… aaaaahhhh!
kickassmafiachick: My sister was sobbing her freaking eyes out over these vids, so I watched them. I'm a little teary. Okay, I'm freaking bawling, does that make you happy, you damn nosy bastards?!
Maplelover1867: That was well done. Scott's song was heartfelt and sweet, but I think Art was completely right to not commit to accepting his apology. I mean, COME ON, Art was HOSPITALIZED after that fight.
LiverwurstWarrior: Art makes a good point in his song, "Unforgiven". Humanity is a seriously messed up thing sometimes. I appreciate that he chose to go philosophical in the song rather than lash out at his brother or jump into a premature acceptance of the apology.
faucetpipessolveallproblems: I see no point in this. It did not result in me getting more music. But I appreciate the darker nature of "Unforgiven". I will be stealing it from the internet.
MeAndMyAWESOME: I am inspired. The awesome me will make a band. This will happen. I just need to convince my awesome posse to be as awesome as me and join my band…
tomato_turtle_king: Los canciones son muy buenos, me gusta los emociones en las palabras y en la música. Son muy realísticas. Y MeAndMyAwesome… no quiero ingresar en su grupo de música…
MeAndMyAWESOME: Dude, tomato_turtle_king, Antonio, RELAX. This band is going to be completely freaking AWESOME (like me). I've already got Franciose to agree to sing lead, and you know how bad-ass her vocals are. We just need you and your guitar, cuz I already kick ass on drums. We're gonna be called The Bad Touch Trio and we're going be AWESOME! (btw, dude, I know you can speak/write English, you're just showing off your Spanish-ness trying to pick up internet chicks).
tomato_turtle_king: Fine. I will join your band. It could be fun.
MeAndMyAWESOME: Sweeeetttt! You won't regret this!...Much.
Author's Note: So here we are, with a new fic. This was meant to be a one-shot but then I started brainstorming with a friend of mine and BAM, a new multi-chapter fic was born. I'm very happy with this one; I have big plans for it. It won't all be in this funky internet-style, I just wanted to experiment with it because it's interesting. This style will pop up in future chapters, but narrative should start by chapter 3.
This is a UK x Fem!France fic, but she won't be making an appearance until next chapter… but when she does show up it will be good.
Antonio's Spanish is not from a translator, it is from me, so please excuse any grammar mistakes.
Translations:
¿Por qué? Este es mi grupo de música favorita… Estoy muy triste ahora. : Why? This is my favorite band… now I'm really sad.
Los canciones son muy buenos, me gusta los emociones en las palabras y en la música. Son muy realísticas. Y MeAndMyAwesome… no quiero ingresar en su grupo de música… : The songs were very good, I liked the emotion in the words and music, they are very realisitic. And, MeAndMyAwesome, I don't want to join your band…
I tried to make it obvious who everyone was as far as internet names, I'm not sure how well I succeeded, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. As far as I know there are no canon names for England's siblings, so I took some creative license with those; Patrick is the Republic of Ireland, Aedant is Northern Ireland, Robin is Wales, and Scott is Scotland.
Please REVIEW and let me know what you think so far, I love hearing from people! See you next chapter!