Mayonaka Soñodora Meets Cinema Bizarre—Saya's PoV
4-DJ Robb
The five of us got our instruments out of the trucks the next day. My mic was in Bachiko's truck, since there really wasn't much room in my car. We all helped Fuji carry in her drums. We went back up to the room and set up to practice.
"What should we work on first?" Bachiko asked.
"How about 'Voices In My Head?'" I suggested.
We all agreed and Fuji started playing the beat on the drums. Cho joined in on bass and then Ai with guitar. Bachiko and I waited for a few more beats before we added vocals.
"I hear sounds no one else does!"
The beat changed on the drums and the bass parts slowed down as we continued.
"Cries of sorrow, cries of pain! Can't hold on any longer! I'm falling down tonight!"
The original tune picked up again as we went into the chorus, where my part split from Bachiko's.
"Whispers in the darkness!" I sang.
"In the darkness!" Bachiko echoed.
"Music in the silence!" I started before she finished.
"In the silence!" she echoed again.
"Voices in my head!" I continued.
"In my head!" she added.
"Can't get away!"
"They're driving my crazy!"
"Can't get away!"
"Can't get away!"
We went silent and just listened to the others play, then slow down. A few beats later I began singing again.
"'Come on, come on' they say," I sang at mezzopiano.
"Come with me," Fuji, Ai, and Cho sang.
"'Come on, come on' they whisper," Bachiko sang in the same dynamic.
"Follow me," the others sang again.
"Am I dying? Am I going insane?" Bachiko and I sang again before the tune picked up again for the chorus.
"Whispers in the darkness!"
"In the darkness!"
"Music in the silence!"
"In the silence!"
"Voices in my head!"
"In my head!"
"Can't get away!"
"They're driving my crazy!"
"Can't get away!"
"Can't get away!"
There was another pause where our bandmates played a little faster, with a little more intensity.
"I can no longer hear you! All I hear is them!" I cried.
"They tell me that you left me! They say I'm all alone!" Bachiko sang at a forte.
"Someone please save me!" the five of us sang together.
Cho, Ai, and Fuji began playing random beats as loudly as possible, increasing the chaos of the song. Then they stopped and it was silent for a few seconds.
"Can you hear me now?" Bachiko and I whispered at the same time.
We were silent for a moment when the song ended.
"Dude...that was sweet," Bachiko said finally.
Someone knocked on the door as we all nodded.
"Think we were being too loud?" Cho asked.
"Probably," I replied, heading towards the door. I opened it to reveal a man dressed in baggy black pants, sneakers, a white muscle shirt, and a baseball cap, like a wannabe gangster.
"Hi," Ai said from behind me, "Were we being too loud?"
"If you were, I'm glad," the guy said, "I'm DJ Rob. I was visiting a Cherry Tree client when I heard the song. Is it yours?"
"Yeah," Cho told him, "We're Mayonaka Soñodora."
"Midnight Dreamer," DJ Rob commented appreciatively. We all nodded.
"Do you have any other songs?" he asked. We nodded again.
"Several," Cho added.
"Can I hear one? I might be able to get you a record deal with Cherry Tree," he continued.
"Um...ok. By the way, I'm Ai Phoenix," Ai told him.
"Nice to meet you. And the rest of you?"
"Saya Olson."
"Bachiko Phoenix."
"Cho Kale."
"Fuji."
"Nice to meet you guys too. What can you play for me?" he asked with a smile.
"How about 'Never There?'" Ai suggested to us.
We agreed and went back to our instruments.
Ai and Cho struck up a good tune in a minor key about the same time as Fuji started playing. Then Bachiko and I joined in.
"You weren't there when I needed you! You weren't around when I broke in two! You were gone when my world fell apart! Can you tell me why I have a broken heart?"
DJ Rob listened closely as the tempo picked up.
"Always missing in action, you're never there! Do you even care? Why am I waiting for you? It makes no sense to me!
"What's your excuse? Hell, it's no use! You'll never change your ways, leaving me in my dark dreary days!
"Always missing in action, you're never there! Do you even care? Why am I waiting for you? It makes no sense to me!"
Our tempo slowed again and in the next verse I tried to express all the pain that could be felt into words.
"I know I'm not perfect. I never said I was. And if you expected more, then I have to say goodbye."
We went into the chorus again, picking up the tempo.
"Alway missing in action, you're never there! Do you even care? Why am I waiting for you? It makes no sense to me!
"I should've known it would come to this! I could see it in your eyes! You still blame it all on me! You still hide in your disguise!
"Always missing in action, you're never there! Do you even care? Why am I waiting for you? It makes no sense to me!
"You played me for a fool and I believed your perfect lies! I don't need you at all! Just the truth I never told! Never said a word and yet it's all about to unfold!"
The sound changed but the tempo stayed the same for the last couple verses.
"You finally made it! Congratulations, here you are! But it's too late now! I found somebody else!
"They have never lied to me! They were always there waiting in the wings! Unlike you, they keep their promises! I can promise you one thing! This is the final goodbye!"
"Goodbye!" Bachiko echoed on her own.
DJ Rob opened and closed his mouth as he stared at us. We turned off amps and other electronics as we waited for him to find his voice.
"That was...wow. Powerful," he commented finally. I smiled.
We exchanged numbers and he told us he'd call if anything came up for us. I set "Take Me Away" by Avril Lavigne as the ringtone.
Two weeks later, I was woken by "Take Me Away" blaring from my phone, which was on the table beside me.
"Hello?" I asked groggily, answering the phone one I'd recovered from the shock.
"Hey Saya, it's DJ Rob. The studio agreed to let you guys do a little recording. If they
Iike the first song, they'll let you record four more. 'K?"
"Yeah, that sounds great," I told him.
"Ok. And once the songs are recorded, we can put them on a CD and sell it at the first concert you guys play at."
"Sweet. What time?" I asked.
"We can start at noon. Do you know where the Cherry Tree studio is?" DJ Rob continued.
"Yeah, we pass it all the time," I told him.
"Ok. See you later." He hung up. I didn't think I would be able to get any more sleep, so I rolled out of bed (quite literally) and went to take a shower.
We were ready at about 11:15, with just enough time left to eat and get over to Cherry Tree. I wore a plain blue t-shirt and black net arm warmers with light jeans. My hair was pulled up into a ponytail and loose strands were pinned up. My makeup was light blue eyeshadow with the usual black eyeliner.
Bachiko was, a usual, dressed in a blinding array of color. Her shirt was hot pink, her jacket was black with neon green stripes, she had orange skinny-jeans, her hair was held back with a bright blue headband, and her makeup was purple with silver eyeliner.
Ai was trying to reflect the style of Yu, Cinema Bizarre's guitarist, again. She wore black skinny-jeans, her high tops, a red t-shirt, and a black vest. Her hair was down and straightened with black lowlights today. Her makeup was faded red and black flicked up to the eyebrow and black eyeliner.
Fuji was wearing a plain white t-shirt and a colorful scarf...Cho's, I think. She was also wearing grey skinny-jeans and high-tops, with her hair clipped back from her face.
Cho was wearing a loose black t-shirt and black sweatpants. The hood she was wearing with the hood pulled up was also black. Her hair, hidden at the moment as we crossed the street to the studio, was pulled into a 1/2 ponytail. She was also wearing a ratty old pair of sneakers that somehow still fit.
DJ Rob met us just inside the door, dressed much like he had been the first time we saw him. He greeted us, then led us to an office. DJ Rob introduced us to the man inside, J. Carter. We talked, though I wasn't paying much attention, then went to the actual recording part of the studio.
Ai went in with her acoustic guitar first to play the lullaby tune for "Midnight Dreamers." She brought her iPod, which had a version of the song (recorded for us by Nathan) on it, so she would know where to start, stop, etc.
Che went in next with her first bass guitar, which was like an old friend. Ai gave her the iPod for the same reason. DJ Rob and J. Carter were already looking appreciative. Fuji went next, then Bachiko, and then it was my turn. Bachiko handed Ai's iPod to me and I went in, shivering with nerves.
I pressed play on the iPod and the familiar notes of the lullaby calmed me. I stayed silent throughout the spoken verse at the beginning, since it had already been taken care of. It finally got to my first lines and I began to sing.
"Broken doors, shattered windows."
"Stars replace the sky," came Bachiko's voice from the iPod.
"Taking this chance to get to where you and I hide! So come with me," I sang, picking up then dropping off again to listen to Bachiko's line.
"We'll show you what it's like!" I sang, finishing the verse.
"Waiting for the day to come, I'm finding out what it's like to dream of what the next day will bring. I've gotta reach out and start to sing. Dawn to mid-day, just gotta break away until midnight. Midnight dreamers, mid-day bringers, tell us where we gotta stand tonight!"
I paused again to listen to the spoken parts and prepare myself for the next part, where my voice switched off with Bachiko's again.
"Now we're out of that lifeless dark. It's time to make way...So come with me...We'll show you what it's like!
"Waiting for the day to come, I'm finding out what it's like to dream of what the next day will bring. I've gotta reach out and start to sing. Dawn to mid-day, jus gotta break away until midnight. Midnight dreamers, mid-day bringers, tell us where we gotta stand tonight!...The night has slipped on by...And now I begin to cry...So come with me...We'll show you what it's like to dream to dream of what the next day will bring. I've gotta reach out and start to sing. Dawn to mid-day, just gotta break away until midnight."
I stayed silent, listening to the tune of the instruments as I waited for the last verse.
"Waiting for the day to come, we found what it's like, seeking out our troubles and bringing them to light! Darkness from day, just gotta break away! Darkness from day, ooh whoa yeah! Darkness from day, just gotta break away! Until midnight..."
I finished the song and looked up. J and DJ Rob were nodding in approval. Everyone else was just grinning. I left the room, then J and DJ Rob went to put the parts together, leaving the five of us to talk.
"Do you think they'll try to change us?" Ai asked.
"I don't think so. There was nothing Bout it in the contract," Fuji remarked.
"What contract?" Bachiko asked with her usual blank look.
"The one you signed in the office," I told her.
"Oh! That one!" she exclaimed, bringing her hands up in a familiar gesture.
We all rolled our eyes at her just as J and DJ Rob came back into the room.
"It's good," DJ Rob told us as J walked over to a computer.
"How good?" Fuji asked.
"Good enough that we want you to record the other four," J told us, hitting the "play" button on the computer.
Our jaws dropped as "Midnight Dreamers" began to play. We'd heard the entire song before, but with this equipment it was much clearer. The five of us were speechless.
"So," J said finally, "do you guys mind recording the rest today?"
We shook our heads and got started on "Voices In My Head," "Never There," "Shadow Of My Reflection," and "Wild Ride." All the versions were rough, but they could be improved over time.
We finished at six and went home. All five songs had been recorded, though only "Midnight Dreamers" had been pieced together. We went back to the hotel, ate at In Short Order again, and went up to bed.