Disclaimer: I do not own RENT, Motion City Soundtrack, Wendy's, Hot Topic, or Helena.
Rock n' Roll Life
By Donna
Chapter Seven: When "You're" Around (Motion City Soundtrack)
"Where's Angel?" Mark asked, trying to tune his bass.
"Huh? Oh. She just called," Roger said, "She's gonna be late."
"That's weird. Oh well. I'm sure she's got a pretty good reason."
After a few minutes, the door swung open. Angel came in swiftly, trying to catch his breath. Mark and Roger noticed that he wore sweats and an old, paint-stained bandshirt. Very uncharacteristic for someone like Angel, who took time whenever possible to look presentable. "Where were you?" Mark asked.
"I overslept," Angel mumbled, pushing his curls down.
"Uh huh," Roger said, "Is it me, or do I see you have a slight limp, my Angie?"
Angel's eyes narrowed. In a high, scared voice he cried, "Fuck you!"
"Dude, did you get laid!" Mark asked bluntly. "Come on! Tell us!"
Angel walked to his drums. "Collins and I spent the night together."
"Are you serious! Collins consented to that!" Roger exclaimed.
"Yes. We had a nice night and... we sorta did some things. Are you happy?"
"Yeah!" Roger yelled, "Wait... with Collins?"
"Who do you think I'd be with!"
"Mimi?"
"Gag! I'm late! I got some with your best friend! End of story!"
"Collins had sex..." Mark whispered.
Angel screamed, "Can we please stop this discussion!"
Roger snickered. "Sorry, Angie. I couldn't help it. To make up for it, we'll have a quick rehearsal, okay?"
"Thank you."
"...I know how much you wanna get back to work."
"...Roger..."
Roger blasted a chord and made them play.
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Angel went home to see Mimi eating. She chewed her cereal loudly as she said, "I never though I'd see a guy in your bed, but I opened your door and I saw one. So, about the whole 'virginity' thing..."
Angel shook his head. "Don't wanna talk about it."
He opened the door to his bedroom and stopped. He saw Collins in his bed. He smiled. The lack of sleep and constant teasing by everyone jumped out the window a t the sight of Collins' eyes opening slightly and a soft, "Hey, baby," escaping his lips.
Angel felt chills. "Hey."
He rolled next to Collins, slipping off his shoes. He kissed Collins forehead and sighed. "I'm gonna go back to sleep."
"Okay," Collins said. He wrapped his arms around Angel and brought him close. "Night."
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Mark and Roger walked into the Wendy's by their practice area, which was just a garage they rented out from a friend in another band in the scene.
Roger opened the door, April's "Sex, Drugs, and Rock n' Roll" bit still fresh in his mind. "So... how're ya doing with the break-up?"
Mark shrugged, walking forward. "Okay... I mean... it's a break-up. It sucks."
"Yeah... you're right."
Roger walked on line, Mark padding behind. "What're you getting?"
"Hm..." Roger's finger pointed up and down the menu. "I'll get the number three."
"Burger? Oh... I'm getting nine. Chicken is where it's at, man."
They ordered, paid, got their food, got assorted condiments, and picked a seat far away from the children's section. They stared at each other for awhile until Mark started to laugh. "I can't believe Collins and Angel hooked up!"
Roger rolled his eyes.
Mark shook his head. "Seriously. I mean... they just..."
"Don't really fit? I think that's why they work. I mean, do you really consider Angel a queen?"
"No!"
"Do you consider Collins gay or straight?"
"Neither."
"There you go."
"Lucky... little..."
"Aw, Mark! Look on the bright side! You're single!"
"And that means..."
They grinned wickedly. "Groupies!"
"Anyway," Mark said, sipping his soda, "Did you hear?"
"What?"
"I got a call from Alternative Press. They want to put us in their '100 upcoming band' issue."
"Are you serious?"
"Yep! We have to meet with them in Manhattan for a shoot and interview."
"Wow! AP!" Roger exclaimed, leaning back on his chair. "Oh God... I remember reading that and dreaming of being in it..."
"I know, right?"
"But... hey... when did you plan on telling me this?"
"The day before, probably."
"I hate you."
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Two weeks later, the Subatomic Treehuggers found themselves on a set designed like a funeral parlor. Mark and Roger wore suits and Angel wore a black dress with a black veil in her eyes. Bored with the camera man fiddling with his camera, Angel began to spin around, screaming, "I'm Helena!" She moved her arms dramatically, giggling.
The cameraman woke up suddenly from his daze and began taking pictures of her dance. She began belting out the song, clearly being over-dramatic. She looked at Roger and said, "I've been working too long in Hot Topic." She fell back, playing dead.
Roger and Mark gasped. "Are you okay?"
Angel got up, the cameraman ready to keel over with laughter. He choked out, "You guys are nuts..."
The band looked at each other, hoping that it was a good thing.
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Alternative Press
Up-And-Coming: 100 Bands You Should Know About For 2006
Subatomic Treehuggers
From New York
Sounds Like: Nirvana/My Chemical Romance/Queen
Each band has some sort of add-on to it aside from the music. Some bands have a very charismatic frontman, others have a habit of throwing meat at their audience, and some are just too much of a weird combination to pass up.
Enter Subatomic Treehuggers. The band started in 2003 by Roger Davis, the Kurt Cobain-estque frontman and Mark Cohen, their newly-made over bassist. After their drummer left earlier this year, they picked up the very young Angel Dumott-Schunard (each member is 26, 25 and 18, respectively). Schunard, an out crossdresser, has caused quite a stir with SAT's cult fanbase. She earned the pet name "Fighter Fairy" after sticking up for herself after a "jerk-off gave her shit" according to Davis.
"I didn't plan on any of this happening," Schunard said, blushing, as I interviewed the band in a small, mod café, "with these cute, little cappuccino cups!" Cohen describes, waving a cup in Davis' face. Schunard shakes her head and looks back at the interview in progress. "Anyway, I just did what an intelligent person would do. Don't let yourself get plowed over by someone."
SAT is working on their second LP as we speak (clips are available for download on their Myspace http/ and are shooting for a release in May. "We're going to try our best, but if it sounds like shit we're going to keep working at it. We're looking for quality on this one," Davis adds.
Cohen agrees. "Yeah... we've all got different interests. Like, I'm more into indie and emo, and Roger's more into grunge and alternative, and Angel's into glam and punk, so we're trying to bring all our interests together, and our lives as well, to make this really awesome sound."
Schunard nods. "Yep. Well put, honey. We're going to be like nothing you've ever heard."
And I think no one has any complaints. ALTend
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"Uhm... Roger?" Angel asked, her voice oddly meek.
"What, Angie?" Roger asked. They were up to vocal tracking and they were all a little nervous about how it'd come together.
"Erm... you know the part in '(April is) the Cruelest Month' for me?"
"Yeah?"
"My part's too low."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"So jump an octave."
"Okay... I just wanted to make sure... it's your song and all..."
"What are you anyway?"
"Huh?"
"Alto, tenor, bass..."
"Oh... Uhm... heh. I was put into the girl's section because they didn't know what to do with me."
"Why didn't you say so? No wonder you were always off in rehearsal! If you said something, I would have made your parts higher!"
"No worries. I'm the drummer, you're the brains."
"No, we're a band. There's three of us, but we work as one. Remember that. If you got a problem, tell me. Don't hide it."
"Okay," Angel said, walking away, her bracelets jingling. Roger smiled. She was so mature for her age, clearly more than Roger when he was eighteen, and yet at times she had a naivete to her that he thought was something only someone so cut off from human contact at times could have. He looked at the piece of paper that he had scribbled the lyrics to one of his songs on. He sang:
"She's a box of contradictions,
With black and white across her legs,
As she sits with latest addictions,
With him as he goes up to her and begs..."
He smirked. Even though he liked to think he knew everything about his band, he really didn't. It was a fun challenge for him. One day he would know everything about his band, but for now they were all wrapped in their own mysteries.