𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 (𝙵𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙱𝚡𝙱)

Track 46 | 𝟭𝟳 (𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼)

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May

After weeks of careful consideration, we settled on the band name: 'Heart Levi'.

It sounds peculiar at first, I know, but we felt it was fitting for who we are as a band. Firstly, the acronym 'heart', symbolizing each instrumental member of the band, repurposed from Ari's previously discarded title, and secondly 'Levi' because we didn't want to leave him out, but we also didn't know how else to include him. The acronym was such a perfect coincidence that we had to keep it, so we did, and then threw on Levi's name at the end because, well, he had a pretty-sounding name.

And together, it made a peculiar title, yes, but one that was distinct and stood out because of its questionability. It almost sounded like a location; like a washed-up, sleepy Scottish town, or a quiet peak just off the coast of the Netherlands. We wanted it that way to signify the idea that when you listened to our music, you could feel like you were being transported somewhere different. Nowhere whimsical or fanciful, nothing like that. Just, somewhere in your head. Somewhere nice and safe.

The name represented who we were together as a band. We have a lot of heart. Both for what we do, the music we make, and for the love we all have for each other. The trust we all had in one another.

The following weeks of April saw us negotiating a contract deal with Turnstile Records. After excelling in his Business and Economics class for two semesters straight and taking a page out of the great book of management by the likes of personal idols such as Peter Grant and Sam Phillips, Levi set out to swing us a good deal.

He somehow scored us a ten-month contract to start off with. He was able to convince them that we deserved a lighter sentence to begin with based solely on the argument that we were younger and newer to the game alone. He was also able to get us a key-man clause included in our contract so that if Beau had, for whatever reason, left the label, we could opt out as well. Basically, Levi took precise measures to ensure that we wouldn't be trapping ourselves.

By the beginning of May, we had signed on. Turnstile agreed to our terms as long as we had some demos for them to preview in order for them to grant us producing funds and assign us due dates for our first official release. The moment we had logged off that video call with the team heading management over at Turnstile, we all cheered and celebrated all night long. Beau was on the phone to congratulate us on our fateful decision. This could either put us on the map or hold us back. But, Beau and the entire management team had already heard some of our stuff, and they practically guaranteed us a couple of hits in the underground indie grunge-pop music industry. Except, we weren't really indie anymore.

It felt weird, to no longer have ourselves to rely on for the production of our music. But, we got over that quickly. We didn't care that we were no longer an independent group. We had the resources available to us to make something we've always dreamed of making and actually have it sound good. It's not like we wanted to sell out or anything. We just wanted to create something that could actually reach platforms and develop our image, and now, we were on our way to fulfilling that dream.

After our brief moment of celebration, we got right back to work preparing our demos to send in. We wanted to pitch the idea of the EP we have been dreaming of making since the band was first formed. It's not like we had much to work on, though, because we had been writing songs for almost three years now and had tons of material to work with. We just had to figure out how to organize it all into something consistent and impactful. Something that can start us off in the right direction while also leaving room for growth so that listeners can expect to be introduced to something new when they tune in for future projects.