That's All She Wrote || James Diamond

Writing Wrongs (1.6)

One thing Roxy's father hadn't told her before he taught her how to play the guitar was just how painful the strings could feel on the pads of her fingers, especially after many hours of play. Though she had been building up the calluses on her fingers for nearly a decade, she was beginning to feel the sharp sting after her long session in the recording booth in order to properly track both the lead and rhythm guitar layers to the band's new single "Famous".

The new song, a rock-influenced track focusing on the dream of overnight fame and fortune, wasn't that far off from what had happened to her and her band. Even if they weren't quite famous and not quite fortunate yet, "Famous" was nearly radio ready - the band just had to finish recording their vocals.

Recording days were always stressful, for both the band, their assistant, and their bosses. Gustavo was incredibly nitpicky about the order of the process: write the song, record the background music, solo recording, and then finally, group recording. The process was grueling but the high risk-high reward mindset was always in the forefront of their producers' thoughts.

Since arriving in the morning, Roxy had played "Famous" on the guitar at least 50 different times. Though her last recording of the track on her electric guitar was her boss' favorite, he took the previous recordings to use as background layers and eventually got the boys in the booth individually to record their parts.

Now, well into the evening, the four boys stood in the recording booth together finishing their last take of the song.

Group recordings were Roxy's favorite part - the boy's voices melded so well together and after their solo recordings they were familiar enough with the song to only do three or four takes to put the finishing touches on the track. From there, she and Gustavo would get to piece everything together to get their final product EP ready.

As the track came to a close, Roxy cut off the recording from the soundboard and used the little computer beside Kelly to name and label the file to be placed in the "Famous" folder.

Once she was done, Kendall's voice filled her headphones as he spoke to the three in the soundroom. "It sounded great, right?"

The girl saw Kelly throw a thumbs up and moved to copy her action before their boss audibly sighed. "No... Green Day sounds great. You guys didn't make me want to vomit."

"Oh, Gustavo!"

"Come on!"

A chorus of protest came from the band as they ripped their headphones off, not caring if the producer heard their comments or not, before Gustavo hit the 'mute' button to the mic in the booth. Even through the soundproofed walls, Roxy could practically hear them cursing their boss out.

If that bothered him, the man didn't show it. He was too preoccupied with pointing to his headphones and acting like the sound had been mysteriously cut.

Guys are so weird.

It only took a few seconds for Kelly to step in, smacking Gustavo's back to startle him and grab his attention. "Why can't you tell them they sound good? Or thank the teens for all of their hard work?"

Roxy agreed, nodding her head, "With each recording session they keep getting better and better. It would mean a lot to them coming from you."

"Showing thanks is a sign of weakness. And besides, you don't hear them thanking me."

Once the boys had figured out their communication had been cut, they made their way into the soundroom to join up with the other three.

"Gustavo!" Kendall called from the doorway, waltzing out to stand in front of the large man. "We just wanted to thank you."