Do it for the memories and for Baltimore

Chapter 6

Ah the weekend. It was turning out to be a great weekend too and I was enjoying my final hours of Sunday. 

Back on Friday, Breaking Instinct and I wrote 2 more songs and decided we would start the recording process on Monday and continue through the week. I did happen to see Alex on the train both to and from work again on Friday and we had smiled at each other both times, so that made me feel all warm inside. Yesterday, it was quite warm outside so I went for a long walk around my town, checking out some of the main roads and shops. I even went into a tattoo and piercing parlour that I researched when I was still in Chicago. I’ve always wanted more tattoos, but never could actually commit to a specific design. I had talked briefly with one of the tattoo artists there, and he said that he was expecting a client soon so he invited me to stop by there one day after work and just ask for him because he usually didn’t have late appointments. So this morning I had started making a list of possible tattoo designs I’d like to get.

By noon, I started thinking about some of the songs the band and I have been working on during the week and I decided to have fun with a few of their songs. I had my parents FedEx my acoustic, electric, and bass guitars at the beginning of the week, so I now had them at my house. I started recording myself playing some of the bass and guitar chords and riffs, and ended up making some really cool mixes. Eventually afternoon turned into the evening and I saved my mixes to my computer, making a mental note to show the band what they think of it, possibly as a bonus remix track for their album. I made myself a dinner and played Super Smash Bros. for the rest of the night. 

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*The Next Day*

I had arrived at the studio around my usual time and had time to relax in the lobby for a bit. I was on one of the couches on my laptop looking though old photos I had added before I left home, and was smiling at almost all of them.

“What’s that you’re looking at?” Emma, one of the secretaries said to me as she walked over with two cups of coffee and handing me one.

“Just some old family pictures I saved on here before I left Chicago,” I told her. I had created a nice bond with Emma since I met her literally a week ago. We didn’t know too much about each other, but I felt pretty good around her and could see her becoming a really good friend.

“Aw oh my god is that you?” She giggled pointing to a picture of me stuck in a metal bucket with a construction hard hat on my head.

“Yeah, that was when I was probably 6 or 7 and I was helping my grandfather with our garden and I wanted to be extra careful so I wore that oversized hat all day. And then when we were done with the garden, he was watering it, before I knew it, I tripped over the hose and got stuck in that bucket.” I smiled remembering the good memory.

“Thats quite the story,” she laughed, “does your grandfather remember it too?”

“Unfortunately, we lost him when I was 17. It was rough, but he wasn’t at his best. He was like a best friend to me growing up, and when he left us, it was hard to bounce back, but I did cope with it and even got a memorial tattoo dedicated to him. It’s a rose, I have it on my thigh, it was his favourite flower” I replied in a small voice.

“Oh, I’m sorry for asking. But I know he’s proud of you, Rachel.” She said putting her hand on my shoulder.

“Thanks Emma,” I said closing to my laptop, “I’m gonna go get everything set up now, I’ll see you later.”

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The day went by fast, like rapid fire fast. The band had arrived early again, so after I had mic’d up everything properly, we worked on things right away. We completed 1 full song and about 3/4 of another song. I was pleased at how well things went and sounded. At the end of the session, I showed the band the little mix I made last night and they really enjoyed it.