Melody 5 - Rising Stars

Chapter 9 (i) - Kat

--- KAT ---

The last six weeks had passed in a whirl of songwriting, recording tracks and discovering the sights and sounds of London with her new bandmates. Even so, there was a constant niggle in the back of Kat's mind about her sister, Dani, and her brothers, but Dani kept reassuring her that all was well back home. Papa was keeping his temper under control, helping out with chores and had even managed to get a part time job on a local building site. It was only temporary but they might keep him on if he kept up the good work. So Kat did her best to leave her worries about home behind her.

Even so, it had been a struggle at first. The other girls had already had time to bond before Kat appeared on the scene, but gradually, and for the first time in her life, Kat felt like she was slowly fitting in. And the great thing was, she didn't have to change herself. The girls liked her exactly as she was - quirky, quiet and quintessentially Kat.

Well, almost all the girls.

Kat got the feeling Amy wasn't too sure about her. She was always polite, but they hadn't bonded in the way she had with the other girls. In fact one day Rhian let slip Amy hadn't wanted her in the band. Jadine and Molly were furious with Rhian, but admitted Amy had wanted to choose someone else.

Kat was grateful Amy's parents were letting them all crash at their place for free, so the girls could concentrate full time on the band; and despite what Amy said about her parents pressuring her to ditch the band and take on the family business, they were incredibly accommodating. Amy's mum had already turned her exercise room into a dance studio when Kat first arrived, but Amy's dad had initiated another change.

The girls had been travelling up to London to record their tracks at Lyric's flat, which was costing them a fortune in rail fares and Kat's savings were running out fast. Plus, Amy had to pay Rhian's fares after her sleazy ex-boyfriend stole all her money. So, Maurice had turned the 'granny flat' above his garage into a makeshift recording studio and bedroom for Lyric. That way the girls could save money and spend more time working on their music. Apparently Lyric had taken some convincing, but it seemed that he and Jadine were pretty close and he'd been living above the garage for the past couple of weeks.

Lyric seemed like a nice guy and he seriously knew his stuff about music production. Kat was learning tons from him and he in turn he embraced her suggestions. He'd even checked out her Katya K YouTube page and added a few techniques she'd used on her tracks on a reworked version of the song she'd performed at her audition - Water Harmony. The girls had recorded it and renamed it Same Star. Kat had to admit, that input from the girls and Lyric's production, had turned it from an okay sentimental song into a molten white-hot ballad with heart-punching vocals and echoing electronics and melancholic crescendos. Lena had been gobsmacked when they'd played it to her at their band meeting that afternoon in Lyric's makeshift studio.

"I love love LOVE it!" enthused Lena, in her Californian lilt. "It contrasts perfectly with Melody Vibe,"

"You don't think it's too...moody?" queried Amy.

"No. It shows you're not just about the fun and the beats. You've got depth and versatility. Yet, it's still intrinsically a Melody 5 track. It's got to be your second or third release after Melody Vibe."

"So what are the plans for getting our music 'out there'" asked Jadine.

"Well, it's going to be easier to get a great record deal if you've got a following so now it's time to upload your tracks online and unleash them on the big wide world."

Kat shuddered with excitement.

"Where will we upload them?" asked Molly.

"Well, obviously YouTube, MySpace, Soundcloud," said Lena.