Little Spirit

  Sam said, ‘I’d have never guessed you’d have sounded like that after hearing you lot acoustically yesterday.’ He looked at Raphael. ‘You never played them drums live.’

  ‘He did.’ Austin nodded to the kit through the glass.

  ‘Show me,’ Sam said, ‘I’m a bit of a drummer myself.’

  Raphael stood up as if that’d be the hardest thing he’d have to do that day and led the way to the live room. Sitting at the drums he performed the intricate drum part with ease. Pausing after a few bars he said, ‘Fancy a go?

  ‘I’ll try.’

  As Raphael expected Sam had trouble with the stick part and had no hope putting it together with the feet.

  After Sam gave up Raphael stepped back into the control room, winked at Danny and sat back down.

  ‘You guys here until Christmas?’ Sam asked.

  ‘We’re leaving Friday the twenty-third,’ Danny said.

  ‘Still here Thursday,’ Sam pondered. ‘You’ve gotta play The Brudenell.’

  ‘That’d be great,’ Austin said. ‘They’re going into production rehearsal tomorrow.’

  ‘We are?’ Danny asked.

  ‘Nowt else to record. You need to relearn the songs. It’s been agreed with Richard. You’ll have to be sharp for the showcase gigs he’s getting you.’

  ‘Showcase?’ Calvin asked.

  ‘Tell him Sam.’

  ‘They’re often afternoon gigs where you do maybe three songs along with other hopeful bands. There’s usually a decent crowd but there should be music industry reps.’

  ‘Cool,’ Raphael said.

  ‘Sometimes,’ Sam agreed.

  Monday 19th December 1983

  The next day Austin jumped in the van and directed the lads to the Hall Manor rehearsal rooms a short drive away. When Calvin pulled alongside an old red brick building Austin knocked on an innocuous looking door. Seconds later a man appeared. He opened hefty metal gates and waved the van in. Calvin crunched reverse. Under the man’s supervision he backed the van between iron gates.

  Austin appeared at the passenger window saying, ‘This is Sebastian the boss.’

  Jumping out the driver’s seat Calvin grabbed Raphael’s floor tom, turned round and came face-to-face with a mighty Alsatian.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Sebastian called from inside the side door, ‘he’s a pup and very friendly.’

  Calvin relaxed but Raphael looked petrified. His eyes bulged like the dog had triggered allergies.

  ‘What’s your name?’ Sebastian asked him.

  ‘Err …’ Raphael said having forgotten.

  ‘Put your hand like this,’ Sebastian said holding his hand loosely.

  ‘Why?’ Raphael stammered.

  ‘So Benny can get to know you.’ Raphael looked too scared to respond. ‘Hang on,’ Sebastian said handing Raphael some Bonio biscuits. Benny sat like a good boy anticipating a treat. ‘There you are, you’re friends,’ Sebastian said as Benny gently took the biscuit.

  Calvin and Danny carted all the gear into the hall and onto its stage fabulously decked with lighting system and PA.

  ‘Let’s get started?’ Austin ordered. Raphael jumped to it and Sebastian took Benny away.

  Nobody but Austin anticipated the day being so long. Playing through the PA, Austin took them back to basics, teaching them to soundcheck the vocal mics properly. Every knob on every amp and effect pedal underwent review; manipulated with until the drums, bass, and guitar sat perfectly. The songs got dragged this way and that and with different tempos.

  Austin told them to ‘ease off the gas’ and limited Calvin to two springboard jumps per show. ‘Play at eighty percent that way you pace yourselves and always have something in reserve. Remember, racing drivers don’t accelerate all the time. They use their brakes and even freewheel into bends.’

  Wednesday 21st December 1983

  The following morning at Hall Manor Calvin considered Austin’s advice of playing at eighty percent but figured today’s eighty would be measly compared to the previous day’s.

  Oddly though they got through Tuesday and Wednesday and instead of tiring they toughened up.

  Austin loved Raphael’s new introductory music and remixed it adding the chants and cheers recorded when the girls and John had visited the studio.

  After Wednesday’s rehearsal Austin phoned The Brudenell Social Club and let Sam know that Little Spirit would be visiting. Sam put them on the guest list.

  Ever sharply uniformed, the band drove to Hyde Park on their penultimate night. Following Austin’s directions they found what looked like a working men’s social club but with a queue made up of students. Chins up and chests out Little Spirit strolled to the front to advise the doorman of their guest list status.

  ‘That’s us,’ Calvin said pointing to the brute’s clipboard.

  ‘In ya go lads,’ he said without a second glance.

  Inside, the foyer still looked like a social club but with posters of original bands instead of the usual cheesy cover bands. Calvin recognised that the bands looked cool but in a way Little Spirit lacked. These youthful student bands set fashion; they didn’t follow it. Without hearing so much as the tail end of a soundcheck the lads guessed the night would be one of ‘experimental’ music.

  At show time the bass player of the first band didn’t wear a medallion round his neck, he’d stuck it to his forehead and stood at the front of the stage swaying like a mental patient; rocking with tongue blobbing in and out cretinously. The other band members behaved equally strangely. The room, full of people so close to Christmas, may not have danced but they did resonate.

  ‘Guys,’ Raphael said after the first band finished, ‘why are we gigging here?’

  Calvin shrugged. ‘Beats the shit out of me. This isn’t our scene. Putting us on that stage would be like serving beef tripe to vegetarians.’

  ‘If I see Sam I’ll ask what he was thinking,’ Raphael said.

  The next band came on bringing a wholly different sound from the first but equal doses of weirdness. Unlike the first band they didn’t even glance at the audience. Dressed exclusively in white like scientists they expressed unwavering concentration on their synths and drum machines. The lads agreed though magnificent their sounds didn’t resemble music. Raphael watched the audience response. Nobody danced but some responded as if hearing angels. He wondered what drugs they must have taken.

  The last band contrasted starkly and actually had songs. Called Purple Python they wore jeans and T-shirts and lacked the avant-garde of the first two bands but they still seemed highly alternative; their songs rolling like folk music. Still nobody danced but the last song grabbed Raphael’s attention. Though as nondescript as the others it ended with the guitarist taking off his instrument and leaving it feeding back on its stand. He took a stick from the drummer’s quiver and, unfastening a tom from the drum kit banged out a rhythm. The keyboard player did the same helping himself to another mounted tom.

  Finally the bass player took to the floor tom with two drumsticks. All four of them thumped away on the dismantled drum kit. The powerful and original sound inspired Raphael to introduce himself.

  The cacophonous coda ended achieving the biggest cheer of the evening.

  When Purple Python later emerged from backstage Raphael greeted them with exaggerated enthusiasm. He should have guessed they’d be too clever for his compliments.

  ‘Great, thanks,’ the drummer said with an air of arrogance that suggested Raphael wouldn’t understand the degree of their brilliance. Raphael flushed red as the synth player ignored him heading towards where their friends and partners waited for them. Provocatively he followed the know-it-all amateur musicians into the middle of their tribe.

  Whilst the musicians enjoyed their welcome, Raphael smiled and talked to the rest of their group bewildering them by his presence. He learned from their girlfriends how they’d all met, engaging them but ignoring the band members.

  When he spotted Sam near the back wall he t
old the group that Little Spirit would be playing the next day. Right in front of the musicians he took a phone number from one of the girlfriends.

  ‘Right, it’s a date,’ he said. Before anyone could counter he stood. ‘Excuse me I need to see Sam ze manager. Speak to you tomorrow.’

  He got up and headed directly towards Sam fearing someone might follow him. A merciful backward glance showed nobody had. He thanked Sam for putting Little Spirit on the guest list.

  ‘We’ve found ze bands very, interesting,’ he said stretching the truth. ‘We’re just concerned we’ll struggle to fit in.’

  Sam said, ‘Tonight’s bands have been different from you but different from each other too.’

  ‘But they’re similarly, alternative. Are you sure we’ll be okay?’

  ‘Appealing to the mainstream is no bad thing,’ Sam said. ‘The important thing is that bands believe in their music whether they’re typically good or not. That’s what I like to see and hear on my stage and that’s what I liked seeing you guys busking outside The Hyde Park pub. What you do comes all the way from your boots and you really care about your audience. Keep that in mind and you’ll be better than okay.’

  Thursday 22nd December 1983

  On their final Thursday Calvin stood on Hall Manor’s stage singing his parts, his fingers happily finding their frets. All three band members had now internalised the songs and performance. Austin found less and less to coach them on saying only gigging could bring further improvement. But having steeped themselves in Hall Manor for days the band felt sadness when dismantling the drum kit and amps to pack the van.

  Sebastian wished them the best telling them if they recorded a second album with Austin they’d be welcome back.

  Raphael spent ages saying goodbye to Sebastian’s Alsatian before Calvin drove them back to The Production Annex.

  ‘Last night tonight chaps,’ Austin said as everyone joined at the meal table.

  ‘What happens next?’ Calvin asked.

  ‘Most immediately you gig the Brudenell Social.’

  ‘And see Katherine again,’ Raphael pointed.

  ‘But what happens with the album?’ Danny asked.

  ‘I’ll put the finishing touches to the mix then meet Richard and you in the New Year. We’ll listen together and if we’re happy with the mixes it’ll be sent for mastering.’

  ‘You can’t master them yourself?’ Calvin asked.

  ‘I could, and I do master work from other studios but recordings benefit from fresh ears. So the mixes go elsewhere and other seasoned engineers will polish them.’

  When evening fell they headed to the gig. As the middle band of three they soundchecked second.

  ‘Wanna make yourself useful Austin?’ Sam asked nodding to the mixing desk.

  ‘You want me to engineer their sound?’

  Sam nodded and Calvin watched as the resident sound-guy welcomed Austin behind the desk.

  Calvin saw the first of the weird students arriving before Little Spirit handed the stage to the last band for their soundcheck.

  The last band soundchecked quickly making wah-wah guitar and vocal grunts to jazzy chords provided by a weedy sounding synth. Calvin again became anxious as to Little Spirit’s suitability for the venue.

  As more people entered the room Raphael kept watch for the friends he’d either made or more likely wound up the previous night.

  ‘Austin,’ Calvin said once Sam had moved on, ‘we don’t relate to this audience and vice versa. We’re mainstream these people are, I dunno, odd.’

  ‘Keep in mind how you felt in the studio. Stay true to your feelings and these so called odd people will forget their oddness and enjoy the show. And, if not there’s always, the intro music.’

  Calvin laughed. ‘That’d give anyone a run for their money.’

  ‘Don’t worry. My brother will be along soon with some solid Yorkshire folk. That’ll balance things out.’

  Calvin sat next to Raphael. Facing the door from the foyer and he asked Raphael, ‘How’s it going matey?’

  ‘Good, just keeping my eyes open for those people I was talking to last time. I didn’t phone ze girl but I may have infuriated ze band.’

  ‘You’ll get us all into trouble,’ Danny said.

  ‘I know, I was an idiot,’ Raphael said before changing the subject. ‘Shouldn’t our girls be here by now?’

  When the next crowd of people came through the door Calvin searched for familiar faces. ‘It’s Darren,’ he said first spotting Austin’s brother. A female in the group struck him as being as impossibly beautiful as Katherine. Right then he recognised his beloved gliding towards him; overdressed to perfection.

  ‘Austin was right. It’s a decent sized gang,’ Danny said jumping to his feet.

  Calvin embraced Katherine and closed his eyes. When he blinked them open he saw John and Barbara.

  ‘They’re back too,’ Katherine said.

  ‘You okay with it?’

  ‘What the hell, why not? He makes her so that damn cheerful.’

  Raphael exited the group and headed for the bar. Someone caught him unawares. He spun round nearly spilling his pint of dilute orange.

  ‘You didn’t call,’ the Purple Python girlfriend whose name he couldn’t remember said. ‘You’re lucky we’re here.’

  Standing at the bar Raphael looked past her shoulder and said, ‘Sorry, I got cold feet. Didn’t think your boyfriend would appreciate my calling you.’

  ‘He’s alright,’ she said giving her bearded partner a wave. He didn’t wave back. Neither did he smile. When she invited Raphael to join their group he told her he’d be over shortly. He felt the group might be here to ridicule Little Spirit’s performance. Fortunately an idea came to mind.

  Minutes later Raphael showed up to the Purple Python group. Smiling he said, ‘Hi guys this is John.’ Disinterested faces glanced up. ‘He’s from London and is a major financier to BMG. He introduces underground acts to them and gives them ze platform they require. He’s very influential.’ That got their attention. ‘I’ve told him of your original sound and style.’

  Only too happy to play along John revelled in hero worship.

  Excusing himself from the group Raphael left John showing off his new found knowledge of the music business and promoting Little Spirit to them.

  When John re-joined the Little Spirit camp he sat next to Barbara. Flashing Raphael a raised eyebrow he tapped his breast pocket and showed him the corner of a TDK cassette. ‘Their demo.’

  When Little Spirit took the stage the biggest cheers came from Darren and his mates. The three band members positively put their faith in the songs. On stage and into the set their certainty of the songs’ strength warmed the audience who couldn’t help but fall into sympathy with their vibe.

  By the time they came to Magic Words the faces in the audience reflected honest passion.

  Amy witnessed the band’s first gig since their migration to Leeds noting how it had stretched and sharpened them. The remixed intro piece had awed them sounding exciting with crowds cheering the band name. Unlike so many bands Little Spirit had grown fearless to being quiet and their hushed passages made the loud sections ever more powerful.

  Danny looked sexier than ever and Amy swooned until the band concluded their set with a new anthem called Wonderful World.

  * * *

  ‘Very good,’ Austin said joining the band back at the table. ‘I counted three jumps on that damn springboard Calvin but I’ll forgive you that.’

  As a euphoric vibe enveloped them all Amy looked adoringly at Danny. Staring she didn’t turn away before Danny caught her. Amy gasped and registering Danny’s eyes narrowing she melted before looking away. Under the table she fumbled for and squeezed Katherine’s knee

  ‘Amy are you alright?’

  ‘I fancy a cigarette.’

  ‘I haven’t seen you smoke in ages.’

  ‘Yeah, well. Come with me?’

  At the cigarette machine Amy flustere
d scrabbling for change.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Katherine asked.

  Amy shut her bag and forgetting cigarettes explained her moment with Danny.

  Katherine said, ‘He saw you looking lustfully at him?’

  ‘Maybe lustfully, but more, romantically, than anything else. He’d have to be daft not to have seen it.’

  ‘He is kind of daft.’

  ‘Can’t be that blind can he?’

  ‘What of it, he knows the truth.’

  ‘What truth?’

  ‘Why else would you give him a look like that? You’re scared to admit it. I’d probably be the same,’ Katherine confessed.

  ‘Maybe I don’t want to like him.’

  ‘It’s time you talked to him. Rather than pretending you don’t like him be honest; tell him you don’t know how you feel.’

  ‘I don’t want to get used or hurt. I’d hate if he slept with me but didn’t want me afterwards. I’d hate to sleep with him and be stuck with him if I didn’t want him again.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘He’s never connected with the girls he’s been out with. He uses them then drops them when he’s had enough.’

  ‘Hmm, does that remind you of anyone else?’

  ‘Well, I’ve changed,’ she said. Katherine looked at her with a raised eyebrow. ‘I have.’

  ‘I wasn’t meaning you. ‘Maybe he’s changed. Maybe previous girls weren’t right for him, like those previous boys weren’t right for you.’

  * * *

  At the end of the night Danny rode shotgun in the van next to Austin and Calvin. Raphael sat in the back with Darren and his girlfriend. Amy had gone back to the hotel with Katherine, John and Barbara.

  ‘Good gig,’ Calvin said pulling out the car park.

  ‘It wasn’t the only significant event though,’ Danny said.

  ‘Amy,’ Calvin said. ‘Katherine told me.’

  Raphael leant forwards, ‘What about Amy did you snog her?’

  ‘No, I just caught her looking at me strangely. Made me feel kind of funny.’

  ‘She’s lovely,’ Darren said gaining a dig from his girlfriend. ‘What?’

  ‘I keep telling you she likes you,’ Raphael said.

  ‘There was something there but nothing happened,’ Danny said. ‘Anyway, Raphael you’re lucky to be walking out that club taking the mick out of that other band and nicking their girlfriends.’

  ‘They loved me,’ he said. ‘They believe John could give them ze break they’re searching for. I made their night. And got them on side whilst we played. I’m a hero.’