AU || Cairo Lucia Santiago is on break from university. Bradley Will Simpson wants to get his big break in the music industry. Together, they go on a roadtrip around the UK, where they busk their hearts out and discover more about their lost selves...
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📌 Birmingham, England, UK
No matter how much I closed my eyes and switched my thoughts off, I couldn't sleep, so I got up and headed to the living room, where Brad was working on an arrangement.
From what I saw, he was recording a middle 8 with his keyboard, but I couldn't hear the notes because they were coming out of Brad's headphones. I walked to him after he deleted a freshly-recorded sound clip and shook his head in the process.
"How are you doing?" I asked Brad, who was taken aback with a jolt, looking at me with his tired eyes as he put his headphones around his neck.
"I thought you were a ghost, Jesus," Brad said, causing me to chuckle.
"Sorry. Do you mind if I hang out here for a bit? I can't sleep," I asked Brad, who nodded his head, then I grabbed a chair from the dining room and put it right across Brad's keyboard so I could watch him.
"Isn't it too late to be working on an arrangement?"
"Yes, but I have no other time to do it. I still have to cook, clean, and take care of things while my brother's out. I promised my client that I'll be back with his arrangement as soon as possible, and he's an important person in the industry, so I have to meet his demands or else I'm fucked."
"I see. Will it be okay if I listen to it?"
"I forgot you're a musician yourself. Please, be my guest," Brad said as he handed me his headphones, then I asked him to play it from the beginning, allowing the fruits of his creative juices to flow into my ears.
The music started with an eerie echo, then it transitioned to a beat that emphasized the use of a snare and a bass drum, accompanied with an airy guitar riff. It continued on to the verse, which was rich in rhodes, then it went on for the rest of the song.
"That's what I've got so far. No lyrics, just a beat and some instrumentals," Brad explained when we got to the chorus, then I removed the headphones before it was finished.
"I like it. Also, and I mean this in the kindest way possible, it sounds like an almost break-up song to me."
"You're not just saying that because of our sad stories this afternoon, are you?" Brad asked, causing me to laugh. He chuckled back, then I gave his headphones back.
"In all seriousness though, the instruments you used kind of made it seem like more of a sad song than a happy song to me. Like, the drums are boppy and enthusiastic, but the other instruments say otherwise, if you know what I mean."
"I admire your perspective. I'll take note of that when I write the lyrics. Anyway, I'll just be clear that I didn't make the beats; it was my client. He's an underground DJ, and he's contacting multiple indie musicians who can come up with a melody for him."
