It Stays As It Was Left

14.91.15

December 15, 2014

Stevie sat in the cool leather chairs, wiping sweaty hands on her flower-printed dress.

"A movie?" She croaked out. "You can't be serious."

"We are," The label representative confirmed.

"Listen," Stevie sighed. "There is no way that Sula gained enough traction in a month to record a new album and film it."

"Actually, Sula has," Todd, the rep said. "Your band has many old fans, and their kids have discovered your albums. They can't get enough of you guys! Especially when they found out about your association with Nirvana."

Stevie flinched at the name and Becca reached her hand over to tangle it in Stevie's.

"So that's it?" Becca scoffed out. "You want us to do this because of a band that's long gone?"

Becca stood up from her chair to leave and Todd began to panic.

"Of course not!" He exclaimed. "I was just telling you why Sula has gotten so popular in the last month."

"Nostalgia?" Stevie guessed and Todd nodded.

"Not just that," He explained. "Sula was a band that broke so many barriers, both socially and musically. You girls paved the way for so many other generations of women rockers to come, especially women of color. Even today, there aren't many bands out there doing what you guys did. People want more of it."

Stevie smiled at the thought. That was the driving force behind the band all those years ago; making room for women and people of color to rejoin the rock space that they created, but were kicked out of so many years ago. The idea of a little black girl seeing Sula and being inspired to do the same was what kept her working so hard when it seemed pointless. She remembered being that little girl, struggling to see women that looked like her in music. It wasn't until her grandmother had sat her down and played her Sister Rosetta Tharpe that everything changed. Then it was Grace Jones and Poly Styrene that showed her just how hard women could go.

"But why a movie?" Stevie asked. "It's not like we're the Beatles or anything."

"You guys have been a notoriously private band," Todd said. "Your fans don't know that much about you guys, other than what's been in the tabloids. Fans of today want to know their idols. They want to know how your friendship works, and they want to know how your songs make you feel."

Stevie frowned. She had always been happy with her anonymity, it kept journalists from asking invasive questions.

"Oh, yeah," Becca scoffed. "A whole bunch of teenagers wants to know about the ins and outs of a bunch of forty-year-olds."

"Yes, actually," Todd said. "Ever since One Direction, the need to know your favorite bands has grown. Think of your kids."

Stevie thought back to every time Zoë skipped up to her mother, squealing out some fact about a boy band she'd never heard of.

"You have a point," She relented.

"It's not just your new fans," Todd added. "Your old fans want to know what you guys have been doing the last twenty years. They remember having hour-long conversations with you guys. They think of Sula and its members as an old friend that they want to catch up with."

"Well," Jeong-Hui said, tapping the table lightly. "You've convinced me."

Stevie's head snapped towards the woman.

"Really?"

It was so out of character for Jeong-Hui to agree to something like this.

"Yep," Jeong-Hui said, turning towards her friends with a soft smile. "A couple of weeks ago, Young-Soo told me that he wanted to be just like me when he grew up. If I can give the next generation of Korean kids the representation they need to take the leap and follow their passions, being filmed while making an album is worth it."