The Book of Dema

CHAPTER NINE + Don't Want to Give You All My Troubles

"That ought to do it," Josh said. He stood next to Tyler at the workstation in Tyler's production room. They had run through each of the tracks one last time together, and while Tyler was not convinced it was his best work, they both had agreed it was as good as it was going to get. They had brought Greg in for a week, and his engineering knowledge leveled up the production value from a basement tape to something they could actually release.

"Have we decided on an album name?" Josh asked.

Tyler dreaded this question each day. They had been going back and forth on it for most of production. Josh had argued for an image from one of the songs. He had suggested to Tyler names like Double-sided, Trees, Shipwrecked, Migraine, and Silence. Tyler would rub his head, press his fingers together until they turned white, click his mouse repeatedly. He loved the songs, but was anxious about the mixes.

"I don't have confidence in this album," he responded to the question. "No one's ever going to play these songs around the country. We can't even get air time two states over. It just feels like it's regional at best. I wish it was more, but I just don't think it is as good as it could be."

"Then just call it Regional At Best if that's the way you feel," Josh said with a hint of tired sarcasm in his voice. He didn't get worn out by much, but this conversation, now several months in, was starting to beat him.

"Great. It's settled. It's Regional At Best."

"Wait, what? I wasn't being serious," Josh said sharply, pursing his lips.

"Well, I think it's the right name. That's all it is. Also, I want to put a picture of Zachary on the cover." Tyler reached into the drawer and pulled out a picture of his brother at a baseball game. "It's one of the last ones we took. He'd be glad we've finally gotten this thing done."

"Yeah, sure. That's fine. But next time, I want something that represents me."

"You think there's going to be a next time?" Tyler asked.

"Are you kidding? The least that will happen is that a big national label will listen to it and love my drumming so much they ask me to recut the whole album with only the drums." Tyler laughed.

"Sure, I think that will sound great...on mute," Tyler responded, trying to tease his bandmate. "And then you can release videos of nothing but you taking your shirt off while drumming. You're going straight to the top. Stadium concerts and everything."

"Oh there will be stadium concerts. Buckle up, buttercup." Tyler laughed a little, and for once didn't argue the point. Josh was always unflappable. It didn't hurt that the audiences were growing at every show date and the first singles they had released online were already selling, even, as Tyler liked to remind them, it was all regional.

"I do like most of the songs," Tyler said again after the conversation tailed off. "I'd be really happy if we ever got the chance to recut them now that Greg is sort of figuring out our sound. The drums are one of the best parts." Josh peered over at Tyler with a look of appreciation. His partner was not prone to compliments. This was all he would get, though, and knew he'd have to take it. Tyler had a lot to learn about relationship building, but fortunately for him, he had a patient partner in his drummer.

"Ok, if we're done, I need to run. I haven't moved in hours. Mind if I cut out?" Josh asked. He straightened up and moved away from the workstation, accidentally kicking a box on the floor. A flap flipped open, and in it he saw it stuffed with skeleton masks. He reached down to inspect them. "What are these? We adding people to the band?"

Tyler glanced nervously at the masks and avoided Josh's questioning eyes. "They're for the Door Crew," he said, trying to protect their activities from Josh but not wanting to lie to him. "They've been asking for them for a while."