8:30 A.M.
Monday morning. Johhny Clarkson turned his alarm off and got ready for the day. Fixing his bed, he went to the bathroom to wash his face. He then did his daily exercises and had a shower. Afterwards, he went downstairs to fix himself some breakfast: some toast, bacon, cornflakes, and coffee. Never forget the coffee. He then washed the dishes and went back upstairs to his bedroom.
Turning on his computer and audio interface, he checked his emails to see how many songs he'll do today. Not a bad load for today, he thinks. 3 songs that need remixes, one that needs mastering, one in which the client asked him to overdub a new bass part, and another one that needs a new guitar part. He then got his audio mixer, cassette deck, and reel-to-reel tape machine up and running, cleaning the tape heads for the latter two. This is something that he prided on, mixing through analog gear, although he also uses digital gear most of the time. After making the appropriate connections on the mixer and interface, he mixed the first song to the reel-to-reel machine, then sent the finished mix to the cassette tape deck for one last hit of tape saturation, and finally recorded the finished song from the cassette tape to his computer, repeating the process two more times for the other songs. After checking that everything was sounding as they should, he exported the three songs and sent them to the clients. Three songs down, three more to go. He went back downstairs to prepare lunch.
12:30 P.M., four hours later...
Going back upstairs, he mastered the one song, then recorded the bass and guitar parts needed for the last two songs, again sending the finished product to the reel-to-reel and cassette deck and back to the computer after the fact. After exporting the songs, he sent the songs back to the clients via email and packed everything up, ready to relax. But relaxation can wait; he still has to prepare for a gig tonight with his band, the SHIELD.5:30 P.M.
He got out three of his guitars (a Stratocaster, a Les Paul and his old acoustic), tuned them up and put them on hard cases, and got out his guitar pedals and arranged them on his pedalboard. He then got out three of his most used amplifiers (a Fender, a Vox AC30 and a Marshall) then cleaned and set them up. His phone rang, signifying that he had received a text message. He looked at it to see who sent it: it was Roman Reigns, drummer/vocalist for the band, and one of his best friends.
RR: Hey, on the way to pick you up.
JC: Got it. How long till you get here?
RR: 15 minutes tops.
Johnny looked at the time: 5:45 p.m. Just in time.
JC: Perfect. Just hit me up when you're here.
RR: You got it, uce. Peace out.
He set down his phone and charged it, took another shower, changed from his house clothes into a pair of jeans, a Beatles T-shirt and some sneakers, then put inside his backpack his clothes for tonight's gig as well as a change of clothes. He decided to take out his Stratocaster and Fender amp to practice the songs they'll play for the gig until he heard a horn honking. He looked out of his window and saw Roman's van parked nearby. Johnny looked at his watch again: 6 p.m. Right on schedule. He unplugged his phone from his charger and put it in his pocket, then took two of his guitars and his bag and then went downstairs. Roman was standing near the van, a huge smile on his face. Johnny also smiled, putting down his guitars to give his best friend a bro hug. He then loaded his two guitars at the back of the van.
RR: Ready for the gig?
JC: As always!
RR: That's the spirit! Although...
JS: Eh? What's the matter?
RR: I feel like... Something big is gonna happen by the end of the night.
Johnny then had a look on his face that was a combination of surprise and anticipation. He turned back to Roman.
JC: Hey, whatever it is, man, it's probably gonna be something good!
RR: You're right, man, just nervous, is all!
JC: Don't worry about it. I'll be back for the rest of my gear, then let's go pick the others up, yeah?
Roman smiled and Johnny patted him on the shoulder. He went back to get his remaining guitar and his amplifiers, then rode shotgun on the van, his bag on the floor. The two then made small talk while in the van.
RR: Hey, any news on our songs, man?
JC: Well, Strangers In the Rain's got quite a lot of streams online, and also radio airplay; Neon Girl, meanwhile, it's slowly picking up.
RR: Man, I can't shake off this feeling...
JC: Why, man? What's going on?
RR: I don't know, I've just been nervous this past couple of days after we released Neon Girl.
JC: Now that you mention it, Shawn and Hunter told me something the other day...
RR: Yeah? What'd they say?
JC: Something along the lines of "Something big will happen to Strangers In the Rain".
RR: What do you think it is?
JC: I honestly don't know. An increase in streams, maybe? Who knows?
RR: Or somebody covering it?
JC: Yeah, maybe that, as well.
RR: Ehh, only time will tell. After all, it's only been... What, like two months since we released Strangers?
JC: Mm-hmm, and a couple of weeks after Neon Girl.
They then picked the rest of the band up: Seth Rollins on guitars and vocals, Dean Ambrose on bass and vocals, Mike Mizanin (aka The Miz) on piano and keys, and Dolph Ziggler also on keys. After loading the rest of the gear in the van, they drove to their gig, a 9 p.m. till midnight show at a bar called Vinny M's, owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon, Jr., better known as Vinnie Mac. A few minutes later, they pulled up at the venue. The time: 6:30 p.m. They went inside to say hello to Vince.
(A/N: Strangers In the Rain is a song a friend and I co-wrote, he sings and plays guitar on the track, I would love it if you'd check it out! YerLocalRocker out.)
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