golden star

01

⤏ Since she could remember Samantha had this weird ringing sound in her ears. She didn't know what it was and why she had it, but it was always there. When it went quiet it would show up like white noise. It was Tinnitus that never stopped. When the house finally went silent, the newly born baby in the nursery would start wailing. Benjamin Rickson, or Benji, Sam's father had gone through a hard struggle before finding the magic in music. Since only a few weeks old Sam needed music like it was a life line. It was as necessary as the air she breathed. When she joined a nursery she would spend her days singing or listening to the nursery rhymes. At 6 years old Samantha was introduced to the real world of music, it came in the form of her namesake. Uncle Sam. Sam Rickson was a popular music producer in Boston, he was also her father's younger brother. Uncle Sam taught Samantha, or Many, everything about the biggest bands and best songs. But most importantly Uncle Sam was the one who taught her she could make it too. He taught her how to play the piano, the guitar and the drums. He was the one who discovered the thing that would take her far.

Her voice.

Since the age of 6 Samantha had the voice of an angel. It was young and inexperienced, but it was still beautiful. Her dad use to say she got it from her mother, not that she would ever know. At 8 she started performing in talent shows with her guitar and her singing, she won them all. When she wasn't singing herself, she would listen to every single one of Uncle Sam's records. He had taken her to the studio with him, so she could see the life of the thing she could become. She spent almost every minute in his studio or home, with the constant presence of music. Even if she wasn't listening to anything she would have her cousins Steven and Cassie, they would laugh and scream like the kids they were for hours. It was her second home.

Until 2014 when Uncle Sam got into a nasty crash, he was in a coma for 6 months until one day his heart stopped, along with the music. She was 12 and her biggest role model was gone. The ringing got slightly louder that day. She then discovered the wonders of headphones, that became her new best friend. She constantly had on a pair.

The company Uncle Sam was the ceo of, had taken a interest in the young girl. Even though she wanted to permanently attach a pair of headphones to her head and dissapear, she also wanted to achieve her dreams. The dream that didn't only belong to her, but to Uncle Sam too.

So she started working with an academy where she met Cameron, a boy of similar age who played the drums better than she ever could. He had a brother Matthew, who constantly had some sort of guitar in his arms. Not to long after they met Nicole, the girl with the piano and a nice voice. They became the academy's heart and soul. At 14 she was at songwriting camps and media trainings. Her and her friends had to learn to write, sing and perform.

At 15 they became 'Starshooters'.

In 2018 they released their first single, followed by another, which was followed by an album. And suddenly they were on their way to from Boston too New York City to promote their music. They had gained stardom in no time. At 18 years old, Samantha Rickston and her band was living the life of rockstars. They had a devoted fan base, two popular albums, a New York apartment, a house in LA and trips too places like London, but most of all they had best friends. From fourteen years old, Sam had her three best friends. They made music together, they lived together and they laughed together.

When she was with one of them the ringing stopped, because the sound never did.

But 6 years later it did. The laughter, the songs and the friendship ended. August of 2023 marked the end of Starshooters. One of the greatest bands in America and the world. Samantha Rickson and Matthew Slyer was pinned as the reason. Apparently a band wasn't a place for relationships, and when they broke up so did the band. The truth was the band became a miserable place. They had gone from a group of best friends to a publicity stunt. Their personalities became scripts, that forbid any self growth. And the once authentic group became what management wanted them to be. The breakup became a factor of many. If the press were there they would know Matthew and Sam broke up 5 months before the band, because of a stunt management forced. Sam was apparently losing her touch for writing good songs, they believed heartbreak could bring it back. So Sam caught him multiple times, with multiple girls. At first it was their manager's setups, but then it became Matthew. He had been suffering just as much as her, but he had a different method of dealing with it. He cheated on her repeatedly. Yet she never told them and she took the blame for being the reason the band broke up.