Metal Band One-Shots

The Good Beginning (The Dark Element)

 Jani Liimatainen was nervous that day.

 He had written an entire album, as he had approached about doing. He did it gladly, putting down the best lyrics he could think of on paper, happy to be writing music. Then the record company had found a lead singer and frontwoman in one Anette Olzon, whom Jani was pretty sure he had heard of but had never actually met. Anette recorded the songs, and Jani was surprised when he heard it. Anette's voice sounded like it fit every song perfectly, and though he hadn't even met her, she already had his respect.

 Then the day came when he was told that the record company wanted the band to shoot a music video. Jani didn't mind going to the studio to shoot it, and the song 'My Sweet Mystery' was chosen for the first music video.

 Jani was nervous that day for two reasons. The first was that they were going to be getting The Dark Element's music out there for people to hear, which meant that this was all real. The second reason was that he was finally going to meet Anette Olzon in person. She was the only bandmate he hadn't actually gotten to know yet, and she was important since she was their lead singer. And he wasn't even sure what kind of person he was. Therefore, he was quite nervous. 

 The first time Jani laid eyes in Anette, she was smiling, but also looked a little nervous herself. She had a beautiful smile, he thought, a smile that grew when she was introduced to him.

 "It's so nice to finally meet you," she said to him. "I really enjoyed recording the songs you wrote, and I'm really glad to have been given this opportunity."

 She was genuine, and she meant what she said. Jani smiled back when he saw she was sincere, and he said, "It's great to meet you, too, Anette. I heard the recordings, and I think this album is going to come out pretty great."

 They didn't get a chance to have a more of a conversation until they had a break form shooting, and happened to find themselves standing alone together.

 "So, I think we work pretty well together so far," Jani said, trying to start a conversation. "You seem like you have experience with shooting music videos."

 After he said it, he realized how stupid that sounded out loud. But Anette just shrugged and said, "I guess so. I was in another metal band before this." She sighed. "Things didn't work out so well there."

 It suddenly clicked in Jani's head why her name had sounded familiar. She used to be in the band Nightwish, and they had fired her about five years before. He felt like a real idiot now, because he couldn't believe it hadn't occurred to him.

 "I'm sorry," he said. "That sounds terrible. What have you been up to since then?"

 "Some solo stuff. I put out a solo album a few years ago, but...I really was thinking about retiring from the music scene. You know, find something else to do with my life. But then I was given the opportunity, and I ended up taking it. It's like I was just meant to be in the spotlight."

 "Maybe it's destiny," Jani said. "Things are going well for us so far."

 "Hey, you're the one who said you liked those recordings before you even met me," Anette replied with a smile. "We were working pretty well together before we even met each other!"

 Jani smiled back. "All right, that's a good point. Probably a good sign, too."

 They didn't have time to talk about anything else before they went back to shooting again, but Jani had begun to feel that this was a good beginning for this new band.