Stormy

Chapter 7

In what feels like just a few minutes, the lesson is over and the bell rings. Julian almost immediately pops his head in and says: "Yo, Martijn, wanna go hang out at my place? I've got this new plugin which is fucking amazing. You need to try it out!" Martijn gets up to speak to him and says: "Sorry, brother, another time. I've actually got plans for today." "Alright, what are you up to?", Julian asks. Martijn gives him a smirk and says: "We're going out to work on our song a little." "For real?", Julian says and rolls his eyes. "Keep it together, bro. You need to be a little more open to all of this.", Martijn teases him. "Whatever", Julian replies and just shoots him a quick "See ya tomorrow!" before he leaves the room. Then, Martijn turns around and gives me a smile: "You ready to go?" I nod my head and grab my guitar case. Together we leave the school building and while we are crossing the yard, I ask: "Where are you taking me?" "You'll see.", he smirks and then adds, "It's where I like to take friends for songwriting." "Okay, I'm excited to see the place then.", I reply. We leave the campus and walk through the streets of Utrecht for a while. Soon, we reach one of the many canals. Martijn walks straight towards one of the boats that is tied to a pole next to the river bank. He greets a man who is sitting on the deck, enjoying the sun: "Hello Lars, it's good to see you! Thanks for making time for us so quickly." "Hello Martijn. It's my pleasure, as always. Who's that lady to your side? I believe we haven't met yet.", Lars replies and offers me his hand. "Julie, this is Lars. He's a friend of my parents and like an uncle to me. And Lars, this is Julie. She's a good friend of mine, we go to the same school and as I told you, we're working on a song together. You'll see, she has a beautiful voice." I shake Lars's hand and say: "Hello Lars, it's nice to meet you! Thank you so much for taking us!" Martijn hops on the boat and then helps me with my guitar case. "I always like to bring friends here to make music. This is where I feel most inspired to start my songs.", he explains. "I can definitely see why. It's beautiful here.", I smile and let Martijn help me to climb on the boat. We both sit down on the spacious wooden deck, while Lars turns on the engine and lets the boat glide into the canals. Martijn puts on his sunglasses and then opens his guitar case. I once again admire his guitar that is shimmering in the sunlight. "I have to admit, I really love your guitar. It looks stunning.", I say. "Thank you. Just as you do.", Martijn smirks. "Hahaha, thank you, I guess, Mr. Charming. Can we get to work now?", I laugh. "Sure, Madam.", he smirks again, "So, did you have anything in mind that you wanted to write about for this song?" "Yes, actually.", I reply, "I wanted to write about a certain kind of freedom. I have listened back to your songs and the one thing I have noticed is, that they are all kind of empowering. Every track in a different way, but they all are. I feel we're very much the same when it comes to this. We want music to make sense, we want lyrics straight out of life and melodies that make you forget the world." "Ohhhh, that's quite a poetic way to put things, girl.", he remarks jokingly. "But seriously, don't you feel the same?", I ask. "I do.", Martijn replies, now more serious, "That is actually pretty spot on. Music makes me just enjoy life, it's basically like an addiction." "So true.", I reply and give him a smile. Martijn slowly starts to play a chord progression on his guitar. I listen to him, close my eyes and start to feel the vibe. Martijn is just genius when it comes to creating melodies. After a while, he plays something really catchy and I join in. "That one is beautiful, Martijn! I really like it.", I say. "I know. I really like it as well. But I can't seem to get the last part right, it still sounds wrong in my ears." I think about it for a while, then I suggest: "Maybe change the last part of the chord progression to Minor instead of Major? I guess it would change the atmosphere quite a bit." Martijn tries my suggestion and varies the chords a little, until he comes up with the perfect progression. "That is genius!", he smiles, "I like it way better now." Martijn repeats the chords a few time son his guitar and then grabs his phone. "Okay, so let me just record that really quick.", he says, "Can you play it with me again? So that we just have an idea of how it sounds acoustically, so we can continue to work on it back in the studio." I nod my head and as soon as he cues me, we both start to play. As soon as we're finished, he smiles: "That is amazing. I really like the sound of it. Working with you is really fun, Julie." "Even though I am not a professional?", I ask and start to laugh "Come on.", Martijn protests, "That was a serious compliment. I really wanna polish this and make you shine on it." That is actually pretty cute of him to say, so I start to blush: "Thank you, then. It means a lot." "You're very welcome. You know, usually you can't just put me into a studio with a random person, that simply won't work out. I really need to connect with that person to be able to be creative together. There's no such thing as forced creativity. That's why I was pretty pissed at first when I heard about the project. But with you, it is unique. It somehow just works out, I feel we're very much on the same page music wise and also as a person. Thank you for making this so easy for me. I know I can be pretty stubborn at times." "You're very welcome as well, Martijn. I'm glad you're enjoying this. I am, too.", I reply. "Can you maybe sing a few words over our chord progression? I'd love to have the contrast to your voice when I start working on the backing track.", he asks. "But what should I sing about? Like I don't have finished lyrics right now...", I question his idea. "Doesn't matter at all.", he explains, "just do random words. Trust me, it really doesn't matter." It takes me a few moments to get into it, but after a while, I manage. The boat glides further along the canals and as we go under a bridge, I notice the beautiful reverb the setting offers. I try to push my voice a little further, close my eyes and just lose myself in the music. I don't even realize that both Martijn and Lars, as well as a tourist group on the other side of the canal are all staring at me in awe. "Okay, now I am even more confident about all of this.", Martijn says and gets me back into the real world. "I agree. That was really beautiful, Julie.", Lars adds. "Oh, I.... Thank you, I guess.", I answer, "The reverb under the bridge was amazing." "Absolutely true. But you're voice just has so much potential. Be ready for me to push you as far as I can, alright? I'm so stoked!!!", Martijn says and happily jumps around the boat. "Alright Garrix. Let's hope I can live up to this.", I laugh.