Stormy

Chapter 19

On Sunday morning Emma drops me off at the studio complex after we got breakfast together at a nearby café, our tradition on free weekends. She would be meeting Julian later that day to continue to work on their song "Zero Gravity". I hug her goodbye, grab my backpack and enter the building. Our school has two fully equipped recording studios that can be used for special projects like this. I walk down the stairs to the smaller one of the two studios in the basement of the building and find Martijn already waiting for me. "Hey.", I say, "What's up?" "Hey Julie, it's good to see you.", Martijn smiles, "Ready to get to work?" "Absolutely.", I smile back and put down my guitar case, before I sit down next to him. We start the day off with going through a bunch of different melody lines and drums in Martijn's digital project, before we take on the lyrics next. So far, we have the first verse, as well as the pre-chorus and chorus ready, but we're still struggling to find a second verse for the song. We're vibing together, playing what we have so far over and over again. After almost an hour of failed attempts, an idea suddenly pops into my head. "Wait...", I say and make a gesture for Martijn to be silent. Then I close my eyes and start singing:

"Some say you can never go back

To the city built for dreamers

But I know we can find it on our own

The one shot that we fire at the sky

But this time we are together

We're right here in this moment where we belong"

Sometimes, ideas just start falling out of the sky and you have to be there in that exact moment to capture them. "Sorry... I... How do you like it?", I ask, putting my guitar down. "Wow...", Martijn exclaims, "Did that idea just come to you from out of nowhere? That's crazy. I mean, I get these moments as well, but I have never witnessed that with another person. That verse is amazing!" "I love how the words focus more on the part of togetherness now in the second verse. It tells a story. Somehow, that feels good to me.", I agree with him. "So does that mean we're done with the lyrics for now? Craaaazyyy...", he smiles. "Yes, I guess so.", I answer, "We can hand them in next time. Wohoo!" Martijn gives me a hug: "You've done great work with these lyrics, Julie." "Thanks, Martijn.", I answer, "Now I just have to get the recording right for you. And please be honest about it with me, okay? As I said, I'm willing to work hard for the perfect version." "Of course.", he says, "But what about a little break first? I'd love some pizza for lunch." "That sounds amazing. I'm down for that.", I laugh. Martijn grabs his phone and orders two pizzas for us, which arrive about half an hour later. We both sit down in the grass on the school yard and start to eat our pizzas. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something regarding our song.", Martijn suddenly says. "What is it?", I ask curiously. "Well, my management had a talk with the school and our teachers, and they really like our song. We would like to release the song as the next single for Garrix. The teachers gave their okay and now all I need is your permission, as it is our song after all.", he explains. "Wow.", I answer, almost speechless, "Are you for real, Martijn? Like you really wanna release this?" "Exactly.", he says and gives me a smile, "Given that you agree with it all, of course. We would of course give you credit you as the featured artist and for writing the song with me, as well as your share of the song's royalties.", Martijn continues. "I mean this all sounds amazing, but I... I mean I don't have any experience in this. Do you really think it is good enough as a single for Garrix?", I stutter. Martijn finishes his last slice of pizza and then comes a little closer to sit next to me in the grass: "Listen, Julie. You could really use a little more confidence in what you do. Music business is hard, and if you don't believe in what you do, nobody else will. You'll have to take the chances offered to you and make the best out of them, especially in the beginning. My whole team of music industry professionals believes in the song, and they haven't even heard the real version yet. All they've heard is demos. And we all still want to release it. It is up to you, but we believe it can be a successful track. So what do you say? I mean, you can also take some time if you want to, but we would need your opinion soon." "Okay. Okay, I'll trust you. You're my producer and you're way more experienced than I am. And most importantly: You are my friend. You won't let me down. I'm saying yes.", I answer. "Amazing!!", Martijn shouts excitedly, "I just knew it. I promise I'll help you as much as I can with all that business stuff. Whenever you have a question throughout the process or if something goes too quick for you, please let me know, alright?" "Thank you Martijn. For all you've done for me so far. You can't even imagine how much this all means to me!", I smile and give him a hug. Martijn returns the smile and says: "You're so welcome Julie. I'm so glad I am in the position to be able to give you this opportunity. I'll set up a meeting with my management and we'll all go through it with you, okay?" "Sounds good to me.", I answer, "But shall we get back to the studio now, so that we have something to present at the meeting?" "Absolutely.", Martijn says and we both get up to return to the studio. It was still damn hard to comprehend what just happened. Martijn really offered me the chance to release our song with the lyrics that I have written on his label and to feature me as an artist. My very first track to be released. Crazy!!!! I really can't wait to tell Anna when I get back from the studio session. But first, let's go and give him the best vocal performance I possibly can for the recording! What a day!